Silver Smoke (#1 of Seven Halos Series) (11 page)

"Are you taking it to a pawn shop?" Pilot asked.

"No way. I'm going to figure out what it is. When we found it, it was glowing."

"We?"

"Yeah. Brie was with me."

Justin leaned forward, swiping the necklace out of Pilot's hands. "What did she think of it? Did she like it?" He held the necklace up to the light. "I could probably get it restored so it doesn't look so... old."

Rykken snatched the necklace back from Justin. "The aging is half the charm." Rykken seemed seriously irritated with them. "And no, Brie didn't like the pendant at all, so don't even think you're going to fix it up and give it to her."

The two of them kept arguing about the pendant, but Pilot tuned them out. He was more interested in the mystery girl's notebook.

He checked every single page, one by one, but he had been right the first time. Every sheet was blank. But how could that be? He had seen her writing in the notebook.

He pulled out the loose sheet with the contact information on it so he could program her number into his phone, but that was blank too.

"You might want to get your face checked out," Justin said. "There appears to be a huge red palm print on your cheek."

"Hey guys," Pilot said. Rykken put his hand to his cheek.

"Did you miss a spot when you put on sunscreen this morning?" Justin asked, laughing.

"Guys, I can't find the girl's number." Pilot rooted around on the table anxiously.

Rykken said nothing. Justin pulled Rykken's hand away from his face, looking at the spot more closely. "It looks almost like someone slapped you across the face." Justin's eyes widened. "Brie?"

This caught Pilot's attention. "Brie slapped you?" he asked.

Rykken said nothing. His entire face was red now.

Pilot expected Justin to make a joke, but he was uncharacteristically quiet.

"Hey guys?" Pilot said, breaking the silence. "I can't find the girl's number. Did one of you take that sheet of paper?"

"No," they said in unison. They glanced at each other.

The three of them looked around and under the table, but there was only one piece of paper within ten feet of where they were sitting and Pilot was holding it. Pilot flipped the note over and over, but it remained blank on both sides. Pilot opened the notebook, placing the bookmark delicately between the cover and the front page. He noticed some small writing in the bottom left corner. He held the book to his face and squinted to read it.

Inscribed in the corner were three simple words:
I'll find you.

*****

Brie led with her left foot, her left fist in a punching position and her right arm guarding her side. They stood facing each other in the backyard of Sirena's house, an eclectic bungalow on the outskirts of Honolulu. The outer walls were brittle and warped, barely holding on to one end of a withered clothes line.

Brie told Sirena about the pendant Rykken had found, and how it had made her head hurt when she was near it. As she talked, she did the same three-punch Jiu-Jitsu combination into Sirena's padded hands over and over again.

Sirena seemed concerned as Brie neared the end of her story. "It had a crescent moon on it?"

"Yes—engraved in the emerald stone." Brie shuddered, remembering the sharp pain that shot through her skull and down her spine when Rykken held it up to her face.

Sirena frowned, tugging on the ends of her terry cloth shorts. "I wish I was Clara. She could probably place the pendant in a heartbeat."

"Do you think the pendant is from a Hallow?"

Sirena paused. "Not necessarily, but it's possible. There are all sorts of magical objects in our world, Brie. Pendants, chains, rings, crosses, swords, chalices, stones, and more. Often, over time, these magical objects take different forms. It could be anything, really. That's why we need Clara."

"Well I'm not going to tell her," Brie said. "I hate her."

Sirena tossed Brie a bottled water and a towel. "She doesn't seem to like either of us much, does she? I think we've interrupted their trio dynamic by being here."

"Is that why you don't live with them?" Brie asked. She pointed her left toe, flicking the bottom half of her leg out as quickly as possible and throwing the top part of her foot into Sirena's side.

"Wouldn't it be easier than living out here alone?"

Sirena laughed, easily blocking the attack. "They find me violent." Brie looked at Sirena curiously.

She switched sides, raising her other leg.

"The Hallows train their minds," Sirena said, "not their bodies. The very act of me studying Japanese martial arts is against the norm, so imagine how they feel about me teaching you."

"I don't see how it threatens them to the point where you can't stay with them."

"I choose not to stay." Sirena blocked another of Brie's kicks, catching her leg and throwing her off balance. Brie crashed into the soft, sand-filled grass. "It's one thing to preach about how bad things are under the New Order, another to prepare for combat against them."

Brie stood on her feet, brushing the dirt off her shorts. "Is that what you're teaching me? Combat training?"

"It doesn't hurt to be prepared."

"I don't understand why the other girls are helping us then."

"Thessa is an old friend of our family. She has helped Milena and me hide since we were children, and she provides me with enough information about the New Order to stay a few steps ahead." Sirena walked over to the grassy part of the yard. "I'm not sure when or how Thessa recruited Clara and Cora. They were both born after the New Order took over, but their gifts are exceptional and Thessa trusts them. We're lucky to have their help."

Brie moved into a fighting stance across from Sirena. "And you completely trust Thessa?"

"Yes." Sirena kicked out at Brie' stomach; Brie blocked it with her arm, barely shifting far enough away from Sirena. "Why? You don't?"

"I don't know. Thessa's word is the only proof we have that the New Order didn't kill my mom."

"No, it's not." Sirena looked at her in surprise. "You're the proof. If the New Order were involved in your mom's death, you wouldn't be sitting here right now. You would be dead also." Sirena jumped in the air, spinning three hundred sixty degrees and landing with a graceful but potentially lethal kick at Brie's head. Brie ducked, covering her head with her hands.

Sirena offered Brie a hand up. "Oops. I forgot we were still on basics."

Brie grabbed her hand, lifting herself up with her legs. "No kidding. That could have taken my head off."

"Nah, you'd probably only have a big bruise. Go back to your original story though. What happened after you left Rykken? Did Pilot drop you off here?"

"Yeah. Yeah, he did." Brie felt guilty lying about it, but she didn't think Sirena would approve of the real way she had gotten over to her house. Brie was jogging across the beach and her adrenaline was running high. Her necklace glowed, so she reached back and undid the clasp, letting the necklace fall from her neck and into her hands. A couple seconds later, she was jogging down Sirena's street. Brie had no clue how she'd activated her powers; she was simply happy that no one had seen her disappear or reappear out of nowhere.

They both circled back into fighting stances. "By the way, I like your new look." Sirena pointed to Brie's shorts and cotton hooded jacket. "Special occasion?"

Brie blushed, feeling as if Sirena could see right through her. "No, just trying out something different."

Brie attempted to punch Sirena, but Sirena grabbed Brie's arm and threw her body to the ground. Brie arched over her own body obediently, landing on her side in the grass with a heavy thud. She hit the ground with her arm outstretched to absorb some of the impact. The trick with falling, she had learned, was to let yourself fall in a way that you could control. That was how you avoided broken bones.

Still, it hurt. "I'm spending a lot of time on the ground today."

Sirena looked down thoughtfully at Brie, holding out a helping hand again. "Rykken Camacho... he's the poor orphan kid, right?"

Brie stood up swiftly, feeling as if she had to come to Rykken's defense. "He's not poor," was all she could muster. But was he? Brie didn't actually know. She had assumed his foster parents had at least
some
money; everyone at Punahou did.

Sirena lowered her gaze. "Do you
like
him?"

"No." Brie paused, considering her words. "I mean, he's not a bad guy. I think the pendant did something to him... it was like his personality flipped when he picked it up."

Sirena gave Brie a stern look that reminded Brie of her mother. "Good—because a guy wearing a pendant that gives you headaches is not boyfriend material." Sirena came at Brie from the side with her elbow, which hit Brie's forearm with a loud smack. Brie bit her tongue to keep from whimpering.

"Besides," Sirena continued, as if the blow hadn't affected her at all. "You aren't normal. You can't date earthlies, at least not seriously."

"Who can I date then? All the Hallows in the New Order want to kill me." Brie abandoned her fighting stance and put her hands on her hips. "Besides, my mom dated James. He's an earthlie."

"And look what happened," Sirena said. "She forced your dad to move out because she couldn't keep her secret from him."

"My mom left James?" Brie couldn't believe it. She had always assumed James left
them
in pursuit of his career. That's what it always felt like, and Milena had never contradicted the sentiment.

Sirena pursed her lips, abandoning her own fighting stance. She sighed. "Let's go inside."

A pungent odor of animal fur and cigarette smoke filled Brie's nose when she entered Sirena's rental. The kitchen smelled like unwashed dishes, even though there were none in the sink. The dull, yellow lighting only added to the brown, mustard, and tan décor.
Muck chic
, Brie thought.

Brie's foot squished into a raggedy carpet the color of dried blood. "The seventies called," she said. "They want everything back."

Sirena laughed. "Stop being snotty—I like it here." She gestured to a green, vinyl sofa, where they both sat down.

"About my mom and James," Brie said. "She left him?"

Sirena tensed, staring at a metal wind chime hanging in the window. "Yes," she said finally. "Milena had given birth to you a few weeks before it happened. James was devastated. He begged her for months to change her mind, but she never did." Sirena shook her head. "I shouldn't be telling you this. Milena did what she needed to do to protect her secret and protect you. James was becoming a celebrity at the time and brought so much new, dangerous attention..."

Sirena trailed off, and the two of them sat in silence for several minutes. Finally Brie spoke.

"I know you said the New Order didn't kill my mom. But do you really believe her death was an accident?" Brie asked. She was surprised that she'd asked it, but she couldn't pretend that it hadn't been the question lingering in her mind since the moment she'd heard about the plane crash.

Sirena looked about as surprised as Brie was. "No," Sirena said.

Another several minutes passed.

"Who do you think killed her?" Brie asked.

"I don't know," Sirena said, her expression intense and focused. "A plane crash might have killed an ordinary Hallow, but it wouldn't have killed Milena."

Brie pondered this for a moment without success. Finally she said, "I'm lost. What do you mean?"

Sirena looked at Brie in amazement. "Milena was an
innate
, Brie. She can't die from something as simple as a plane crash. Her powers would be lessened from having children, but she could have at least healed herself." Sirena folded her arms across her chest. "No, something happened. She let herself die for a reason, and her reasons died with her."

"Do you think she died to hide something?" Brie asked.

"Of course I do. But Thessa doesn't want me to investigate. She thinks it's too risky."

"We have to find out," Brie said. "She was your sister and my mother."

Sirena placed her hand on Brie's. "We will," she said, squeezing Brie's hand reassuringly. "I've never gone against Thessa's wishes, but I think she's wrong not to investigate this. Milena was keeping a secret, and she died to keep it from falling into the wrong hands. Her secret could change everything."

Brie thought of something. "James has my mom's stuff stored in this room at our house. He keeps it locked—not even Annie or the maid goes in there." At the thought of locks, something from the past clicked in Brie's mind. "I... I think James knows more than he's letting on."

"Like what?"

"I think he was tracking her," Brie said softly. "James has a map that covers the walls of his office, with color-coded pins pressed into specific places. Pilot once asked him what the map was for, and he said it was so he could remember all the places he'd traveled on tour. But I remember we went back and found two pins pushed into Antarctica. Why would James have toured there? Pilot and I assumed it was one of James' exaggerations, but now I think he lied to us. What if the map has something to do with my mom?"

Sirena whistled. "Honestly, it sounds a little far-fetched. But it's not like we have any other leads."

Brie rubbed her jaw, feeling her mouth sink into a frown. I wonder what else we can find in his private office." She wasn't sure how many more secrets she could handle.

"I think we should let the girls investigate," Sirena said. "Thessa wants to get more information on James' heritage anyway. Clara already looked into it, but Thessa still thinks he could have some answers."

Brie's frown deepened. She wondered why Sirena had to bring the other girls into this. "Are you sure we want their help?"

"Yes," Sirena said firmly. "Brie, we need their gifts, Clara's especially. We just can't let them figure out how we are planning to use the information."

"Why?" Brie asked. "Why can't we break in and check out the map? Why can't we go look for clues in New York?" Brie burning desire to do something, anything, brought her to her feet. "What are we waiting for?"