Silver Smoke (#1 of Seven Halos Series) (14 page)

"I don't think the pendant is a silly souvenir."

"Of course it is." Pilot looked at the imprint again. "Are you sure they go together though?"

"No. This imprint doesn't match up to the pendant's shape closely enough." Rykken was still staring at the book, wide-eyed. "But they're similar."

"So uh, where's the necklace then?" Pilot asked. "I want to see if it fits."

"I don't have it with me."

"Where is it?"

"I got rid of it this morning. I threw it in a fire." Rykken shuddered.

"You did what? I thought you said it was valuable." Pilot scratched his head. "Why didn't you sell it?"

"I couldn't," Rykken said. His tone cast a shadow over his face. "The pendant might not be gone for good though."

"Okay, you're seriously freaking me out. What do you mean?"

Rykken gave Pilot a nervous look. "Well, I tried to throw it in the ocean yesterday." He gulped down a massive amount of air. "But this morning, I woke up with it around my neck."

*****

"I am concentrating."

"You can't concentrate if you're talking."

"I can't concentrate with you around!"

"Clara, please."

"Fine." Clara snatched her bag from the bench with vehemence. "I'm going to the library." She glared at Brie as she stalked off down the steps of the gazebo.

Thessa and Brie were now alone. Brie was attempting to turn a glass of water into a glass of grape juice, but she couldn't quite shake her earlier conversation with Rykken.

She thought through the process again. All transmutations had to follow a logical sequence, so in order to change matter into some other form, you had to understand the manual way that earthlies did it.

The way earthlies made grape juice was by boiling and straining crushed grapes in water.

Brie first thought of the most beautiful grapes she could—home grown, fresh, plump, and pitted. Then she imagined stepping into a big vat of them and crushing them under her feet. She was in her kitchen, filling a boiling pot of water with crushed grapes.

The glass of water boiled, with small specs of a solid purple substance floating to the top.

"Hurry Brie, or the glass will break."

Brie concentrated harder. The water tinted a deep blue. Brie strained the liquid in her mind, and it quickly turned to a deep purple with no specks floating. Brie cooled the liquid, letting clear ice float to the surface of the glass.

Thessa smiled, picking up the glass and took a sip. "Not bad. More grape, less boil I think. For next time."

Brie exaggerated her smile until it was toothy rather than pleasant. She found her Hallows lessons with Thessa to be mostly tedious, and rarely found any pleasure in doing something correctly for her. She enjoyed her time with Sirena, who taught her real self-defense that she could use in a battle. The only way that a grape juice lesson might become relevant, however, is if Martha Stewart tried to attack her.

Of course, Thessa, Clara, and Cora had no idea Brie was preparing for a battle. But Brie knew she would do whatever it took to find her mom.

Thessa turned around, catching Brie's expression. "I know these lessons seem simple and mundane to you," she said, "but we're honing your skills. You should know that I've never seen a Hallow complete this task on a first try, or even the fifth try. The last Hallow I trained with so much promise was Milena."

"You trained my mom?"

"Yes, for a short period. Just to help her control her powers so she wouldn't be discovered. I trained Sirena also, but she took it upon herself to take up more combative training." Thessa displeasure with Sirena's combative regimens was painted plainly on her face.

"Why are the Hallows so against combat?"

"It's not the way we work. Our powers are intended to be used to change the hearts and minds of men.

Not to kill them."

"What about the Nephilim? Don't you sometimes have to fight them?"

Thessa raised an eyebrow. "The only way to fight the Nephilim with any purpose is to murder them.

Physical damage does not render them less capable of stealing souls."

"But they're evil, right? What's to stop them from killing Hallows?"

"The opposite of good isn't evil. Neither Hallows nor Nephilim are evil, they simply have different values. But all are still human."

Brie didn't understand the distinction, but she didn't argue the point. Instead, she took a seat on the benches; the smell of freshly cut grass and the shadows of the alcove helped Brie relax her mind.

That was the other thing about her lessons with the Hallows—they always made her tired.

Brie was able to push off Cora's emotional waves now, but just barely. Fighting them still made her dizzy. Clara's mind uploads were a different story. Clara and Brie aggravated each other so much that they could barely dwell in the same vicinity together. Thessa eventually had to end their lessons because they spent more time arguing than training.

Thessa was quiet; she was good at giving Brie space after a difficult lesson. The two sat in silence until Sirena came bounding up the steps of the gazebo.

"Is Cora with Clara?" Thessa asked.

"They met up in the courtyard," Sirena confirmed. She eyed Brie with disdain. "Did you fight with Clara again?"

Brie nodded but said nothing. She knew what Sirena was thinking. They needed Clara's help.

Brie gave Sirena a look that said,
I understand
. She just didn't like it.

"I heard about your clash with Rykken," Sirena continued. "The whole school heard about it."

"I guess that means you still haven't retrieved the pendant from him." Thessa sighed. "You know, the rumor is that he's in love with you. It shouldn't be that hard."

Brie's head snapped to attention. Sirena surprised look mirrored her own. "Rykken is
not
in love with me," Brie insisted.

"Well whatever he is, stay away from him," Thessa said. "I have a bad feeling about it."

"Why would you say that?" Brie demanded.

Thessa smiled. "I run this school. I know things."

Thessa's comment made Brie wonder what her gift was, or if she even had one. Thessa had never said anything about it, but Thessa was also the one all the other girls looked up to. It was hard for Brie to believe that Thessa, with her age and wisdom, didn't have some sort of edge over the other Hallows.

"Has Clara learned anything more about the pendant?" Sirena asked.

"Thankfully, yes," Thessa said. "Well, a theory at least. She thinks it has alchemical roots to the Smaragdine Table."

"Really," Sirena said. It wasn't a question.

Brie looked between the two of them. "And what is that, exactly?"

"The foundation of all earthlie alchemy," Sirena answered.

"Around 350BC, a letter passed between two Hallows, explaining the fundamentals of what earthlies call alchemy." Thessa explained. "It was a recipe to turn coal to gold, but what earthlies didn't know is that, of course, you needed superhuman powers to make the recipe work."

"Of course," Brie said. Sirena gave her a look, but Thessa continued.

"The recipe was engraved into a block of emerald and transcribed for earthlie scientists to use. At its birth, the table caused controversy in the Hallow community. And since the Hallows are bound to keep their presence on earth from the earthlies, it eventually led to the early deaths of the two correspondents. It took centuries of damage control for earthlie interest in alchemy to drop off."

"What Hallows would be stupid enough to write down the recipe in a letter?"

Thessa laughed. "My uncle was the recipient of the letter," she said. "Alexander the Great. It was probably he who sold the letter in exchange for more gold. He was a Hallow of great talent, but his greed was insatiable. He may as well have been Nephilim, with his lust for land, riches, and rule over earthlies."

"You knew Alexander the Great, like, personally?"

"No, of course not. But my history is long, Brie. It's a story for another day." Thessa stared into space, the tone in her voice ringing of finality. Brie looked at Sirena, who shook her head side-to-side slightly.

Brie took the hint and changed the subject. "Why would someone want Rykken to have a piece of the Smaragdine Table though? He's an earthlie."

"Perhaps it was meant for you," Thessa said. "We don't know, Brie. Clara won't know if her theory is correct until she can examine the pendant personally."

"I can't get the pendant from him," Brie said. "I've been trying all week."

Thessa drummed her fingers against the gazebo without a hint of understanding or amusement over Brie's predicament. "Try one more time. Tomorrow night."

"Speaking of tomorrow night," Sirena said, "Are Clara and Cora clear on what their role is?"

"They are ready," Thessa confirmed.

Sirena looked gravely at Brie. "If they'll still agree to it."

Brie's eyes swiped at the ceiling of the gazebo. "I'm not that terrible."

"You could do better."

"Well, it's their job anyway." Brie pouted and folded her arms across her chest. She hadn't asked for Clara's attitude any more than they had asked for her family problems.

"Tomorrow night..." Thessa said, descending the steps of the gazebo. "We should know much more about what Milena was hiding from you tomorrow night."

Pilot knocked on Brie's half-closed door, barging in before she had the chance to invite him. He sniffed the air. "It smells like Mom in here."

He seemed to have startled Brie out of her thoughts. She sprawled out across a chaise lounge, an old-fashioned couch with only half a back, like the kind you might see in those historical movies with the girls in the big hoop dresses. "I know," she said. "I spray my pillow with her perfume sometimes."

She looked down into her book. Brie wore a blue floral swimsuit for their housewarming party that night, but her lack of enthusiasm was palpable.

Pilot sat down on the edge of Brie's bed, the scent of sweet flowers wafting under his nose. "I talked to Dad."

Brie looked up again, this time meeting his eyes. "About what?"

"The car accident. I told him I made a mistake." Pilot tried not to get distracted by the mix of tropical greens and reds that offset the deep brown furniture in the room.

Brie blinked. "A mistake?"

"The last few weeks, you've been fine." He picked up a pompom from the floor. "You've even joined the cheer squad." He tossed the pompom at her and she caught it. "So I told James that I was under too much stress while driving, and I thought I heard something I didn't. I know you were depressed, and I know you said you saw Mom. But I lied to him anyway."

Brie sat up and Pilot sat down next to her. "Why would you do that?" she asked. She set aside
Dante's Inferno
, stacking it neatly on top of a few Vogue magazines on the table next to her.

A bookshelf loomed behind the couch, adorned with hardcover books in all different colors: black, gray, orange, gold, navy, white, sea green, and mahogany. The spines were stamped with names Pilot recognized, like William Shakespeare and Leo Tolstoy. There were also names he had never heard of, like Jane Austen, Gustave Flaubert, and more.

Pilot focused on Brie again. "I don't know what happened, and you don't have to tell me. But I'm sick of getting the silent treatment from you about other aspects of your life." Pilot took the pompom from Brie. "Like cheering."

Brie crept across the couch and gave Pilot a long-overdue hug, burying her face in his shoulder.

"Okay, I will," she mumbled. "Thank you for getting James off my back. I owe you."

"You can repay me by giving Dad a break." Pilot felt his eyebrows forming a line across his head.

"You're so mad about Dad coming home. You still haven't talked to him."

Brie pulled away from Pilot. "Don't push it," she said. "If you want me to trust you and talk to you about my life, don't involve James again." The warning tone in Brie's voice made her seem much older.

A framed poster of Marilyn Monroe stared out at Pilot from Brie's wall. There was also that chick from that movie about the rain in Spain, and a bunch of others that Pilot didn't recognize.

"Fine," Pilot said. "Here's another way you can repay me then." He gestured to the picture. "Explain to me why girls decorate their rooms with black and white pictures of dead actresses."

Brie laughed. "First of all, Sarah Jessica Parker is alive." Brie stood up. "And second, I didn't decorate my room, remember? Annie did. And I assume she put up fashion icons." She walked over to a red dress form wearing a black ball gown. "See?" she said. "
Fashion
is the theme throughout the room."

"Don't they creep you out when you're sleeping?"

"You have pictures of athletes on your walls."

"At least they're alive." Pilot cleared his throat. He was happy Brie was talking to him again, but he needed to get to the real reason he came to speak to her.

"So James isn't making you go to therapy, but can you stop being weird to my friends? Rykken said you slapped him over a pendant you guys found?"

Brie's expression turned stormy. "He tried to put the chain over my head, but I didn't want to wear it. That's why I slapped him."

Pilot looked at Brie's face for any indication she knew more about the pendant than she was letting on. "He tried to put it on you?" Pilot asked. "Why didn't you want to wear it?"

"Do I need a reason?" Brie retorted, not meeting his eyes. "It's an old, abandoned piece of jewelry full of sand and sea organisms."

Pilot sensed that there was more to the story but knew there was no way Rykken would have told her what the pendant could do. "It seems a little harsh to slap someone over that."

"Well, I tried to apologize to Rykken yesterday. I'll try again tonight."

Pilot hesitated. "Why do you guys hate each other so much?"

Brie dropped her eyes. He could see her dejection in the crease of her forehead. "I don't hate him."

"He hates you."

"I know," Brie admitted.

"You were so much more likable in New York."