Silver Smoke (#1 of Seven Halos Series)

by Monica O'Brien

  Bristol beamed. "You think I should trust the New Order any more than I trusted the last one?"

  "They are your saviors, I thought."

  "They tolerate us because they fear us." Something evil, creepy flashed in Bristol's eyes. "Sort of like the way you tolerate them." A dark smile spread across Bristol's face.

  Bristol leaned over Thessa. "You and I—we're not that different, really. We both live on the fringes of our society, executing our own agendas in the dark of the night, in secret caves and chambers away from the New Order's eyes."

  "You and I are nothing alike." Thessa stood up and turned around, facing Bristol. "So you know nothing of your sister's whereabouts?"

  Bristol stroked her plush pink Victorian sofa and plopped back down, slamming her empty glass onto the sofa table. "Afraid not."

  Thessa made her way to Bristol's bookshelf. " Hawaiian Myths and Legends," she said, tracing the cover of an old, tattered book with her fingers. "Interesting choice of reading material to have lying around."

  Bristol eyes alternated between the book and Thessa. "That book is a family heirloom. It's meant to be left out."

  She turned to Bristol. "Did this book once have a piece of the Smaragdine table itself?"

  Bristol's eyes flashed. "How would I know?"

  Thessa sat back down. "A gem appeared in Hawaii in the form of a pendant. You can't honestly expect me to think you had nothing to do with it."

  "I don't care what you think."

  Thessa smiled. "Let me ask you this, Bristol. Do all your family heirlooms leave the mark of Gabrielle on seventeen year old earthlie boys?"

  Bristol sat up, slight interest registering in her dull eyes. "The gem is harmless."

  "I doubt that."

  "Why are you here Thessa? What is the point of interrogating me, when you will die trying to leave this cave?"

  "I survived once, didn't I?"

  "You did I suppose. How did you explain that to the Hallows, anyway?"

  "Blood tests to prove I had no Nephilim blood in me."

  "But that creates another question, doesn't it? How did you survive the first time with no Nephilim blood in you?"

  "I'm not sure."

  "Well, if you figure it out, let me know. We'd love to patch our security system."

  "Then I wouldn't be able to visit you anymore." Thessa stood up. "Though it seems you really don't know what's going on in your own organization, so maybe these visits won't be necessary in the future."

  Bristol leaned forward. "This boy you mentioned, with the mark of Gabrielle on his chest. What is his name?"

  "Ahh ah," Thessa grinned coyly.

  Bristol sunk back into the sofa with a lazy smirk. "Fair enough. I'll have to ask that sister of mine when she shows her face again."

  "I'm sure if Illona wanted you to know what she was up to, she would have already told you."

  "Kennedy," Bristol replied, absentmindedly picking at the cuticles of her nails.

  "What?"

  "Haven't you heard? My sister goes by the name Kennedy now."

  *****

  "That was an interesting story choice at the campfire yesterday." "Mm hmm." Pilot held Cora at arms length in a slow dance. They were only there as friends, but he was happy to have a date to his first dance at Punahou, especially since he put off asking anyone else after Kennedy said no.

  "Pilot. Did you hear me?"

  "What?" He looked down at her. "Sorry, I have a lot of my mind." It wasn't that Cora wasn't beautiful. She was, and sweet too—probably more innocent than the girls he normally dated. But he couldn't get Kennedy out of his thoughts.

  "It's like you're in another world tonight." Cora looked at his face, like she was trying to interpret it. "I asked you who you heard the story from."

  "Right." Cora wore a red, shiny dress that contrasted nicely with her dark skin and straight, black hair. It was strange to see Cora in red—she was normally so nice and conservative.

  Any other guy in the school would kill for a date with Cora, but Pilot couldn't concentrate on her.

  He knew he should be with someone like her; someone who went to Punahou and didn't work for some mysterious business an ocean away; someone who didn't bring out the sides of him that scared him the most.

  She looked up at him again. "And you're still not answering my question."

  "Sorry," Pilot said, stretching out his shoulders. Get it together, he told himself.

  "I read about it for a school project."

  Cora looked away; she seemed unhappy, and he wondered if it was because she thought he was ignoring her. "Did you like the fire at the end?" he asked, trying to lighten the mood.

  She smiled slightly. "It was cool. How did you do it?"

  "A friend of mine gave me this liquid stuff that's extremely combustible."

  "Who?" Cora asked. "I'd love to get the name of the company he purchased it from."

  Pilot hesitated; he couldn't decide whether he should lie or not. It's not like he could talk to Cora about Kennedy, not when he was on a date with her.

  "My friend John, from New York," he finally said. "He gave it to me before I left, and I've been saving it for a special occasion. But I'll ask him where he got it and get back to you."

  Cora nodded, but she seemed distracted. The high school dance was in the main gym, and while the homecoming committee had strewn lights, streamers, and paper lanterns all over the ceiling, Pilot couldn't get the locker room smell out of his nose. He wondered if it bothered Cora too.

  He followed her line of sight until he landed on the scene she was staring at. A few feet away, Eric twirled her twin sister Clara around. Clara's light blue dress fanned out as she spun and fell into his arms, laughing.

  "I'm glad Clara's happy tonight," Cora said, stepping closer and resting her head on Pilot's shoulder carefully. "She gets hurt easily in relationships."

  "I can't picture that at all," Pilot said. "She seems pretty assertive."

  "Oh, she is," Cora replied. "It's hard to explain. I just worry about her sometimes—maybe it's unnecessary."

  "I understand the way you feel," he said. "My sister is a handful too." He grabbed Cora's hand, spinning her around. He saw Justin and Brie across the dance floor, and frowned. "How close are you to Brie, anyway?"

  "Don't worry. She doesn't like Justin very much."

  Pilot stopped dancing. "That's not what I asked, you know."

  Cora gave him a look he couldn't fully interpret, like she'd been caught doing something she wasn't supposed to. "Your feelings about who your sister dates are written all over your face."

  Pilot shrugged, swaying again.

  "Why does it bother you so much?" Cora probed. "Justin seems to really like her."

  "He's Justin," Pilot said. "Really? I mean, of all the people she could date, she picks him?"

  Cora laughed. "Who would you rather see her with?"

  Pilot swayed his head forward, his eyes slanting at the edges—he wasn't sure why Brie needed to be with anyone. "Who does Brie want to be with, since you seem to have some insight into the situation?"

  Cora tilted her head to one side, giving him a small smile. "I can't tell her older brother who she likes."

  "Of course you can." Pilot brushed the sheet of hair that had fallen in front of Cora's eyes out of her face. "Dates trump friendships."

  "I think you mean boyfriends and girlfriends trump friendships... which, sorry to say, we are not."

  Pilot laughed under his breath; Cora's mannerisms were cute. "Well, it doesn't matter. We won't be in town next week, and hopefully Justin will forget all about Brie before we get back."

  Cora sucked in her cheeks; her eyebrows moved upward. "Where are you going?"

  "James decided we're going on a family vacation, just the three of us. Not even Annie is going. The destination is a surprise."

  "Brie didn't mention anything."

  Pilot nodded his head with a twisted smile, scrunching his eyes. "I think James is trying to ambush h
er."

  Cora opened her mouth, but was cut off when someone tapped on a microphone. Lindsay, one of the homecoming chairs, said, "We're ready to announce the royal court!"

  She read the first name. "Justin Malitak." The crowd cheered. Across the room, Pilot saw Justin break away from his sister, leaving her clapping and smiling.

  "Thessa Torres." The crowd cheered again. "Thessa won't be able to make it tonight, so standing in to accept the crown on her behalf is Clara James."

  Cora pulled away from Pilot, clapping as Clara made her way to the stage.

  "Where's Thessa?" Pilot asked.

  Cora didn't take her eyes off the stage. "She's out of town with her boyfriend I think. It was a last minute thing."

  Pilot nodded. He forgot Thessa had a college boyfriend.

  "Rykken Camacho." Cheers echoed around the gymnasium as the spotlight bounced around the room, but Rykken was nowhere to be found.

  Cora searched Pilot's face. "Where is he?" she asked.

  "I don't know." Pilot got a sinking feeling in his stomach. How had he not noticed that his best friend wasn't at Homecoming? Come to think of it, he hadn't talked to Rykken at all the whole night.

  The sound of his own name pulled him out of his thoughts. "Pilot van Rossum? Are you here?" The bright beam dropped on him. Cora stepped away, letting him face the spotlight by himself. "Do you mind standing in for Rykken?" Lindsay asked.

  The crowd cheered as Pilot made his way toward the stage, dazed with spots in his eyes from the lights shining directly into them.

  He took his place next to Justin. Lindsay read the rest of the names, and five more people joined them.

  "And your homecoming king and queen are... Justin Malitak and Thessa Torres!" The crowd cheered.

  "Accepting on Thessa's behalf is Clara James."

  Justin and Clara smiled, stepping forward to accept their crowns. Pilot saw Brie and Cora in the crowd, hugging each other. They made their way to the stage together as Clara accepted her crown.

  Cora reached up from the side of the stage, grabbing Clara's hand and giving it a squeeze.

  There was a loud spark between the identical twins.

  Then, they both collapsed to the floor at the same exact time.

  *****

  Cora!" Brie screamed. She ran to her friend, bending down to help Cora up.

  "I'm okay." When Cora stood up, she grabbed Brie's wrists. Brie immediately felt calmer. The entire assembly of students had erupted into disorienting noise when Cora and Clara collapsed together, but within a minute, they too had calmed down. Some were even back to dancing and laughing with each other.

  "Act normal," Sirena whispered behind her.

  Sirena stepped on stage, where Justin was holding Clara up.

  "She's okay," Sirena said, wrenching Clara from Justin's grip. Sirena hopped in front of the microphone. "Please join the king and queen in their first dance as royalty!" The crowd cheered.

  Pilot walked over to Sirena. "Shouldn't we get them to the hospital?" he asked. The microphone picked him up.

  Clara grabbed Pilot's hand, and his face went blank.

  Brie's heart dropped to her stomach. "What is she doing to my brother?" Brie asked Cora. Sirena clutched Pilot by the shoulders and lead him off stage in the opposite direction.

  Justin took Clara's hand, walking past them onto the dance floor. Cora looked around, then leaned in.

  "Pilot will be fine." Cora spoke the words, but she looked as worried as Brie felt. She spared one last look for Pilot, then turned to Brie. "We have bigger problems—Thessa is in big trouble."

  "What? How can you tell?"

  "We linked ourselves to her earlier, remember?" Brie thought back to the prayer the three girls said in her room. Something else slid into place—the weekend before, when Clara said they had ways of communicating with Thessa without cell phones.

  "How does it—"

  "Not now Brie. I need to talk to Clara."

  As if summoned, Clara appeared out of nowhere. She grabbed Brie's hand and put it in Justin's. "Your cute date wants to dance with you," she said. "Shoo."

  Clara pointed to the door and Cora followed, careful to not touch her skin. They exited together.

  Brie had no choice but to go with Justin. He pulled her onto the dance floor, wrapping his arms around her and pressing her body into his chest.

  "It's too bad you're only a sophomore," he whispered into her ear. "If you were a senior, you would have been a shoe-in for queen."

  "It's okay," Brie said. "I get more attention than I want as it is." She reached up and jiggled his crown. "Congratulations."

  He smiled. Before she knew what was happening, they were kissing. His mouth was soft and gentle on hers, not too forceful.

  She tried to relax and enjoy kissing him, but she was distracted. She worried about Rykken and where he'd disappeared to. She worried about Thessa and whatever might be happening to her. She worried about Pilot too, and what Clara had done to him. She had never seen Clara's powers cause a blank look on someone's face before.

  "What is it?" Justin asked softly. He rested his jaw on her lips. She nudged his face up with her forehead to look in his eyes.

  "Nothing," she said, putting on her best smile. She stood on her tip toes and kissed him, parting his lips. She kissed him again and again, each time kissing him harder, deeper.

  She felt a tap on her shoulder. "Break it up you two." Brie looked around—it was one of the dance chaperones, admonishing them.

  Brie pulled away from Justin. She tried to avoid eye contact with him so she wouldn't laugh.

  Sirena walked up to them. "We're leaving Brie."

  "Leaving?" Justin looked at Brie.

  Brie's eyes widened. "I forgot to tell you. It's..." Brie looked at Sirena for help.

  "It's my birthday," Sirena said, not skipping a beat. "Brie and the other girls are taking me out, then we're all sleeping over at Brie's house." Sirena gave Brie a big hug. "Isn't she the best?" Sirena gave Justin a toothy, clown-like grin.

  Justin's eyes darted between the two girls, before resting on Brie. "I didn't realize you had other plans tonight."

  "I'm sorry I didn't tell you earlier." Brie grabbed Justin around the waist, squeezing him tightly and burying her face in his shirt. He wrapped his arms around her and she kissed him one last time.

  "You guys are sooo cute," Sirena said. "Brie can't stop talking about you."

  Brie tried not to laugh; Sirena was laying it on a little thick. Her words seemed to perk Justin up though because he let Brie go.

  "There are always other nights," he said. He nodded his head. "Yeah, you girls have fun tonight then."

  Sirena and Brie waved goodbye as they left the dance, arm in arm.

  When they reached the parking lot, Sirena gave Brie an update. "Thessa is already with the twins."

  "I thought she was in trouble?"

  "She got out, just barely. She's recovering." Sirena turned to Brie. "You're not wearing your necklace, are you? I need to transport you with me."

  "No. Just tell me where we're going."

  "Thessa's house. Hold on to me."

  "I'll see you there." Brie pulled out of Sirena's grasp and moved. A few seconds later, she was standing in Thessa's foyer.

  Sirena appeared within seconds, shock on her face. "When did you learn that?"

  "What? Like it's hard?"

  Sirena pursed her lips, raising her cheekbones. "Most Hallows can't do it until their third or fourth year of practice."

  Brie shrugged. "I'm an innate."

  They walked up the stairs to Thessa's room in silence.

  "She's okay," Cora said as they walked in.

  Thessa was lying in her bed, her chest covered in blood. Brie glanced at Sirena, who looked horrified.

  "It looks worse than it is," Thessa assured them. "I'm healing quickly."

  "What happened?" Brie asked, appearing at the head of Thessa's bedside.

  Clara's jaw was set. "She went to Sil
ver Smoke, that's what. To figure out what your stupid boyfriend and brother got themselves into with that pendant."

  "Clara—"

  "What?" Clara turned on Cora. "You have to admit Brie and her family have been nothing but trouble since they got here!"

  "It's our job to protect them," Thessa said.

  "You can't protect them if you're dead, Thessa." Clara's lip quivered, a single tear dropping from her face before she wiped her eyes. She pouted. "Why would you go there without me?" she whispered.

  "Because it was incredibly dangerous and because your life and talents are much more valuable than mine."

  For some reason, this caused Clara to sob.

  "What is Silver Smoke?" Brie asked over the sniffles.

  "Silver Smoke is the gang that helped overturn the monarchy in the early nineteen hundreds," Sirena explained.

  "I thought it was a place."

  "It's both a group and a place. The gang resides in the underground tunnels of LA, which they call the Silver Smoke."

  "So they killed my grandparents," Brie said.

  "Not specifically. But yes, they helped take our family out of power."

  Brie felt anger bubbling in her throat. "What happened?" she asked Thessa. "Did someone at Silver Smoke attack you?"

  Thessa laughed, then winced, coughing up blood. Clara glared at Brie, though Brie couldn't see how it was her fault. Finally, Thessa spoke.

  "No," she said. "I knew exactly what I was getting into. I've been to Silver Smoke before."

  "Silver Smoke is one of the most feared places for Hallows because you can enter inadvertently,"

  Sirena said. "It takes archangel blood to enter unharmed, and archdemon blood to leave unharmed."

  "That doesn't make sense," Brie said. "Is it just a trap for Hallows, then?"

  Clara scoffed. "No, of course not. There are ways to enter and exit unharmed and people who can do it without any problem. Well, as long as you don't count being insane as a problem. Which I would, but—"

  Brie filled her chest with air and released it, exhaling as loudly as she could. "You're driveling."

  She didn't have the patience for Clara's twisted sense of humor tonight.

  Sirena gave Brie a dirty look. "Don't," she said firmly. Brie huffed, but said no more.