Silver Smoke (#1 of Seven Halos Series)

by Monica O'Brien

  Cora leaned over Thessa's body, holding her hands over Thessa's chest. "What did you learn Thessa?"

  she asked quietly.

  Thessa sighed. "I don't think Bristol has anything to do with what happened on Friday, but it's possible her sister does."

  "Illona?"

  "She goes by 'Kennedy' now, according to Bristol."

  "I don't have anything on anyone named Kennedy to cross-reference," Clara said, like the robot she was.

  "We have to find her," Thessa said. "If she's after..." Thessa moaned, and Clara shushed her. The twins touched Thessa, and she instantly fell into a steady breathing pattern, her face more relaxed and peaceful than Brie had ever seen it.

  Cora ushered the girls out of the room. "I think she needs to rest and heal before we ask her any more questions." Clara sat at Thessa's bedside, holding Thessa's hand. "Clara? Come out here for a couple minutes."

  "After who?" Brie asked, when Clara had joined them. "Pilot?"

  Sirena seemed confused. "No, not Pilot. Someone's using him to get to..." Sirena looked at Brie.

  "Who, Sirena?" Brie asked. "Me?" She turned to the twins. "And where was Rykken tonight? I thought one of you was supposed to keep an eye on him. He doesn't show up to the dance and neither of you even notice?"

  "I'll check on him later," Clara said dismissively.

  "Brie," Cora said, sounding incredibly tired. "Can we talk about all this stuff tomorrow? I think everyone is spent for the night."

  "No," Brie said. "You two and Thessa never explain anything to me, and now things are happening to people I care about. Like, what did you do to my brother earlier Clara? His eyes went completely blank."

  Clara glared at her. "I erased a portion of his memory. Look, I'm really worried about—"

  "Have you done it before?" Brie thought of the party at their house, when Pilot could barely remember where he had been all night. "Did you erase his memory the night he caught you sneaking into James' office too?"

  Clara put her pointer finger on her temple. "I did what had to be done to keep Pilot from finding out about all this."

  Brie turned to Cora. "You said your powers had an adverse effect on earthlies..." Brie trailed off; Cora looked like she had been crushed.

  "It's not completely safe," Cora said, "but I've been watching Pilot really closely, and—"

  "Don't do it again, ever," Brie said. "Either of you."

  Sirena put her hand on Brie's arm. "They're doing the best they can. We all—"

  Brie brushed Sirena's hand away. "You can't just go around erasing people's memories! He's my brother, and you're all supposed to be helping me protect him, so why is he still getting hurt?"

  Clara raised her fist. "I'm about three seconds away from—"

  Cora grabbed both of their wrists, her touch shocking Brie with a plethora of emotions—anger at Milena for dying and sending her baggage to Honolulu, hatred of the van Rossum family, fear of Thessa dying, panic at why she couldn't put the pieces together, pain because Thessa left her behind, and a longing to stroke Thessa's hair.

  Cora released their wrists. Clara looked like she might murder someone. "I can't believe you just did that," she said to Cora, as she stalked out of Thessa's room.

  CHAPTER TEN

  The night before was a blurry one for Pilot. When he woke up in the morning, he wondered if someone had spiked his drink at the Homecoming dance. He couldn't remember the dance ending, couldn't remember leaving Cora, and couldn't remember how he'd gotten home.

  The grogginess reminded him of waking up in random hotel rooms in New York, especially after a wild night with the kids from school. He was never that close to the guys he spent time with, though he'd known them all his life. They were caught up in girls, cars, drugs, and money—none of which were things Pilot really cared for, at least more than superficially.

  It was Sunday morning, and the varsity polo team was up bright and early for an emergency practice.

  The guys were bleary-eyed and grumbling, most having stayed out late the night before.

  Pilot and the rest of the guys were sitting on the benches near the pool when Rykken came bursting out of the coach's office with his foster mom.

  Pilot stood up. "Where have you been?" The sun glared down at him, leaving spots everywhere he looked.

  Rykken's mom gave Rykken a pat on his arm. He stopped walking, while she continued into the school, not meeting anyone's eyes.

  "I was sick last night," Rykken said.

  "I called you," Pilot said, trying to focus his eyes when everything around him seemed too bright and blurry. "You could have answered."

  Justin laughed. "Are you two dating now?" A couple other guys laughed appreciatively.

  Pilot scowled at the guys, used to their teasing, but Rykken spun around, staring Justin down.

  "You've always been jealous of me," he said. "You want the friends, the talent, and the titles I have."

  Rykken opened his sports bag, pulling items out one by one and dropping them, letting the rest of the contents spill to the dirty concrete pavement. He found his cap with the number three on it.

  "You've taken most of what I have away already, but here's the rest." He threw his cap in Justin's face.

  He turned to the guys sitting on the benches. "I'm quitting the water polo team. Justin's been named your new captain." Rykken walked toward the door, leaving all his things on the floor in front of them.

  Tim, their best goalkeeper, beat Pilot to the door to block Rykken. He put his hand on Rykken's chest, forcing him to stop. "We've only lost one game this whole season," Tim said. "You can't leave us right now."

  "I'm sorry. I'm just not feeling it anymore and you'll do fine without me." Rykken pushed around Tim and walked out the door.

  Pilot chased after him, grabbing his arm. "Dude, you're kidding, right?"

  Rykken turned around, putting his hand on Pilot's chest, keeping him at arms length. "Leave me alone, Pilot."

  "No. Not until you tell me what's going on. Did something happen? Is someone forcing you to quit?"

  Rykken brushed Pilot off with frustration. "I'm leaving the team because I want to. And by the way, I don't need rides to and from school anymore."

  He walked away. Pilot wasn't going to give up.

  "Rykken, wait." He grabbed Rykken's arm again. "So what, we're not friends anymore?"

  "Let go of me, Pilot." Rykken shook his arm out of Pilot's grip, but he didn't push him away this time.

  Pilot curled his fingers, holding his palms out. "You gotta give me some answers."

  Rykken put his hand over his eyes, dragging it downward past his cheeks with his pinkies and thumbs.

  "I'm over it."

  "Over what?" Pilot asked. "Your favorite sport? Or your best friend of four years?" Rykken's forearm muscles rippled as he clenched his fists, but Pilot didn't back down. "This isn't you. What the hell happened?"

  Rykken relaxed his arms, crossing them over his chest. He scraped the tile with his tennis shoe, trying to unstick old gum from the floor.

  "Spill it," Pilot said.

  Rykken stood there stoically, not even blinking. A minute passed.

  "So that's how it is." Pilot didn't understand.

  "The team is going to be fine."

  "But you're not fine."

  Rykken looked away, focusing on something behind Pilot. "You're going to be late for practice."

  Pilot said nothing; he simply shook his head and walked back to the pool.

  *****

  Brie tried not to breathe so heavily. She could see the pressure gauge on her scuba tank dipping quickly as she used up all her oxygen. Dark, cool water surrounded her in every direction, disorienting her and making her long for a wet suit to wear over her bikini. There was at least 50 feet of water above her and 30 more below; or at least that's what Sirena had told her before they'd set out for the dive. Brie felt like the water could carry her away at any minute. She tried desperately to keep up with Sirena, who was swimmin
g toward something that Brie couldn't see. Sirena wore no mask and no gear, and with her long blonde hair flowing like tentacles around her face, she looked like a mermaid.

  Brie regretted ever giving Sirena the idea to take her out. It had all started after James'

  housewarming party, when Brie jumped in the pool. Then, she wished she could breathe underwater, and even tried to change water into oxygen. She told Sirena her idea a few days later.

  "You're going about it all wrong," Sirena had said. Breathing underwater was one of Sirena's specialties, and changing water into oxygen was too difficult to do for long periods of time. Sirena promised that she would take Brie out to sea for lessons.

  "It's in your blood," Sirena had said. "You're an innate, right?"

  Brie wished now she hadn't mentioned it.

  Swimming in a pool was one thing. Wading through the ocean near the shore and letting waves crash over you was okay too. Even watching pretty fish from the surface through a snorkel mask was fun.

  Floating aimlessly under water, surrounded by unfamiliar sea creatures and vegetation, moving too slowly and not having a clear idea of which way was up or down? Not fun. Brie tried not to panic thinking about it. Panicking consumed more oxygen—that much she was sure of.

  Sirena looked back and swam toward Brie. It was at that moment Brie noticed she had stopped, frozen in the water, drifting slightly downward to the ocean floor. There were bubbles everywhere and she had spotty vision; the tank clung to her uncomfortably and the mask blocked her peripheral eyesight. Sirena grabbed Brie's hand, shooting her a look that said, What are you doing? Brie grabbed Sirena's outstretched hand, gripping it tightly. Sirena pulled on Brie's hand, attempting to loosen her grip, but Brie couldn't relent. She was scared—more scared than she'd been since first finding out about her Hallow powers.

  Sirena put her hand on her chest and began breathing in and out very slowly, taking long pauses between each inhale and exhale, just as she had shown Brie before they took the dive. Brie mimicked her, clutching Sirena tightly with one hand, the other hand on her own chest. Sirena held onto Brie firmly. As Brie got a feel for the breathing pattern, her body relaxed some, and Brie loosened her grip on Sirena.

  Sirena shrugged Brie off, rubbing her arms where Brie's nails dug in. Then, she put her hand over Brie's mouthpiece, signaling that she wanted Brie to try breathing without the air tank. Brie shook her head. She wasn't ready to try anything more advanced than breathing like a normal human with the tank.

  Sirena nodded in understanding. She made a motion with her two fingers like two legs kicking in the water. Sirena wanted them to swim again now that Brie was breathing normally. Brie nodded and followed Sirena in the direction she had motioned.

  Brie focused on her breathing. Inhale one two three four... Exhale one two three four.... she repeated the pattern over and over again as she swam. She couldn't hear anything but the sound of her own breathing. The ocean was quiet, which some might consider peaceful; but Brie couldn't.

  Once Brie felt comfortable breathing, she tried to focus on her fins, flicking them slightly up and down. When she had first gotten in the water, she moved them back and forth as swiftly as she could. This didn't help her move faster, however, or in the direction she wanted. She learned to flick her legs instead of beat them.

  She tried to focus on Sirena rather than let her vision wander to her surroundings. She knew if she got too caught up in the ocean, she'd have another panic attack.

  Finally, Sirena stopped and turned around. She smiled, pleased that Brie managed to keep up this time. She swam back, putting her hand on Brie's mouthpiece.

  Brie took a deep breath, remembering Sirena's instructions. Sirena told her to think like a fish might think of the ocean—as a source of life, safety, and food. Brie tried to pretend that the salty seawater was her normal atmosphere. She imagined the oxygen in her tank going stale, aging her mouth and limbs with every intake and leaving a bitter taste on her tongue.

  Brie closed her eyes, and opened her mouth as she held her breath. She released her mouthpiece, setting it adrift, letting it float limply to the side of her body along with all her other gear. She inhaled, letting the water fill her mouth. She meant to fill her nose as well, but found that she couldn't inhale through it anymore. Brie held the water in her mouth for a few seconds before spitting it out.

  She repeated the technique a few times with success. It was exactly how a fish would breathe. As Brie held the water in her mouth, she tried to think of herself absorbing the oxygen from the water. It was an odd sensation—not quite comfortable, but she also wasn't choking for air. She could breathe, but not very deeply. There was something unsatisfying about underwater breathing that Brie hadn't expected.

  Brie opened her eyes to see Sirena smiling at her, her hair billowing softly behind her. The sight of Sirena made Brie's stomach churn in a way that reminded her of feeling car sick. She concentrated on her breathing again, not looking around at the water that surrounded her. She knew the next step would be moving and breathing at the same time.

  But Brie didn't get to the next step. As she focused into the abyss, letting her mind drift, she noticed a pair of deep brown over-sized eyes in the distance, sparkling beyond the point where Sirena was floating. These eyes were not human, but they focused in on Brie like a human might, staring her down, questioning her.

  The eyes blinked. Brie let out a soundless scream into the deep ocean.

  *****

  Brie grabbed onto Sirena as the ocean water filling her lungs. She tried to cough, but only managed to inhale more water. The water viciously stung at her nose, her gums, and her throat before Sirena shoved the scuba diving mouthpiece into Brie's mouth. Brie grasped at it with her teeth, but she could barely inhale. Sirena put her hand on Brie's upper middle back and the water drained slowly from Brie's lungs, allowing her to breathe normally again. Brie inhaled from the mouthpiece greedily, her panic full-blown. She looked all around her for the body that belonged to the eyes, but saw nothing.

  Sirena grabbed Brie on both sides. Calm, she mouthed. She looked at Brie's pressure gauge. The arrow pointed to the red, meaning the tank was almost out of oxygen. Sirena locked eyes with Brie and pointed up. Brie nodded emphatically. She wanted to get out of the water.

  They made their way to the surface slowly, pausing around fifteen feet deep to avoid the bends. When they surfaced, Sirena said, "What the hell was that?"

  A wave rushed over Brie's head, and she clenched down on her mouthpiece, afraid to let go of the only reliable air source she had. Sirena grabbed her wrist and Brie felt a tugging sensation; seconds later, they were standing in the Sandy Beach Park parking lot.

  With the weight of her scuba tank on her back, Brie collapsed against Sirena's tomato-red Pontiac convertible. The metal burned against Brie's wet body, irritating her already-rosy skin.

  "Are you okay?" Sirena asked.

  Brie dropped the mouthpiece from her lips, gasping for air. "No," she said. "Didn't you see them?"

  Between heavy breaths, Brie told Sirena about the bodiless eyes that followed them in the ocean.

  "It was a seal," Sirena said, helping Brie out of her scuba gear. "I watched it swim away." She lifted the air tank into her trunk.

  "Do seals blink under water?" Brie asked, shivering. The sun was bright and warm on her back, but she couldn't shake the terrible feeling that festered in the pit of her stomach.

  "No one was watching us," Sirena said, frowning. She grabbed two beach bags from the trunk, before slamming it shut. "You seem shaken up."

  "Ya think?" Brie picked at the paint on the hood of the car with her fingernail. She flicked the red flakes sideways, revealing slate-coated metal underneath.

  Sirena swatted at Brie's hand, brushing the flakes off the hood with her palm. "You know we still have to go out there." When Brie didn't respond, she held a beach bag out. "Are you going to make it through today?"

  Brie wrenched the beach bag from Sirena's hands and sl
ung it over her shoulder. "I'll make it." She dreaded Sunday afternoons at the beach, but they were practically a requirement at Punahou, especially for her group of friends.

  Throngs of people covered every speck of space on the small beach. No one noticed Sirena and Brie as they treaded through the crowd in silence, Brie digging her toes into the sand with each step.

  It was high tide, and the beach was dotted with orange flags and warning signs about the strong current and dangerous shore break. Teenage girls in teeny swimsuits competed to see who could show off the most skin, and lifeguards yelled at ignorant tourists to get out of the water.

  The ocean was the lightest of blues and large walls of snow-white water sprayed everywhere. The waves towered over the surfers and boarders, and Brie had to squint her eyes to make out who might be among the brave few who would tackle them on a day like this. She spotted Justin and a few other guys she recognized from her school, surfing the 15-foot waves all the way to the shoreline where they broke.

  Pilot was easy to spot—he was the silhouette figure whose tan was more Italian than the dark skin tone of the locals. She worried about him. He hadn't been surfing as long as the local boys, and she didn't want him to get in over his head. She wished Rykken was out there to coach him, but she couldn't find her brother's best friend anywhere.

  She had tried to call Rykken the night before, but he didn't pick up or return her messages. Why should he? she thought. It wasn't like they would even talk if they didn't have Pilot in common. She knew she had no right to be concerned about Rykken, so she tried to push her worries out of her mind.

  Down the beach, Cora and Clara lounged on beach chairs under an umbrella. A large group of girls surrounded them on towels laid out over the sand, like paperclips drawn to a magnet. None of them were stupid enough to get in the water—those waves could injure someone who didn't know what she was doing.

  Brie let herself fall behind as Sirena headed toward the group. "Brie, aren't you coming?" Sirena called back.

  "Go on without me." Brie didn't want to face the twins yet, not after what happened the night before.