CHAPTER ONE

Pilot sunk into the cool cherry-leather driver's seat of James' silver Aston Martin DBS Volante and inserted the key plate into the dash. The plate glowed stoplight red and the engine hummed to life. "This is a bad idea," he muttered to himself.

Brie, his younger sister, eyed him in his rear view mirror. "At least I didn't wear my hair down today."

The right side of Pilot's lip twitched uncomfortably. A messy mop of a ponytail hung loose from Brie's head, as unkempt as Brie's smudged make-up and wrinkled clothes. Before their mom died, Brie spent hours every morning getting her dark brown hair to lay in soft waves along her delicate jaw line. But Brie never wore her hair down anymore—not since they had moved to Honolulu almost two months ago to live with their dad.

Brie pressed the small black rectangle to open the four-car garage door and the temperature-controlled room filled with the staunch, humid air of the island. It was another warm, beautiful day in the middle of October. Pilot inhaled his surroundings greedily—he still hadn't gotten used to the clean oxygen and the ever-present summer weather of his new home.

Pilot shifted the car into gear and pulled out of their winding driveway toward the street. The van Rossum property spanned five acres with a circular, three-story split-level house at the center. A privacy fence along the perimeter kept out prying eyes and the paparazzi. They hadn't had an encounter this week, which Pilot hoped meant the media had found someone new to harass.

The morning sun glared on the windshield as he cranked the stereo. The top was down, and Pilot took a minute to appreciate the fact that he was even driving himself to school—driving was impractical on the upper east side of Manhattan, where they used to live with their mom. He knew he shouldn't be speeding through the close-knit residential streets, but the rush and whirl of the wind was exhilarating. He imagined it blowing away his problems during the four-mile drive to pick up Rykken.

The white house where Rykken lived sat on a carport containing a broken aquamarine-blue 1969

Chevelle. It didn't seem like much of a place, but Pilot guessed there were worse foster homes to live in. Rykken seemed happy enough, though Pilot knew the money—or lack thereof—made Rykken feel like an outsider among their group of friends at Punahou.

When they pulled up, Brie pulled her earbuds out of an over-large purse she used to carry her schoolbooks. Rykken jetted down the steps from the second story entrance and tossed his backpack and athlete's bag in the backseat next to Brie. She didn't look up. He jumped in on the passenger side without greeting her.

"Annie let you drive the Aston?" Rykken asked, his eyes dancing with excitement.

No." Pilot shifted gears and the car lurched forward. "But she's the house manager, not our baby-sitter. I'm sixteen. I can take care of us when James isn't around."

Rykken's eyes crinkled, giving their natural slant even more definition. "He's gone already?"

"Left on Saturday," Pilot said. "I told you Annie lives with us for legal reasons."

Rykken scrunched his nose. "You mean, because you can't leave your under-age kids alone for months while you record a new album in Los Angeles?"

"That would be the reason." Pilot twisted his head back and forth, rubbing the muscle where his neck and shoulder met. Annie said the pinching along his spine was probably stress. But the pain had gotten worse since their mother died.

As they made their way through Rykken's neighborhood, the houses got smaller and the roads windier, until there were few houses at all. The jungle of palm trees thickened, closing in on the shoulder of the two-lane road. Twisting vines wrapped around the palms and trunks with finger-like tentacles, creating a web of greenery that looked like it could be trampled by an army of men with machetes and still win.

Brie shouted something from the backseat, but Pilot couldn't make it out with all the wind.

"What?" he asked the rear view mirror, slowing down slightly. They were only going forty miles per hour, but the top was down. One word came back with exaggerated emphasis: pah-puh-rah-zi!

"Paparazzi?" Pilot looked further in the distance of his rear view mirror and saw two people dressed like midnight, riding black motorcycles and pointing video cameras. They were gaining quickly on the Aston. Behind the motorcycles was another slimmer figure driving a white Vespa.

Pilot checked his side mirror. "I can't let James see us driving this." There were few rules in James' household, but the Aston was his dad's favorite car. Pilot wouldn't dream of driving it if his own Camry hadn't been out of fuel.

"Better hit the gas then," Rykken said, holding on to the top edge of the door.

Pilot slammed the metal beneath his foot, but the cyclers approached them quickly, flanking the left side of the car.

Brie popped her head in between the front seats. "Slow down and we can put the top up."

"Put your seatbelt on," Pilot said, swatting her hand away from the control panel. Brie fell back into her seat with a huff. Pilot shifted gears and hit the button to put the top up, but nothing happened.

"That's why I told you to slow down!" Brie wailed.

Pilot remembered the speed had to be under twenty to put the top down, but they were going too fast now. The dark riders on their two-wheeled stallions kept pace with the Aston, training their cameras on the siblings. Rykken pulled his backpack in front of his head to shield himself from view. An oncoming Honda Civic swerved to avoid the two cruisers that were now straddling the dividing line.

"You'll get hit!" Pilot shouted, but his words were lost to the wind. He drove onto the shoulder and slowed down as much as he could to give the cruisers room, though the less-forgiving side of him wouldn't mind much if another car erased them from the road.

Brie shouted something. The two men tossed their cameras to the ground. Pilot heard metal colliding concrete and saw scraps of electronic devices strewn behind them.

Pilot watched the men zoom off with unexpected fervor and wondered what Brie said to them. He shook his head; it was impossible. Paparazzi didn't leave because you asked them to.

Brie shook Pilot's shoulders violently. "Pull over! It's Mom! Stop the car!" The desperation in her voice caused Pilot to turn completely around in his seat. He looked to where she was pointing, but all he saw was the third paparazzo gaining ground. The tight white leather outfit showed off the rider's feminine curves, and the white motorcycle helmet vaguely reminded him of the storm troopers in Star Wars.

A split-second later the Aston screeched against the side of a palm tree. Pilot slammed on the brakes and steered the car to a stop on the side of the road. He saw the white Vespa jet off the road to his left, but he didn't have any energy left to figure out why the paparazzi would respect his privacy now. Pilot laid his head in his hands, wishing he could reverse time.

"Is everyone okay?" Rykken asked. Pilot heard Brie mumble a yes.

Anger brewed inside Pilot. "What the hell was that, Brie?" He didn't get a response though; Brie had hopped out of the Aston and was chasing down the woman on the white Vespa.

*****

Brie heard Pilot calling after her in the distance, but she didn't turn around. Her ears were still full of the booming, unearthly sound that chased away those men with cameras. Brie was nearly positive that the woman on the white Vespa was responsible for it, and for harassing the men into leaving their equipment shattered in the middle of the road. But it didn't make sense, because Brie had also seen her mother's eyes, light swirls of coffee, peeking out from under the white helmet.

Up ahead, she heard an engine sputter. The neighborhood was one she didn't recognize—mid-sized homes, interspersed between seas of green foliage with bright pops of yellows, pinks, and reds, disoriented her. The colors made her long for New York; she wasn't sure she would ever get used to the lack of metal and glass buildings towering over her, reflecting the sun back into the sky and keeping her skin and clothes from dampening with sweat. The houses here were stout and their walls reminded her of wet paper left out to dry in the heat, never to be flat again.

She spotted the white Vespa and the white woman beyond the street, concealed by a cluster of trees in one of the resident's yards.

"Mom!" she cried. "Mom!" Her words seemed empty though, as if they were swallowed by the vacuum of empty space between them. If she could only scream a little louder her mother would know she was there.

But the figure revved the engine.

Brie reached down and tossed her heels aside. She ran as fast as she could barefoot toward the yard.

"Stop! Stop!"

She tripped and fell to her knees, scraping her elbows and getting dirt under her fingernails.

Pawing at the ground to regain her footing, she tried to yell again.

"Stop!" she shouted. But this time, the words that emerged were not her own. The deep syllables that escaped were much more foreign and powerful than any other sound she had produced in her life.

As if she'd commanded it, the Vespa jerked to a halt and her mom flew over the handlebars. Brie sprinted toward the scene. Her mom had landed on a soft patch of dirt and grass and rolled into a ball, somersaulting and landing safely on her feet in one fluid motion. Brie slowed down, her lungs gasping for air and her skirt torn. She spotted blood between two of her toes. Her mother turned slowly, facing Brie and looking her dead in the eyes.

At that moment Brie knew she was mistaken: though this woman's eyes looked the same, her face was youthful and unblemished with age. These eyes were familiar yet foreign, like a caricature of her mother's own eyes, as if an artist had drawn them but purposely changed two or three details.

Brie stumbled backward, tripping over the roots of a trunk as the figure moved toward her. She fell into a palm tree, leaning against it to hold herself upright.

"That sound—" Brie stammered. "What did you do to those men on the motorcycles?"

The woman's eyes darkened, pinching at the corners. "You heard that?" The woman's voice was eerily familiar and the sun reflecting off her waxy outfit wrapped her body in a halo of blinding light. She moved closer to Brie. Why hadn't Brie run when she had the chance? She parted her lips, preparing to scream for help, but it was too late. The woman covered Brie's mouth with her balmy hand, silencing any hint of mutiny.

"Relax. It's me." The other hand came up over the front of the white helmet, pulling it off and shaking out a single, dark blonde braid. "See?"

Brie raised her hand to cover her squinted eyes. "Sirena?" Brie couldn't believe it. On the first day of school, they had sat next to each other, two new sophomore girls in a sea of childhood friendships. Sirena knew who Brie was, but hadn't asked any prying questions like the other students had—

she never acted like Brie had a famous family with a tragic story.

Sirena tilted her head to one side quizzically. "You're one of us?" Brie was beyond confused by the question, but shockingly, it was the other girl who couldn't seem to get a grasp on the situation.

Brie shook her head, jostling Sirena's hand out of her face. Sirena was the one stalking the Aston on a motorcycle and then running away to hide her identity. What right did she have to be confused?

Brie pushed away from the palm tree, side-stepped Sirena, and brushed the sand off her skirt. "Have you been spying on me this whole time?" Brie felt the anger inside her, but she refused to let her tears surface.

Sirena's eyes widened. "I can explain. It's not what you think." She stared at Brie in... awe. This should have been calming, but it only frightened Brie more. A paparazzo posing as a student she could handle. The truth... maybe not. Brie's imagination was already in overdrive trying to understand. You're one of us?

"What did you mean?" Brie asked, backing away in the direction she came. "I'm one of you. One of what? What are you?" In the distance, Brie heard footsteps and swearing. Sirena cocked her head at the sound, snapping out of her trance.

"Not now. Your brother is coming." Sirena stepped toward the Vespa, but Brie gripped her arm.

"You can't leave me here without an explanation," she said, tightening her grip. "I can call the police."

Sirena yelped. "You're hurting me." She pulled her arm away. It was only then that Brie realized her nails had drawn blood from Sirena's arm.

Sirena licked her wound the way a cat might lick its paw. "We'll talk at school." She gave Brie a quick hug, which stunned Brie too much to shove off or return. Sirena hopped into the seat of the Vespa just as the voices neared the yard where they stood.

Sirena flipped her head back and put her finger to her lips. "Don't tell them about this," she said.

"Don't tell anyone." Then, both she and the Vespa disappeared into thin air right before Brie's eyes.

*****

Pilot spoke to Brie in quick, harsh tones, but Rykken ignored them. Rykken's skin still prickled; he was beginning to believe that something besides the paparazzi stalked them.

He'd seen a mysterious flash of white movement, accompanied by the same prickling sensation only one other time: two months earlier, at the funeral. It was August, and despite the heat and the large crowd, the inside of the Manhattan cathedral had felt hollow, the air sterile. The white stone walls stretched several stories high and echoed with whispers of sorrow, sobs of regret, and rumors of excitement all at once. Even the tall arches that held the blue, tinted-glass windows did nothing to let in natural sunlight.

The only hint of warmth in that otherwise cold interior was the bright hibiscus flowers that decorated every corner of the church, from the pews to the aisles to the massive altar at the front.

Rykken was there for Pilot, but it was Brie everyone else was looking at. She was beautiful, and even in mourning she had a sparkle about her.

"I can't believe she wore an azure dress to a funeral," a girl in the row behind him whispered.

Rykken glanced back in surprise.

"Shut up Adele." The tall guy standing next to her pushed his red hair out of his pale face. "Her mom just died. Let her wear whatever color she wants."

Brie picked up a bouquet of red hibiscus flowers and made her way to the polished wooden casket. She stood there, hesitating before drawing one of the flowers from the arrangement. Rykken heard shuffling in the back, followed by the same prickling sensation on his arms. Then he turned and saw the same flash of brilliant white, moving slightly beyond his vision. There were too many people in black blocking the exit for him to see anything more.

When Brie finally placed a solitary hibiscus on the family crest of her mother's coffin, cameras clicked, creating images that would be worth hundreds of thousands of dollars by the next morning.

*****

The cold, blue cement walls of Punahou's hallways had not calmed Pilot's nerves as he and Rykken made their way to the boy's locker room to clean up. There was little hope of keeping his unapproved drive a secret from James because the minute Pilot had pulled into the school parking lot, the other students were on their phones, snapping pictures of the wrecked passenger side. If it wasn't the paparazzi antagonizing him, it was the technology-empowered high school grapevine. Both he and Rykken had missed their entire water polo practice and most of their second period classes as well. The only reason they had come to the gym at all was to take showers and change into fresh clothes.

It felt good to wash away the sweat and stink of the morning mishap in silence, but—

"Busted!" someone bellowed as Pilot walked out of his shower stall. Justin, a senior on the varsity polo team, stood near the door smirking at him. He held up a cell phone. "Heard about your run-in with the paps."

"I'm screwed." Pilot punched in his locker combination. "But at least we're here on time."

"Actually, you aren't. Didn't you know?" Justin's curly black hair fluttered as he shook his head, laughing. "Only you could scratch up a three hundred thousand dollar car and still be worried about punctuality."

Pilot looked up. "I was being sarcastic." He threw a wadded damp towel at Justin, which Justin deflected lazily. "James is going to kill me. Make no mistake."

But it wasn't James that Pilot was worried about. The Aston may have been stripped of a good portion of the paint on the passenger side, but it was otherwise drivable.

On the other hand, Brie standing there by herself in some stranger's yard as if she had just seen a ghost made Pilot crazy. His hands shook a little as he remembered yelling at Brie—for running away impulsively and scaring the shit out of him with her delusions. The guilt of his words weighed on him. He was thankful that Rykken was there to help him find Brie and get her back to the car.

Justin smirked, as if he could read Pilot's thoughts. "I hope your pretty sister is okay. Maybe she'll need someone new to drive her to school tomorrow."

Pilot's shoulders tensed just as Rykken appeared from his shower stall. "Brie is fine." Rykken grabbed a towel. "Why would you say that? We were in a car accident."

Justin smiled wickedly. "I ask because I care." Rykken rolled his eyes, but Justin's grin grew wider. "I don't want to see anything happen to the hottest sophomore in the entire school."

"Back off man." Pilot intended for his warning to be firm yet calm, but the slight boom he heard in his tone told him he wasn't fooling anyone. He pulled a soft white polo shirt over his head, deciding not to care if he seemed a little overprotective. He wasn't going to stand for any locker room talk about Brie, and there was no point in hiding his contempt from Justin.

"Why should I back off?" Justin leaned against the lockers with a thumb in the front of his pants, like he was posing for an Abercrombie catalog. "She's my type. Brunette hair, green eyes, natural tan—"

"In that case," Rykken said, raising his voice, "Pilot must be your type too."

Justin laughed. "Pilot is all yours man. Have at it." Rykken made a face, but Justin sauntered over to Pilot. "I need you to put in a good word with Brie for me, bro. We're friends, right?"

"Exactly," Pilot said, masking his annoyance by matching Justin's playful tone. He patted Justin on the back. "That's why you need to stay away from my sister—no unnecessary complications in our friendship."

Rykken chuckled as he dried his long, dark hair with a towel. Pilot's warning didn't faze Justin though. He merely grinned, clearly enjoying teasing Pilot about this. He leaned in closer to Pilot. "I think we should let her decide, don't you?"

Pilot slammed his locker shut, facing Justin. "Good luck with that."

"Don't egg him on," Rykken said to Pilot, walking over to his own locker. "And definitely don't wish him luck. He's gotten lucky with a couple younger girls in the past."

Justin shot Rykken a nasty look, the same one he reserved for those moments when their coach praised Rykken. Over the summer, their coach had named Rykken water polo captain instead of Justin, even though Rykken was only in his junior year at Punahou. Since then, the two hadn't been nearly as chummy as back in the day when all three of them played club polo together.

"I'm joking Justin." Rykken backed up slightly, but enough to placate Justin and avoid a fight.

"What are you doing here anyway?"

"I forgot my watch." Justin always wore a silver high-tech Christian Dior watch. It was a gift from his mother and he wore it every day, even though he never used it to check the time. He punched in the combination to his locker and retrieved it, holding it up so the light could reflect off its shiny surface.

"I'm hurt," Pilot replied. "I thought you came here to rip on us."

"That too." Justin grinned. "But it's getting a little boring, so I'm gonna split. See you two at lunch." He shut his locker and strutted out the door.

Pilot balled his fist, tapping it against his locker. Rykken looked up. "Ignore him."

"I can't." Pilot exhaled, shaking his head. "I'm already worried about Brie and I don't need him messing with her."

"She's fine," Rykken replied automatically. "We found her this morning. No one is hurt."

"Come on! She thought she saw our mother? You were at the funeral—our mom is dead. That doesn't seem fine to me."

Rykken shrugged his shoulders. "Losing her mom was traumatic and she is still recovering." He slung his athletic bag over his shoulder and hesitated. "Are you sure she's not looking for attention? You said she does that sometimes."

Pilot scowled, pressure building in his chest. Rykken held up his hands, palms out in surrender.

"Just asking," he said.

"I know Brie isn't your favorite person, but she's my sister."

"It's fine. I don't have a problem with her." But Rykken's smile didn't quite reach his eyes. He sat down on the bench, setting his bags next to him. "You want my advice?" He laced his fingers together, propping his chin with his hands as he spoke. "You can't expect your family to recover from your mom's death in two months."

"I know," Pilot said miserably. "I just think this thing with Brie—whatever it is—is different."

Rykken stood up. "Give it time. She's going to get through this. You both are." He walked to the door, scooping up his backpack and athletic bag on the way. "You coming?" he asked.

Pilot held up his phone. "I need to make a quick call."

Rykken left the locker room, leaving Pilot alone on the bench. He needed help. After several minutes of staring at the blue metal lockers, he made his decision. He opened his cell, searching for the number of James van Rossum.

*****

Brie scanned the outdoor courtyard where most of the students convened for lunch. The green, expansive courtyard was littered with benches for students to eat at and trees for students to huddle around. A criss-cross of sidewalks led to every building in the entire school, including the elementary and middle schools. Punahou served grades kindergarten to high school, but luckily, the teenagers were separated from their younger counterparts.

Most high schools had cliques, but the cliques at Punahou were almost always based on sports—the school was obsessed with athletics. The largest were the cheerleaders, the water polo players, the football players, the girl's volleyball players, and the cross country runners. Then there were the more obscure sports—teams for kayaking, bowling, karate, and air riflery, whatever that was. Within each group, students segregated themselves further by athletic level—varsity one, varsity two, junior varsity, and sometimes a freshman team.

Brie bit her lip, overwhelmed by the swarms of students and at a loss for where to sit and whom to talk to. If she had wanted to tell anyone about her morning, Sirena's disappearing act guaranteed she would not.

Brie tried to remember what happened after Sirena disappeared. Pilot and Rykken had found her and Pilot wrapped his arms around her tightly. She barely remembered the angry words that poured out of him in the moments that followed. Rykken had been somewhere, standing away from the siblings, avoiding eye contact with Brie. When their eyes finally met, Rykken's spoke only of accusations.

No one had said much for the rest of the car ride. The next thing she knew she was in the school parking lot.

Surrounded by people and cameras, she came to life again, but only on autopilot. It was her routine that got her through every day since she had first set foot in Honolulu. If she lay low, the media would have no story, and then they would have to leave her alone.

On normal days, she convinced everyone—students, teachers, strangers—that she was adjusting to her new life and moving past her mother's death. At night, she retreated to the cocoon of her bed's comforter where she lay in peace, paralyzed by her grief.

Today felt different though. For the first time in awhile, Brie wanted something—but the one person who could give it to her hadn't been in classes all morning. We'll talk at school. Brie felt betrayed by her friend's absence. Where was Sirena?

Someone called her name, but she smiled and waved and kept moving. Brie wandered past the courtyard toward a lesser-known alcove of the Punahou campus. She hoped for a quiet place to think and sulk, but to her surprise, a group of varsity cheerleaders had already claimed her favorite shaded gazebo.

One of the cheerleaders tilted her head with interest, letting her bouncy sun-kissed black curls fall across her heart-shaped face. "Brie! We've been waiting for you."

"You have?" Brie asked both surprised and agitated. The other two cheerleaders turned sharply. Brie realized her mistake a second too late as each of the girls' faces registered in her mind. It was Thessa, Clara, and Cora—Sirena's friends that Brie sometimes hung out with at school. Was she supposed to meet them today? She couldn't remember.

For a moment, Brie was struck by Thessa's big, brown eyes. They were intense and pretty, but slightly inhuman. Cora gave Brie a curious look, and her twin sister Clara looked at her like she was an insect they were dissecting in biology lab.

Brie took a deep breath. "I meant, have any of you seen Sirena? She was supposed to meet me for...

today," Brie trailed off lamely.

"What's wrong?" asked Cora, suddenly on alert. She grabbed Brie's wrist and pulled her up the gazebo's steps. A flash of alarm overwhelmed Brie, but before she could say anything, Cora released her.

"You seem frantic," she said accusingly. "Why are you looking for Sirena?"

"Oh no," said Clara, folding her arms across her chest. "Did Sirena say something weird to you?" She faced Thessa, lowering her voice. "I thought you said we could trust her not to interfere."

"Wait—interfere?" The phrase caught Brie's attention. "Interfere with what?"

Thessa gave Clara a dirty look. "Nothing."

"If this has anything to do with my mom and how Sirena looks freakishly like her and—" Brie inhaled sharply— how Sirena can control the paparazzi and disappear on a whim...

The three girls stared at her, shock painted on their faces.

Finally, Thessa spoke up. "Why would you think this had anything to do with your mom?"

Brie divided her gaze between the three girls. "You know something," she said, backing away. "All three of you are in on it." For some reason, this revelation made Brie want to escape. You're one of us? Whatever they were—religious cult, secret witch society, voodoo doll worshippers—she didn't want to be a part of it. She backed up, away from the crazy girls. The secluded gazebo felt further from the school every second she stood there. She wondered if even the paparazzi, who stalked her everywhere, would hear her scream out here.

Brie turned to run down the gazebo steps, but she was stopped by a tall blonde girl in high heels, dressed in a white blouse and a navy blue skirt. Sirena walked confidently up the steps, firmly nudging Brie back. She stood in the entrance, blocking it so Brie couldn't escape.

"I didn't tell her," Sirena declared, addressing the cheerleaders. "She found out because she's one of us. That's why I called this meeting."

Thessa collapsed onto the gazebo bench. "Well this complicates things." Cora sat down next to her, looking equally nonplussed.

Clara scoffed. "You can't be serious, Sirena. Her? Her father is an earthlie."

"Is he?" Sirena asked.

Clara's eyes burned slowly into Sirena. "We traced his history. I don't make mistakes."

"Perhaps James is not her father then?"

Clara folded her arms. "That's impossible. She has his eyes."

"Can somebody tell me what's going on?" Brie interrupted. The four girls turned their attention to her, as if just remembering that she was listening.

"Sit down," Thessa instructed, gesturing to the spot next to her on the bench. Brie sat hesitantly.

She wanted answers, but that meant pushing through the fear of what those answers might hold.

Cora reached across Thessa's lap and touched Brie's hand. Brie's pulse slowed as a wave of calm consumed her; she hadn't realized how fast her heart was beating before. "We know you must be freaked out," Cora said. "We can answer your questions, but it's going to take time to explain everything."

Thessa pressed the tips of her fingers from her right hand to their corresponding fingers on the left hand. She flexed her fingers, pressing the palms of her hands together. "Sirena, what is your evidence that Brie is not an earthlie?"

"She used a stamata to throw me off my bike this morning."

Clara looked at Brie incredulously. "Where would she have learned to use a stamata that strong?"

"What is a stamata?" Brie asked.

"I don't know," Sirena replied, addressing Clara and ignoring Brie's question. "She must be an innate. Milena was."

"My mom?" Brie asked.

"That makes no sense," said Cora. "Pilot is earthlie and James is earthlie. Why would Brie be different?"

Clara turned to Thessa. "Maybe Pilot is an earthlie because of the prophecy?"

Sirena snorted. "You've got to be kidding me."

Clara whipped her head around, speaking quickly. "There's a reason there are no sons of—"

"The prophecy should have been fulfilled years ago!" Sirena shook her head. "How long will it take for you to wake up and realize you've been spoon-fed lies?"

Clara's mouth hung open. "Prophecies aren't a science! There's more than enough evidence to take them seriously." She looked to Thessa for help.

Thessa stood up. "It's possible that Milena's genes were strong enough to produce one–"

"Is this your idea of explaining things?" Brie asked, interrupting the nonsensical conversation. She stood up and confronted Sirena. "Tell me what you are," she demanded. "Explain what happened this morning. You promised."

The other girls looked at Brie in shock. Sirena dropped her head, but Thessa locked eyes with Brie, capturing her attention. "Brie, we can tell you what Sirena is because we are the same. So are you—or at least we think so."

"And what is that?" Brie asked with a thin calm, taking her place on the bench again. For the second time today, she felt fully alert, as if someone had shaken her out of the daze that kept her safe after her mother's death.

"We have to start at the beginning for you to understand," Thessa said. "Nothing will make sense otherwise. Can you be patient with your questions, and listen to our story?" Brie nodded. Cora gave her an encouraging smile.

"Long ago, there were two archangels in the Aerial Spires—Heaven, as most earthlies would call it.

The archangels were named Michael and Luci. Michael, of course, is the archangel mentioned numerous times in various religious books, like the Bible and the Qur'an. You've heard of him, right?"

Brie nodded.

"And Luci, as you might have guessed, refers to the archdemon, Lucifer. Or rather, Lucifer refers to Luci. In the days when these tales were written down, earthlies did not consider women equal to men, so all the archangels' names were changed to sound more masculine." Brie nodded again in understanding, and Thessa continued.

"Michael and Luci were co-commanders of the angel army in the Aerial Spires. Marriage is illegal there, but you could describe their relationship as similar to a marriage. They were each other's second allegiance, after their first allegiance to Theos, of course.

"Theos?"

"Theos, as in what you earthlies call God," Clara said impatiently.

Thessa continued. "Theos created a new race—humans—in his own likeness. The humans were like children, helpless and weak on their own, but meant to rule above the Chorus."

Cora saw the blank look on Brie's face and interjected. "The Chorus is another name for the hierarchy of angels in the Aerial Spires," she explained.

"You can imagine how this might upset the Chorus, having to care for and wait on a weaker race than their own. Michael and Luci stood at the center of the controversy, their followers waiting for them to decide whether the army would maintain their allegiance to Theos. Michael was resolute in his purpose and saw no reason to question Theos. Luci, however, had sharp doubts. Without Michael's knowledge, she met with another god, Diabo, in hopes of striking a deal.

"When Michael found out about Luci's betrayal, his anger was immeasurable. Luci had broken both her first and second allegiances by meeting with Diabo. Knowing that he and Luci could never see eye to eye again, Michael challenged Luci to a death battle for sole control of their combined army. The battle lasted many years, as archangels are difficult to kill, and Luci had the help of a rebel faction within the army who did not want to stay in the Aerial Spires. Eventually, Michael cornered Luci, but he realized he couldn't kill his companion, the woman he'd loved and fought alongside for many millennia.

Instead, he spared her life but cast her out of the Aerial Spires for all eternity.

"Luci was weak when she left the Aerial Spires and had no means to take care of the rebel faction that followed her. The archangels needed energy to survive—energy that could only be given by a god. Luci turned to Diabo for help, and he made her a terrible deal. He would take care of her faction of angels and reinstate her as commander of a new army, the archdemons. In return, she would help Diabo steal the minds and souls of his brother's children."

Brie shivered. "That's a terrible choice to have to make. But Theos and Diabo—"

"Are brothers," Thessa said. "And Diabo wanted Luci to steal human souls. Humans were young at that time, and Diabo had appeared to them many times before, tempting them easily. But he lusted after a more devilish plot. He sent his most trusted archdemons, seven in total, down from the Infernal Spires to create a new army on earth—a hybrid breed who would fight to claim human souls on a daily basis. This hybrid race was named the Nephilim."

Brie's stomach twisted as she absorbed the story. "Is that what we are?" she asked. "Nephilim?" The thought of being the offspring of an archdemon made her sick.

Clara glared at Brie, clearly offended by her question, but Cora laughed reassuringly. "No, not at all."

"Let me finish," Thessa said patiently. "When Michael learned of the Nephilim, he realized that he too needed an army on the ground if he wanted to protect Theos' human souls. Michael gathered his six most trusted warriors and took a piece from each of their hearts to form six stones. He sent the stones to earth, along with a stone from his own heart. The seven stones, when fully-formed to their earthlie sizes, stacked on top of each other in a stable arch, with Michael's stone creating the keystone at the top center. The arch was placed somewhere in what would now be considered Western Europe—the exact location has been lost over the centuries. Any human child under one year of age could stand under the arch and be blessed by a flood of water that poured from the stones. If the child survived, he or she would carry the blood of one of the seven archangels—a bloodline that would flow through his or her descendants for as long as they reproduced, making them as strong as the archangels while keeping their humanity and souls intact.

"We are the descendants of this hybrid race, Brie, created by Michael to fight the Nephilim for the souls of all humanity. We are the Hallows."

CHAPTER TWO

Brie's head spun over Thessa's revelation. "I don't believe you," she said.

"What?" Clara said.

"I don't believe you. You are all insane."

Cora's forehead crinkled. "But Brie, why would we lie to you?"

Brie could think of only one reason. She stood up and scanned the trees. "Where are the cameras?"

Clara's eyes widened before narrowing into sharp slits. She threw her arms up in the air. "You are the daughter of James van Rossum. You are not famous enough to get spunked or punned, or whatever they call it these days."

Brie affixed her hands to her hips. "If angels are real, and demons are real, what else should I know about? Blood-sucking dead people? Garlic and crosses?"

Clara sneered. "Vampire references." Her lips pressed together firmly aside from the slight upturn at the corners of her mouth. "Vampires are the most ridiculous mythological creatures earthlies ever created. They don't make sense. Here's what really happens—when you die, your body becomes a shell, absent of its soul. The soul is what makes you human—not your brain or your heart." Clara crossed her legs, folding her arms in front of her. "Vampires are anatomically impossible."

Brie glared, annoyed by Clara's condescending tone. "You know what I meant. Replace 'vampires' with anything. Unicorns. Are unicorns anatomically impossible too?"

No, those are anatomically improbable." The whites in Clara's eyes took over as she rolled them back into her head. "It's a horse with a horn."

Brie imagined Clara's pupils staring at the innards of her skull, and stifled a giggle.

"Are you two done?" Thessa asked. She looked at Brie. "The story is real." Sirena coughed, folding her arms across her chest. "Or, at least it's what most of us believe," Thessa said, glancing at Sirena.

"The story is what's written in our history," Sirena said pointedly, addressing only Brie. "It's as real to us as the stories of the gods were to the Romans."

Clara's mouth twisted into a cross between a snarl and a pout. "Don't listen to her. The story is real. There's plenty physical evidence to support the history of Hallow and Nephilim beginnings."

Sirena opened her mouth, but Thessa interjected loudly. "Regardless of whether the details of our beginnings are accurate, Brie, the Hallows are a real superhuman race with real powers that can be dangerous, to both you and others. This is serious. I don't know why Milena kept your true nature a secret from us, but it probably means we're all at risk."

"What I don't understand still is how she's a Hallow," Cora said, looking at Brie.

"Well, Milena was a daughter of Michael," Clara said, "and Michael's blood is dominant. It's possible that Michael's blood stayed dominant even when she married a human. It left Pilot an earthlie for obvious reasons, but when Brie came along—"

"But in general, Hallow blood isn't dominant over earthlies," Cora said. "To get a Hallow, you need both parents to have angel blood."

"Maybe James had a touch of angel blood too," Sirena said. "That's common for celebrities. Milena must not have known Brie would become a Hallow. She would have told me if she knew."

Cora winced, her jaw clamping. Thessa and Clara both looked at the ground.

Brie took the silence as an opportunity to get her questions answered. "My mother was the daughter of Michael. What does that mean?"

"It means she's a descendant of the Archangel Michael's bloodline," Thessa said, avoiding Sirena's gaze. "But Brie, your safety is compromised. We don't have time for questions. Until we figure out what happened, we need you to do exactly as we tell you."

Brie crossed her arms in defiance. "I want answers to my questions first."

"You'll get answers in time," Thessa said. "But right now we need a plan to hide you."

"I want answers now," Brie insisted. She gestured to their surroundings. "I don't see any eminent danger or death threats, and I can sit here all day. I don't need to go to class."

"No." Thessa's tone was firm. "This is not negotiable. You will do what we say."

Brie shoved her purse onto the bench. "Why should I trust you if you won't answer my questions?"

Clara huffed. "Because if you don't, you will get yourself and your entire family killed, not to mention Sirena, who is technically your aunt. Is that a good enough reason?"

"My aunt!" Brie exclaimed, looking at Sirena in horror.

There was silence for a second, before Clara laughed. "Close your mouth. It's unattractive."

Brie scowled, clamping her teeth together.

Clara's eyes gleamed. "Your lips are too wide to create a comical jaw drop anyway. If that's what you were going for."

"It wasn't." Brie was determined not to let Clara distract her. She looked at Sirena. "So you're my aunt? Explain how you're my aunt."

No one answered right away. Thessa, Clara, and Cora deferred to Sirena, who was rubbing her fingers together nervously. Sirena looked up to see four expectant faces. "Alright, I'll tell her." She sighed.

"The reason you got me confused with Milena this morning is because we are fraternal twins. Our eyes are the most noticeable similarity. Milena is my older sister by a few minutes."

"You knew my mom then. She was your sister." It wasn't a question. Brie sat back down, almost falling into the bench this time.

"Yes. I know it's weird that your closest friend in Honolulu is your aunt. I was supposed to keep my distance from you and protect you from afar. I couldn't stay away though—you're so much like her."

Sirena stood up. "I should probably explain who we are. Milena and I are the last remaining descendants of a family of women who ruled the Hallows through Michael's divinity. Our family was overthrown in the 1920's by a group of mixed bloods that wanted to run the Hallows' government as a democracy rather than a monarchy.

"Thessa rescued us during the first revolt and hid us. The New Order—a faction of resentful Hallows—

meant to kill Michael's bloodline for good. I lived on a small island in the Pacific, while Milena grew up in New York City. By the time I found her, she had already met James.

"I was so angry when Milena got married. We had recently met, and she was turning her back on the Hallows and her family's legacy. On their wedding day, we severed communication for our safety, aside from forming a plan to keep her children and husband safe if anything ever happened to her."

Sirena took a deep breath and looked expectantly at Brie. Eventually, after steadying her nerves, Brie said, "The 1920's? Wow, you're old."

The three cheerleaders laughed. Even Sirena smiled. "Thanks. I look pretty good for my age though."

"Why did my mom get older and you didn't if you were born only a few minutes apart?"

"All Hallows remain young and immortal until we have our allotted two children. The process of having children ages us naturally, and our children replace us when we die."

Brie felt a stab in her chest. Milena had always claimed to be an only child with dead parents, but she wasn't. Brie had a family outside of Pilot. She looked at Sirena. "I have so many questions for you."

"Brie," Thessa said gently, "we have kept Sirena and Milena safe from the New Order. They've remained unregistered and undetected for almost 100 years now. You will have to do the same, if you want to protect yourself and Sirena, Pilot, and even James. They will kill you all if they find out your family survived because it threatens the New Order's existence."

"We're running out of time," Clara blurted out. "We need a plan." She closed her eyes and placed her hands on her cheerleading bag. Then, she unzipped it and pulled out a necklace. The necklace was a ring encrusted with black stones and knotted into a matching chain.

"Wear this," Clara said, passing the necklace to Brie.

Brie shuddered, clamping her hands together in her lap. "Did you just do some crazy superpower thing to make that?"

Clara tilted her head forward and fluttered her eyelashes in annoyance. "Of course not. It was in my bag."

"Liar."

"Just take it," Clara said, forcing the necklace into Brie's hands.

Brie held it up. "This is beautiful," she said reluctantly. The stones weighed down on her as she held the necklace against the line of buttons down her shirt. "And it matches my outfit."

"It's not a fashion statement," Clara said impatiently. "This necklace stifles your Hallow powers.

If you really are an innate, you can use them accidentally without even knowing it."

"What is an innate?" Brie asked.

"A Hallow with heightened powers," Sirena explained. "One who can innately understand and use his or her powers without much training. Innates are special in the Hallow world, because they are one with our origins. Sometimes they invent new magic."

"So this morning when I yelled 'stop'..." Brie remembered the way Sirena was pitched face-first over her Vespa.

"You spoke 'stop' in ancient Greek," Sirena explained, "which is what caused me to stop. Greek is the natural Hallow language. Speaking is not necessary to use Hallow powers, but speaking out loud, especially in our original tongue, amplifies whatever it is you're trying to do."

Brie nodded; she didn't want to think about what could have happened if a paparazzo had captured that moment on camera. She slipped the necklace over her head, letting the ring of stones settle in the middle of her chest.

"Speaking of powers, we'll have to find time to train you also," Sirena said. "You spend way too much time in the earthlie media and we can't afford to have you lose control in front of them."

"Yes, training. We need an excuse for you to spend more time with us," Thessa decided. She turned to Clara expectantly, who placed her hands over her cheerleading bag again. A minute later, she pulled out two articles of clothing and handed them to Brie.

Sirena gasped; Cora just laughed.

"You have got to be kidding me." Brie held up a Punahou cheerleader uniform. "What's next, Mary Poppins? A mirror and a coat rack?"

Clara smirked. "You would love another mirror, wouldn't you Brie?"

"Can you two shut up?" Cora asked. Brie and Clara looked at her in surprise. From what Brie knew about her, she guessed that Cora rarely used phrases like "shut up." Cora put her hand on her forehead, rubbing her eyebrows. "I'm sorry. It's just that I can feel every emotion that passes through the two of you."

Sirena's eyes were on Thessa. "I want to be part of the training too."

The twins cringed in unison. But Thessa tilted her head and said, "Yes, that seems appropriate. You are Brie's guardian, after all." Clara looked at Thessa in surprise, but didn't question her.

Cora stood up. "We should go to class." Cora looked like she was ready for the meeting to be over.

"Wait. I have one more question." Brie turned to Sirena. "That thing I did earlier, throwing you off your bike—that was something you can teach me to control?"

"Yes," Sirena said, looking animated for the first time during the whole conversation. Brie wondered if it had anything to do with Thessa letting her in on the training. "But for now, we really need you to go to class. People notice when you're absent. You're famous, remember?"

Clara's eyes flickered with annoyance. Sirena winked at Brie, a teasing grin dancing on her lips.

"Let's go," Thessa said, getting up and collecting her things. The other girls packed their things too. "And Brie, you start... cheerleading... tomorrow after school."

Brie bobbed her head, putting on the perkiest face she could muster. "Go Team Hallow."

*****

The walls of the small classroom reminded him of stale bread, and the room reeked of bleach. But that wasn't why Rykken hated his English class. He hated it mostly because of her.

There were only sixteen students in the class, and Brie had shown up late on the first day. He remembered the teacher scanning the classroom and identifying the seat next to him as the only available seat left. Rykken's heart pounded. Four years of watching Brie from afar had culminated into one serendipitous moment where he finally had the excuse to talk to her outside of Pilot's peripheral.

He had smiled and opened his mouth to say hi, but Brie slunk into her seat dejectedly, completely ignoring him as she pulled out a notebook. Deflated, he followed her cue and didn't talk to her at all during the entire period. A few days later, Brie said something to him—something to the effect of an apology for not recognizing him on the first day— but the damage had already been done, and her real message rang loud and clear. Rykken might as well have been invisible to her.

They hadn't talked since, aside from the occasional niceties when Pilot was around. But today they were starting the project portion of the class and naturally, partners were assigned based on the seating arrangement.

The bell rang. Brie continued to scribble in her notebook, and Rykken had to snap his fingers to get her attention.

Brie jumped, covering her notebook with her arm. "When do you want to meet this week?" he asked her.

She stuffed the notebook into her purse hastily. "After your usual polo practice works." She tugged at the zipper but the purse was clearly full, and the ornate necklace she wore kept getting stuck in the closure. Finally, she tossed the purse onto her shoulder, clamping her elbow to the side of the purse to keep it shut. He wondered what she didn't want him to see.

"Do you want to set a particular day? We probably need to map out—"

"No. Let's play it by ear." Brie ducked her head, her eyes drifting to one of the classroom windows.

"Um. Okay." Great conversation. Glad we worked out the details. Rykken rubbed his jaw and stood up.

He couldn't wait to get out of the humid classroom.

"Rykken, wait." Rykken turned so quickly he almost knocked a girl over with his backpack. Brie took a deep breath, wringing her hands together. "I need your advice about something."

"What?" He coughed, trying to clear his throat, which had suddenly developed an unattractive scratchy tone. Brie never asked for his advice. She never even talked to him.

Brie twirled a piece of her long, wavy hair between her skinny fingers. "First, promise you won't tell Pilot."

Rykken examined Brie carefully. "That serious, huh?" His mind raced with the worst possible scenarios, like Brie had an eating disorder. She did seem skinnier than normal—maybe Pilot was right that she was depressed. Rykken didn't think he could keep an eating disorder secret from Pilot.

"No, it's not that serious," Brie said. "It's just that Pilot has enough to worry about." Rykken breathed in. This was the first time he had seen Brie so somber and self-aware. Maybe she did see how her actions affected her brother—how much pressure Pilot felt to keep her under control.

Rykken tilted his head toward her. "I won't disagree with that," he said softly. "But I can't lie to Pilot."

"You don't have to lie," Brie said in an exasperated tone. "Just don't mention this conversation to him." Brie looked around; she seemed uncomfortable.

The severity of her body movements cleared Rykken's mind. "I wouldn't. Besides, if your secret is really that interesting, he'll find out on television."

Brie's face fell. Rykken's gratification lasted only a few seconds before it turned to guilt.

"Please," she said, her eyes focused on something at the front of the room. "I don't have anyone to talk to." Her gaze shifted to the floor. "Pilot trusts you, and I trust Pilot."

Rykken nodded, mostly for his own benefit since she couldn't seem to meet his eyes. "Trustworthy by proxy."

She bit the edge of her lip, her mouth parted slightly in the middle. "I didn't mean it like that."

Rykken looked away. It annoyed him that the more he hurt her, the worse he felt. "Look. I promise I won't tell Pilot. What's going on?"

Brie's voice dropped to a whisper. "You've lived here your whole life and grown up with most of the girls at this school, right? You would know their personalities and whether I could trust them or not."

Rykken tried not to let his surprise show on his face. "Is someone bothering you?"

"No, no—I just—" Brie inhaled sharply. "Living in the spotlight," she said. "I've had friends that were using me and I need to know...."

Brie scraped at the chipped nail polish on her index finger. Rykken waited for her to finish her sentence, but her jaw was set.

"Who?" he asked.

"Sirena," Brie said. "And three other girls—Thessa, Clara, and Cora. Actually, what am I thinking?

You wouldn't even know Sirena." Brie laughed a little. "She moved here right before we did."

Rykken felt sorry for Brie. "I thought Sirena was your friend."

Brie looked at him, finally meeting his eyes. "Me too."

Rykken thought about her question, getting momentarily lost in the pearly green pools of Brie's eyes. He felt a slight urge to comfort her; then he remembered that the only reason she was talking to him was because she wanted information. "You can trust Cora," he said. "I don't know the other girls that well, but Cora wouldn't lie to you."

Brie exhaled. "Thank you. That really helps." She adjusted the straps of her large purse on her shoulder and squeezed his forearm lightly as she made her way to the exit. Rykken's hand automatically went to his arm, where the tingling sensation of her touch lingered.

When he looked up again, Brie was standing in the door frame. "I'm sorry if I've done something to upset you," she said quickly, her words rushing out of her like a freight train. Rykken said nothing as his emotions twisted over how to reply.

"Okay, then," she said quietly. "I guess I'll see you after school." She left the room, leaving him dazed and silent, staring out into the hall after her.

*****

"What are you doing?" Clara whispered to Thessa. They were hiding out in a small corner of the school library, skipping class again. Of course, they rarely ever went to class; their enrollment at Punahou was just a ruse, a way to act like they were contributing to the New Order's cause.

"We're supposed to be laying low," Clara continued. "First you let Sirena into our lives, and now you want to help with Brie? I know you feel guilty, but this has to stop."

Thessa groaned. She knew Clara was right—the whole reason they had moved to Honolulu was to escape the power-hungry politics of the New Order. Back when Barcelona was controlled by the monarchy, the Hallows focused on the smaller picture—intimate communities, one-on-one conversations, grassroots movements in the eastern hemisphere. When the New Order took over, they set their sights on America—and more importantly, on controlling it.

Strategically, it was a sound move for a group of people trying to influence the masses. After all, America was becoming a superpower at the time, and even if they hadn't been, the Nephilim were attempting the same thing. Hallows were sent to America to create new systems of power and infiltrate the systems of power already in place. The presidential election was the ultimate prize for the Hallows, but there were other areas to make a difference in besides politics—churches, sports, broadcasting, music, writing, and speaking.

Thessa took a deep breath. "The New Order won't find out. We can contain this."

Clara cast a withering gaze in Thessa's direction. "Sirena, sure. But Brie attracts too much media attention and you know it."

Again, Thessa agreed, but she knew saying so wouldn't help with Clara. The coverage about Milena van Rossum's death had been relentless, but Brie had gotten her share of coverage too. The press was fascinated with the young teenager, perhaps because she was a miniature version of her beloved mother; but also because she had celebrity appeal, the type that people couldn't explain—a star quality that was all Brie's own.

"It's a risk," Thessa admitted. "But if we can help Brie, we should. What are you so afraid of?"

"You mean aside from being tried for aiding enemies of the New Order?"

"Clara, I owe Sirena's mother." Thessa folded her arms across her chest. "I promised." She felt like they'd had this argument a hundred times before, but for some reason, Clara still didn't understand Thessa's obligation to the Guerrero family.

Clara was silent for a moment. Finally, she said, "Getting caught up in the power struggle. That's what I'm afraid of. The New Order is corrupt and Sirena wants revenge. I don't want to become a tool for either side."

"I won't let that happen," Thessa promised.

Clara gave Thessa a suspicious look. "What are you afraid of, then?"

Thessa looked into Clara's deep, chocolate eyes. "I'm afraid of what might happen if we don't train Brie. She's fifteen and she's powerful, maybe even more powerful than her mother was."

"Her powers won't stop the New Order from killing her if they find out," Clara said.

"I'm not afraid of the New Order finding her," Thessa said. "I'm afraid of her. Her powers are too strong, too soon."

"You think she's stronger than a typical innate?"

"I'm not sure, but if I can help her focus..."

Clara heaved a deep sigh. "Whatever. I'll help you then."

The bell rang, and the two girls gathered their belongings.

"You don't have to, you know. You and Cora can move on. Theos knows you can take care of yourselves."

Clara scoffed. "We wouldn't do that."

Thessa shrugged her shoulders. "It's an option."

Thessa turned and walked out the door, but she still heard Clara's mumbled response.

"Not for me."

*****

Pilot sat at the kitchen counter, tapping his fingers against the granite uneasily. Brie was upstairs in her bedroom, ignoring everyone. Rykken played video games in the family room by himself—he didn't have a console at his house, so he took advantage of theirs every chance he got.

Pilot glanced out the window. He felt like he was being watched, despite the fact that the van Rossum property was situated at the top of a hill in a cul-de-sac, and that the house was surrounded by jungle, forming a natural barrier to the outside world. Night was falling, and he considered walking through the rooms and closing the bamboo blinds. Almost every room in the house had floor to ceiling windows that provided amazing views during the daytime, but left Pilot feeling exposed in the evenings.

Not that the van Rossum's had anything to be embarrassed about, exposing their home to strangers.

Annie had redecorated that year, and all the furniture was a contemporary mix of dark, chunky woods and delicate metals, with plenty of flowery cushion fabric. A large, oval fish tank sat satirically in the space between the living room and family room, separating the two spaces. All the fish had died except for two flame angels, which Rykken had fondly named Sinker and Floater.

The front door opened and Pilot, still on edge from sensing something he couldn't see, launched out of his seat.

"We're home," called a high-pitched voice. Annie walked in dragging a small, black suitcase. James followed behind her with a much larger piece of luggage that matched the small one.

"Dad," Pilot said. "Welcome home."

"Son," James said, pulling Pilot into a one-armed hug in the foyer. James' cool, leather jacket chilled Pilot's skin, even through the back of Pilot's polo shirt. It never failed to amaze him that James could wear leather on the island without sweating.

Pilot heard the sound of high heels overhead, clacking on smooth hardwood floors. Annie frowned at the sound. She lifted the suitcase she was holding by the side handle and skittered up the stairs.

Pilot thought back to Annie's constant stream of positive press about James over the last two months. He missed you kids when you lived in New York. He felt like he never got to see you. He wishes he could spend more time with you. But Pilot was no longer a naive child. James had never been around when Pilot spent the summers in Honolulu as a young teenager. Pilot had given James plenty of chances that James hadn't taken. At times, Pilot wondered if he should have stayed in New York those summers, the way Brie had.

James dropped his black leather jacket on the wicker couches in the family room, right next to where Rykken was sitting. Rykken looked up, and James muttered "Hi." Pilot grimaced, embarrassed that James had forgotten Rykken's name. Again.

Rykken paused his game and stood up stiffly. "Good evening, Mr. van Rossum."

He held out his hand, but James had already walked over to the counter where the take-out was waiting.

James leafed through the bags, sniffing. "Pad Thai and curry from Phuket's. Annie knows my favorite." James looked around, running his fingers along the part of his long, black hair. "Where's Brie?"

As if on cue, Brie clomped down the stairs. "I heard the door," she explained, seeing Pilot in the foyer. She glanced at the luggage. "Is someone here?" she asked, alarmed.

"Brie, sweetheart." James walked over to the staircase with his arms outstretched.

Brie stiffened at the sight of James. "What are you doing home?" James pulled her into a forceful hug and kissed her on both cheeks.

"Pilot called me," he answered, cradling Brie's cheeks between his hands. James took one step back, holding up her wrists in confusion. "He said you might need to go to therapy?"

Brie's jaw dropped. Rykken looked at Pilot in surprise. He gave Pilot a questioning look.

"But you don't look sick," James continued, tilting Brie's head back and forth.

Brie swatted James away. "Get off me."

"That's not what I said." Pilot's eyes pleaded with Brie, who was glaring at him with a mixture of horror and betrayal. This was not what he had envisioned when he called James that morning, begging him to come home and help Pilot make decisions about Brie's well-being.

Brie pouted. "You shouldn't have said anything."

"Now, don't fight, you two." Annie had appeared out of nowhere and ushered all three of them into the kitchen. "We're going to have a pleasant family dinner whether you like it or not."

Sure, a pleasant family dinner. The most pleasant dinner they might muster was one where no one was speaking to anyone else.

Brie brushed past Pilot and walked over to the kitchen counter. She unpacked the bags of takeout, slamming each container onto the counter.

"Sweetheart," James said, "therapy is nothing to be ashamed of." He grabbed a plate from the cabinet above the sink and silverware from the drawer next to the dishwasher. "I've gone several times myself."

He sat down, scooping a huge serving of noodles onto his plate. "Brie, please. You're going through a hard time. You lost a parent."

Brie glowered menacingly. "Not like it's the first time."

Annie gasped. Pilot winced. Rykken drew a sharp breath, but James didn't show that he understood her.

James patted the stool next to his. "Sit down, Brie. Eat something. You look like you've lost weight."

Pilot pulled four more plates from the cabinet and served everyone. He tried to enjoy his dinner, but it tasted like an overcooked piece of tire. Brie stewed in silence, pushing her noodles around her plate without taking a bite. She seemed more focused on being angry with him than eating. Rykken ate his food quietly, listening and nodding politely as James talked about the new record he was working on.

Rykken ate dinner at their house often, but Pilot probably should have warned him about tonight.

"I'm taking a break from my record though," James said abruptly, shoving a jumbo shrimp into his mouth. He chewed for a minute. "I was wrong to go back to work so soon. I want to stay here and be a dad for a little while. Make up for lost time."

Pilot refrained from rolling his eyes as he said, "Thanks, Dad. We would like that." It wasn't the first time James had made those types of promises, and Pilot wasn't holding his breath.

"So now that I'm here, let's talk about what happened his morning. Brie?"

Brie stirred a skinny carrot stick in soy sauce with her chopsticks, soaking it. She set her chopsticks down and took a deep breath. "We had to drive the Aston because we were running late and Pilot didn't have any gas in his car. I think the car must be bugged with a tracking device. Once we hit the hills, three paparazzi found us and were chasing us down. They probably thought it was you driving.

Anyway, the paparazzi were riding close to us and drove us off the road. I wanted to chase down one of the paparazzi following us, so I ran into the woods once the car stopped. I never caught up though. Then, Pilot and Rykken found me. We all got back into the car and drove to school."

James shook his head. "I'm having the Aston checked for tracking devices so this doesn't happen again. Damn paparazzi."

"I filed a police report," Annie said. "And the car is in the shop right now."

Good," James said. "So everyone is fine then?"

Brie nodded and Pilot groaned. "Brie left out the part where she thought one of the paparazzi was Mom." The words gnawed at his stomach, like he was pushing Brie into oncoming traffic. Rykken stirred his bowl of curry with intense focus, avoiding eye contact with everyone.

"I did not," Brie said, a surprised look on her face. "Is that why you think I need therapy? You misheard me." She laughed, but her tone was hollow.

"No I didn't," Pilot said, giving her a look to show he knew she was lying. "You shook me from the back seat. Then you told me to stop the car because you thought it was Mom on the motorcycle."

"Pilot, I was freaking out because you were driving on the shoulder." Brie glanced at James. "If you want to yell at us for taking the Aston, you can. I'm sorry we ruined your car."

James looked surprised. "Why? Did I tell you not to drive the Aston?"

"Yes, you mentioned it explicitly." Annie looked like she wanted to say more, but she refrained.

"We're getting off topic," Pilot said. "I know what you said Brie, and I'm worried as hell about you. When we found you, you wouldn't talk to us or respond or anything. Rykken will back me up, won't you Rykken?"

James looked at Rykken expectantly. Pilot felt terrible putting Rykken in that position, but Brie's health was more important to him. He knew his friend would understand.

Rykken rolled his shoulders back slowly; he and Brie locked eyes for a split second before he dropped his gaze. "You did mention something about your mom," he said quietly.

James tilted his head toward Brie, eyes wide. "Milena's dead, Brie."

"I know that!" Brie's voice shook. "Do you think I'm an idiot?"

James pressed two fingers to his temple, closing his eyes. "No, but if you're seeing dead people..."

Brie opened her mouth to protest, but James held his hand up to silence her. He stood up, pacing back and forth, furling his brows and rubbing his hands together. "Pilot's right. I think you should see someone."

"I'll set the appointment," Annie said.

"No." Brie's eyes flashed with anger. "I'm not going to therapy."

James held out his hands. "Once a week for a few months, that's all we're talking about here." James looked at Pilot. "We can all go with you if you want."

"I'm not going." Brie stood up. "You can't make me."

"I'm your father. I can make you do all sorts of things."

"No," Brie said, leaving the dinner table. "You can't." Pilot heard every step his sister stomped to the top of the stairs and down the hall to her bedroom. Seconds later, a door slammed.

He buried his face in his hands. "Well, that went well."

*****

Like every room in the van Rossum house, Brie's bedroom was unnecessarily large, especially when compared to her room in Manhattan. The room had a separate sitting area that Brie had never sat in, a flat screen that she had never watched, and a bookcase full of things that she had never used. For the most part, Brie walked from the door to her bed and back. Every once in awhile, she rooted through her closet or used the attached bathroom, but nothing else in the room was of interest to her.

Brie sat on her bed with her legs crossed, wondering how much worse the day could get. This morning, she was a somewhat-not-normal teen, but still in the safe cocoon she'd built to protect herself. By evening, she was a superhuman with natural and dangerous powers that everyone who wasn't a superhuman thought was crazy. She had an aunt who was about 100 years old but couldn't pass for an adult. And for the first time since she had started high school, she was enrolled in an extracurricular— cheerleading of all things.

She had one consolation. All the questions she'd had about her mom's strange accident that others had shrugged off—all the months she'd spent trying to piece together the truth about her mom's death—were for good reason. Milena had a secret and Brie had a purpose. She would uncover whatever it was her mother had hidden from her.

With James back though, it was going to be harder to train with the Hallows. Part of Brie wished she could go to therapy, but there wasn't much point when she couldn't be honest about what was really going on in her life. And anyway, it was dangerous to let anyone remotely near her thoughts and emotions until she discovered more about her powers and how to control them.

She heard a light tap on her door. "Go away, Pilot." Guilt throbbed through Brie; she knew Pilot was worried about her, but she couldn't even tell him what was really going on. She wished he would make things easier and butt out of her life.

"It's Rykken." Brie's spine tingled when she heard his name. "Can I come in?"

Brie sighed loudly, making a big production of stomping to the bedroom door. She turned the knob and opened it a crack. "What is it?"

"Pilot asked me to check on you."

Brie opened the door all the way. "Are you on suicide watch now?" She held up her arms. "Look. No blood. My razor is sitting safely in the shower."

Rykken cringed. "That's not funny."

"I'm not joking. You saw James look at my wrists when he walked in."

He eyed her, his gaze intense. "Can I come in?"

Brie blinked. Rykken didn't wait for her to answer; he pushed past her and sat down on her bed, gesturing for her to join him. She sat gingerly on her plush comforter, tucking her legs underneath her.

First boy in my new bed, she thought. Adele would love this.

Rykken cleared his throat, and she felt blood rush to her cheeks. "It would help you to have someone to talk to about your mom. Pilot talks to me all the time. He's sad, but he's recovering."

Brie frowned; she didn't like the underlying tones of his husky voice. "I have someone to talk to—

Sirena."

"Earlier today you thought she was playing a prank on you and you couldn't trust her. Now you're best friends again?"

"You convinced me I could trust her. Plus I don't really have a choice. I have to trust someone."

Rykken squinted lightly, his skepticism reaching his eyes. "You can still consider a few therapy sessions."

"What?" Brie glared at him. "You've checked on me. I doubt Pilot asked you to get in the middle of this."

"You're right, he didn't." Rykken took a deep breath. He shifted positions, and his khaki shorts crinkled against his shirt. "I'm only saying this because Pilot is my best friend. Look at what your actions are doing to him. If you don't want to go to therapy for yourself, do it for him."

"This is not about a few therapy sessions," Brie said, her voice rising. "It's about James barging back into our lives. He doesn't belong here. It's like being bossed around by a stranger."

"Well, first of all, James lives here. This is his house." Brie huffed, but Rykken continued. "And second, can I give you some advice? James wants you to go to therapy because he cares. Give him a chance."

"That's it? That's your advice?" Brie laughed. "You don't know James that well if you actually believe that. James wants me to go to therapy because it's a solution that he can pay for."

Rykken folded his arms across his chest. "From someone who has never known his biological parents, count yourself lucky that you still have your dad."

"He's not my dad. He left us when I was born."

"There might be a good explanation for why he left."

"Aside from selfishness?" Anger boiled inside Brie, causing her to rise. "You know what, Rykken? You can't give me advice. You assume that you know me because you and Pilot are best friends, but you don't know a single thing about me."

Rykken flinched. "You'd be surprised how much Pilot confides in me."

Brie barely resisted the urge to ask what Pilot had told him. "It doesn't matter," she said. "Here's what I know: your foster parents are nice and have spent more time with you in the past few years than James has spent with me in my lifetime. Yet you spend all your time over here, ignoring them and trying to be a part of my family."

Rykken stood up, facing Brie. "Do you think it's easy growing up in foster care? You have everything here—every opportunity in the world to create a great life—"

"No," Brie interrupted. "This may seem like a castle, but this isn't a fairytale. Money means nothing when you've moved across the country because the only parent you've ever had is dead."

"You know that's not how I meant—"

"My friends have sold my story to stupid, trashy celebrity magazines. The entire country is watching my every move, hoping to catch me falling apart. And now I have a whole lot more to worry about." Brie walked to her bedroom door and turned the knob to open the door. "But you don't know or care about any of that. You only see the upsides. You wish you had this money or fame or whatever you think is so great about us, and your friendship with Pilot gives you your daily hit."

Rykken walked toward her, his eyes electrified, forcing her to take a few steps back. He leaned one forearm against the wall Brie was standing against, cornering her. "Is that really what you think of me?"

His face contorted with anger, but there was a hint of sadness in his umber eyes.

"Am I wrong?" Brie challenged. His hot breath emanated over her face. He smelled like peanuts and spices and rain.

Rykken balled his fists, ignoring her question. "James may be a bad parent, but he's right about one thing."

"What's that?"

"You do need therapy."

Rykken slammed the door shut behind him as he walked out. Brie leaned against the wall and closed her eyes, sinking slowly to the carpet.

With everything that happened during the day, it was no surprise she couldn't fall asleep that night. What shocked her though, was that as she lay there, buried away under her comforter, curled up against her pillow—his last words were the only ones she could remember.

CHAPTER THREE

Thessa undid the last roller from Brie's hair, pinning the curly clump to the top of her head. "What do you remember about Remy?"

Brie searched her mind for the right answer, trying to remember the hierarchy the Hallows had taught her thus far. There were seven archangels and seven archdemons that had bloodlines tied to earth. The bloodlines formed two hybrid races, in addition to earthlies—the Hallows and the Nephiim, half breeds of humans and archangels. Each race had its own traditions, magical abilities, and rules, but both had the same mission—to influence the minds and hearts of humanity.

Within both the Hallows and Nephilim, there were factions of government. The New Order was the dominant government for the Hallows, though every Hallow had the choice to join one of the smaller pockets—sort of. According to Clara, few were stupid enough to do so.

Of course, there were other types of angels, but they were lesser archangels, or they were part of the lower Chorus. The Hallows didn't seem to care about these angels nearly as much as the seven that Theos trusted the most.

Remy was one of the seven archangels. "She stands for hope." Brie scratched her thigh where her itchy cheer uniform rubbed against her skin. "Remy sees things long before the rest of the archangels and advises them. They look to her for instructions because she has true visions."

Not bad." Thessa orbited around Brie, spraying her final curl into place. "Who is the archangel of prudence?"

Brie tried not to cough. The girl's locker room smelled of hair product, expired makeup, and perfume mixed with sweat. "Raphael."

And what does Raphael carry with him at all times?"

"A horn," Brie said, even though she didn't care. She wished her training focused less on history and more on how to use her powers, but she wasn't sure the Hallows would ever teach her anything interesting if she couldn't pass Thessa's quiz. "He's also a healer, and his sons and daughters can bind the powers of daemons of lowly order."

Thessa smiled and applied eye shadow to Brie's eyes. "Now, who stands at the Gates of Eden?"

"Uriel."

"Known for?"

Brie thought for a minute. "I can't remember."

"Charity." Cora frowned. "He was one of the original Watchers, the only one who didn't fall." She sat on the bench across from Brie with her arms folded over her lap. "Tell me about the Watchers now."

Brie tried to remember, but her thoughts were on Annie, whom she'd lied to again about where she was, and James, who she wished she didn't have to go home to. She had no idea who the Watchers were; it was yet another of the hundreds of terms that the girls had thrown at her this week.

Clara stood up from the elaborate warm-ups she had been doing in the corner of the room. "Are you even trying?" Clara asked, stretching her arms over her head and exposing her slender, flat stomach from under her cheer uniform. "We've been working on this all week and you still can't remember the simplest things!"

Brie covered her own belly with her arms, feeling self-conscious about her soft, exposed skin. Yet another thing Clara has over me, she thought bitterly, along with perfect looks, perfect grades, and the perfect amount of confidence.

"Brie?" Cora said. "Are you still with us?"

"I'm trying to learn the history of an entire civilization." Brie caught Cora's eye. "Help me out here."

Cora touched the side of her forehead, wincing. "Here's a hint about the Watchers, Brie. My father was a son of Uriel, remember? He was pure-blooded, and he spent his time in Egypt trying to establish alliances with the Nephilim."

Brie wasn't sure how that was a hint about who the Watchers were, but she didn't want to prove Clara's point any further. "You just said Uriel was known for charity though." She gestured in Clara's direction. "Anyone can see that charity doesn't run in your family."

Clara huffed. "There are only seven archangels and you've had four days to learn them! How much more charitable can I be?"

Brie turned sharply, only to get stabbed in the eye by a mascara wand. "Ow!" she exclaimed.

"Stay still," Thessa said, dabbing Brie's eye with some sort of solution. She tilted Brie's head upwards. "Blink." Brie blinked several times. When she focused her eyes again, Thessa was staring down at her.

"She's right," she said. "You aren't trying hard enough."

"I'm distracted," Brie said. It all seemed unfair to her; she had never been great at quizzes or memorizing things or any skill that helped you succeed in school. She was better with hands-on instruction.

" Focus on this," Thessa said coolly. "There is nothing more important than your Hallow training right now."

"What about cheering?" Brie asked. "I've spent every practice with one of you, trying to learn this Hallow stuff. When do I learn the cheer routines? We have a game tonight and I still have no idea what to do."

"Oh right," Thessa said. "I completely forgot about the routines." She gestured Clara to come over to them.

Clara, wearing her signature scowl across an otherwise beautiful face, held her hands out palms up, gesturing Brie to place her own palms on top.

Brie loathed the way Clara looked at her. She stepped toward Clara, willing herself not to flinch away.

Clara grasped Brie's hands tightly, a cool, amused look on her face. "This will take a minute, princess."

Brie closed her eyes and tried to ignore the awkward sensation of something liquid and rough coursing through her veins. In her mind, she was inundated with moves as the choreography for each routine flashed across her inner eyelids. She could hear the music as if she were listening to it through headphones; she could sense where she needed to step with every beat. Her feet began to mark the patterns instinctively.

Several minutes passed before Clara released her. Brie slumped to the ground. Thessa and Cora caught her by the arms and hoisted her back up.

Brie held her head; her palms spread wide open against her scalp. Her mind was putty, as if she'd just taken the most difficult math exam, ever. "What did you do to me?"

"I uploaded all the routines to your short term memory," Clara said.

Thessa seemed surprised and a little puzzled; her expression toward Brie seemed wary. "Clara's mind functions like a machine. She stores and interprets data the same way a computer might spit out answers to a very difficult problem."

"And it really works?" Brie couldn't believe she would actually remember all the words, choreography, and stunts she was supposed to know for the football game they had that evening.

"Let's put it this way," Clara said. "If I could bottle my power and sell it in pill form, everyone everywhere would give up Adderall as a study aid." She tilted her head. "Speaking of which, maybe I should upload the seven archangels to your brain so we don't spend another week trying to learn them."

Brie flinched, but her nerves were dancing too fast for her to come up with a retort. She hummed to herself as she marked the routine. Outside the locker room, a low din of buzzing students flooded the hallways with buff and blue, their school colors. Brie always thought buff was a yellowish-brown shade, like the color of sand or leather. But their uniforms were really the color of marigold.

"I can't even do the splits on the ground," Brie said uncomfortably, feeling the part where she was supposed to leap into the air with her legs spread.

It's a toe-touch," Clara said pointedly. "Jump at that part, the upload will do the rest for you."

"Trust us," Cora said, placing her hand on Brie's arm. Brie's heart slowed to a reasonable rate.

"Clara has one of the rarest and most coveted gifts a Hallow can have."

"Gifts?" Brie asked, glancing at Thessa for an explanation.

Thessa stared at her, her mind churning behind her eyes. When Brie stared back, Thessa broke eye contact and stood up.

"We told you about transmutation and motivity, right? Transmutation is how we change physical matter―healing ourselves, or transmuting objects. And motivity is how we move quickly across space, so quick sometimes that we seem to disappear and reappear to the average earthlie eye. We can also stop motion, as you experienced when you inadvertently stopped Sirena's bike."

"Right," Brie said with a twinge of annoyance. "You told me all of this already."

"That doesn't seem to mean much," Clara mumbled.

"Excuse me?" Brie said.

Clara opened her mouth, but one look from Thessa silenced her.

"While every Hallow has the basic supernatural powers of transmutation and motivity," Thessa said,

"the purer-blooded Hallows have additional powers related to their bloodlines."

"Michael's bloodline is pure," Brie said. Clara made a rude noise, mumbling something under her breath that this time Brie couldn't hear.

Brie crossed her arms over her chest. "So how do I find out what my gift is?"

"Gifts don't manifest for years, usually," Thessa said. "You are still in the early stages of exploring your powers, and you can't even control the basics yet."

Brie frowned. "I need more time for all this history to sink in." She took a deep breath. "I'll learn it over time, but I'm fried on it for now." Clara scoffed, and Brie shot her a scathing look.

"I want to explore my powers," she said more confidently. "When can I start?"

Thessa's face was unreadable, but Cora grinned. "Soon," she said. She linked arms with Brie and opened the door to the hallway. "But first, we have a crowd to pep up."

*****

Rykken woke with a puddle of fresh water in his bed and the drumbeat of a downpour banging against the tin roof of his room. The rain must have seeped through while he was sleeping, falling onto his face, his hair, his skin.

He didn't normally mind submersion, as long as it was the right kind of water—the kind that burned.

Like pool water, filled with chlorine, burning his nose and eyes. Like sea water, filled with salt, organisms, and sand, chapping his lips and smoothing his skin.

But rain water had no burn, aside from the burning in his throat when it filled his lungs.

It pattered balefully onto his sheets, pooling in the center and engulfing his body. He couldn't move. He tried to roll over, to escape the water, but he was paralyzed. The water inched toward his mouth, covering his ears.

He was going to drown. He tried to scream for help, but his lips couldn't form words, only soft whimpers that didn't carry over the pounding rain on the roof.

Something hammered against his bedroom door as the water entered his nose and mouth. He swallowed what he could, letting the cool, fresh liquid slide down his throat. But the water kept coming.

Rykken held his breath and closed his eyes, wishing he could slow his heart rate.

"Rykken." He felt his body shaking under someone else's grip. "Ry, wake up."

Rykken shot up, gasping for air. His skin felt clammy and chilled all at once. He threw off his covers and catapulted out of his bed.

His foster mother looked sad, a v-shaped crease between her eyes. "Another bad dream?" She held up the damp bed sheets streaked with his sweat.

"I'm fine," he said, pacing the floor in front of his closet. "Nothing new in the dream, at least."

She pulled the sheets from his bed. "Do you want to talk about it?"

Rykken shook his head. "No. Thanks though."

"You shouldn't nap in the middle of the evening anymore." She handed Rykken his cell phone. "This keeps going off. I think you better answer it." She stripped the pillows of their cases. "It's Friday anyway―isn't there a football game tonight?"

Rykken pulled a fresh t-shirt over his head. His foster mom had a strict idea about what normal teens did, and spending time alone on a Friday night was not normal. Rykken liked his time alone though; after an entire week of water polo and school, he wanted nothing more than to relax by himself, or maybe with a close friend. But his foster mom always had other plans for him.

Rykken glanced at his phone—there were four texts from Justin, each one escalating in urgency from

"What are you up to tonight?" to "Where are you? Picking you up in 10." He sighed. It seemed like Justin had other plans for him too.

An obnoxious honk outside confirmed his suspicions. "That's where I'm going," he said to his foster mom, even though he had no idea what Justin had planned. It didn't matter anyway—if they weren't going to the game, it meant they were going to a party, and the game was as good a cover as any. He hugged his foster mom and jetted out the door and down the steps to Justin's Lincoln Navigator.

"What the hell?" Justin smirked at Rykken from the driver's seat. The vehicle smelled new and the air inside was cool. "You don't text me back anymore?"

"I was sleeping."

"Yeah, right. Dreaming of Pilot?"

"Don't joke like that. Neither of us is gay and it isn't funny."

Justin's smile wavered. "You're always hanging out with him these days. Where is he by the way?"

"At home I guess."

"Hah. Guess it's you and me for date night."

"Whatever." Rykken wasn't in the mood for Justin's crap. "Where are we headed?"

"The game. I'm looking for a new girl to date."

Rykken's eyes whirled over themselves. Justin was always looking for a new girl to date.

They arrived at the football game and found seats in the stands away from the band kids, who were constantly talking to each other and tapping their feet incessantly. It didn't surprise Rykken that the sky was clear, not a cloud in sight. He had been having the dream about drowning since he was young, and he knew it was triggered by something much more traumatic than the weather conditions—he just didn't know what.

"There she is," Justin said. Rykken followed Justin's gaze to the cheerleaders in front of the stands. He had to look twice when he saw Brie amongst them, holding pompoms and wearing a silly grin on her face.

"Brie?" Rykken asked. Something heavy stirred in the pit of his stomach.

"Don't sound so surprised—it could happen." Justin squirmed in his seat, which was unusual for him.

His eyes scanned the rest of the football field. "She's pretty, you know? I don't know what ethnicity she is, but she's gorgeous."

"Spanish and Irish," Rykken mumbled, wishing he could think of some way to end the conversation.

"Their grandparents on their mom's side were from Spain." The white lights on the field made the air a few degrees hotter, but it was enough to make Rykken uncomfortable.

"Well, it works for her," Justin said. "I realize she's sort of a celebrity, but she seems really normal too. Good personality and all."

Rykken forced himself to laugh. "How would you know that? Have you even talked to her?"

"Nope." Justin grinned. "I need your help with that, since Pilot won't."

"No way," Rykken said, feeling a little sick. "Pilot will kill you if you date her, and he'll kill me if I help you date her. He wasn't kidding in the locker room."

"Not that you made it any better." Justin leaned back against the row of bleachers behind them, forcing the freshman girls to scoot down to make room. "Why would you tell him that I'm a player?"

"Aren't you?" Rykken asked innocently. He knew why he had said it, but he wasn't going to admit anything to Justin. "I guess I didn't think it was much of a secret."

"I mean, sometimes I date girls for fun. Sometimes I'm serious. I could like Brie if she gave it a chance."

Rykken looked up; Justin's expression was genuine. "Are you really trying to convince me you like a girl you've never really talked to?"

Justin raised an eyebrow. "Like you haven't. If I recall correctly, you went on and on about how pretty Brie was when she came to our water polo match—"

"That was over four years ago!" Rykken interrupted, not believing that Justin remembered that. "I don't think my 12-year old crushes count."

"They do if you still like her." Justin stared at Rykken with a challenge in his eyes.

"Don't—"

Rykken felt a prickling sensation on his arms; something icy wet hit his back. His shirt and the top of his jeans were coated in a brown, sticky liquid. He spun around, looking to see who had thrown a soda on him.

"I'm sorry!" the girl behind him squeaked, standing up. "My friend knocked my drink over."

The girl kept talking, but Rykken had already tuned her out. Something else had caught his eye.

Underneath the bleachers, a blur of white flashed by; the next second, it was gone.

*****

The rapid clicking of a machine emanated from the other side of the door to the family den. The sound intimidated Pilot, making him more nervous. He opened the door and glanced inside.

Annie looked up from her sewing machine. "Pilot, what are you doing here?" From the machine, Annie pulled two plaid prints sewn together, one a large red and one a small blue, and snipped the loose threads. "Are you looking for James? He's downstairs in his recording studio."

"No, I'm here for research."

"Research on a Friday night?"

"Yep," Pilot said. "I'm sick of the paparazzi. They've followed me everywhere since the accident."

"Right." Annie grinned. "But you could have friends over or go to a friend's house, so that still doesn't explain the 'research on a Friday night' part."

Pilot hated how astute Annie was. The only good thing about having a clueless parent was that he could typically do anything he wanted. Annie was the only one who ever got in his way.

"Okay," he said, giving up on his lie. "I'm staying in because I have to work on an extra credit assignment my history teacher is making me do. If I don't pull my grade up, I'll probably flunk his class."

"Oh." Annie unplugged her sewing machine. She seemed tired all of a sudden. "Well, how can I help?"

"I'm supposed to write a paper on Hawaiian legends, and James said he had some old books in here on the subject."

"Yep, he does." Annie held her plaid material, which Pilot now realized was a skirt, up underneath a white tee with a navy blue pin-striped jacket hanging from a mannequin in the center of the room.

"I didn't realize you sewed. What are you sewing?" Pilot felt a pang of guilt when he tried to come up with what he did know about Annie. She lived in their house and was always running them around, yet he had never asked her anything about her personal life.

"I'm designing a skirt for fun. I was thinking of putting some outfits together for Brie, but her style is too conservative for my colorful designs."

Pilot chuckled. He tried to imagine Brie wearing the multi-patterned plaid skirt Annie was holding up, but he couldn't. The outfit went much better with Annie's petite frame and short, spiky hair.

"Where is Brie anyway?" Pilot asked.

"There's a football game tonight, and she had cheerleading practice between school and the game."

Pilot stretched his hands over his head, trying to work out the soreness in his back. "The cheerleaders don't practice before games."

Annie adjusted the cuffs on the pinstripe jacket. "I don't know where your sister is then. I don't know what to do with her any more than you do, and your dad—" Annie looked down, pressing her lips together.

"It's okay." Pilot felt sorry for Annie, that she didn't feel she could speak her mind about James.

"Anyone can see he's neglectful. I won't say anything to him."

Annie bit her lip. "I wish you and Brie would give him another chance. He can't help the way he is, I don't think."

"Everyone can help the way they are. Unfortunately, my dad ran out of chances a long time ago."

Annie bit her lip again; Pilot guessed she was trying not to speak her mind with him. He wished she would be honest.

He stared at her until her face relaxed. "Can I ask you something personal?"

She looked up from her mannequin. "Sure."

"Why do you work here? Brie's sneaking around, I'm flunking school, and my dad is oblivious to everyone. We're such a mess. And it seems like you could design more clothes somewhere else, where you didn't have to take care of the three of us."

Annie looked surprised. "I started working for James after college. It was a bad job market, and I had already spent a year living on borrowed funds and trying to break into the fashion industry. Your father gave me a job when no one else would."

"So you feel like you owe him?"

"Not really. I like it here, and James is a good employer. I have a place to live and I can save most of my paycheck for my first fashion line. I already style some of James' wardrobe and maybe someday he'll let me design for him. Fashion is about connections and there are plenty of opportunities when I'm working for James."

Pilot raised his eyebrows. "So you don't have any... history with him?"

"Pilot!" Annie tilted her head, her eyes chastising him. "No. James is my employer."

"Sorry," Pilot said, shrugging. "I'm not trying to offend you. I just... I hate this family sometimes. If I could leave, I probably would. But here you are, able to leave at any time, and you don't."

Annie gave him a pitying look. She took a seat on the couch. "Sit down," she said. Pilot took a seat in the chair across from Annie. He rested his elbows on his knees and his head on his palms.

"You know what I see when I look at this family?" she asked. "I see people who love each other but don't know how to express it."

"My mom always made us talk to each other. She was our glue." Pilot crossed his leg over his knee.

"When Brie and I were young, this modeling agency landed us a gig as the faces of this edgy kids shoe line. They put us in gothic makeup and put fake coloring in our hair. There was this huge guitar and we were surfing the strings in the shoes." He laughed, and Annie smiled. "It was such a bizarre set—Brie was so freaked out, she clung to me during the entire shoot." Pilot uncrossed his leg, crossing his ankles instead. "We were a lot closer before, when my mom was still alive—but now she's so closed off and secretive. I wish my mom was here to force her to talk to me."

Annie tapped her fingers against her jaw. "Your mom was a linchpin, but she's gone now. Your family needs a new linchpin. And to be honest, I kind of thought you were stepping into that role."

Pilot looked up. "I want to. But it's hard enough to hold myself together, much less other people."

Annie smiled. "How about this—you do whatever it takes to hold yourself together, and I'll help you out with the other two."

A wave of relief washed over Pilot's shoulders and back. "So now I have to do this research paper, right?"

Annie laughed. "Uh, yeah. The books are over there." Annie pointed to a section of the shelves.

"When James first moved here, he went through this phase where he wanted to learn the native culture. He made me pick up every book about local history I saw. If you need help, you can ask me. I grew up on these islands."

Pilot stepped over to the bookshelf and ran his fingers over the books. One in particular stood out to him, so he pulled it from the shelf. Hawaiian Myths and Legends. The tattered book was heavy and thick, and the cover was missing several inlaid jewels.

"Where did you find this one?" he asked.

Annie came up behind him. "Let me see that," she said. She held the book gingerly in her small hands, running her fingers over the crevices in the cover. "Hmm. I've never seen it before." She opened the book and checked the inside. "No library pocket."

"How did it get here then?"

"No idea. Maybe James brought it home from one of his trips." Annie shrugged.

"It looks like it's going to fall apart. I wonder if it is valuable." Pilot ran his fingers along the edges of the yellow-tipped pages. He was surprised they didn't crumble under his touch. He flipped through the book slowly, taking in several of the titles. The Pele Sisters. The Legends of Kana. The Story of Moho-Lani. It looked like a comprehensive guide to every Hawaiian legend ever written.

"If it was a collector's item," Annie said, "James would have told me. It's probably from a used book store."

Pilot sat down again, confused. Annie cared about anything and everything that entered this house.

Why was she being so flippant about this?

He felt chills down his spine as he ran his finger over the center of the cover, a deep crevice where an enormous jewel had once laid. Something about the worn, broken-in softness of the leather and the uneven tears at the page edges gave Pilot the impression that this book was much older than either of them were willing to admit.

*****

As Clara promised, Brie had been able to pull off all their cheers without a single hiccup, even though it was uncomfortable at first. Now that the ordeal was over, Brie hung back from the crowd of jocks and cheerleaders celebrating their victory over Iolani that night.

She spooned a bite of strawberries and mochi balls into her mouth. The Korean lady who ran the Tropicana stand was nice, and the shaved ice was delicious. But Brie wasn't used to hanging out with so many people her own age. She still didn't know the names of most of the girls on her squad and felt weird introducing herself to people who already knew who she was.

"Can I ask you something?" Brie whispered to Cora, who was leaning against the side of the stand next to her. "If the Hallows are supposed to be fighting for the souls of earthlies, why are the three of you hanging out at a private high school on this little island?"

Cora twisted her mouth to one side and squinted. "It's a long story."

"I have time," Brie said.

"But now is not the place."

There was no one standing close to them, but Brie still felt like the crowd was pressing in on them, suffocating her, blocking her ability to get answers. "Give me a synopsis then."

Cora looked around. "Well," she whispered, "you're not the only one who thinks Honolulu is a good place to go when you need everyone to forget about you. You came here to escape the watchful eyes of the media; we came here to escape the watchful eyes of our government."

Brie wasn't sure what to say to that. Her phone vibrated in her purse, but she didn't have to pull it out to know who it was. Pilot was the only person who had her new number besides Adele, and Adele always called, never texted. Brie felt a pang of guilt; she hadn't had a real conversation with Pilot since the night James came back from LA.

She let the text go unanswered. "What if you're wrong about Pilot?" Brie asked Cora. "What if Pilot has powers too? Maybe they haven't developed yet."

"Keep your voice down." Clara came up beside them, scowling at Brie.

Thessa was right behind her. "Brie," she whispered, pushing Brie toward the parking lot behind the shaved ice stand. "It's improbable that even you have powers without two Hallow parents. If both of you had powers, it would be a miracle."

"A disaster, really." Clara mumbled, picking at her fingernails. It was much quieter behind the building, but the soft clicking of nail-on-nail grated on Brie's nerves. Still, this was a much better place to talk. Brie could barely hear the throng of sweaty, hormonal teenagers on the other side of the building.

"Plus, Hallow children show their powers at fifteen," Thessa said. "And Pilot is sixteen already."

Brie replied, "Maybe he's a late bloomer."

"He's not," Clara said matter-of-factly, filing the tips of her nails against her cheerleading skirt. "He's an earthlie."

Clara's words shut Brie up. She seemed so confident, and if Clara was a human computer, Brie doubted she would make a mistake about this.

Cora pursed her lips together in a half-smile. "Give me your necklace," she said. "I promised you could learn some basics tonight, so let's practice a little."

"Here?" Clara asked.

"It's dark," Cora replied. "Plus my powers aren't physical. No one will even know what's going on."

Clara looked at Thessa, who nodded to Cora. "Let's see what happens," she said with a concentrated look on her face.

Brie handed Cora her necklace and Cora backed away from Brie. "You may have guessed what my gift is.

My gift is similar to Clara's, except I don't deal in knowledge, I deal in emotion." She held out her hands. "I'm going to send a wave of emotions toward you, and I want you to try to block it."

Brie panicked. "How do I block it?"

"It comes from within," Clara said. "If you have to ask you'll never know."

Cora gave Clara a pointed look. "Try holding up your hands in a blocking position," she said to Brie.

"And think the word stassi," Thessa added. "That always works for me."

Brie put her hands in the air, feeling like an idiot. She could sense Clara's eyes raking her, waiting for her to fail.

The wave hit. Brie's feelings quickly changed to guilt, fear, and sadness, as if her mother had died all over again.

Brie wrapped her arms around herself and slunk to the ground, lifting her knees to her chest.

But the wave kept coming. Her thoughts drifted to the funeral, surrounded by the strong scent of hibiscus, her mother's favorite flower. Then she was shopping with Adele. She received a phone call that her mother's plane had crashed into the middle of the Atlantic Ocean. She was fighting with her mother over whether she could take guitar lessons. She shrieked her last, angry words to her mom right before everything went black.

Brie woke up to Cora and Thessa shaking her limp body. "You fainted," Thessa said.

Brie sat up woozily, glaring at Cora. "Why would you do that?" she asked. "Why couldn't you send a happy wave of emotion?"

Clara hovered over Brie's body, shaking her head. "No one tries to stop a happy wave."

"Well, no one wants to relive their mother's death either!" Brie felt tears stinging at her eyes.

She stood up shakily and fished for a tissue in her purse.

Clara's eyes sliced through her. "Oh, get over it. I've been alive for almost 80 years. The one thing I've learned is that everyone dies."

"Clara..." Cora warned.

"What? You'd think that would motivate her to stop the wave next time."

Brie stomped toward Clara, wanting to hit her. Clara crossed her arms, leaning lazily against a concrete wall with a smug curl to her lips.

Brie raised her hand, drawing it back to her shoulder. "You heartless bi—"

Cora groaned, stepping in front of Clara and catching Brie's wrist between her fingers. "I'm sorry,"

she said, keeping a firm grip on Brie's arm. "I didn't mean to make you faint."

"I'm surprised you did," Thessa said. "Luckily no one saw." She looked thoughtfully at Brie. "Your talent in other areas is impressive, but you've had trouble with both of the twins' powers thus far."

"And let's not forget that your memory sucks too." Clara smiled, genuinely happy for the first time in Brie's experience with her. "Maybe she's not as strong as you thought she was, Thessa."

"She's strong enough," Thessa responded. Clara's expression reverted to its normal snarl. "Let's leave it here," Thessa said. "Cora?" Cora scrunched her face, muttering some words under her breath.

A few seconds later, Brie felt decidedly happier. She smiled, and then realized what had happened.

"Cora, stop messing with my emotions like that." Brie giggled, feeling slightly flirty. She knew she should be mad, but she couldn't stop grinning.

"Let's get you home," Cora said. "I'm sure your dad is worried about you."

This only made Brie giggle harder. Clara gave her a strange look.

"Take her in the car," Thessa said, tossing Cora the keys. "Clara and I can transport home."

In the car, Brie tried to shake herself out of her happy state, just to see if she could. The problem was that Clara was right; she didn't want to, and her half-formed efforts were hardly enough to make it happen. She needed motivation, and even going back over Clara's annoying little digs at her weren't enough to get her roaring mad again.

Cora pulled up to the gates to the van Rossum house. "You seem a little fixated on the idea of Pilot having the same powers as you. Why?"

"I tell my brother everything," Brie said, sobering up a little. "It's hard to lie to him about this." She had only felt buzzed once, the first time she drank vodka mixed with cranberry juice, and Cora's wave of happiness kind of reminded her of it.

But Pilot's name was enough to bring her crashing down, back to her real life. "He thinks I'm crazy." Brie confessed. "He's trying to send me to therapy."

Cora seemed amused. "Well, we can't have that."

"What will you do?"

Cora glanced at Brie. "I don't know. Change the way he feels about you, I guess."

"That would be such a relief, to have him off my back about therapy."

Brie thought for a moment, debating whether to confide in Cora more. Rykken seemed to trust Cora the most, and now that she had spent some time with the three girls, she would take Cora over the other two any day.

"What's wrong?" Cora asked. "You have a question for me."

Brie actually had two questions for Cora, but one was too embarrassing to ask. She took a deep breath. "Thessa was surprised that I fainted. Do most people handle your powers better than I did?"

"Most Hallows do. Sometimes earthlies have a reaction, similar to how a body might react to drugs.

But I don't usually use the combination of emotions I used on you tonight."

Brie opened the passenger door and stuck one foot out into the driveway. "And when you do use them, do the Hallows faint?"

Cora wore a guarded expression on her face. "No, not the Hallows."

"Not the Hallows... but someone then?" Brie pulled her foot back inside the car and shut the passenger door. "Cora, you have to tell me."

Cora squirmed in her seat. "It doesn't matter Brie. I'm sure you're under a lot of stress. Using your powers does that to you."

"I need to know the truth."

"Fine. But you're not going to like the answer."

"Tell me."

Cora locked eyes with Brie, her expression grave. "Brie, the only people who have fainted over my powers before, aside from earthlies, are the Nephilim."

*****

Pulling a silk wrap over her lips and nose, Thessa covered her face from the crowds of tourists clotting the narrow, cobbled streets. Hallows weren't supposed to be able to transport 8,000 miles at once, but Thessa was an exceptionally old Hallow. Still, the trip from Hawaii to Spain had taken most of Thessa's energy, and recognition was the last thing she wanted.

Thessa hadn't traversed the Barri Gotic in years, but even now, she could navigate the dark, twisting alleyways with her eyes shut. The Roman-influenced quarter of Barcelona hadn't changed much—it was still a labyrinth of concrete, peppered with small European restaurants and shops filled with visitors and locals alike. There were still pockets of gardens with street dancers performing on the hour, places to sit and drink while soaking up sun, and candle-lit, arched churches on every corner. The architectural buildings were still a mix of old and new stone, with ages ranging from five to 500. They towered over her, side by side, creating a mishmash of centuries of cultural influence contained within a few square miles.

The buildings were the perfect metaphor for the Hallow community Thessa knew lived in the shadows below. The forgotten medieval crypts and tunnels far beneath the streets housed a smorgasbord of archangels' children, all ages and cultures, living and working together under the New Order's firm fist.

She wouldn't have visited the city on her own volition, but two days earlier she'd been summoned by none other than Mateo Vega himself. For what, she wasn't sure—hopefully a routine check-in.

When Thessa reached the Roman walls, she ducked under a half-archway into the dim shelter hidden by columns of brick dating back to 300 AD. She found the brick that was softer than all the others, marked by a symbol that looked like two tildes crossing each other, and pushed on it, letting herself plunge into the depths below.

Underneath the streets, another city centre thrived under brilliant, artificial light meant to mimic the sun. The light was supercharged, enhancing the Hallows supernatural powers and allowing them to draw freely from the source, like a battery in a recharging station. The city was structured like a stadium, with a metropolis of restaurants and shopping at the core. The houses wound outward from the centre like winds spiraling around the eye of a tornado, each outer ring sitting slightly above the inner ring on an incline. From where Thessa was standing, the empty space between the faux sky and the buildings formed the bottom half of a sphere.

"La Ciutat dels Lladres d'Ànima," Thessa whispered to herself. The City of Soul Catchers.

Thessa stood at the center of a sprawling quad with a large fountain surrounded by gray stone benches. Walkways and concrete paths sprouted from the fountain, each one leading to a different district of the city. The fountain was surrounded by some of the most important and frequented Hallow haunts, like L'alquímia Antiga, a fun tourist storefront completely molded from clay. There was an interactive science lab inside, and the gift shop sold replicas of everything from ancient crucibles to transmutation circles.

La Petita Botiga d'Històries was one of the largest bookstores in the Hallow cities, where you could buy a camouflaged book on how to do just about anything. Younger Hallows used these books to learn about the process of making things so they could practice transmutating objects around them. The books had interchangeable covers that could be purchased separately, so a Hallow could read them on the earthlie train or subway without drawing attention. In the window, Thessa saw several English-language copies of Noah's Concordance, a topical listing of all the angels and historical figures in the entire Hallow world. It was the historical textbook they used at Mehlizabeth, the Hallow school, where Hallows age fifteen and above could learn about transmutation and motivity in a formal setting. For a moment, Thessa considered purchasing a copy for Brie, but this thought was broken by her own echoing laughter. She imagined the textbook sitting unopened on Brie's dresser, and decided it wasn't worth the effort.

Besides, if she purchased anything, she would have to provide identification, and when people realized she had returned, even for a few days... she didn't want to consider the consequences.

Thessa kept walking, until she came across a building of glass and metal, fondly called the l'Apotecari, though it had grown much larger than a plausible apothecary over the years. It was more like a research facility and hospital combined. Thessa shuddered, remembering the time she spent in the fertility unit, many years ago.

Finally, Thessa made her way to the meeting point she was given—a building with large letters spelling "Ajuntament" over the doors.

At the front desk, an unfamiliar young woman smiled at her. "Good morning!" Thessa placed the woman's slight drawl to somewhere in the southwest of the United States. "How can I help you today?"

Thessa eyed the woman's nameplate suspiciously. Natassia. Thessa had been right. She didn't know this woman, but the woman was clearly American—perhaps stationed in Spain by the New Order? The Hallows had city centres all over the world, though, so it was unusual to see an American in Europe.

"Thessa Torres. I have an appointment with—"

"Yes, President Vega is waiting for you." Natassia smiled and held out an inch-thick metal cylinder with a squat letter-Z engraved in black. "Have you used one of these before?" she asked. "Bend the ends into a Z-shape and push down on the symbol. You'll be transported to your meeting."

Thessa looked at the contraption. She had never seen anything like it before—it had to be new technology used only by the cities, but Thessa was fairly well-versed in Hallow technology... or at least she had thought so.

"Where will this take me?" she asked, careful not to touch the device.

"I don't know," Natassia said cheerfully. "I can assure you that President Vega chose a secure location for your meeting. He doesn't come to the centre anymore. He says it's a security risk."

Thessa frowned; she didn't like the idea of transporting to a place she didn't know. What if it was a trap? She had no choice though; she grabbed the cylinder from Natassia and took a few steps back from the desk. She configured the metal into a Z-shape and pressed her thumb to the symbol.

CHAPTER FOUR

Mere seconds later, Thessa was standing in front of a massive cathedral she recognized—La Basílica de la Sagrada Família. She had no reason to be surprised—work on the cathedral was commissioned by the first president of the New Order, who planned to use the building as a safe place above ground for Hallows to be themselves and use their powers out in the open.

The building had touches of Roman Catholic tradition, with whimsical pillars at the entrance and statues of saints and martyrs donning the doorways. There were four visible spiraling towers above, with several more still in construction. The entire building was overwrought with strange angles, but there was still a healthy-sized group of tourists at the doors, waiting to get in.

Thessa looked around to guess where she should go next, but it turned out to be unnecessary; when she turned around, Mateo Vega was there to greet her.

"Thessa Torres," he said, towering over her. "We finally meet."

She must have looked surprised, because he answered her unspoken question. "The device I left you transports us both to the location of my choosing when you activate it."

Thessa raised her eyebrows. With his blonde, wavy hair and bright blue eyes, he was handsomer in person than in the pictures she'd seen of him. "I'm impressed," she said.

"As an inventor, you should be," he said. "It's a useful device. Walk with me."

No one stopped them for tickets when they walked through the front doors of the basilica. The inside bordered on gaudy; the style was a stone-cast version of rococo architecture. The support beams ran in unusual shapes across the ceiling, criss-crossing each other in creative arches. There were stained glass windows, but the patterns were not traditional images of saintly persons. Instead, the windows formed an abstract patchwork of glass and color reminiscent of Picasso's work.

"Our current American president has ties to Oahu—I believe that's why we sent you there."

"It is," Thessa replied.

"I asked you here because we detected a disturbance of activity in the area."

"Disturbance?"

"Yes. We monitor power surges in comparison to the concentrations of Hallows and Nephilim in the area, and Honolulu is off the charts right now."

Thessa's heart dropped. She knew the ability to monitor supernatural magic in an area was possible, but she had no idea the Hallow cities were actually doing it—before, it had been such an undertaking, such a waste of time. Thessa, Clara, and Cora were the only Hallows stationed in the Oahu, but Honolulu was a popular tourist spot for all sorts of people, Hallows included. Surely the addition of Brie and Sirena didn't account for a surge that would trigger a summoning to the capital?

"What did you see?" she asked, keeping her voice as steady as she could.

"We detected increased activity from the Hallows," Mateo said. "Of course, that could be accounted for by your own heightened powers. More confusing, however, was that we detected increased activity from the Nephilim as well." He seemed to be watching her closely. "I can only assume from the look on your face that you had no idea there were Nephilim in your area?"

"No," Thessa said, trying not to look too confused. She wanted to come across like she had control of her area. "I've looked at the Nephilim's database, and there are no Nephilim on Oahu—they think monitoring the islands is a waste of resources."

"Precisely," Mateo said. "Which is why I asked you here—I was hoping you could explain the discrepancy."

"This is the first I've heard of it," Thessa admitted. "But I'll look into it as soon as I get back."

Mateo seemed to accept her answer at face value, but there was a hint of distrust and manipulation in his features.

"Is there anything else?" Thessa asked. It seemed strange that Mateo Vega would meet with her in person to ask about a power surge, when they could have easily discussed it over the phone.

"One more thing," he said with a smile. "Everyone knows you are one of the wisest, most renowned Hallows in Europe. Your background is impressive—you were integral to taking down the monarchy from the inside, and you've escaped death in battle several times now. I'm looking for another advisor, and I'd like to have you on my board."

Thessa smiled, but inside, her stomach churned. They had come to the real reason she was there—Mateo wanted her to work for him.

"I'm honored to be asked, but my work in Honolulu is fulfilling," Thessa replied in the kindest tone she could muster.

"Yes, my predecessor told me you would be difficult to convince, but I thought a visit to Barcelona might be the first step. You know, a simple reminder of the home you had for hundreds of years." He paced around the room.

"My husband died in Spain," Thessa said, trying to control her shaky voice. "It's not a pleasant memory, nor one I want to relive every day."

"It must have been very unpleasant if you're still using it as an excuse seventy years later."

Thessa didn't think much of his sarcasm, but she knew she couldn't let him get a rise out of her.

"It was."

"I also thought it was strange that a woman of your talent and stature—someone who was so heavily involved in the politics of the last two centuries—would leave so shortly after our victory over the monarchy. If I had been such a useful instrument as you were, I would want to stay, perhaps run for office. You must know that you would have been a shoe-in."

"My place is behind-the-scenes, not on the platform."

"Good." He ruffled his soft, blonde curls. "An advisory position is behind-the-scenes, and I'd happily find something for those talented Egyptian twins of yours also."

"I'm sorry," Thessa said, her nerves dancing. "The answer is no."

"Pity." He smirked, giving Thessa a once-over. "Perhaps you're right though; cleaning up the situation in Honolulu is probably equally rewarding." His voice dripped with sarcasm. "I'll have Natassia keep an eye on your little island to make sure your investigation goes smoothly."

"Thank you, Mateo. It was great to meet you."

"You as well, Thessa. Hopefully we'll see each other again in Honolulu very soon. I'm not giving up on you. I'm sure I can come up with something to change your mind." He added a playful layer to his voice to give the impression that he was joking, but both of them knew his real meaning—he knew Thessa was hiding something he could use against her.

And when he figured out the truth about what was going on in Honolulu, he would be faced with a choice—to destroy Thessa and the twins with a trial from the New Order, or to use the ultimate blackmail to bend them to his will.

*****

"Can we please get this over with?" Brie stuffed her toes into the wet sand, pulling her hooded jacket tighter and zipping it up.

"We've put this off for nearly a week already." After surfing with Justin and Pilot that morning, Rykken had gotten Brie to meet him at the beach so they could talk about their class project for English.

They hadn't spoken since their fight though, and Rykken wasn't sure how to smooth things over between them.

Brie folded her arms across her chest. "I have somewhere to be."

Rykken winced. "What could you possibly have to do on a Saturday afternoon?"

"I have cheer practice."

"Oh, right," Rykken said, exhaling. At least she didn't have plans with Justin. "So when did you become a cheerleader anyway?" He laughed a little. "Isn't being popular a step down from being famous?"

She looked up sharply, cutting off his laughter. "Shut up. Just shut up about it." She turned her back to him and walked away.

Rykken moaned. He didn't understand why everything he said offended her. He trailed after her, down Waikiki beach, away from the crowds. They walked in silence for a few minutes, Brie slightly ahead of him. In the distance, there were only a few people sunbathing on this more secluded area of the beach.

One jet skier, a woman with dark skin and long white hair, streaked across the waves. Rykken was completed distracted by her, when Brie whipped around so fast that he almost walked into her.

He caught her shoulders with his hands, using his own balance to steady her. Her body tensed at his touch and he dropped his hands. "I'm sorry," she said. Brie ran her fingers through her hair aggressively. "That was really rude. I mean, telling you to shut up."

He looked at the ground. "I don't get it, honestly. I was trying to lighten the mood."

"I know." She pulled her long hair into a loose ponytail and tucked it into her hood before finally meeting his eyes. "And to answer your question, I started cheerleading last week."

Rykken shrugged, looking away. He didn't want to look into her eyes too closely, so he focused instead on her forehead, where a stray bang had escaped from Brie's hood. Rykken resisted the urge to tuck it behind her ear.

The sand was gritty between his toes and the beach smelled like seaweed. He shook his head and twisted his neck, looking for a way to refocus the conversation. "Let's just lighten up. We don't have to be best friends; we just have to get this project done."

Brie stuffed her hands into her jacket pockets. "So where do we start? And why did you want to meet at the beach? It's freezing."

"It's seventy-five degrees."

"It's windy."

"Look," Rykken said. He didn't want to argue with her. "We need to choose a classic piece of literature and then express a scene from it in modern terms." He paused, thinking of what he should say next. "If you can stand the temperature, I think the beach is the perfect setting. We need inspiration if we're going to brainstorm project ideas."

"Fair enough." Brie stuck one of her thumbs in the belt loop of her cutoff shorts. "What classics are you thinking about?"

Rykken couldn't remember seeing Brie in shorts before, or anything casual at all. She was usually decked out in heels with tailored skirts or dresses in classic American blues, reds, greens, and whites.

She looked at him expectantly. He cleared his throat. "I was thinking about something from 1984 or The Grapes of Wrath, since we read those in class."

Brie twisted her mouth, shaking her head emphatically. "No way. Those books are depressing as hell.

Stop being so emo."

"Alright. Something happy then," Rykken said, pepping up. "As Punahou's newest cheerleader, I think

'happy' is your department."

Brie scowled at his words, puzzling Rykken for the second time in five minutes. Or was it the third?

He'd lost count. He stopped walking, shoving his hands into his cargo shorts. "What? What did I say this time? Is it the cheer jokes?"

"No." But the tone in her voice made him think the opposite.

"Okay, because you don't seem to like cheering that much." Something clicked in Rykken's mind that caused his muscles to tense. "Wait. Did Thessa and the other girls force you to join the team?"

Brie finally looked at him, her eyes seeming slightly wetter than normal. "No. I like cheering."

He stepped in front of her, forcing her to stop walking. "Are you sure?" he asked, resisting the urge to rest his hands on her shoulders again. "Because I'm noticing that every time I bring up cheerleaders, you make a face."

"You notice a lot for someone who doesn't like me much." Her eyes met his, green and intense as ever.

Rykken dropped his eyes, hoping his Asian skin tone would hide how hot his cheeks were getting. "I don't dislike you. We just don't click."

Brie opened her mouth to say something, then shut it. She pursed her lips, causing her right cheek to dimple. "I like plays over books. And romantic tragedies. Like Oedipus and West Side Story. And Romeo and Juliet, obviously."

Rykken crinkled his nose. "At least it's not Jane Austen."

"I'm not that cliché."

Sometimes you are, he thought. Other times, she surprised him.

Rykken looked up; the brilliant cerulean sky was clouded over. He shivered, little bumps appearing on his forearms. It was unusually cold out here. But he couldn't go back on what he said earlier without looking like a wimp.

"I thought you wanted something happy," he said. "Romantic tragedies are hardly happy."

"I never said happy. You did." They were near the end of the path on the beach, and Brie sat down on a large, smooth rock. "Fine, nothing overtly girly. What else you got?"

Rykken thought for a minute. "Not much I guess. Dante's Inferno. The House of Seven Gables..." he trailed off. He was drawn to something sparkling green about twenty feet away, peeking out of the sand.

"Dante's Inferno... that's the one about heaven and hell, right?"

"And purgatory," Rykken said, distracted. There was no one this far down the beach. He wondered if a tourist had dropped something valuable.

"Let's do that one," Brie said, drawing his attention back to her. "Are there any romantic scenes in Dante's Inferno?" Rykken gave her a look. "What?" she said, smiling. "We're compromising."

"Whatever," he replied. "The poem is pretty depressing, but there is a love story toward the beginning I think. We can look it up."

"Cool. So how do we create a modern version of the love story?" Her words sharpened him, and his eyes widened a little. She bit her lip. "I mean, how do we... well, you know what I meant."

"Right." He took a deep breath, wishing he could stop embarrassing himself in front of her. "So I was thinking, for the project, we could do something creative. Like write a song. Or something."

"A song?" Brie looked intrigued. "How would we do that?"

"I play guitar." He grinned. "And don't you have, like, a famous father who writes and performs music for international audiences?"

"Very funny. I've never written a song though."

"I have," Rykken said. Plenty of songs that I would never in a million years play for you.

Brie looked up at him, shock on her face. "I had you pegged as a complete jock. Like Pilot."

Behind Brie, the woman with the white hair drove by them again on her jet ski.

Rykken laughed. "Just because we're best friends doesn't mean we're the same in every aspect." Out of the corner of his eye, he caught another sparkle from the dark green gem that lay in the sand, so close to him. He had moved closer to it as he was talking to Brie.

"I guess not. But I don't play any musical instruments, so I doubt I can contribute much."

Rykken was restless with their conversation again. "You can sing though, right? You'll be in charge of lyrics, and I can work on the melody."

"I can probably handle that." She might have smiled at him, but he couldn't really remember.

"Come here," he said, gesturing her to follow him. The sun reflected off the emerald glint mostly hidden beneath the sand.

"Wait. Where are we going?" He sensed the alarm in Brie's voice, but he couldn't understand why.

"I found something." The gem glowed brighter the closer he got to it—or at least it appeared to.

That doesn't make sense, he told himself. It must have been the way the sun was beaming down on it—the reflection was glowing, not the actual gem. Rykken knelt down on the hard sand and picked the object up.

"Wait! Rykken, don't touch that." Brie ran over to him, holding the side of her head in her palm.

"Why?" He could see now that the gem was actually some sort of necklace, with three silver cords woven elegantly into a chain that held a pendant. The pendant was emerald with a silver crescent moon adorned in the center. Real emerald? He couldn't tell.

"Are you crazy?" he asked Brie. "This looks old, and the design is incredible. It could be worth a lot. I'm not leaving it here."

"Rykken, please. I have a really bad feeling about it." Brie sounded both desperate and weak. What a turnoff. Rykken grabbed the pendant with his whole palm to show her it was safe. The pendant felt solid, smooth, and cold against his sun-kissed skin.

"It's fine. See? Nothing happens when I touch it."

Brie took a step back. "Keep it away from me."

"Why? It matches your eyes." He held the pendant by its thick, knotted chain as he pulled her hood off her head. Her hair, which had fallen out of its ponytail, flew wildly around her face.

He tucked her hair behind her ears gently, letting his fingers trace her smooth forehead. Her locks felt supple and thick, falling in waves down her back. It was the kind of hair all girls wanted and some girls would die for, but Brie didn't even know how lucky she was.

Her face crumpled as he held the pendant up to her eyes, but absolutely nothing happened. "Open your eyes so we can compare." She squeezed her eyes closed tighter.

"Why are you freaking out?" he asked accusingly. "Calm down." It bothered him that she didn't see the pendant as the unique find that it was. Why couldn't she trust him?

Finally, Brie opened her left eye, squinting at the object reluctantly.

"Boo," he whispered next to her cheek.

Brie opened both eyes and turned to face him, holding her head in her palm.

With the sun behind a cloud, the pendant wasn't glowing brightly anymore, so Rykken pulled the chain over his head. He tucked the pendant into his t-shirt and let it settle heavily onto his chest.

"See? You didn't turn to stone or anything." The beach was dead quiet, except for the scuttle of the wind and the crunch of shells under his restless feet. He sneered at her. "Hope you're not too disappointed that magic isn't real."

Brie slapped him square across the face.

"Ouch!" Rykken put his palm to his burning left cheek. "What the hell was that for?"

"I said to keep it away from me!" Brie turned and jogged away from him, back toward the crowds on the beach.

*****

"We ordered way too much food," Justin bemoaned. Pilot and Justin were hanging out at Tonkatsu Ginza Bairin for lunch, waiting for Rykken and Brie to finish their class project. The restaurant's white box lights highlighted the smooth, dark mahogany chairs and reflected off the straight lines of the cutlery.

It buzzed with plenty of first-time visitors; the cooks clanged frying pans and the food sizzled behind the counter. Justin chomped loudly on his thick cut tonkatsu, while Pilot dipped his wafu tonkatsu in various ponzu sauces.

It was a little early for the lunch crowd, but the small restaurant still hopped with tourists—

honeymooning couples, retired couples, college-age kids, families with their children, and even a few surfers in board shorts and zori, grabbing a bite to eat after the early morning run.

There was one girl, however, who didn't fit in with any of the other customers. The girl, with a long spill of white-corn hair dabbed in silver highlights, sat quietly at her table eating a salad with avocado and shrimp. She was dressed in sheer black and was scrawling in a notebook. She looked up, tucking her hair behind her ear and revealing several piercings and a twisted, suggestive smile aimed right at him. Pilot's breath caught. The girl wasn't classically beautiful like his sister, but her face was interesting and her eyes were striking, boring into him seductively. Pilot gave a little wave, but dropped his hand quickly when he realized how dorky it was.

Justin noticed her staring in their direction and locked eyes with Pilot. "One word dude: Hot."

"Way to be subtle." Pilot looked back at the girl, but her hair had fallen in her face again, covering it. He leaned in. "Are you interested?"

"Nah, I have a girl picked out already." Justin wiggled his eyebrows up and down suggestively.

"Candy apple-colored eyes. Looks a lot like you actually. You might know her." Pilot's shoulders tensed.

"By the way, why didn't you go out with us last night?"

"To the football game?"

"Yeah. It was awesome, tied until near the end when we scored a field goal. I thought you would at least come out to see Brie's debut on the cheerleading squad."

Pilot hadn't talked to Brie all week, and he definitely hadn't received an invitation to her see her debut. If it weren't for Annie, Pilot probably wouldn't even know about Brie's new extracurricular.

"How did she do?" he asked Justin. He wondered if cheering was Brie's attempt to get James and him off her back. It seemed a little extreme though, even for Brie.

"She was cute. Super peppy and loud. And she did a ton of those back flip things."

"Tumbling?" Pilot asked. "Brie doesn't know how to tumble. She's never taken gymnastics."

"Trust me. She knows how to tumble. And she can do the splits."

Pilot glared at Justin. The dude always had to go there.

He tried to focus on the quiet blonde girl in the corner instead. Her food was half-eaten, pushed to the side of the table, and she was writing in her notebook with a strange intensity. He wondered what was so important that she had to write while eating.

"You should talk to her," Justin said.

"I'm going to." Pilot looked over again. He placed a tender slice of pork in his mouth, savoring the Asian spices and the gritty coat of breading.

"You should talk to her now."

"I will, dude." Why was Justin so irritating ? "Just lay off. Let me think for a minute." But as the words came out of his mouth, a waiter came along and delivered the girl's check. She looked it over once and immediately laid a couple bills on the table. She packed her things into a purse and wiped her mouth with a napkin.

Justin shoved a salmon sushi into his mouth. "Idiot. You missed your chance." He chewed his food so loudly that Pilot wanted to reach across the table and smack him.

The girl walked out, but not before her eyes caught Pilot's. She rolled her tongue over her lips and gave him a wink, but she didn't come over to his table.

Pilot sighed. Was all that looking and flirting for nothing?

The waiter hadn't cleared the girl's plate yet. That's when Pilot spotted it—the notebook that the girl had been scribbling in was sitting on the table, left behind. Pilot wandered nonchalantly to the table to get a better look at the notebook. It was plain black leather, the size of a typical journal.

Pilot hesitated, then picked the notebook up. He flipped through the pages and was surprised to find they were all blank.

He shut the notebook in confusion and tucked it in his back pocket. When he walked back to his table, Rykken was sitting there, a little out of breath.

"Where's Brie?" Justin asked Rykken. "And why is your face red?"

Rykken stiffened. "Brie ran off after our meeting. She said she had cheer practice, so one of her friends probably picked her up."

"I thought she was getting a ride home with me," Pilot said, confused.

"I guess she changed her mind," said Rykken. He furled his brow, concentrating hard on the menu.

Justin threw his napkin on the table with a huff. "Well, that blows my plans of charming the pants off a cute girl today."

Pilot thumped his fist onto the table. One water-filled glass spilled into the candle holder, causing the flame to go out. "Stop with the innuendos, bro." He placed his napkin on the table to soak up the water he spilled. "I'm serious. Leave my sister alone."

Justin didn't even flinch. "I didn't mean it literally." He grinned. "It's a figure of speech."

"It's never a figure of speech with you." Pilot dipped his fork in ponzu.

"You're out of luck anyway," Rykken said. "Brie is wearing shorts today."

Justin looked up from his tonkatsu. "Weird."

"Yeah, no kidding."

Pilot glanced between the two of them, feeling a little lost in the conversation. "Are you getting something to eat?" Pilot asked Rykken. "We can wait for you."

"No, I can't afford this place." Rykken set the menu down. Pilot felt guilty for picking the restaurant, but he knew better than to offer to buy Rykken's lunch.

"Look what this girl left." Pilot pulled the notebook from his pocket, and a sheet of paper fell out. Pilot picked it up. The paper had contact information, written in the girl's neat, even handwriting.

"Look Rykken. She wrote her number down on this sheet of paper." Pilot's chest swelled—he wondered if she had written it down for him.

"Why would she leave you her number in a notebook?" Justin asked. "You didn't even have the balls to talk to her."

"Don't know," Pilot said. "But I'll have to call her to return this."

"Maybe she left it for the waiter, not you."

"Guess he's out of luck then, because I'm taking this with me."

"Guys," Rykken said, "never mind that. Look what I found on the beach." Rykken pulled something from the collar of his t-shirt. It was an old necklace, green with a moon in the center.

Pilot glanced at Justin, who seemed equally perplexed. "Uh. What is it?" Justin asked.

"I don't know. But it's pretty cool, isn't it?"

Justin laughed. "It looks like some chick's cheap costume jewelry. Why are you wearing it?"

"Shut up. It's a pendant on a chain, not a necklace. I think it's real, and worth something. It's heavy. Feel it." Pilot took the necklace from Rykken and held it in his palm. It was indeed heavy, but Pilot still couldn't see the value in an old piece of jewelry.

"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.

*****

"Tell me exactly what happened," Sirena said, "in as much detail as possible."

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?"

"Clara and Cora are best at research, and Thessa has been alive for thousands of years. We need them right now. I can't stress that enough." Sirena ran her hands over her blonde hair. "Plus, before we go, you need to learn how to control your powers. And you have to understand how dangerous it will be. I wouldn't even take you if I didn't have to, but you're as unsafe here without me to protect you."

"Fine," Brie huffed. "Let Clara and Cora investigate. Then as soon as I get my powers under control, we're leaving."

"You seem a little too eager." Sirena stared at Brie with a slight curl to her lip. "Eager gets you killed. You need to learn patience."

"I need to find out what happened to my mother, especially if it helps explain what's happening to me."

"Don't follow your mother's footsteps too closely, Brie. Don't make the same mistakes."

Brie hated being talked down to like a child. She changed the subject. "In the meantime, what do I do about Rykken?" she asked. "I don't think that pendant is safe for him."

Sirena thought for a minute. "I changed my mind about Rykken. I want to see this pendant he found,"

Sirena said. "If it's giving you headaches, it might be related to the mystery with your mom."

The thought gave Brie some hope that the time they wasted waiting for her powers to mature might be spent on moving something forward, even if it was something small.

"Cool. So how do we get the pendant?"

"We?" Sirena asked, a small smile on her lips.

"Well, you," Brie said. "Can't you, you know, use magic or whatever to get the pendant?"

"No, that's not how magic works." Sirena twirled her hair through her fingers. "You can't take magical objects by force. They have to be given. Headaches or not, you're the only one close enough to Rykken to pull this off." Her eyes sparkled. "You need to get that pendant."

CHAPTER FIVE

Pilot sat at his favorite library table, staring out the window into the quad from the second floor. The library was three stories tall, and typically packed with overachieving students during third period, but Pilot had gotten there early enough to get the blue table in the corner, away from prying eyes. He normally spent his study hour hanging out with Justin and some of the other water polo guys, but this week he'd spent it reading Hawaiian Myths and Legends and working on his paper, Annie's words ringing in his mind.

He also thought about the girl he saw at the restaurant. Pilot loved a good horror movie; he liked to be scared. But he was still freaked out by the handwritten messages the platinum blonde girl from the Waikiki strip had left him, no matter how hot she was.

Still, he couldn't pretend he didn't want to see her again. Every time he pictured her, she had that mysterious, unnerving grin on her face. He wished that he could talk to her, just once—

"I think you have something that belongs to me."

Pilot jumped out of his chair, spinning around quickly. As if someone had answered his thoughts, it was her, standing in front of him.

He wished he could shake the shock off his face and play it cooler, but he messed up the moment he opened his mouth. "What are you doing here?"

She shushed him. She leaned in like she might kiss his cheek, but instead she whispered, "I said I'd find you, didn't I?" The soft purr of her voice tickled his ears. A sweet scent of mint and green apples lingered on her breath.

Pilot had spent the whole week thinking about her, but now all he felt was anger. "Who are you?" he asked.

Her silver eyes bore into his. "Relax," she said, gesturing to his chair. He sat down. "My friends call me Kennedy." She sat on the library table, placing her black boots on the chair next to him and pulling out a pack of Mentos.

"Want one?" she asked. He shook his head. She held the pack to her lips, using her perfectly straight, white teeth to rip the wrapping off a quarter inch from the top. She popped the top piece of candy into her mouth, rolling it with her tongue slightly before biting down.

Pilot gulped. He couldn't figure out this girl in the slightest. "How did you find me?"

Kennedy's coy grin unwound him further. "Magic."

"Tell me the truth," he demanded.

She cocked her head to one side, her eyes never leaving his as she slid neatly into the chair next to him. "Why?" she asked. "The truth isn't as fun."

His expression didn't change. Nearby, the rustling of page-turning and the zipping and unzipping of backpacks distracted him. Students clicked and typed on their laptops like the good little students they were. He needed to be doing the same, and yet here he was, getting engrossed in a mystery of a girl.

He tried to look menacing, but Kennedy laughed at him. "Will you lighten up? I asked one of those cute water polo boys if they'd seen you, and they led me right here."

Pilot breathed a sigh of relief, turning her perfectly reasonable explanation around in his mind.

"What about the number thing, and the note...?"

"The number was written in invisible ink. I figured you'd find the second note after the ink had already faded." She smoothed her black skirt with her hands, but it still barely covered the top quarter of her thighs. "It was a little prank, that's all." Her eyes landed on the black leather notebook sitting at his table. She picked it up. "Pilot—"

"How do you know my name?"

Kennedy raised her eyebrows, tugging at the Mentos wrapper with her teeth again. "Everybody in the entire country knows your name." Pilot said nothing. She reached into her purse, pulling out a magazine and thrusting it across the table toward him.

Pilot looked down. On the cover, there was a picture of Brie in a blazing blue dress placing a single red hibiscus on his mother's coffin. He was there, too, in the background of the image, standing tall with a stoic expression of support. The headline was about the siblings' recent free ride with James' car.

Pilot opened the magazine and flipped to the article. "Under pressure from Milena van Rossum's death, Pilot and Gabriella van Rossum lash out by stealing James van Rossum's Aston Martin Volante," he read out loud. "There's a lot of 'van Rossum' in that sentence."

"A car accident is the first stop on the path to ultimate destruction," Kennedy said mischievously.

Pilot tried to settle down. Everything she'd told him so far made sense; her story checked out.

Besides, she was a gorgeous girl who had gone out of her way to get his attention. He could tell he was blowing it with her by being defensive.

He shook his head. "I'm so sorry," he said. "I'm such an idiot. Paranoid."

She batted her eyes at him. Did girls still do that? She did.

She popped another Mentos into her mouth. "I didn't realize my little joke would freak you out so much."

Great. Now she thought he was a wimp. He cleared his throat, wishing he could start the conversation over. "Thanks for finding me. I wanted to meet you at the tonkatsu place, but I didn't have the nerve to introduce myself." Pilot shifted in his seat uncomfortably. "Do you go to Punahou?"

Kennedy laughed. "I graduated from Iolani last year."

Pilot's eyes widened. "How old are you?"

"Seventeen. I skipped two grades in elementary school." She bit off more of the wrapper from her Mentos pack. Pilot wasn't sure where the paper was going; he didn't see any wrappers lying on the table, or a trash can nearby where she could throw them.

"Impressive. You must be smart." Pilot tried to stop staring at her mouth with great difficultly.

"Or persuasive." She laughed again. Pilot wondered if she was subtly making fun of him. Why else would she be laughing every other sentence?

"So we're close to the same age."

She grinned. "Sort of." She held her notebook up. "Now that you don't think I'm some nut job stalker, tell me something. Why did you take my notebook?"

"Why did you leave it for me?" he asked.

She peeked out from behind the curtain of pale tresses that fell across her face. "Because I knew you'd take it."

Pilot tapped his pen against the table. "I took it because I wanted to know who you were." He pointed the pen cap at Kennedy. "Your turn now."

She tucked the black notebook into her purse. "I already answered your question." She rested her elbow on the table and twirled her hair around one of her fingers.

Pilot frowned. "I'm not going to get another answer out of you, am I?"

Her eyes sparkled. "Nope."

He stared at her. Kennedy's cat-and-mouse game was unraveling him in a way he didn't expect. He had never met a girl who oozed with confidence the way she did. She wasn't afraid to be assertive around him, not like other girls his age.

Her eyes flickered around his table, like she was taking in every little detail about his workspace.

She nodded to the tattered book sitting in front of him. "How's your book treating you?"

"This? It's pretty cool." He grimaced as soon as the words came out of his mouth. What a lame response.

She picked up the book, flipping through it as if she were looking for a particular page. "Do you read Greek?" she asked.

"Uh, no." Was she serious?

"Then you missed the best part," she said, laughing again.

"What's so funny?" he asked.

"Your faces," she said, smirking. "You make lots of faces. I bet you don't even realize it."

He puckered his lips involuntarily, and she laughed again. He started to bite his lip, then stopped himself.

"Oh," she said. "Don't be embarrassed. I like your expressions. They're cute." There was a flash of vulnerability in her eyes, but it was short-lived. "Just like you are," she said, "though, I think with that spiky brown hair and those emerald eyes, 'sexy' is a much better descriptor." She grinned at him.

The oxygen from Pilot's lungs vaporized. She likes me. Pilot sucked in air slowly, trying not to show any signs of nervousness. She was nothing like any girl he'd ever met. He felt excited about the possibilities, but also nervous. His emotions had been through the ringer in five minutes with her.

"Here," she said, pushing the book in front of him. She traced some old script with her fingers.

"This is an enchantment."

He looked at the foreign words. "You can read that?"

She stared at him intensely. He tried to hold her stare, but her eyes were like liquid metal and he could feel himself sinking into them. He looked away first.

"Not really." She laughed again. "There's a translation scribbled in the margin." She leaned in closer. "It's a recipe, of sorts. It brings the myths in this legend to life."

Pilot looked down at the story. " The Selkies and the Shark Men," he read out loud. It was one of the stories he hadn't read yet.

"I remember it from grade school. It's the tale of two families that are forever feuding over the land and people of Oahu." Kennedy's eyes gleamed. "It says here that the only thing we need to cast the spell is the gem from the cover of this book."

Pilot flipped the book shut. "But it's missing," he said.

"Of course it is," Kennedy laughed. "Do you think they want just anyone to awaken an ancient feud that's been dormant for nearly a century?"

"Who are they?"

"Oh, you know. Them."

Kennedy wasn't making any sense. "Do you mean the writer of the book?"

"Writer, or writers." Kennedy waved her hands dismissively. "Or whoever stopped the feud in the first place."

Pilot nodded thoughtfully. "Do you really believe in this stuff?" he asked, gesturing to the book.

She trapped him again with her eyes. "Sure," she said. "Do you?"

"Not really." He was determined not to break her stare this time.

"Why not?"

"It's all for fun, right? Fairy tales, legends, urban myths... they're all imaginary."

"And are God and Hell imaginary, too?" she asked.

"Those are different," he said, looking away. Damn it, he thought. She got him again.

"What makes them different?"

"I don't know. They just are." Pilot wasn't sure how he'd gone from ancient, mythological feuds to philosophical religious questions with this girl he'd just met.

Kennedy tapped her fingers against the table, eating another Mentos. "All the stories of gods and myths have been woven together throughout history. How do we separate myth from truth?"

"I don't know." The look she gave him was smoldering; it made it hard for him to remember what they were talking about. "Maybe I don't believe in God then, either."

Her expression turned sultry, a wicked smile spreading across her face. "You have to believe in something, Pilot."

He liked the way she said his name.

"So this is what, like a religion to some people?" he asked, gesturing to Hawaiian Myths and Legends.

"Of course it is," she said, "to some people. To me, it's just a hobby. I like things that go bump in the night."

She gave him a playful, teasing look. Pilot bit his tongue; he couldn't tell if she meant something more.

The bell rang; it was time for him to go to lunch. Kennedy stood up and grabbed her purse.

Pilot felt a burning heat rising up out of his chest. "Are you leaving?"

Kennedy glanced past Pilot's head. Around them, people were packing their bags. She leaned in close to him. "I'm not supposed to be here," she murmured. "I don't go to this school, remember?" She brushed her lips against his cheek. "I'll find you again, I promise."

"Kennedy, wait," he said grabbing her hand. He took a deep breath. "Can I take you out? On a date?"

"Maybe," she said. She leaned in, licking the bottom of his lip lightly. She pressed her lips to his mouth. Just as he began to kiss her back, she pulled away.

"Can you handle a date with me?" she asked, laughing.

"I can try," Pilot said, taking in the way her silky blouse hung from her shoulders.

She bit her upper lip with those perfect white teeth. "Okay then," she said mischievously. "But I should warn you; it will be a first date you'll never forget."

*****

Just do it.

Brie was at her wits' end with the mission Sirena had given her. She had tried to retrieve the pendant from Rykken several times, but nothing had worked so far. On Tuesday, she skipped her first class and snuck into the boys' locker room during the morning water polo practice. She dug through all of Rykken's locker things, including about a dozen pairs of clean socks. But she couldn't find the pendant, even though she knew he would never wear it to practice. By Wednesday, Brie was trying to use her powers during English class; she could sense the pendant on Rykken's chest and could see the chain around his neck, but nothing she tried even made the pendant move, much less fly off of Rykken's neck and into her purse without him noticing.

Sirena was right. Magical objects really did have to be given, not taken. It was Friday now, and Brie knew she had no choice if she wanted to learn more about the pendant. She had to talk to Rykken and convince him to let her borrow it. No matter how much he hated her, he was the only person who could give it to her.

Right before lunch, Brie walked purposefully toward Rykken's locker to catch him alone.

About ten feet away, Brie noticed a problem in her plan. Rykken was there, leaning against the light gray lockers embedded into the off-white walls of the hallway, but he wasn't alone. A few of the water polo guys were with him, and one of them, a dark brown guy with curly, unruly hair, punched Rykken's arm playfully.

"Bro, come on. I need an in." Brie overheard him saying. "You know Pilot will never help me talk to his sister." They were talking about her. She tried to blend in to the crowd of students as she moved closer to hear them.

"Why are you so fixated on her?" Rykken asked. Brie's heart sank at his tone.

"She's my type," the guy replied simply. "Plus I need a date to Homecoming."

"And you think she'll go with you?" Rykken mused.

"She wants to go with someone, I'm sure." He was cute, if not cocky. He reminded her of a guy she had dated back home in Manhattan.

"Trust me, stay away from her," Rykken said. "She did this, remember?" He pointed to his face. "I think she's bipolar." Brie could hardly believe her ears. Was this really Rykken saying these things?

The guy scoffed. "Maybe she doesn't like you." The other guys around him laughed. "Or maybe you're jealous? If you want to go with her instead, just tell me."

"Not a chance I would take her to Homecoming." Rykken replied quickly, slamming his locker shut. He turned and finally noticed Brie, standing on the fringes of the crowd in the hallway.

Rykken seemed surprised, but he focused on a point straight ahead as he walked past her, his body language daring her to stop to him.

"I need to talk to you," she said, stepping out in front of him and meeting him head on.

"Stay the hell away from me," he said calmly.

Brie felt like he had punched her in the gut. "Where is this coming from?"

Rykken gave her a hard look, his jaw laced with anger. "Do you have any idea how hard you slapped me? It left a red mark the size of a hand." Brie looked at his eye and noticed there was still a bruise.

Had she really hit him that hard?

Brie shook her head, flustered. "I'm sorry."

His lips quivered. "You honestly think that a half-hearted apology almost a week after the fact is going to change things?"

"I had no idea I hit you that hard."

Rykken glared at her, sending chills up Brie's spine. "You sit next to me in English class. You didn't see the bruise? The guys have been giving me shit for it all week."

Brie said nothing, which seemed to only make Rykken angrier with her. A large vein at the juncture of his neck and jawline pulsed visibly. "That's the problem with you," he said, to no one in particular.

"You don't notice. You don't see anyone or anything but yourself."

"That's not fair," Brie protested, finally reclaiming her nerves.

"It's fair because it's true. You do whatever you want. You spent months in your room, ignoring your brother when he needed you most. You scared him, Brie. You have no idea how much you scared him. Then, you got defensive with your dad when he was trying to help. Now you never go home? You make Annie worry about you." Brie was too surprised by his words and deep insider knowledge of her life to say anything.

"You hurt people. And you don't care, do you?" he asked. He was only a few inches from Brie's face.

She stared at him defiantly, though she had no counter-argument. It wasn't like she could explain anything or justify her actions without explaining the Hallows and giving away the precarious situation she was in.

Rykken shook his head. "You're the most selfish person I've ever met." Brie swallowed hard, fighting to keep her composure. It was only then that she noticed all the other students in the hallway, eagerly watching them like they were an episode of reality TV. They had caused a scene.

Rykken looked around, coming to the same realization at the same time. "Like I said, stay out of my life." He pushed past her, his broad shoulder shoving her slightly into the gray lockers, though not enough to hurt.

Brie leaned against the lockers for support, fresh tears brimming to the surface. Everyone was staring at her. And worse, Rykken was right. She had been so focused on getting the pendant that she hadn't even thought to apologize to Rykken. She had been so focused on Sirena and the Hallows and all her own problems, she hadn't thought of what Pilot and Annie would think. She was selfish, and not even remotely worthy of her family's love or Rykken's kindness. The thought brought her a sadness she hadn't experienced in weeks.

The water polo guy with the fluffy hair rushed over and put his arm around her, holding her steady.

"Are you okay?" he asked. He had a soft scent about him, a distinct mixture of musky cologne and Old Spice Sport.

Not trusting her voice, she didn't answer. "Ry's being a jerk. He gets like that sometimes," he said soothingly. "I'm Justin, by the way." He smiled at her encouragingly.

Brie grabbed his arm tentatively, happy the tears had decided not to spill at the moment. She could save the crying for later. "Thanks," she said, steadying herself. She let go of Justin, but Justin didn't drop his arm from her waist. "I'm Brie," she said awkwardly. It felt strange to be embraced by someone she had only seen a couple times in passing.

At that moment, Pilot appeared out of nowhere, bringing Brie a fresh wave of guilt. Brie hadn't had a serious conversation with Pilot in weeks. What was the point in trying to keep people safe if you never took the time to talk with them?

Justin saw Pilot and dropped his arm from Brie's waist quickly. "Hey guy," he said. "Where were you?

You missed the big show."

Pilot looked at Brie and Justin standing next to each other and his entire face twitched. "Did it involve a drastic reduction of square footage in the hallways? Because you're standing awfully close to my sister right now."

Brie's eyes spiraled with annoyance, and Justin had the nerve to laugh in Pilot's face.

"Even better," he said. "Rykken just flew off his handle about—"

"Nothing," Brie burst out, cutting Justin off. Pilot's skeptical eyes flitted in her direction. "It was nothing," she repeated, sending Justin a meaningful look. Brie didn't want to cause a fight between her brother and his best friend. She had a feeling that the things Rykken accused her of had been said in confidence. She wasn't supposed to know, and if anything, she wanted Pilot to confront her himself.

Pilot glanced back and forth between Justin and Brie, sharp concern lining his forehead.

"I have to go," Brie said. "I'm meeting Sirena for lunch." Turning to Justin, she added, "Nice to meet you again."

He grinned sheepishly. "I guess I'll see you tomorrow night?"

"You're coming to our party?" she asked. James was throwing a welcome home party for himself, and Brie and Pilot were supposed to invite their friends so James could "get to know" them. Naturally, half of the sophomore, junior, and senior classes were coming, since everyone wanted to meet someone famous.

Brie had been dreading the event the whole week.

But Justin didn't know that. He smiled, and said, "Sure, I'll be there. I'm looking forward to seeing you again." He winked at her.

Brie couldn't help but smile a little. Justin was cute, and it was nice to interact with a boy who didn't hate her. As Brie walked away, she felt Justin's eyes follow her. She heard a whop on the back of someone's head as Pilot said, "Dude, she's my sister. Have some respect."

*****

Pilot sat quietly at their usual lunch table in the quad, tracing the outline of the gem imprint on the cover of Hawaiian Myths and Legends. Rykken sat next to him, disturbingly engrossed in a homework assignment. The other guys had left to play basketball, as usual.

"You look like your head is about to implode," Pilot noted.

Rykken shrugged. "I'm trying to get this assignment done."

Pilot sensed something a little off in Rykken's tone. He remembered Justin's earlier words. Rykken just flew off his handle... "Did something major happen—"

"No," Rykken said immediately.

"I didn't finish my sentence," Pilot pointed out.

"I already knew what you were going to ask." Rykken hesitated, biting hard on the end of his pen.

"Justin is asking Brie to Homecoming. So there's that."

"I thought that was weird," Pilot said, shaking his head. "They were a little too close when I got there." Pilot propped his head in his palm, letting his elbow rest on the table.

Rykken glanced up, his forehead creased. "I guess Justin finally asked her."

"Bastard. He better not even think about taking advantage of her."

Rykken said nothing and turned back to his assignment, scribbling furiously in a notepad.

"Dude, you're going to break that pen." Pilot remembered another detail from the scene earlier, and something clicked in his mind. "Brie was shaken up when I saw her. Did you get in another fight with her?"

Rykken continued scribbling. "Yeah, a small one," he said, without looking up.

Pilot frowned. "I thought things were getting better between you two."

"They were. They're worse again."

"Dude, just try to be civil."

Pilot heard a violent crack of plastic. Rykken had practically crushed his pen into the notepad he was using.

"Look, I get it," he said, tossing the pen into a trash can several yards away. "She's your sister, you love her, blah blah blah. I can't deal with her though. She's got this infuriating air about her. Her mood swings are all over the place, and she ignores me until the minute she needs something." Rykken flipped the pages of his notepad to the beginning, placing it back on the table slightly too hard.

"Actually, I'm convinced she ignores everyone until she needs something."

Pilot narrowed his eyes, staring off into space. Rykken's hatred for Brie was so strong. He didn't understand how he could be close to two people who hated each other so much.

Rykken sighed loudly. "Why does it matter anyway?"

Pilot shrugged his shoulders. "You two are the only people in the world I really care about. When Brie hurts, I hurt. And I don't want to choose between you."

Rykken looked up again. "I'm assuming you would choose her."

"If it came down to it, she's my sister. But it won't come to that. Why would it?"

Rykken pursed his lips. "Look. I'll do what I can."

Pilot smiled, absentmindedly tracing the outline of the jewel imprint again. He didn't want to let Brie and Rykken's issues ruin his good mood. The shape of the gem imprint looked so familiar to him, yet he couldn't figure out where he recognized it from.

"You're still messing with that book, huh?" Rykken gestured to Hawaiian Myths and Legends. "Find anything interesting in it for your paper?"

"Sort of," Pilot said, grinning. The sexy image of the real, flesh and blood girl who surprised him in the library lingered in his mind. He wasn't sure what she had in mind for their first date, but he knew he wanted to find out. "Do you see this?" he asked Rykken, pointing to the empty imprint. "There's a gem that goes here. It's missing though—a complete mystery."

Rykken looked grumpy. "Maybe a ghost stole it."

"This stuff seriously doesn't interest you?" Pilot asked. He found the dark myths fascinating. They made the island seem less quaint, more sinister—like something fascinating could be lurking under the surface.

"No. But I can pretend I care if you want." Rykken pulled the book toward him, looking at the gem imprint closer. His eyes widened to the size of ping pong balls.

Pilot furled his eyebrows. "Do you recognize it?"

"Not really." Rykken pushed the book back in Pilot's direction, flipping through his notepad again.

Pilot put his hand on Rykken's notepad, silencing the shuffling of papers. "You're lying." Rykken said nothing, and Pilot folded his arms defiantly. "Come on dude. I know I've seen a shape like this before, but I can't remember where. If you think you know something about it, you should tell me."

Rykken leaned in; he seemed a little freaked out. "Remember that pendant I found?" he asked.

"No," Pilot said.

Rykken's face twisted with exasperation. "The necklace," he said, making quotation marks in the air with his fingers. "The one that you and Justin made fun of me for." Rykken pulled the book over to him again. "See this part of the imprint?" he asked. He pointed to a dip in the imprint, worn so deeply it was almost indistinguishable from the rest. "Does it look like a... a crescent moon to you?"

Pilot hovered over the book, letting his fingers feel the space. "A little, maybe. I'm not really sure." He looked closely; it did look a bit like an imprint of that necklace Rykken found.

"I think you're right." Pilot smiled at Rykken, though Rykken didn't return his enthusiasm for solving the puzzle. "You found the necklace on the beach, right? It must be a museum souvenir or something. I just need to figure out where this book is from then. They're probably a set."

"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."

*****

"Concentrate Brie."

"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."

CHAPTER SIX

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."

A burst of air shot out from between Brie's lips. "I guess people from New York care about things that people from Honolulu don't."

Pilot thought about it for a minute. "No, I think most of them care about the same things. Rykken is just different."

Brie nodded, biting the inside of her cheek. Her cheek dimpled and she stared at the ground.

"It bothers you, doesn't it?" Pilot asked.

"No. It's my fault. Everything is my fault right now."

"True..." Pilot laughed, blocking Brie's attempt to punch him in the arm. "I'll talk to Rykken. I'll make him forgive you."

"Don't."

"I sort of already did. You didn't leave much of a bruise on his face anyway." Pilot laughed. "But it was hilarious when Justin told everyone that Rykken had been punched by a girl over the weekend. That was after he told everyone about that necklace Rykken found."

Brie gave him a half-hearted smile. "Tell me what's going on in your life now."

Pilot noticed the not-so-subtle shift in topic. He tried to think of something that might distract her from whatever she was upset about. "Well, I met a girl."

"Really?" Brie perked up. "Does she go to our school? Is she coming to the party tonight?"

"Yes, no, definitely not." Pilot shuddered. "I don't want to introduce her to family and friends yet. The media finds out and then it complicates things."

He realized too late how that might sound to Brie, but she didn't seem surprised or offended. "What is she into?" Brie asked.

Pilot felt his grin spread across his face like an infection. "Magic and Mentos." Brie raised an eyebrow, but Pilot felt something warm rise from his chest. "I don't really know, since we haven't even had a real date yet." He leaned forward, resting his chin on his entwined fingers. "She's really different though. Not like other high school girls."

Brie's expression hardened. "What are other high school girls like?"

"Ugh," Pilot said. "They're self-conscious and full of drama. And they're always clustering together and laughing at stupid things."

Brie seemed a little surprised by his answer, and a little lost in thought. After a few seconds, her expression returned to normal. "That's great that you met a girl." She squeezed Pilot's arm. "I'm really happy for you."

He smiled. "You should come downstairs. People are already here."

"I'm not sure I can face James in front of all those people."

"I don't understand how you can face the paparazzi, but you can't face your own father."

"It's not just him. I got in a fight with one of my friends also. And then there's Rykken."

"You have to suck it up." Pilot sighed. "You're thinking that you have to face them all at the same time. Just start with one."

Pilot could see the gears turning in Brie's head. "Fine," she said. "Who should I start with?"

His smirk was unavoidable. "I think you know who."

*****

Brie checked her makeup in the mirror one last time before she went downstairs with Pilot. She was dreading an entire evening with James, Rykken, the Hallows, and a bunch of people she didn't know very well, but was supposed to be friends with.

Rykken stood in the kitchen alone, putting together a vegetable tray and humming to himself. He moved easily between the counters, pulling utensils and containers from the cabinets without having to search. Brie marveled at how well he knew their house.

"Go." Pilot pushed her through the kitchen archway. He then slipped out through the sliding glass door onto the balcony and gently shut the door behind him.

Rykken turned around, brushing off his hands on his board shorts.

"Hey," Brie said tentatively, announcing herself.

He eyed her warily. "Hey."

The warm tones of the room contrasted Rykken's icy demeanor. Brie stole a raw carrot from the vegetable tray. "Do you want any help?" she asked sheepishly, crunching the carrot with her jaw.

"Not from you."

Brie sighed and walked to the fridge. She pulled out a huge bowl of macaroni salad and spooned it into a dish.

Rykken grabbed a spoon from the dishwasher and took a swipe of the salad, putting it in his mouth.

"This is awesome. Who made it?"

Brie looked at him cautiously. "Me."

Rykken's spoon free fell into the sink with a loud clank.

"It's my mom's recipe. She used to make it for us in the summer."

"Fascinating."

Brie grabbed her own spoon and took a bite of the macaroni salad she had just ladled into the bowl.

It reminded her of spending summers with Christy, Lauren, and Adele; back when the four of them were friends. Before her mother had passed away.

Outside, someone shrieked, ripping Brie from her thoughts. Brie breathed a sigh of relief when the sounds of splashing and laughter followed. It seemed like the party was well underway.

Brie set her spoon on the counter. "We need to talk."

Rykken popped a cherry tomato into his mouth and chewed it slowly. He swallowed with a huge gulp. "I don't need to talk."

Brie glowered. "Look. I want to apologize again for slapping you."

Rykken's laugh didn't help matters. "That's not what I'm mad at you for." He turned his back to her and grabbed a soda from the fridge. "You still don't get it," he said, cracking open the top on his cola.

"I knew you wouldn't. It's easier if you leave me alone."

Brie tried to keep her voice from trembling. "You're right, I don't understand. Tell me what's wrong so I can apologize and make it right."

"It doesn't work like that. You can't apologize for something you don't even think you did wrong."

"But Pilot wants us to be friends, so I'm trying to make things right between us."

Rykken cringed, a glimmer of hurt in his eyes. "You also can't apologize to someone to make the person you care about happy."

"Why do you hate me?" The words tumbled out of Brie's mouth against her will. She wanted desperately to know the answer, but she regretted asking it instantly.

Rykken locked eyes with her, intense and brooding as ever. Her body tensed, and she cowered away from him—but he didn't yell. He also didn't deny it. "You represent everything I hate."

Brie put her hands on the kitchen counter to support her anxious body. "And what would that be?" she asked quietly.

"Everything," Rykken said. "You're superficial. Your dad buys you whatever you want, and you're terrible to him. You get anything else you want with your looks. Everyone at school wants to be friends with you because your dad is famous, and you let them so you can feel special."

"What don't you get about my life?" Brie asked. "I didn't ask for any of this."

"Well I didn't ask to be found in a dumpster nearly dead when I was two years old. I didn't ask for my parents to abandon me. I didn't ask to be brought up in foster care my entire life." Rykken shifted his attention to the floor, stirring his foot around one of the tiles. "But I don't let it be an excuse.

I used my Hawaiian heritage to get scholarships, and I worked my butt off to get into Punahou so I can go to a good college."

Brie tried to hide her pity from her face. "It's not fair to assume my life isn't hard just because yours has been harder," she argued.

"That's not my point." Rykken picked up a magazine lying on the counter, and held it in front of Brie's face. "My point is why is this always an excuse for your actions?" On the cover was a picture of Brie holding a hibiscus over her mother's coffin. It wasn't a cover she had seen yet, but the image gripped her. She didn't know if he meant that she used her fame as an excuse or her mom's death as an excuse. Probably both.

Rykken drilled into her eyes expectantly. "I don't know what to say," Brie confessed.

He scoffed. "Don't say anything then. At least you're consistent."

For some reason, this comment more than any of the others made Brie furious. She was done apologizing to Rykken and side-stepping the eggshells of his broken ego. She tried to think logically.

What was the minimum she needed tonight?

"Fine," she remarked, in a tone as businesslike and free of emotion as she could muster. "We don't have to get along and you don't have to like me. I'll just get to the point." Her voice was steady, but her entire body was shaking. "I need to see that pendant we found last Saturday."

"What?" Rykken looked truly dumbfounded, like she'd slapped him in the face again.

"I need to borrow it." Brie racked her brain for an argument that would resonate with Rykken. "I can't explain why, but if you care about Pilot at all, you'll give it to me."

"What does Pilot have to do with the pendant?" Rykken seemed extremely tired all of a sudden.

Brie wondered how much she should say. "I'm using it to protect him," she said quietly. "You can't tell him though."

"I won't, because I'm not giving it to you. I don't care what you need it for."

She walked over to him and grabbed his arms. "Look at me," she said desperately, searching his eyes.

" Everything depends on you giving me that pendant."

"Why?" he asked, still not looking at her.

"I can't explain it to you. I just need it."

Finally, he met her eyes. It only took one second for Brie to see his answer.

"Fine," Brie said, backing away. "I won't bother you again." Rykken said nothing as she turned and walked away from him.

"And by the way, I hate you," she said, her back to him as she opened the glass door to the balcony.

"I know."

"And I'll never forgive you for this."

Brie stalked off outside, fuming. She barely heard Rykken's mumbled reply, "That was the point."

In an attempt to hide her tears, Brie half skipped, half-jogged to the deep end of the pool.

"Brie!" someone shouted across the yard. Brie ignored the voice and climbed the high dive ladder.

Once at the top, she did a running jump and dove headfirst into the water.

*****

As Brie stormed out of the kitchen, Rykken leaned against the stainless steel refrigerator door, crushing an empty soda can in his hand. What was that? He had no idea where all that anger came from.

But that wasn't completely true—he did have some clue, didn't he? Rykken was on the defensive as soon as Brie had tried to take the pendant from him, making up some absurd excuse about why she needed it to play on his emotions. As much as he hated the pendant, he didn't want her to have it. If it was bad for him, he'd rather find a way to destroy it than let anyone else own it.

Absentmindedly, Rykken pulled his spoon out of the sink and dipped into the macaroni salad again.

Rykken looked around. It was hard to believe Brie had even set foot in a kitchen, much less prepared the delicious salad he was eating. She didn't seem like the domestic type. He turned around and opened the fridge, pulling out another cola even though he wasn't thirsty. He cracked it open and thumbed through the magazine on the counter, not really looking at the pages. He wasn't sure if he should leave now or wait for Pilot to come after him. There was no way he wasn't going to hear about what had just happened.

The door opened, and Pilot entered. "Hey guy."

Rykken's throat constricted. "Are you here for Brie?"

No," he said. He smiled. "She just did a flip off the high dive. Such a show off." Pilot chuckled as he opened a bag of potato chips and poured it into a bowl. "James is too busy signing autographs for the cheerleaders to be a good host. I guess someone has to be the adult around here." Pilot's gaze flitted across the counter. "Are you actually reading that trash?"

"Brie didn't say anything to you?" Rykken asked, ignoring his question.

Pilot grabbed a handful of chips and shoved them into his mouth. "Nove, whud vood zhi zhay do mwe?"

"Dude, that's disgusting." Rykken laughed in relief. "And no, I'm not reading this idiotic crap. Do you want help carrying anything?"

Pilot swallowed loudly, smacking his lips. "Can you grab some more burger? Eric volunteered to barbecue, but he destroyed the last batch." Pilot paused. "Actually, Brie did say something to me earlier. She doesn't hate you. And she wishes you didn't hate her."

Rykken stopped in the middle of the kitchen, almost dropping the tray of burgers he had just pulled from the fridge. "She said that, huh?"

"Yep." Pilot grabbed the burger tray, holding it steady. "Did she apologize for the face slap?"

"I mean, yeah."

"So are you two cool now?"

"Yeah," Rykken lied. "Of course."

"Good." Pilot looked around. "While we're here alone—the pendant." His voice dropped to a whisper.

"Did it..."

Rykken cringed. He reached into his shirt and pulled out the heavy emerald pendant with the silver crescent moon encrusted in the center. "Did it what, Pilot?" he asked. "Did it appear out of nowhere and attach itself around my neck while I was sleeping, even though I threw it into a fire at least five miles away?" Rykken heard his voice rising.

Pilot stared wide-eyed at the pendant. "Can you take it off?"

"Of course. How else would I throw it in a fire?" Rykken slipped the pendant off his neck and set it on the table. Pilot reached his hand out to pick it up, then withdrew.

"Afraid to touch it?" Rykken smirked.

"No," Pilot said defiantly. "I already have, haven't I? At the tonkatsu place." He picked up the pendant, letting it spin around its own chain.

"Look at me," Rykken said. Pilot had trouble tearing his eyes from the pendant. "You can have it.

But promise me you won't put it on."

"Sure." Pilot seemed dazed, dazzled by the glint of the silver moon. The pendant looked rather plain to Rykken though; he couldn't see what had captured his interest initially.

Rykken's head cleared, like he had shaken a cloud of fog from his mind and an invading force from his body. "I'm serious, dude. There's some freaky shit going on with that pendant." Rykken felt better than he had in days, but he had a terrible feeling about giving his best friend the pendant. "Maybe I should take it back," he said. Brie's words struck Rykken, echoing in his head. If you care about Pilot at all, you'll give it to me.

"Like hell you will," Pilot said. He slipped the pendant into his pocket.

Rykken recoiled. "Don't put it on. Actually, don't wear it at all, anywhere on your body."

"I'm not! I'm taking this upstairs so I can show Annie later." Pilot put his hand on the pocket where he'd just put the pendant. "I also want to see if it fits with the book, but not right now."

Rykken shook his head back and forth, trying to figure out what had just happened. Everything depends on you giving me that pendant. What had he done?

Pilot stared back. "Can you take all this stuff out to the party?" he asked, gesturing at the food sitting on the counter. "People are hungry."

"I don't think I should leave you alone with the pendant."

"Why? Is it going to attack me?" Pilot laughed. "Dude, back off. I'm not stupid. I'm not going to put it on." Pilot walked toward the stairway. "I need to put it away for safekeeping."

Rykken started to follow him, but stopped. He knew from his experience that force wasn't the way to fix this. He also knew that there was only one other person he could go to for help, who might believe him.

*****

Submersion underwater calmed Brie's mind and heart. It was hard to keep track of all the people she was avoiding: Rykken because he hated her, Sirena because Brie hadn't secured the pendant, the other Hallows because their practices had gone so poorly that week, and James because... well, she always avoided James.

They couldn't hassle her underwater though. Brie knew that up above, laughter rippled through every conversation, and the entire backyard smelled like a mixture of barbecue, insect spray, and Tiki torches.

She knew that the soft Christmas lights that decorated the palm trees danced off the water, lighting everything up in blues and greens. She knew that the darkness would galvanize everyone's courage and ignite their flirty sides.

She also knew that she couldn't line up the people she was avoiding and face them in succession.

Brie understood Pilot's point about confronting her demons one at a time, but it hadn't worked out for her so far in practice. In practice, people were difficult and unpredictable and mean. Like Rykken.

If it weren't for that pesky detail of breathing, Brie would probably stay under the whole night.

That gave her a thought: could she breathe underwater? She wasn't wearing her necklace because it was a pool party. She concentrated as hard as she could on turning the water around her into oxygen, separating the particles in her mind as she inhaled.

She choked on a mouthful of chlorinated liquid—except she was already submerged, so it was difficult to even choke.

Brie surfaced on the side of the pool, admitting defeat. At least she had avoided tears. Shaking out her hair, she made her way to the ladder a few feet away. Before she could start climbing, someone spun a cannonball into the pool right next to her, creating a huge splash.

Brie ducked under water momentarily; she and Justin surfaced at the same time.

"What's up, Manhattan?" He grinned, but his gaze made her a little uneasy.

"Not a whole lot." Brie smile politely. "Justin, right?"

"Yeah, that's right." Brie noticed a unique curve of his eyes when he smiled a certain way that made him look softer, sweeter. He's cute, she thought.

Justin laughed nervously. "I wasn't sure you would surface. Are you a professional breath-holder?"

"Swimming is in my genes." Brie giggled, even though she hadn't said anything funny. She always giggled when she was anxious.

"Mine too," he replied. "I never see you out though. Why don't you surf with the rest of us on the weekends?"

Brie looked away, not sure she could hold her smile in place. "I've been busy the last few months."

"Oh, right." Justin adjusted his swim cap. He didn't look nearly the same without his dark, curly locks sticking out. "I didn't mean to be insensitive about your mom."

Brie treaded a little harder in the water. "It's fine. I went through a depressed stage, but now I'm coming to terms with her death."

"Well," Justin said, "welcome back to the land of the living then." Brie smiled; she liked that he said exactly what he meant, exactly when he wanted to say it.

They stared at each other for a moment, before Justin finally looked away, grinning. "We should get a game going," he said, eying the volleyball net. "Hey Eric! Get a group together, we're playing volleyball." He looked at her. "You're on my team."

"I'm terrible though. Are you sure you want me?"

He winked. "That's one thing I'm sure of." Brie's eyes widened, but Justin laughed it off. He swam closer to her. "I'm a good enough player for both of us," he murmured. "I'll take my chances."

"Got my partner," Eric called over to them. Brie looked up; James was on the other side of the net at the opposite end of the pool.

"You don't play volleyball!" Brie said, shocked that James was their opponent.

James shrugged, giving her a haphazard smile. "Neither do you, sweetheart." He hurled the volleyball over the net to Justin harder than necessary, almost hitting him in the chest. "You serve first," James said, his expression vehement.

Justin, who had quickly moved out of reaching distance to Brie, took his place toward the back. He seemed as shaken up by James' presence in their game as she was.

Justin served the ball to Eric, who volleyed it. Brie was seething; she jumped up, channeling every last bit of anger she had into spiking the ball over the net, right into James van Rossum's head.

*****

The pendant transfixed Pilot's attention. The glimmer of the crescent-shaped moon reflected off his bedroom walls, forming starry illuminations above even with his bedroom lights off. He traced the smooth surface of the emerald.

He stood up from his soft leather chair and put Hawaiian Myths and Legends back on his shelf. It looked out of place, but not because it was old. It was the only book on the shelves, surrounded by his music collection and audio system.

He had tried to fit the pendant to the imprint on Hawaiian Myths and Legends without success. Pilot started by taking the pendant off the chain, but each end of the chain was too large to slip the pendant from it. Not only that, but the pendant didn't quite match the imprint on the book; there were slight inconsistencies that made Pilot think the pendant might truly be one of a kind.

Pilot flumped back into his chair. He knew he should forget about the pendant and go back to the party, but like Rykken had warned him, the pendant kept drawing him back in. He thought about bringing the pendant with him, but he wasn't about to wear it after Rykken's warnings.

He overheard voices down the hall and wondered if Brie had some of her friends upstairs in her room, at the other end of the house. The voices sounded female so he ignored them, instead sitting in his self-inflicted darkness, struggling and fighting against the pull of the pendant.

The voices grew louder, until they were right outside his door.

"I don't want to be here anyway," the first one said.

"Thessa asked us to," the other replied simply.

"Only because of her." Pilot recognized the voices. These were friends of his sister. He relaxed, leaning back as far as he could in his chair.

"Clara, why do you hate Brie?"

Pilot sat up again, his chair making a crunching noise as he rushed back to upright position.

"I don't understand what Thessa sees in her. Sure, she's an innate, but still. Her gifts haven't even manifested yet."

One of the girls stopped moving. "You do know that Thessa doesn't like her like that, right?"

"What is that supposed to mean?"

"Clara..."

"I am not―" The girl paused. "I've already told you, it's against the law. I don't care what you sense. Now let's get this over with."

The second set of footsteps moved again, scuffling away from Pilot's room with the first one.

Pilot got up from his chair as silently as he could. He set the pendant messily on top of the imprint of Hawaiian Myths and Legends. He crept toward his bedroom door and peeked outside to see the two girls at the end of the hallway where the door to James' suite was. It was those gorgeous twins from the cheerleading squad that Pilot often saw Brie hanging out with. What were they doing upstairs without her?

One of the girls jiggled the knob on the door.

"Let me see it," Clara said, pointing at the lock a few feet above it.

Pilot watched as the girl held her hand over the lock, not touching it. A second later, he heard a click. Clara removed the lock and opening the door. Pilot's eyes gaped open in disbelief. What had just happened?

Pilot snuck down the hallway after them. He entered James' private suite even though he wasn't allowed. He wondered if he should call the cops... but these were Brie's friends. Or were they?

Pilot hid in the shadows of the hallway with his back against the cool white wall. He wondered if the paparazzi would ever go undercover at a high school. He remembered watching a story on the news where a cop went undercover at a high school and busted a group of guys selling drugs in the locker room. That stuff never happened at his school in New York; the kids were too rich and if they wanted drugs they could usually get them from their parents.

But here? Maybe. If there was anyone who wanted to be at this party more than his entire high school, it was the paparazzi.

The girls stopped at the first door in the suite—James' study. "You know I wouldn't care if you were," the first one said.

Clara placed her hand above the door again, as she had before. "Shut up, Cora. I'm not." Pilot heard a click, and they entered James' study.

"The map," he heard Cora say. "Brie thought it was important."

Clara scoffed, but Pilot's heart filled with dread. Brie knew about this?

Pilot crept toward the room, peering in. The room had changed a bit since he'd seen it last. There were papers everywhere—a sure sign that James was home and roaming the study frequently. One wall held a giant map that looked like mere decoration at first glance, but Pilot knew that there were tiny pushpins all over it, marking all the spots James had travelled during his lifetime.

Pilot watched Clara touch the map, then other various objects around the room—James' computer, his file cabinet, his bookshelf. Her eyes would go completely white, even the pupils. Then, she would blink and she was back to normal.

The other girl, Cora, stood near the door watching her silently. It struck Pilot as strange that she didn't move to help her sister, yet she didn't seem to be watching the door. Clara was making no attempt to stay quiet, as Pilot could hear the sounds of rustling paper even from where he was standing. The girls seemed completely unconcerned that they might get caught, which unsettled Pilot almost as much as Clara's eyes going white whenever she touched certain objects.

Pilot was scared and unsure what to do next. There was nowhere to hide in the hallway, but he couldn't enter the study without them noticing. He wasn't sure he could sneak away either; he was too close, and they would probably hear him before he was down the hall.

Before he could make a decision, Cora spotted him.

"Pilot?" she said.

Pilot backed down the hallway toward the door to James' suite. Clara came out into the hallway, and the three of them stared at each other.

"I thought you said no one was upstairs," Clara said to Cora.

Cora's eyes were still trained on Pilot. "I didn't sense him." She turned to Clara. "I still can't."

Sense? Pilot couldn't make sense of their conversation. "What are you doing up here?" Pilot asked.

Cora gave Pilot a pained look. "Do something, Clara." Her voice wavered with panic.

Clara closed her eyes, but nothing happened. She opened her eyes, glaring at him. "My powers don't work on him either."

"I'm going to call the cops," Pilot announced loudly. He turned around, but before he could even take a step, Cora was in front of him with her hands on his bare arms. A calm warmth spread through his blood.

When he opened his eyes, Clara stood before him. "Now it's my turn," she said. Clara touched him, and Pilot's mind went black.

CHAPTER SEVEN

James extended his hand to Brie. "Nice game, sweetheart."

Brie thought she could hide out inside the screened-in porch after their volleyball set, but James had her cornered near the towel stand. "Hah," Brie said, wrapping a bright pink towel around her body.

The transition from the heated pool to the cool evening left her shivering. "Maybe you'll bring yours next time."

James chuckled politely. He reached his hand out further.

She gave a loud sigh with her whole body breathing in and out. She held a limp hand out to James.

He grabbed the tips of her fingers, extending her arm toward him and moving it up and down before letting go. James' hands were cool to the touch, his fingers rough with callouses. "When did you learn to serve like that?"

Brie hesitated. She didn't have a great serve; she had used her powers to control where her spike landed. She realized she could return the ball with her mind even when her hands didn't make contact with it at quite the right angle.

"Sometime in the past fifteen years," she said. "Add it to the list of things you've missed out on."

James tilted his head, smiling at her. She caught a whiff of leather on his body. That's impossible, she thought . James wasn't even wearing leather today, so why did he still smell like it?

"Well, I'm proud of you, sweetheart. You're discovering activities that you like, finding out things that you're talented at..."

Brie held her hand up, palm out. "Stop, please." It bothered Brie that James wasn't getting angry about anything she said. Didn't he see that she hated him, and that they would never, ever be like normal fathers and daughters were, no matter how many games of volleyball they played together?

James reached for Brie's head and attempted to ruffle her hair. "We have to start somewhere, sweetheart. I'm being honest with you." He dropped his hand; Brie's hair was wet and heavy, falling in clumps onto her shoulders and back. Unmovable, like her heart.

"Well, my bullshit meter just maxed out." She brushed his arms away, reaching for another towel.

Brie used the towel to soak the water out of her chlorinated hair. "Maybe you can go harass Pilot now."

James' eyes became large and heavy, his mouth twisting into a frown. "You can be mad at me," he said quietly, "but you will not use that language with me." He looked at her; his eyes were dark emerald, a reflection of her own eyes. "Am I clear?"

Something about the hard lines etched into James' cheeks and jaw intimidated her. "Alright," she said. She discarded her towels and folded her arms across her blue swimsuit top.

A tired sigh escaped James' lips. "I know you probably don't want my advice, but do me a favor.

Watch out for that guy." He nodded in Justin's direction. Justin was whispering with another girl from cheerleading named Lindsay. He looked up at them and waved.

James waved back. "That boy is too slick to be taken seriously," he said, shaking his head.

If Brie weren't so angry, she probably would have laughed at James' phrasing. "I'll keep that in mind." Brie would keep it in mind―if James hated Justin, he was at the top of her list of guys to date.

"I'm glad we spent some time together, even if it was out of your comfort zone." James gave her an earnest look. "I hope we can do it again sometime."

"Whatever," Brie said, flicking her hand out. The bright, twinkling lights, the high-pitched squeals of teenage girls, and the sea of bodies that surrounded her, pulsating to an electronic beat―they all made her head spin, like she was drunk motion sickness. "I'm going inside." She couldn't stand how nice James was acting toward her, even when she insulted him time after time. It was too difficult, especially now that she knew her mom had left him, and not the other way around.

She fumbled with the handle on the patio door, awkwardly forcing the door open with her jittering hands. The air inside was hot and stale, like it had been recycled several times over and now it was waiting for a gust of wind to stir it into circulation. It enveloped her, suffocating her, her insides contracting like her stomach was balling itself into a fist, pumping in time with the faint music from outside. Brie pressed her palms against the kitchen counter, steadying herself. She counted to ten, swallowing her emotions to avoid tears.

"It's done," Cora said. Brie whipped around, startled.

"I didn't realize anyone else was here," Brie said, her voice wavering. She ripped a paper towel from the dispenser above her, wiping her eyes and nose. The rough material scratched at her face.

Clara looked at Brie disparagingly. "Your cheeks are blotchy pink now."

"Rough night?" Cora asked.

"I'm fine," Brie insisted, tossing her paper towel in the trash. "What did you find out about James?"

"Shh," Clara hissed, pressing her finger to her lips. "Now is not the time."

Brie looked around; there was no one else in the room. She didn't see what the big deal was. "Did you get everything you needed at least?"

Cora gave Brie a patient face. "We won't know until Clara sorts it all out, but yes, we think we have everything." For some reason, Cora seemed a little on edge.

"Did everything go according to plan?"

The twins looked at each other. Cora didn't meet Brie's eyes. "For the most part," she said.

"There was a complication," Clara said, "but we took care of it."

Brie looked back and forth between the twins, but neither offered any more information. "What kind of complication?" Brie gave them what she hoped was an exasperated look.

"Well," Clara said, "he was tall and kind of hot." She nudged Cora's shoulder with her own. "I think Cora has a crush on him."

"Who?" Brie asked. "Who was it?"

"It was no one," Cora said, flushing red. "The point is that we got the information we came for."

Brie suspected something afoot, but had too many other burning questions to pursue it. "Where's Thessa?"

The twins looked at each other again. They wore matching black swimsuits with sheer cover-ups hanging loosely over their bodies. Brie had never noticed before how annoyingly in sync they were, but tonight it was grating on her nerves.

"Something came up with Thessa," Cora said. "She had to leave the island."

"Is she okay?"

"Oh, don't worry your pretty little head over Thessa," Clara said, her voice dripping with a tone Brie didn't quite understand. She sounded almost... territorial. "We're in touch with her. We'll know the second something goes wrong."

"What if she can't call you?" Brie asked. "She can't exactly work her cell phone if she's beaten up or unconscious."

"Who said we're in touch with her by phone?"

"How are you in touch with her then?"

Clara smirked. "Like I said, don't worry your pretty little head, princess." Clara gathered her things. "Now, as much as I adore you, Brie..." Brie's eyes did a somersault; Clara smirked. "I'm going to take off. Are you coming with me, Cora?"

"I might stay a bit," Cora said, a pinch of worry in her face.

Clara looked Cora up and down. "Suit yourself," she said, sticking her nose in the air. She threw her bag over her shoulder and walked to the front door. "You girls enjoy the rest of the party."

"Come on Brie," Cora said, grabbing her elbow.

Brie could easily have spent the rest of the night in her room, but Cora led her back to the loud music and throng of teenagers. Before Brie could slide the patio door into place behind her, Justin approached her.

"I thought you sucked at volleyball," Justin said, grinning at her and twirling the volleyball in his hands.

"I'm going to update Sirena." Cora whispered so quietly that Brie wasn't sure she even said the words out loud.

Brie bit the inside of her cheek as Cora walked away. "I don't suck," she told Justin. "I was trying to be modest."

Justin laughed. "Eric wants a rematch. You in?"

He tossed the ball to her and she caught it. "Sure," she said.

Justin was a strong player, and between his natural athletic ability and her powers, they won three sets against Eric and Lindsay and another three sets against Todd and Jessica. At one point, Justin high-fived Brie, using the initial contact to casually wrap his arms around her neck from behind. "You're a serious volleyball star," he whispered into her ear. "Is there anything you aren't good at?"

Brie felt something gnawing at the pit of her stomach. She looked back at the patio and caught Rykken staring at them from near the grill, his jaw set. Brie faced Justin, pulling away from him slightly.

"Yes, there's one thing I'm not good at. People."

Justin looked in Rykken's direction inadvertently. Brie had a feeling he saw more than he said. She grabbed his shoulders and used all her strength to push him under water.

He yelped before going under, and she laughed. He grabbed her legs from below and pulled her under with him. When they surfaced together, flirting and splashing each other, Brie felt many more eyes than just Rykken's on her.

*****

Rykken knelt down next to the side of the pool. "Brie," he called, trying not to attract attention to himself. He had spent the last hour watching her, waiting for a chance to pull her aside, but she was always with someone―her dad, Cora, and now, Justin.

She looked over at him. "Can I talk to you for a minute?" he asked. "In private?"

Her entire face contorted in anger. "We're about to start a new game," she said, facing the net.

"Brie, it's important. It's about Pilot." Brie's eyes flickered with interest at Pilot's name, but she didn't move toward him. Instead, she tossed the volleyball into the air, jumping up and spiking it hard over the net. The spike grazed the top of the net before veering into an arc and smacking the water with a splash. The movement perplexed Rykken; it reminded him of a curveball pitch.

Rykken tried to ignore Justin, who stared at him intensely. "Brie," Rykken said, "I know you can hear me."

Brie swam to Justin and put her palm on his shoulder. She looked at Rykken, then whispered something in Justin's ear.

Justin spoke to her in hushed tones and said something that caused her to giggle. When they looked up again, Rykken looked away. Watching their newfound intimacy was torturous.

Justin swam to the edge of the pool. "She doesn't want to talk to you," Justin informed him.

"She's really ignoring me over a silly fight?" Rykken asked loudly.

Brie didn't hear him though; she was swimming underneath the net to the other side, chasing after the volleyball that floated toward the shallow end.

Justin shrugged his shoulders. "I guess it wasn't that silly of a fight to her."

"She's mad at me," Rykken said slowly. He was still surprised that she wouldn't even look at him.

"Yes."

"To the point of ignoring me though?" Rykken didn't understand. He had mentioned Pilot; he wasn't sure how else to hint to her that he needed to talk to her about the pendant.

"Yes. She said she's not interested in anything you have to say." Justin frowned. "Even if it pertained to her family, whatever that means."

The reality of the situation hit Rykken suddenly. Brie meant what she said earlier, when she told him she hated him. If Pilot's name didn't move her to listen to him, nothing would.

Justin looked at Rykken in pity. "Look, I don't want to get in the middle of it. But do you want me to give her a message?"

"No," Rykken said. He stood up, unsure what to do with himself. When Rykken acted like he hated Brie, it had been out of pain. But he wasn't sure about her...

Rykken wandered to the patio door in a daze. The only thing he could do was find Pilot and get the pendant back on his own.

As he made his way to the foyer, Pilot came barreling down the staircase.

"How's the party going?" Pilot asked.

Rykken ignored the question. "Where's the pendant?"

Pilot paused. "I'm not sure," he finally said. "The last time I remember seeing it was in my room."

Pilot yawned, stretching his arms over his head. "Why? Do you want it back?"

Rykken gave a strange laugh. "You want to give it back to me now? You couldn't even stop looking at it an hour ago."

Pilot shrugged. "Eh. I got bored with it."

Rykken stared at Pilot. "Really?"

"Yeah," Pilot said.

"Where have you been then? I haven't seen you outside at all."

Pilot leaned in. "I'm a little fuzzy, to be honest. I must have fallen asleep upstairs." Pilot did seem a little tired, like he had just woken up. His hair was flattened on one side and he was wearing a wrinkled t-shirt that looked like it had been crumpled up in a ball for days.

They both looked up when the patio door slid open with a whooshing sound. James poked his head inside.

"Pilot," James said over the muffled sounds of the party happening outside. "Want me to show you my dad's brat recipe?"

"Sure," Pilot replied, surprised. "I'll be out there in a minute." He walked to the door with Rykken in tow. "The pendant is safe," Pilot said as they walked outside. "It made me feel weird for a little bit, but I'm over it now." Pilot headed toward his dad, who was standing by a stainless steel barbecue grill.

"I'll catch you later dude."

Rykken plopped down listlessly at one of the patio tables, about as far away as he could get from the pool. Without Pilot to worry about, he had nothing to distract himself from Justin hitting on Brie, and worse, Brie actually liking it.

It was only after he sat down that he realized that platters of food and teenage girls surrounded him. He grabbed some ribs from one of the patters and dished them onto a paper plate for himself. When he looked up, he saw Sirena sitting across from him, staring him down.

"Well that's an interesting development," she said, nodding in Brie's direction. Justin said something to Brie and gave her that stupid wink he always did, and she laughed like it was the funniest thing in the world.

Rykken met Sirena's eyes but didn't reply; his mouth was full. Cora sat next to her, but she was largely pre-occupied with something over by the grill. He wondered what Brie talked about with Sirena and Cora. Had she mentioned him?

The skinny, blonde girl with a scrunched nose and thin lips sitting next to him smirked. She was younger, and he vaguely remembered seeing her on the JV girls' basketball bench last year. "It looks like Justin found his flavor of the month."

Lindsay laughed. "Don't be jealous Paige. Besides, Brie's got a wicked serve. I need to get her to volleyball tryouts next spring."

"I'm not jealous," Paige said indignantly. "Been there, done that. Don't want to do him again."

Lindsay laughed harder, but Rykken groaned at the mental image in his mind. The thought of Justin with Brie like that made Rykken's stomach boil.

Sirena leaned in, interrupting his thoughts. "Did something happen to your chest?" she asked. Cora squinted, craning her neck to get a better look at his body.

He put his hands on his torso. "Seems to be all in one piece," he said. He hoped Sirena wasn't interested in him.

Sirena stood up and knelt down in front of him. "Right here," she said, moving his hands away from the center of his rib cage. He looked down. It was then that he saw it―two skinny lines forming a crescent moon next to his heart.

His hand went immediately to cover it. Sirena gave him a strange look of recognition.

"Where is the pendant?" she asked quietly.

Rykken bolted upright out of shock, knocking over his chair as he backed away from the table. "How do you know about that?"

All around him, people looked up. Rykken ducked his head; what was he thinking? He didn't want to cause a scene about the pendant at the party.

Sirena glanced at Cora, who was chatting animatedly with Lindsay and Paige. In fact, everyone was chatting and no one was looking at them, with the exception of Pilot. He pinched his fingers together in a movement across his lips, like he was zipping them shut.

Rykken nodded his head once to show Pilot he understood.

The scene had bizarrely changed back to normal, as if he'd entered the Twilight Zone for only a few seconds. Sirena sat back down in her seat. "Brie told me about it," she said casually. "I wanted to see it for myself."

Rykken set his chair upright and sat back down at the table.

"But you probably left it at home," Sirena continued, a gleam in her eye. "You wouldn't wear something so valuable to a pool party."

"I didn't wear it here." Rykken stared at Sirena's eyes. They looked familiar to him, but he wasn't sure why. "What exactly did Brie tell you about the pendant?"

Sirena smiled. "That it was pretty," she said. "She wanted to borrow it from you, I think."

Rykken exhaled. Sirena was lying to him; Brie wanted nothing to do with that pendant when they found it, and now she wanted it for something else... something that she wouldn't tell Rykken about.

"Really," Rykken said thoughtfully, licking his fingers. He set a clean rib bone on his plate. "She told me she needed the pendant to protect Pilot."

The gleam in Sirena's eyes disappeared and her lips formed a thin line. She leaned back in her chair and elbowed Cora, who smiled at Rykken as if she'd been listening in the whole time.

"Is that what she told you?" Cora asked.

"Yeah, it is." Rykken said. His heart skipped along the walls of his chest. Rykken already knew the pendant had magical properties, but Sirena and Cora's strange behavior made his problems with the pendant seem so much more real. He wondered if Sirena and Cora put Brie up to asking him about the pendant. Was Brie a pawn these girls were using to get something they wanted?

"Well if that's the case," Cora said mischievously, "then Brie told you too much." She placed her hand on his. Rykken felt something small tugging on his insides, a shadow of a crush he once had on the girl holding his hand.

And then, it was gone.

*****

Brie grabbed a soft, thick beach towel, happy the volleyball games were over and the party was dying down. She curled up in a wicker love seat away from the rest of the group. The night was almost over, and if she could hold out a little longer, it might end on a good note.

She didn't realize Justin had followed her, but she was grateful. "Can I sit?" Justin asked, gesturing to the spot next to her.

"Sure." No one would approach them now.

Justin sat down and turned to her hesitantly. "So... about yesterday, at school," he started.

Brie went rigid. The scene in the hallway with Rykken at his locker was one of her most embarrassing moments, ever. The whole school was talking about it, which was almost worse than the media talking about it. She did not want to rehash the previous day's events.

"It's nothing bad," he said quickly. "I didn't tell Pilot what happened. I'm just not sure how much of our conversation you overheard." He took a deep breath, and then asked, "Do you have a date to Homecoming?"

Brie sat up. With all the things on her mind, she had forgotten Justin needed a date to Homecoming. "No, I guess I don't."

"Do you want to go with me?" Justin had this funny, lopsided grin on his face.

"Of course," Brie said with a smile. It was nice that he asked, and now she wouldn't have to worry about a date.

"Awesome. You won't regret it." Justin stared deep into her eyes. "You're so pretty, by the way. Did you know that?" Brie blushed as he tucked her bangs behind her ear on one side. He let his hand linger, and for a moment, Brie felt sheer terror that he was going to kiss her right then in front of James, Pilot, and all of their friends. But Justin only took the back of his index finger to Brie's face, brushing the space between her cheek and jaw bones.

"Pilot thinks I'm going to be a bad influence on you," Justin said, sitting back in the chair.

Brie looked at Justin again, relieved that there was some distance between them. "Why would he think that?"

"I don't know." Justin's grin reminded Brie of Adele's little brother, when he told their dad he hadn't eaten any candy even though he'd left the wrappers all over the counter. "I guess I've dated a lot of girls at Punahou."

"Well, don't worry about him." Brie pulled her towel around her tighter. "Pilot is overprotective of me, but he's not my dad."

"What about your actual dad?" Justin asked. "I saw him talking to you about me earlier. Is he overprotective too?"

Brie laughed, but inside she got that feeling again, the same one she'd had earlier at the kitchen counter. "James has his own life to worry about. He can't worry about mine, too." Her stomach twisted around itself. Justin looked confused, but Brie waved him off. "It's fine," she said. "I'm used to it."

Justin rested his elbow on the armrest, tugging on his own fluffy curls with his fingers. "Did you ever date Rykken?"

Brie was surprised; the question seemed to come out of nowhere.

"No," she said quickly. "We don't get along."

"I know. I thought maybe that was why though." Justin's eyes sparkled, the lights reflecting in them the same way they bounced off the surface of the pool. She wondered if they were contacts, as she'd never seen blue eyes on someone with his skin tone.

He stared at her intently. "No," Brie repeated. She couldn't hold his gaze.

He sat back, his features relaxing. "So why don't you get along with Rykken?"

Brie plastered a smile on her face. "I'm, like, too superficial for him," she said, in the ditziest voice she could manage.

Justin laughed appreciatively. "There's nothing wrong with being superficial," he said, looking around.

Brie followed Justin's gaze to Rykken. It was strange to see Rykken sitting at a table alone; normally Pilot and Rykken were inseparable. All around him, people were chatting and laughing and saying their goodbyes. But Rykken stared off into space with a hard, pained look on his face.

He glanced over at them. Brie was still mad at him, but he looked so sad she almost regretted the way she ignored him in the pool. Maybe he was having a bad night earlier, and she should have heard him out?

His eyes met hers for a second, then flitted to where Justin was sitting. He stood up and walked inside without a word to anyone.

Just beyond where Rykken was sitting, Sirena motioned to Brie.

"Excuse me," Brie said, standing.

Justin grabbed her wrist. "Where are you going?"

Brie shook her wrist out of his grasp. "I haven't talked to Sirena all night." She stood to walk away.

Justin seemed perturbed. "I guess I'll see you at school then?" he asked, standing up. "Don't I at least get a hug though? We spent the whole evening together."

Brie turned around and smiled at him. "Sorry," she said. "I'm a little distracted."

She embraced him, feeling every muscle of his bare chest against her neck and arms. The palms of his hands touched her back, sending tingles through her body.

He kissed her quickly on the cheek with soft lips. "See you Monday," he said, before letting her go.

She pulled out of his arms reluctantly. She wasn't sure why though; sometimes Justin made her uncomfortable, other times it felt good to have something simple, less complicated than the rest of her life.

She walked to where Sirena was sitting, and Sirena gave her a look that reminded Brie of her mother.

"Having fun?" she asked.

"I'm sorry," Brie said. "I talked to the twins already though. They said everything went fine."

"'Fine' is probably an overstatement." Sirena leaned in. "Pilot caught Clara and Cora sneaking into your dad's study."

"What?" Brie gasped. "How is that possible? I thought Cora could feel people's emotions when they're near."

"She wasn't able to sense his emotions until she touched him. Even then they were faint. Clara's powers didn't work on him either."

"Why?" Brie asked loudly. Sirena gave her a pointed look, nodding to the patio door. Brie looked around; there was hardly anyone there anymore. They went inside and walked upstairs to Brie's bedroom.

Brie sat down on her bed. "I thought the Hallows had rules. Consistency. Why would my brother be resistant to the twins' powers?"

"I know how you feel," Sirena said, looking older, tired. "I wish I had answers for you. It might just be a small manifestation of the Hallow blood that runs in his veins."

"I don't buy it," Brie said. "Why didn't Clara and Cora notice this earlier?"

"They don't go around trying to work their powers on earthlies. Sure, he's your brother and that makes him a little different, but they still have limited interaction with him."

Brie felt her lower lip jutting out. "What if Pilot is starting to get his powers now?"

"Don't start on that again," Sirena said, a worried look on her face. "You can't keep holding on to this idea that Pilot has powers that haven't developed. Believe me when I say that if he had powers, we would know by now."

"What if I confided in him a little? Would it be so bad if he at least knew what was going on?"

"Brie, he'll look at you differently for the rest of your life. He might not even believe you."

"I'll show him then. I trust him."

"No. And this conversation is over," Sirena declared. "Also, don't bother with Rykken anymore. He doesn't have the pendant."

Brie looked up, surprised. "How do you know?"

"He has a permanent mark on his chest. The good news is that the pendant doesn't have hold over him anymore, but the bad news is that the pendant has a dark purpose. It takes three tries to get rid of a dark magical object, and once it leaves the person's possession... I can only assume Rykken tried to get rid of the pendant three times, because he didn't have it with him when I talked to him this evening."

"That's impossible. He had it earlier. I sensed it under his t-shirt when I was talking to him in the kitchen."

"He lost it between the beginning of the night and when I saw him, then."

Brie wondered if that was what Rykken wanted to talk to her about. As angry as she was with him, she didn't want anything to actually happen to him. He was Pilot's best friend. "Tell me about the mark, Sirena."

"I recognized the mark. The crescent moon with a star in the center is a symbol of change and transfiguration."

"On Rykken? It sounds very Hallow-esque." Brie's heart pattered with excitement. "You don't think he's―"

"No. Brie, you have to stop with these fantasies about other Hallows! Hallows are very rare, and most of them have known Hallow parents. They don't pop up out of nowhere."

Brie flopped only her bedspread, pulling the other half over her body so she was sandwiched inside her covers. She held back the tears that had been forcing their way out all night. She was close to breaking, but if she could hold out a little longer...

Sirena seemed to notice her mood-shift. "Why are you so desperate for another Hallow anyway?"

"I want to share my secret with someone."

"You have me and the other Hallows. You can tell us anything, ask us any questions..."

Brie sat up, poking her head out from under the covers. "I meant someone my own age, who is going through the same things as me."

"I went through the same things you're going through now."

"It was a long time ago. It doesn't really count."

Sirena eyes took shape, forming sharp slits. "Well, you can't talk about your secret, even if Rykken were a Hallow. Remember what you said earlier? All the Hallows loyal to the New Order want to kill you.

Be happy Rykken's not a Hallow."

"Fine." Brie was tired, and she wasn't going to get what she wanted anyway, no matter how much she argued with Sirena. "So about the pendant―what are we going to do? Should we even try to find it anymore?"

"I don't know. I need time to think." Sirena walked outside onto the balcony and disappeared, leaving Brie alone in her room. Again.

*****

Rykken heard the sounds of a party dying down as he got out of the shower. He was spending the night at the van Rossum's in the guest bedroom next to Pilot's because the two of them were going to hit the beach early the next morning.

After he brushed his teeth, Rykken stepped through the double doors of the guest room onto the second floor wraparound balcony. Rykken loved the balcony for two reasons: one, because it was dead quiet in the evenings, and two, because you could see the entire city of Honolulu, miles in every direction, all the way to the shoreline.

But tonight, he heard the sounds of sniffling and outright tears. He knew he shouldn't roam someone else's house at night, but his curiosity got the best of him. He wandered the balcony around the corner and found Brie alone, still wrapped in the large towel she'd had earlier.

He backed up; he was the last person Brie would want to comfort her. He stubbed his toe on a potted plant and swore as it tipped over and broke, spilling dirt everywhere.

Brie heard him. "Who's there?" she asked, her voice full of alarm. The buildings behind her twinkled like a strand of gold Christmas bulbs; red lights blinked like eyes as vehicles stopped and started along the freeway.

"I'm sorry," Rykken said. "Do you want me to get Pilot? I know I'm probably the last person you want to see."

She gave him a funny look. "Yeah, you are. And the last person I expected."

Rykken's heart twisted, but at least she wasn't yelling. The balcony was open to the world, but he couldn't hear or feel anything beyond the railing. They were insulated, truly alone.

"That was my mom's favorite pot," Brie said.

"I'm sorry," he said, pulling the plant upright. He looked closer. The pot was green with a raised floral pattern encircling the brim. There was only one piece that had broken off, and Rykken wondered if he could repair it.

"What did you want to talk to me about earlier?"

Rykken hesitated. Pilot was fine, so it shouldn't matter that he gave him the pendant. But the minute Brie found out, she'd be back to yelling at him. He didn't think he was ready to confront that yet, especially when he didn't know where the pendant was.

"Nothing," he said. "I was trying to find Pilot, but I found him inside."

Brie sniffled and rubbed her nose with a tissue. "Don't call Pilot for me," she said. "This is not something I can talk to him about."

Rykken felt something stir in the pit of his stomach. "Did Justin hurt you?" he blurted out.

"No, no," Brie said. "Justin's great." Rykken didn't know whether to feel relieved or sick.

Brie stood up, and walked to her own set of double doors. She opened the door and stepped in, then stopped.

"You haven't missed the Reef Hawaiian Pro in the last five years. You want to go Stanford for college, and God, you actually have the grades and athletic talent to get in. And you're always writing in that notebook you carry with you. You even pull it out in the middle of conversations sometimes."

Rykken gaped at Brie. Her face was hard, anger carved into her features.

"I turn the music off on my iPod and eavesdrop on you and Pilot in the car every morning."

Rykken shook his head in disbelief. "Why would you do that?"

"My brother tells you everything about us. I needed to know if I could trust you." Brie looked up. "You don't talk when you think people are listening... it was the only way I could find out more about you."

"That's ridiculous."

"It's true." Brie laughed soundlessly. She stepped inside her door. "I'm sorry you think so poorly of me." She closed her door silently, and she was gone before he could reply.

Rykken wanted to go after her. He might have considered it if it wasn't completely creepy to enter a teenage girl's room in the middle of the night without an invitation.

Also, she was with Justin now. He had to get that through his head. No matter what happened between them, she was dating someone else.

Rykken sighed, walking back to his room. Now that the pendant was gone, his mind had cleared. He felt incredibly guilty about the way he treated Brie. It was like the pendant had taken over, making him harder on her than he normally would have been.

Rykken stopped at his own set of double doors. The pendant isn't gone, he reminded himself. Pilot had it, probably somewhere in his room.

Rykken passed his own room, turning a corner and finding another set of glass double doors similar to the ones for his room. He felt weird spying on his friend, but he had to know what happened to the pendant. He owed it to Brie and Pilot.

He cupped his hands around his eyes and peered into the room. Pilot wasn't there, but Rykken spotted Hawaiian Myths and Legends sitting on Pilot's bookshelf.

The pendant was on top of it, but it was no longer on its chain. The pendant was part of the book's cover now, as if they had never been separate.

CHAPTER EIGHT

"Can I talk to you?" A distinctly male voice tickled Brie's ear, sending shivers down her spine. She jumped, spinning around and hitting someone's shoulder with her math book.

"Ow!" The voice gasped, grabbing his bicep.

"Rykken!" Brie was so surprised she dropped her books in front of her locker. Rykken bent down at the same time that Brie dropped her purse on the ground so she could pick up her books. Her purse hit Rykken on the head.

Rykken grabbed his head, wincing. "Ugh. Are you trying to kill me?"

"Sorry!" Brie's heart was pounding, though she couldn't tell if it was because he surprised her or for a different reason.

Rykken rose. "I guess I deserved that." He folded his hands over his head, grimacing.

"What do you want Rykken?" Brie eyed him suspiciously.

Rykken winced again. "I want to apologize."

"For what?" Brie strained to keep her voice low. "Sneaking around my house, breaking my plant, and catching me crying?" She put her hand on her hip, her voice rising slightly. "Or is this the apology for the time you said horrible things about me to your friends and the entire school heard?" Rykken was suspended in place with his mouth open. Brie could feel herself reaching a full-on yell, but she couldn't seem to control her voice.

"Wait—I know," she said sarcastically. "This is for calling me superficial and going off on a completely unprovoked diatribe at a party I was hosting, right?" Brie's hands were shaking. "Don't worry, it was nothing. No hard feelings, now that you want to apologize." People nearby paused at their lockers, gaping at Rykken and Brie.

His eyes met hers. She tried to keep her hostile front, but her anger faded under his hurt gaze.

Brie glanced away, pushing a bang out of her eyes only to have it fall back into place. Rykken reached up, then dropped his hand quickly.

"All of it really," he replied quietly. He took a step back. With the extra space between them, Brie's breathing returned to something close to normal.

Rykken looked away, putting distance between them with the smallest movements. "Look, you were right. Pilot wants us to be friends and we should try."

"Well, it's too late for apologies," Brie said unkindly. She wasn't going to let him pity her as the best friend's little sister. She shut her locker door and stepped away, but Rykken grabbed her wrist.

"Wait."

Brie turned quickly. The place where he touched her burned her skin. She found herself inches away from his face, feeling his warm breath on her cheeks. She had never seen his face up close like this. He had deep, chocolate eyes with a slight curve at the edges, straight nose and lips, and high cheekbones.

She blinked several times.

"It can't be too late," he said.

Brie wriggled her arm out of his slackened grip, and he willingly released her from his hold. "I'm not a charity case."

"And I'm not doing this for Pilot." Brie eyed Rykken skeptically. He took a deep breath. "I'm not a jerk. I can be a nice guy. And I do think I misjudged you." The tone in his voice was different than usual, almost tender in comparison to the last few weeks. It tugged at Brie's heart. She felt her chest warming against her will.

Despite that, Brie shook her head firmly. "I don't think we can be friends."

Rykken flinched, swallowing hard. "A truce then?" he asked distantly, not meeting Brie's eyes.

Brie considered his offer. "A truce would be better than this."

Okay," he replied, nodding his head several times.

Brie turned away.

"Brie," Rykken said. She turned around, but Rykken was staring at the ground. "I gave Pilot the pendant."

Brie's throat went dry, her chest cold. For a split-second, she considered slapping Rykken again, but stopped herself when she remembered how that hadn't solved things the first time.

Rykken crossed his arms in front of his face, as if he expected to get walloped again. When she didn't make a move, he said, "It's okay, I think. The pendant went with this book Pilot has, Hawaiian Myths and Legends. It's back in the book, dormant. For now."

"What? Pilot doesn't even read."

"It's a book he was reading for a school assignment."

"Where is the book?" Brie asked.

"It's missing. Pilot and I looked for it on Sunday morning, but it was gone."

Brie was close to tears. "How could you do that? I told you to give the pendant to me because it was dangerous!" She clutched her stomach. "If something had happened to Pilot—"

"I know the pendant is dangerous, trust me." Rykken's voice was choked, like it was difficult for him to speak. "There's something else you should know though. When I last saw the pendant in the book, there were words engraved in the stone." Rykken shook his head, as if he couldn't believe his own words.

"Something, I couldn't read it. It looked like Latin."

"The Smaragdine Table." Brie couldn't believe it herself.

"What?"

Brie pursed her lips. "Nothing."

He looked at her. "Look, that pendant changed my moods and my thoughts. If you know something more—"

"I would tell you," Brie interrupted. He didn't seem convinced. "All I know is that the pendant is dangerous, and we're all better off without it―like I told you on the beach when we first found it." She touched Rykken's hand. "Thank you for telling me all of this."

"Telling you what?" Justin asked, grabbing her books. He had come out of nowhere, but Brie tried not to be annoyed.

Rykken backed away from Brie quickly. "Nothing. We were just talking about a class project." Rykken had a strange look on his face. "I'll see you in class Brie," he said, running his fingers through his hair as he turned to walk down the hall.

"That was weird," Justin said, smiling at Brie. She smiled back, as convincingly as she could.

"Can I walk you to your next class?" he asked. "I know it's old-fashioned." He grinned. "It could be cool though."

"No, it's great," Brie said, smiling more sincerely this time. "It's exactly what I need right now."

*****

"So I'm your Monday night girl?" Kennedy stared at Pilot with a wicked gleam in her eyes. Her eyelids were laden with silver and blue shadow, shaded to shimmer and pop in low-lighting. She fiddled with the Alan Wong's menu the waiter left behind, in case they wanted to order dessert.

"Sure," Pilot said. "And Tuesday and Wednesday night, if you want." He loosened the top button of his shirt so he wouldn't sweat. "But if you're asking if there are other girls on Friday and Saturday, the answer is no." He leaned in, even though their table was in a quiet corner of the restaurant. "I just realized we've been here for 45 minutes and I still haven't learned anything about you."

Kennedy tilted her head. "What do you want to know?"

Pilot smiled. "Everything. What your family is like. What you like to do on the weekends. You're so... mysterious."

Kennedy fiddled with the black fringes on her shimmery dress. Normally, Pilot thought fringe was for cowboys, but the effect of Kennedy's dress under the lights was unexpectedly nice.

"I'd rather hear about you," she said.

Pilot glanced down at the half-eaten bowl of shellfish in front of him. "I've been talking about myself this whole time."

"Sure," Kennedy said, rolling her eyes, "you told me about school and your dad and water polo. But you haven't said anything interesting. I could read everything you've told me so far in a magazine."

Pilot set his spoon down on the white linen. "What are you saying? I'm boring you?"

"No, I'm not bored—I'm waiting to meet the real Pilot."

Pilot's heart sank—up until now, he thought the date was going well. "Maybe my life isn't as interesting as you want it to be."

"Hah," Kennedy said. "I doubt that."

Pilot stirred his shellfish. "We just met. What did you expect—intimate details about my life?"

"You sound defensive."

"I'm not defensive. This is a date though, not an invitation to my life story."

Kennedy laughed. "Pilot, calm down. I'm not the media."

"But you can talk to the media."

Kennedy smoothed the top of her head. "If you thought I was going to talk to the media, why did you bother bringing me here?" She stroked her pale hair, no longer platinum blonde, but the color of a dove's coat.

Pilot met her gaze. "Fine. What would be interesting to you?"

"How about you answer one of your own questions." Kennedy dipped her fork into Pilot's bowl, snagging a piece of shellfish. "What is your family like?"

Pilot watched her chew, wondering how girls could eat without messing up bright red lipstick. She looked at him expectantly.

"Well, we threw a party last night and my dad and sister barely spoke. Sometimes I think if I wasn't around..." Pilot trailed off. He didn't want to finish that sentence, not in front of Kennedy. "Anyway.

Next question."

"Oh, come on. That's all you give me?"

"I already gave you some shellfish." She looked at him like he was an idiot. He twisted his neck, rolling his shoulders back to loosen the tension. "I can't be an open book, okay? I'm not built like that. The more public my life gets, the more private I want to keep it."

Kennedy was silent; she stared at her plate, twirling noodles around her fork. "Well, your family can't possibly be more dysfunctional than mine. Both my parents passed away a few years ago."

"I'm sorry," Pilot said automatically.

"I guess you would understand," she said, meeting his eyes. There was something vulnerable about them.

"Yeah. Absolutely," Pilot put a piece of shellfish in his mouth.

"Anyway, I live with my sister now." Kennedy looked up at him, frowning. "In Los Angeles."

Pilot dropped his spoon, splashing shellfish broth onto the white linen tablecloth. "What?"

"I'm here on business," Kennedy said. "But my sister and I live in Los Angeles. I work for her company, actually."

All the unformed plans Pilot had for them―school dances, hanging out on the beach, dinner with his family―vaporized in that one sentence. "I guess that's why you wouldn't let me pick you up."

Kennedy smiled. "It would be tough to explain the hotel address over the phone."

Pilot felt a sharp pinch in his chest. "Are you really seventeen?"

"Yes." Her expression reflected back the pain in his own. "I didn't lie to you Pilot. I really went to school at Iolani too." She put her hand on his. "I just need you to know that I'm not staying."

Pilot pulled his hand away. He leaned back in his chair, shaking his head. "You have some nerve."

"What does that mean?"

"You wanted me to tell you all this personal stuff, and then you drop this bomb on me." Pilot rubbed the back of his neck. "You asked me why I bothered bringing you here, but I think a better question is why did you bother coming here?"

She shrugged. "I like you." She acted like it pained her to say the words out loud.

"You must have known nothing could come of it. Maybe that's what you wanted." He lifted his napkin from his lap and threw it on the table. "I shouldn't be surprised—enough girls did this to me in New York." He pulled out his wallet. "Don't get me wrong, it was fun. I was a freshman in high school, hooking up with older girls who used me like a status symbol. I didn't care why they wanted me, I just took advantage of it." He took out his credit card and put it on the table. "I'm over that though."

Kennedy stared at his credit card, her mouth open. She shook her head. "I didn't mean it like that.

I'm sorry if I gave you the impression I just wanted to hook up with you."

"Look, Kennedy, you're a beautiful girl. You're fun, and sexy... but I don't want to play your games. I want something real." As soon as he said it, he realized how true it was. There was something so empty inside him, creeping to the surface. He buried it so well the last few months; he'd even managed to hide it from himself.

She sat back in her chair and pulled out a pack of Mentos. "This is real."

"How can you even say that? This is nothing. We're talking in circles."

She popped a mint in her mouth. "If it weren't real, you wouldn't have asked me out, and I wouldn't have accepted. But you did, and I did, and now here we are. If it weren't real, it would be easier to walk away. But it isn't, is it? For either of us." She held her pack of Mentos out to him, offering him one.

He gazed at her. Her expressions were softer than the day he met her, and he almost liked her better this way—a little vulnerable, not spilling over with confidence.

He took a mint. "Do you want to get out of here?"

"For a walk on the beach?" she asked. "Or because I ruined things and the night's over?"

"No, you didn't ruin things." He beckoned the waiter over. "Not yet, anyway."

Pilot paid for their dinner and they walked out to Waikiki strip. The place was flooded with tourists, but they were mostly couples enjoying the evening. Kennedy placed her hand firmly in his as they walked.

He turned her hand over, touching the rings on her fingers absentmindedly. "So I guess asking you to Punahou's homecoming dance is probably out of the question."

"It's this weekend, right?" Kennedy tugged on the bottom of her dress until it covered most of her thighs.

He took his brown leather jacket off. "I know, it's probably short notice." He wrapped his jacket around her, rubbing her arms to warm her up.

"No," Kennedy said, pulling the coat around her. She breathed in deeply. "I mean, I can't go. I'll be out of town by then." She met Pilot's eyes. "Thank you for asking though. If I could go, I would."

Pilot tried not to show his disappointment. "Where are you going?"

"Back to LA on Friday night." Kennedy stared at the sand. "I don't want to though."

"The dance is on Saturday. Why don't you stay a few extra nights? You could stay at my house—we have a lot of guest rooms."

"Can't," Kennedy skimmed the shoreline with her eyes. "My sister and I don't get along that well.

She won't understand why I want to stay."

"But you don't need her permission, do you?" Pilot asked.

"It's weird," Kennedy said. "I feel like an adult, and I have an adult life. But I'm still only seventeen, so legally, she has say over everything I do."

"Yeah, that sucks." Pilot tried to imagine being done with high school and on his own. With James around, and more often not around, he was practically on his own anyway, aside from having Brie to take care of.

Kennedy made a face. "My sister is crazy. She forces me to do things I hate."

"Like what?"

Kennedy unwrapped her Mentos pack further, her hands shaking. "I can't tell you, obviously."

"Why?" Pilot took the pack from her and tore off a piece of the wrapper before handing it back. He wasn't sure what was so obvious about it.

Kennedy gave him a look. "Let's talk about something else, please."

"Uh, okay." Pilot wasn't sure why she was closing him out again.

"How's your paper going?"

"I turned it in today."

"Did you learn anything interesting from Hawaiian Myths and Legends?"

"No."

They walked in silence for a couple minutes before Kennedy spun out in front of him, dropping his hand. "You know what? If you don't want to have a normal conversation, let's go to my hotel room. You can add me to what sounds like a long list of girls who's names you probably can't even remember."

Pilot felt his chest tightening. "I've never told anyone about that, not even Brie or Rykken. It's not something I'm proud of, and it's not what I want for us. Not that there can ever be an 'us.'"

Kennedy grabbed both of his hands like she wanted to shake him. "You are so damaged. Did you know that?"

Pilot glared at her. "No I'm not."

"Yes you are. It's subtle, but underneath that calm exterior, it's there."

Pilot pulled away from her. "You keep shutting me out too."

Kennedy pulled his jacket tighter around her body—she looked like she was swimming in it. "Is it so hard for you to believe I like you for who you are, not for your name or your money or your status or whatever those other girls liked you for?"

"You haven't exactly made it easy for me to trust you."

"Because you think your problem is that you're famous. Do you think it's easy for me to trust you just because I'm not?"

"I don't know."

"I don't need your money Pilot. I have a trust fund and a job. And if I wanted a status symbol, there are plenty of people higher up than you in LA."

Pilot didn't say anything. She adjusted the collar of his shirt. He let his hand drift to the nape of her neck while the other got tangled in her ivory hair. His lips found hers, and once they started kissing, they couldn't stop.

Eventually she pulled away from him, practically shoving his chest to put distance between them.

"Let me guess," he said, breathing hard. "You have to go."

She wiped her lips with her thumb. "You're not the only one who's scared."

"I'm not the only one who's damaged."

She gave him a hard look. "Are you sure you want something real, Pilot?"

"No."

She took off his jacket and held it out to him by the collar. "Me either."

He grabbed her wrist instead of the jacket and pulled her closer to him, wrapping his hands around her waist. "But we're going to try anyway, aren't we?"

*****

Rykken stood as close to the Homecoming bonfire as he could, without making it obvious he was eavesdropping. He looked out at the ocean; normally, it gave him a sense of calm, but tonight it moved with fury, the waves crashing violently onto the beach.

The Flaming P had already been lit, and the bonfire was swarming with Punahou alumni of all ages.

The bonfire was a Homecoming tradition, and tonight the excitement was high because Punahou won their Homecoming game against their biggest rival Iolani just a few hours earlier. As an athlete and the varsity water polo team captain, he was expected to show his face. He stole a glance at the three girls sitting in fold-out chairs next to the fire.

"You were right about the map," Thessa told Brie. "Would you believe that James has been watching Milena this whole time? He has an entire file cabinet of all her travel."

"Brie," Sirena said, "you went on a lot of those trips. Do you remember anything—"

"No," Brie said. Her voice brought Rykken a mixture of pain and guilt. He hadn't spoken to her much the past week. She was always with Sirena or Thessa or Justin. And even when she wasn't, Rykken didn't know what to say to her. The distance between them seemed insurmountable, no matter how many times they apologized to each other.

"We went on vacations," Brie said. Her voice wavered. "We visited museums, memorials, tourist spots..."

"Those weren't vacations," Sirena said. "Milena was obviously looking for something."

"What would she be looking for?"

"We don't know. Neither did James—but he traced all the places she went. Her credit cards, her airline miles... somehow he gained access to all of it. That's what the map is for. It's a checkerboard of all the moves she's made."

"Thessa," a voice said. Rykken glanced back—it was Cora. The cheerleader made eye contact with him, before turning back to the Thessa, Sirena, and Brie. "Let's take a walk on the beach." It was a strange suggestion—aside from the fire, everything was pitch black because it was a new moon. Rykken wondered if they were trying to move away from him.

Thessa stood up, motioning for Sirena to follow her. Brie stood up also, but Cora shook her head slightly, almost imperceptibly. She whispered something Rykken couldn't hear, and Brie looked at Rykken.

So they had caught him.

Cora left, and Brie motioned Rykken over to where she was sitting.

"Hey," she said. "Where's Pilot?"

"No idea." He sat down in the chair next to her. She wore her cheer uniform, which Rykken still hadn't gotten used to—it went against everything he knew about her.

"I thought you two were inseparable," she said.

"I've barely seen him all week."

Brie frowned. "Pilot said you had extra polo practices though."

"Nope." Rykken watched Brie fiddle with a bar of chocolate and the tip of a stick she found. "Are you trying to make a s'more?" he asked.

Brie looked up from her work. "I've never made one before," she confessed.

Rykken bit back a laugh. Brie caught him, and smiled. "What?" she said. "Do you think we throw bonfires in Central Park?"

"Maybe homeless people do." Rykken took the stick from her. "First of all, you don't stake the chocolate, you stake the marshmallow."

He slid two marshmallows on the stick and handed it back to her. "Then, you hold them slightly over the fire, but don't let them catch the flames. I hate blackened marshmallow."

Brie nodded, fluttering her eyelashes lightly. "I'll keep that in mind."

The flames reflected in Brie's eyes, the orange patterns clashing against her green irises. Rykken knew she was just being nice. Still, they were having a conversation, a feat Rykken didn't want to take for granted.

"So, how much did you overhear earlier?" Brie asked. Her eyes darted between the marshmallows and his face.

Rykken felt like a deflated balloon—her question confirmed his suspicions that she was only talking to him to get information. "Just the part about your mom searching for an unknown object," he said dully.

"And the part about your dad tracking her across the globe."

She nodded her head thoughtfully. "You shouldn't eavesdrop."

"Okay Miss Headphones-in-the-Car." He looked up to watch her reaction, but she seemed calmer than normal. At least she wasn't gearing up to yell at him again.

"I did that to protect my family." She peeked out at him from behind a wall of hair, which fell in waves onto her shoulders. "I stopped when I realized how honest and good you are."

The tone of her voice was intimate, and it confused him. "Do you really believe that?" he asked.

She shook her head slightly, her forehead creasing in confusion. "To Pilot," she amended. "You're honest and good to Pilot, not me." Rykken sat back in his chair. "But I haven't exactly been kind to you either."

"We can change that though."

A soft smile spread slowly across her face. "Hating each other hasn't worked out so well for us, has it? Neither has ignoring each other. All that's left is being friends."

Rykken swallowed. That wasn't all that was left, but he didn't bother to correct her. He rested his chin on the rim of his thumb and index finger. "I'm sorry I was eavesdropping. I did it because Pilot wants me to keep an eye on you when he's not around." It wasn't the whole truth, but it sounded like something Pilot would ask of him.

"It's okay," Brie said. "Whatever you overheard tonight, you're misinterpreting it anyway. I'd appreciate it if you didn't repeat it to my brother."

"It sounded serious though. If you need someone to talk to—"

Brie looked up at him. "Maybe," she said. Rykken tried to keep his features in place to hide his surprise. She smiled at him again, ducking her head. "I do need someone to talk to. And I feel like you're a part of this anyway."

"Okay," he said, pushing his shoulders back. He normally tried not to look at her too much, but tonight it was almost impossible to take his eyes off her. "Let me know when you're ready."

Brie turned her marshmallows in the flames. "Since we're having such a good conversation, I need to ask you something. When you were wearing the pendant, did it leave any... physical evidence?"

Rykken's throat tightened. "I thought we were past the pendant stuff. Pilot and I haven't found the book or the pendant."

"I've looked too," she said. "No luck."

He ran his fingers through his hair. "Then it's over. We need to put it behind us."

"Rykken," she said. The way she said his name was so tender and vulnerable and sweet, he could kiss her. "Sirena told me she something on your chest."

Rykken's stomach dropped. He had spent hours in the shower, trying to scrub the crescent moon and star from the area right below his heart. When the mark didn't lighten, he tried to put it out of his mind—it was barely visible at practice, and no one had really noticed it besides Sirena.

Brie stared at him. He realized too late that she'd been watching for his reaction, despite his lack of words. "Can I see it?" she asked.

"Not now," he said.

She kept staring at him. "Has anything... strange happened to you since the pendant?"

"Like what?"

"Like, are you able to do things you haven't been able to do before?"

Rykken was startled by her question. "No." He leaned across his chair, until he was so close to her he could smell the smoke from the fire on her hair. "Brie, what's going on? Why are you asking me this?"

Brie's eyes flitted around his face, as if she were trying to look at every inch of it within a single second. "No reason," she said, but he recognized her disappointment in his answer. She pulled the stick with marshmallows on it from the fire. "Now what do I do with these?"

"Brie," Justin said. Rykken glanced up. Justin towered over them, his hands on Brie's shoulders. He bent down. "Come over here and hang out with me for a little while," he whispered into her ear, loud enough for Rykken to make out every single word.

"In a minute," Brie said. "I want to finish making my s'more first."

Rykken didn't look back to see Justin's reaction; he heard the annoyance in his tone. "Save me a seat for later then. I'm first up when we tell campfire stories."

She nodded and turned back to her marshmallows, oblivious to the effect she was having on both of them.

"You should go," Rykken said, trying to keep the pain out of his voice.

"Why?" Her eyes burned into him, like they were fueled by the heat from the bonfire. "I'm making s'mores with you right now."

Still, he couldn't have her. He took a graham cracker and split it in half, placing the stabbed piece of chocolate on it. He sandwiched a mushy marshmallow between the crackers and pulled the dessert from the stick.

"Here," he said, handing her the s'more and taking the stick from her. "Now, you should go."

She looked at the s'more in her hands, the corners of her mouth reversing directions. "What's your deal?" Her bottom lip quivered, anchored on one side by her front teeth. "One minute we're having a deep conversation, and the next you pretend you can't stand me."

Rykken looked away; there were a million ways to answer the question. You're my best friend's little sister. You're dating one of my friends. Of course, none of the answers were things he would ever say out loud to her. Instead, he fiddled with his own marshmallow, eating it straight from the stick. It was browned perfectly, with a slightly crusted outside and a gooey inside.

When he had the courage to face her again, Brie was still staring him down, waiting for an answer.

"I didn't know it came across that way," Rykken said.

She ran her fingers through her hair angrily, flipping the front pieces to the back. "I don't buy it Rykken Camacho." He studied her face—her green eyes, her small nose, her full lips, her smooth cheeks. He could smell the vanilla on her skin, the chocolate on her breath.

He pushed her out of his mind, and focused instead on the steamy, violent patterns the bonfire made against the midnight blue sky.

Out of the corner of his eye, he saw Brie shaking her head as she got up and walked in Justin's direction.

*****

Pilot held Kennedy's hand as they walked along the beach. He had spent every waking moment with her aside from school and practice. Now, it was near impossible for him to accept that she was leaving. He brushed her hair away from her neck and cupped her face in his palms, pressing his thumbs against her cheeks. She looked back at him with the smokiest eyes, smudged in black makeup. He leaned in and kissed her.

When she pulled away, she rested her head on his chest. "I'll be back in Honolulu soon."

He ran his fingers through her hair, which shone a bright white underneath the blaze of scattered street lamps. "I can't wait."

"Do you have your campfire story ready?"

"Yep. I'm going to tell the legend of the Selkies and the Shark-Men."

"Cool. I brought you something for your performance," she said. He looked into her eyes, but she looked away quickly. She wore a skin-tight black dress forming a deep V at her chest and thigh high black boots.

A few inches of her bare legs peeked out, taunting him. The outfit was a parting gift, like she wanted to remind him how much he wanted to have sex with her. Eventually. He was amazed she could walk across sand in those boots.

She held up a small, purple pouch by its strings playfully, teasing him as he tried to grab for it.

He closed his fist around it, yanking it out of her hand. She giggled, and he loosened the strings and shook the contents from the pouch. Inside, there was a small vial of thick, bright red liquid. "Is this... blood?" he asked.

"Of the archangels and archdemons." She laughed, though she still wouldn't look at him. "It's fake,"

she said, staring at his chest, her fingers straightening the collar of his polo shirt. "Toss it into the fire at the end of your story. It'll spark and scare everyone."

He closed his fist around the vial. "I like it. Very theatrical."

He leaned in to kiss her again, but she didn't respond to the pressure of his lips against hers.

"What's wrong?"

"Nothing." She looked him in the eyes, finally. He marveled at the color—they weren't the grayish shade of blue that was more common in eyes, but actually silver, like the color of diamonds. "We're going to keep trying to make this work, right?"

"You mean because you live somewhere else?"

She touched the buttons on his shirt. "I mean, no matter what happens."

He grabbed her hand, holding it flat against his chest, right over his heart. "You know, I could call you in LA. Things could be normal between us."

Kennedy looked like she might cry. "Things can be normal between us, someday. When you're ready."

Pilot wasn't sure what to do. He brought her hand to his lips and kissed the back of it lightly.

"You're so hard to interpret," he murmured.

"I know," she replied. She wrapped her arms around his neck and kissed his chest, his neck, his chin. Her touch sent shivers through his body. She kissed him hard on the mouth, and something about their embrace told him it was the last time for a while.

When she finally pulled away, she smirked at him, her hand on her hip. "Turn around." Pilot felt physical pain from not having her in his arms anymore. She held her head up, but he could see her smile slipping at the corners of her mouth. He spun around, closing his eyes. He listened to the silence for several minutes, waiting to hear her footsteps headed in the opposite direction.

When he turned back around, she was gone. He wasn't surprised.

He made his way to the bonfire, where his entire school was bound to be celebrating the football team's Homecoming victory. It all felt distant to him though. Kennedy had opened him to a new world, outside of football, water polo, and high school. She made him feel whole in a way that no one else had in his life, because he didn't have to be so strong around her. He could be himself.

He reached the bonfire as the party was dying down. Justin was just finishing up a story.

"Who's next?" he asked, holding out the flashlight.

"Me." Pilot took the flashlight from Justin, and grabbed an empty seat next to the fire.

"A chief from a nearby town, not far from here, came to this very beach to watch the selkies as they danced in the sand, their steps leaving no footprints. A beautiful female selkie held out her hand to him, inviting him to join in their trite revelries. But he refused, as he knew that selkies were much like fairies, and to dance for a minute with them was to dance for a lifetime. He watched from the rocks instead, plotting a way to seduce the female selkie into marrying him.

"He found her sealskin buried under the sand near the rocks. While she was dancing, he uprooted it and hid it in a wine cellar near his house. In the morning, the woman was trapped; she couldn't return to the ocean without her skin.

"She married him and they had children. He carried the keys to the wine cellar with him night and day, afraid she would steal them and dig up her skin he so carefully hid from her.

"He could tell she was unhappy, but he was too afraid to lose her. One day, one of their children stole the key from his father's pocket. The child discovered the sealskin, and not realizing what it was, showed it to his mother. The woman, realizing what had happened, put on her sealskin and made her way out to sea. When her husband came looking for her, she called him out into the ocean. He swam deeper and deeper, trying to reach the love of his life. When he finally did, she held him under water until his body went limp. He never returned to land.

"She gave the village to her sons, reminding the children that if they ever wanted to call her, they could simply cry seven tears into the ocean and she would return to visit them."

"Not far away in Waipao Valley, Ka-moho, a shark king, married the beautiful princess Kalei and had a son. Ka-moho disappeared shortly after the birth of his son, but not before he warned Kalei not to let their son, Nanaue, taste any human's blood.

"When Nanaue grew older, he developed an appetite for fish. That appetite grew, and before long, Nanaue could not swim with other men, for they were too tempting.

"As Nanaue neared adulthood, there were strange disappearances where the family lived. Whenever a man entered deep waters, a shark would appear, dragging them into the depths of the ocean. Their limbs would float to the surface, bitten and maimed at the ends.

"Kalei became suspicious of the disappearances, so Nanaue left the valley. He moved to Honolulu and married a chief's daughter, and they had children. People suspected he may have supernatural powers, but because he was part of the royal family, no one dared to speak out about it.

"The selkies and the shark-men were natural enemies. The two royal families feuded, both believing the other's beliefs were wrong. Before long, the fighting turned to war, and the war turned to death."

Pilot paused, looking ominously around the campfire. He saw the faces of most of the guys from the football and water polo teams. He saw Brie standing still, next to Sirena. The twins stood behind them, spooked. Finally his eyes settled directly across the campfire, on Rykken. His best friend.

"The deaths spelled trouble for the two tribes. The selkies could no longer stand the losses of their children, so they left the island for good, never to be seen again. Thus, the feud lay dormant, and over time was forgotten. But the shark-men wait until the day the selkies set foot on this land, if only to taste their blood again..."

Pilot had reached the end of the story. He held up the vial in his hand, thinking of Kennedy. He looked across the fire at Rykken, who was watching him intensely.

"What is that in your hand?" Cora asked, making her way toward him. Clara was right behind her.

He threw the vial into the fire, and it exploded, enveloped by the flames. A mist of soft, silver smoke spurred up, climbing its way toward the sky in large bursts.

CHAPTER NINE

Thessa marched into Brie's room wearing a pair of jeans, out of step with the R&B Brie blasted from her computer speakers. Her hair and make-up were non-existent—anything but party-ready. "Clara, give me some good news."

The twins had arrived earlier to borrow jewelry from Brie for the Homecoming dance. Well, Cora did; Brie offered to loan Clara something, but she said it would be too awkward, whatever that meant.

"I tried to access his thoughts," Clara said, "but downloads are the hardest for me to do. He's resisted my attempts so far. I can still upload, but only if I touch his skin."

"Brie, anything?"

Brie adjusted the straps on her shoes so they didn't pinch her ankle. "Pilot won't talk to me about last night." She didn't quite understand what had happened. The night before, Pilot was telling a campfire story and threw an object—what, she didn't know—into the fire. Thessa was obsessed with finding out who gave the object to him, though she wouldn't explain to Brie what it was or why.

Sirena tilted her head, her eyebrows raised. "At all?"

Brie applied mascara to her right eye. "I can't force him to talk to me." The truth was she hadn't pushed Pilot for an answer—it felt fake to her, when she was constantly lying to him.

Thessa paced the room. "Cora, do you think you can convince him to confide in you?"

Cora fiddled with the zipper to her dress. "I'll try to get a name from him tonight, but if Brie couldn't get it out of him..." She tugged on the zipper, but her hands were trembling. Brie, feeling sorry for Cora, walked over to the full-length mirror to help her zip up.

"Thanks," Cora said. She glanced nervously at herself in the mirror, frowning as she took in her figure.

"You look great," Brie said. "Why are you so nervous?"

"I haven't had a date to a dance in awhile, I guess."

Brie laughed. "It's my brother, not a date." A blush of ember spread across Cora's cheeks, and Brie wondered if... no. Cora wouldn't.

Clara smirked. "It's a mission, Cora. Don't forget that tonight."

Thessa sat on Brie's bed, folding one leg over the other. "I need to check on something." The twins went on alert, hovering around her. Thessa grabbed Clara's and Cora's hands and the three of them stood in a circle. Thessa mumbled some words in Greek that sounded like a prayer. The twins repeated them back to her in unison.

Brie looked at Sirena, who tilted her head to the side and raised her shoulders. She clearly didn't know what was going on any more than Brie did. But unlike Brie, she didn't seem curious.

Brie wanted to ask Thessa where she was going, but she knew better. Even Clara and Cora didn't ask, though Brie could tell Clara wanted to.

"What about Rykken?" Brie thought of how he bled the night before, from the spot on his chest where Brie suspected the mark was. "I'm worried about him."

Thessa's eyes narrowed, her lips forming a thin, horizontal line. "Don't be. He's not your concern."

"But we still don't know what happened to him last night," Brie said. "He was sitting there, and he was fine, and then he slumped out of his chair, and his shirt was stained in blood..."

Cora fumbled with her hands. "Let it go Brie."

Brie squeezed her eyes shut, grabbing the bridge of her nose with her index finger and thumb. She had a feeling that the other girls knew what was happening to Rykken, but it was yet another thing they wouldn't tell her. Everything with the Hallows seemed to operate on a need-to-know basis.

"Fine," Brie said, releasing her nose. "What should I do then?"

"Go to the Homecoming dance," Thessa said. "Dance with your date, who happens to be one of the most sought after seniors in the entire school. And be a teenager tonight—no worries, no responsibilities."

She walked to the door, sparing only one glance back. "That's what you wanted, right?"

*****

"Smile," Annie said.

Rykken stood by the van Rossum pool with Pilot, Justin, and the rest of his teammates, dressed in white suits and wearing green foliage leis. James insisted that the whole crew take Homecoming pictures at the van Rossum house this year after meeting everyone the week before at the party.

Rykken was dateless—but he hadn't asked anyone, so he couldn't be too angry. Pilot didn't ask anyone either, but he was going with Cora as a last minute set-up that Brie had arranged. Brie said Rykken could go with Sirena, but Rykken passed. It was too awkward after what she saw on his chest.

When photos were done, Annie ushered the guys back inside. Now, they stood in the van Rossum foyer dutifully, waiting for the girls to come downstairs.

The smells of shrimp, cocktail sauce, small vegetable lumpia, and crab rangoon wafted from the kitchen into the foyer. Most of the guys around him were messing around, joking with each other—but Justin leaned against the chair rail next to Rykken. "Do you like her?" he whispered. "Just tell me. It's not a big deal."

Rykken took off his jacket, loosening his collar to combat the heat. "Who?"

"Don't joke. You know who."

Rykken wasn't sure how to answer. "I take an interest in her well-being."

"Sure you do." Justin snorted. "Because she's your best friend's little sister, right? I can't believe Pilot buys that shit."

This was not a conversation Rykken wanted to have with anyone, but especially not Justin. "Look, just watch yourself with her," he replied. "She's fifteen and her mother just died, so don't try to take advantage of her."

Justin whistled. "Wow. And I thought we were friends."

"We are. You're just making it difficult to stay that way."

Justin chuckled, adjusting his tie. "Despite what you and the rest of the school might think, she's not just another notch on my bedpost."

"Not just another notch," Rykken said, balling his fists. "How generous of you."

"You know what I meant. I'm not going to pretend I don't want to hook up with her. That's your deal, not mine." Justin paused. "And don't think I haven't heard about how angry she was at you. I'm surprised you're even on speaking terms."

Rykken took a deep breath, pain spreading through his chest. "Did she tell you something?"

"No," Justin said. "We're too busy to talk about you when we're together."

Rykken glared at Justin. He didn't think Brie was that type of girl, but Justin's words had produced the desired effect—insane jealousy. "I apologized to her," he said. "We're working on it."

"That's cute," Justin said. "But some things can't be repaired, bro."

At that moment, Brie walked down the stairs. She wore a playful silver beaded dress, sleeveless and backless, that ended mid-thigh. Her hair was pulled back into an intricate braid, revealing her delicate, smooth neck, and her eyes were bright and warm as she smiled down in their direction.

Justin was the first to recover. "Wow. You look gorgeous," he said, pushing himself off the wall to meet her.

"You like it?" she asked, spinning around.

Justin rested his arm lightly on the small of her back and faced Rykken. "Doesn't she look great?"

Rykken tried not to stare at Justin's hands or Brie's exposed skin. He blinked several times, his heart beating wildly. "You look beautiful," he said, trying to conceal the emotion in his voice. Not for you.

She didn't dress up for you.

Brie smiled. "Thanks Rykken. You look nice too."

Rykken knew he had to get out of there. He excused himself, heading for the first floor bathroom where he could escape the couples that were pairing up. He sat down on the lid of the toilet seat, burying his head in his hands. Every part of his body felt like it was on fire. He could feel the sweat beads on his forehead, like he'd eaten spicy Indian food. He had flashbacks of the miserable pool party the weekend before and wondered if he could stomach the dance by himself. He wanted to go home and hide until the Homecoming court was announced—then, he would congratulate the king and queen and make his escape for the night.

After several minutes, he stood up and left the bathroom. He got all the way to the foyer when he heard a familiar voice behind him.

"Where are you going?"

It was Brie. He turned around.

"Home," he said. He faced the door again. He couldn't stand to look at her.

"Why?" she asked.

"I left something there," he lied. He walked to the front door, opening it.

"Rykken." Brie's voice caught when she said his name.

It was the sweetest sound he'd heard in awhile.

He faced her, wiping his forehead. She looked into his eyes, batting her eyelashes the way she always did. She bit her lip.

"You're still going to the dance, right?"

"Yeah, of course. I have to. I'm on the court."

"Right, I forgot." The green in her eyes matched his lei and contrasted nicely with her silver dress, which matched his white tux. She shook her head back and forth the way she always did when she was nervous. "Save me a dance, okay?" She gave him half a smile, her face flushed, the dimple in her left cheek deeper than ever.

He tried not to smile, but a small one broke through his calm exterior. "Sure Brie." He walked out the front door.

He reached the gates to the van Rossum driveway and cracked the combination on Pilot's bike—the month and day of Milena's birthday. He didn't think Pilot would mind if he borrowed it; it wasn't like Pilot ever rode a bike anywhere.

Save me a dance, okay? What did that mean? He didn't have much time to think about it though; he really did need to get home for a shower. His shirt was nearly drenched in sweat, and he wanted to get a thermometer to check his temperature.

Rykken biked four miles until he reached the blue and white house where his foster parents lived.

The sweat dripped off of all his limbs and he wanted nothing more than to get out of the clothes he was in.

The change in temperature inside stifled his breathing—it was cooler outside with the breeze. He ran through the living room to get upstairs, charging past his foster mother on the couch.

"Rykken—what are you doing here?"

"Quick shower!" he yelled back, not stopping.

Rykken took the stairs three at a time. As he made his way past his bedroom, he stripped away his clothes as quickly as he could, leaving a trail of garments in the hallway. He was heating up so fast, and all he wanted to do was get under running water.

When he reached the bathroom, he twisted the controls for the water temperature and flipped the setting to the showerhead. He stepped in and felt cooler for a few seconds—until he collapsed into the tub.

The water smacked his face and he heard a loud crack. He wondered if the cracking sound was his skull, but the water stayed clear—no blood running through it. Pure horror shot through every fiber of his body when he realized that it was the bathtub that had cracked.

"Rykken!" He heard a yell, so loud, like a megaphone in his ear. He tried to cover his ears, but he couldn't move his limbs. The water surged up around him, like it had in his dream with the rain—only this time he knew he wasn't going to wake up. "Rykken!" His foster mother sounded angry. He struggled to sit up, but his body felt limp, like a jellyfish. "Rykken, what happened? There's water pouring into the living—" His foster mother burst into the bathroom and stopped. The next thing Rykken heard was a piercing, endless scream.

*****

It had been nearly one hundred years since Thessa had been to Fort Moore Hill Cemetery in Los Angeles, searching for a specific tombstone. The last time she'd come, she vowed never to come again unless she had a death wish.

Clara had no idea what Thessa was planning to do. If she had, she would have tried to talk Thessa out of it. Cora, on the other hand, sensed the impending danger in Thessa's blood.

The twins powers were strange, so similar, yet the exact opposite in many ways. Clara could figure her way out of room with no doors or windows, but could not make sense of people. Cora couldn't remember things—couldn't solve even the simplest of puzzles—but nothing escaped her when it came to emotions.

Thessa loved the twins like her own daughters. She had kept the promise she'd made to their mother—the girls had grown up and could take care of each other, continuing Thessa's work if anything were to happen to her.

Thessa wondered if tonight was the night she might die. She calmed her excitement by reading the names on the tombstones to herself— George Blacken, Emmett Vala, Tucker Mann... finally she came to the one she was looking for.

Silver Smoke. Thessa chuckled to herself at the arrogance. The only reason a secret group would put the entrance to their homes in plain daylight is if they had nothing to fear from intruders. Thessa guessed that very few true intruders had even the slightest chance of coming back out alive.

Thessa traced the tombstone's Gothic cross three times, its angel wings once. Within seconds, she was plummeting through a tunnel of dirt, deeper and deeper into the ground, far below the city of the angels.

She landed in a soft bed of hibiscus flowers and chuckled again. The hibiscus was a symbol of old royalty on the islands of Hawaii, but there was nothing old nor royal about the Silver Smoke. Silver Smoke was full of its inside jokes.

"Thessa." A skinny man with a small frame and dark features, wearing a dark plum suit that contrasted with his pale skin, greeted her.

"Thomas." Thessa frowned, taking his hand. He lifted her up into standing position. "Why are you here?"

"I could ask you the same question," Thomas replied.

Their voices echoed through the vast chamber decorated with half earthly elements, half modern elements. Splotches of dirt wall peeked out from under the oak wood, while dry wall covered a good portion of the chamber. The ground was tiled in wooden slabs, hibiscus flowers and dirt scattered across it from her landing. She wondered who would clean up the mess she made.

"I'm here to see Bristol," she said.

"Uninvited?"

"Yes. Though I doubt I'm unexpected."

"Such confidence, Thessa!" Thomas gazed at her with a hint of admiration, a dose of lust. "To be nearly omniscient, not because you are gifted, but simply because you are one of the oldest Hallows to ever live." Thomas laughed wickedly, narrowing his eyes. "How fun it must be to know so many secrets. You are a legend, doll."

"Yet, you still haven't told me your secret. Why are you here Thomas?"

"Why is anyone here?" He crept around her in a circle. Her eyes followed him until he stopped. "It's in my blood," he said, laughing. He flew around her. "The New Order doesn't know yet," he whispered in her right ear. A split-second later, he was on the other side of her, pulling her hair away from her neck.

"You won't tell them, will you doll?" he asked her, licking the lobe of her left ear.

Thessa shuddered, wiping at her ear. "Why would I? Your infiltration serves my purpose. For now."

Thomas was in front of her again, laughing. His laughter bounced off the walls of the chamber, echoing deep into the tunnel openings that surrounded them.

"Bristol," Thessa said, breaking through his laughter.

"Straight to business." Thomas laughed even louder. "We're alone, you know." He fingered the top button of her jeans. "Why don't you stay awhile, enjoy yourself a little?"

Thessa shoved his hand away. "They've really done a number on you," she observed.

He frowned. "I'm the same person, Thessa, just a truer version." He traced the lines of her throat, kissing her neck. She pushed him off her. "What?" he asked. "You've been alive long enough—there must have been plenty of others."

Thessa slapped him. His head swung to the side, then recoiled. "You're still not over that little bastard you married, are you?"

"Are we done yet?" Thessa asked, walking toward one of the tunnel entrances. If Thomas wasn't going to help her, she would find Bristol's chamber herself.

Thomas laughed, though with less vigor, trailing off when his company didn't share in his amusement.

"Fine. Right this way doll." He led her to a different entrance, a narrower one. She glared at him before following.

The two of them walked in silence through the tunnel, turning right or left several times before reaching a set of brass doors.

"I was messing with you," Thomas said in a low voice. "There's no need to speak of it again."

Thomas' voice returned to normal, similar to the one he used at the capital, but it didn't stop Thessa's skin from crawling. "You're pathetic." Thessa stepped away from Thomas to knock on the door, but before she could, it opened.

"Thessa!" Bristol said. She wore a bright green evening gown, her silver hair teased up into an elegant bun on top of her head. She had a wine glass in her hand, with liquid the color of blood inside.

"I've been expecting you." She let her wine glass waver in the air for a few seconds as she embraced Thessa, kissing Thessa on each of her cheeks. Thessa allowed it, before being dragged into Bristol's chamber.

The chamber was bursting with pinks, silvers, golds, greens, blues, and oranges. And glitter. There was glitter everywhere, as if a cloud had rained silver confetti into the room.

"You're covered in dirt!" Bristol said in her high-pitched voice. "Don't tell me you came in through the graveyard entrance."

"You imply there's another option?"

"Of course! You didn't think I would jump into a hole of dirt once I took over, did you?"

"I suppose that wouldn't fit your personality," Thessa said dryly, looking around the room. The bright, loud colors made her dizzy.

Bristol drew a chair for Thessa, and they both sat.

"No guests?" Thessa asked, glancing at the table. The sofa table was covered in bottles—wine bottles, beer bottles, liquor bottles, and unmarked bottles in all different colors.

"I drink my spirits alone," Bristol said. "It's less tedious that way. You can avoid all the pleasantries and hostess duties."

Thessa picked up one of the bottles. It was shaped like a gothic goblet with a shaft of pewter metal at the top. Thessa tried to open it out of curiosity.

"Don't drink that, silly," Bristol said. "It's perfume. See?" Bristol took the bottle and pressed a button on its shaft. The room filled with a strong putrid, bubbly scent.

Thessa coughed, waving her hands in the air to disperse the scent.

"Have you enjoyed your time at Silver Smoke thus far?" Bristol asked. "Meet up with any old friends?"

"I have neither time nor friends tonight at Silver Smoke. Though I did meet your guard dog on the way to your chamber."

"Thomas? Ugh. Isn't he filthy?" Bristol took a swig of her champagne. "He's so good on his visits to Spain. It's like he gets here and becomes an animal or something."

"Yes, a version of his truer self, he told me."

Bristol smiled. "Be polite dear Thessa. You pure-blooded Hallows are so high and mighty sometimes."

Thessa rolled her eyes. "You must know why I'm here."

"No my dear. I only saw that you were coming." Bristol gave a high-pitched, girlish giggle. "You of all people should understand the limited nature of my visions."

"What do you know about the Selkies and the Shark-Men?"

Bristol looked at Thessa. "You mean the Hallows and Nephilim who fought for the Hawaiian islands so long ago?"

Thessa mouth formed a brief, tight smile. "Your father was from the Nephilim family, wasn't he?"

Bristol raised a devilish brow. "You've done your homework. But I'm afraid you'll have to ask my sister if you want any more details about our family history." She held her arms out, gesturing around the room. "I've shed all ties to the past."

"Your sister, then." Thessa said. "Where is she?"

Bristol scoffed. "You act like I'm my sister's keeper. I have no clue where that uncontrollable waste is.

My sister is a loose cannon. You know that."

"But a trained killer and master assassin for Silver Smoke, right?"

Bristol clicked her tongue against the roof of her mouth. "Even cannons have their uses Thessa."

"I believe she cast a blood spell on one of my new Hallows."

"Oh dear," Bristol exclaimed with false concern.

"I wondered if she was acting on her own, or on your behalf."

"Dear friend, don't be silly." Bristol stood up, prancing grandly around the room. "Silver Smoke doesn't have a vendetta against young Hallows. Our mission is only to deliver justice to our former persecutors—

the monarchy."

"Yes, and you've done so. Yet you're still infiltrating the New Order. That makes... sense." Thessa's voice dripped with sarcasm.

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 her."

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 Silver 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.

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 swimming 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 slung 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.

Sirena stopped walking and backtracked. "You still owe them an apology."

Brie tossed her hair over her shoulder. "They still owe me answers."

Sirena grabbed Brie's elbow. "And answers require responsibility." Sirena sighed. "That's why sometimes it's better not to have the answers."

Brie let Sirena guide her toward the girls. "I can handle responsibility."

Sirena stopped, facing Brie. "The Hallows don't seem to think so."

Brie made a face. "How do I get them to trust me then?"

Sirena bit her lip. "If you want the Hallows to trust you, stop acting like an angry, reckless teenager. Don't tell Rykken unnecessary details about the pendant; don't yell at us when we have to take away Pilot's memories to keep him safe. We're all on the same team here."

Brie shifted her weight to one leg, putting a hand on her hip. "You sound like my mother."

"I'm trying to help you." Sirena ran her hands over her hair and shook it out. It came out almost completely dry. "Apologize."

"Okay!" Brie stalked toward the group of girls, leaving Sirena several paces behind. But she didn't have far to go, because Cora and Clara were walking toward them already, probably eager to keep Brie out of earshot from the other cheerleaders.

"I'm sorry," Brie blurted out when the three of them met in the middle. "I don't know what happened last night, but I shouldn't have gotten mad—"

"Forget about that," Clara said, grabbing Brie's elbow with a firm grip. She steered Brie in the direction she and Sirena had just come from. "We need to talk to you before—"

"Clara thinks James adopted you," Cora blurted out.

Brie's jaw felt like it had detached itself and fallen onto the beach.

Sirena, who had just caught up, looked surprised also. "Why do you think that?"

Clara gave Cora a dirty look, and turned to Sirena. "I've been sorting through the information I found when I raided James' den. This morning when we were talking to Thessa, I realized there were slight inconsistencies in James' documents."

Brie folded her arms across her chest. "How is this just coming out now?"

Clara ignored her, still looking at Sirena. "We obviously considered the possibility that Brie was adopted before," Clara said, "but the government records I checked to see that you were James' true child were forged. This document is real." She held a document out to Sirena.

Before Sirena could take it, Brie snatched the paper from Clara, holding it on both sides so it wouldn't blow away. She skimmed the gold and black lettering on it, but barely registered any of the words on the page.

After a minute, she handed the paper to Sirena. "I'm adopted. Great."

Sirena looked at the paper and handed it back to Clara, who folded it into three pieces. "It explains a lot. You don't look that much like James, for one. You have Hallow powers and Pilot doesn't."

"Not only that," Cora said, "but your Hallow powers are well beyond anything Thessa has seen in a young Hallow. It's impossible for you to have an earthlie father, no matter how powerful Milena was."

Brie waved her hands. "It doesn't matter. James isn't my real father, with or without that document."

Sirena twisted her mouth to the side, her eyebrows forming v-shapes at the ends nearest to her nose.

"This isn't necessarily a bad thing. Your real father could still be alive, and if he is, he's probably a Hallow."

"And he hasn't talked to me for fifteen years," Brie added. "Some father."

Sirena tapped her cheek. "Maybe he couldn't."

"Either way, we need to find out who your father is," Clara said. "He probably knows more about Milena's motives than anyone, and he might be able to tell us what Milena was looking for. Thessa is leaving tonight to find out what she can, starting with a list of pure-blooded Hallow men I narrowed down. I'm trying to convince her to let me go with her, but—"

"How is Thessa?" Brie asked.

Clara's expression turned hard. "You didn't seem to care last night."

"I do care about Thessa..." Behind the twins, Brie saw Rykken walking between the cars toward the beach. He was wearing a long-sleeve collared shirt the color of snow and faded blue jeans. His hair looked damp, curling at the sides, and the first several buttons of his shirt were undone, revealing his hard chest underneath. Clara glanced back a half-second before Brie could tear her eyes away from him, back to their conversation.

Clara twisted back around, her eyes slitted, her lips forming a fine line across her face. "I have something to take care of," she announced, staring at Brie. Her lips twitched, forming a slight, sinister smile, before she trounced away in Rykken's direction.

Brie stared after Clara, perplexed. She couldn't remember Clara ever taking an interest in Rykken.

"What was that about?"

Cora squeezed Brie's hand, drawing her attention back to their conversation. "I know this news about your father is not easy for you. But while Thessa is investigating, we need you to do your own investigating. We need you to talk to James."

Brie's heart sank. "Of course you do."

"Brie," Cora pleaded, "James likely knows more about your blood father than anyone else on the planet. This is a great opportunity to find your real dad."

Brie sighed. "What am I supposed to ask James?"

"Confront him about your adoption and see what he knows," Sirena said.

Cora stared out into the ocean, concentrating on something far away. "I think the perfect time to confront him about this is on your family vacation this week."

"What?" Brie glanced back and forth between Cora to Sirena.

"Pilot told me about it last night," Cora said. "James is taking you and Pilot somewhere so the three of you can bond. It's supposed to be a surprise."

"Well, I'm sure as hell surprised."

Cora frowned. "But you leave tonight... you would think he would have told you by now."

Brie sighed. "Not James. He wouldn't want to give me time to find an excuse not to go."

*****

Rykken rolled up the sleeves on his white collared shirt. The waves at Sandy Beach Park were tall and wicked, just the way he liked them. Rykken had spent almost every weekend since he was six years old at Sandy Beach, surfing with his friends and honing his skills. It was strange to skip this weekend, but there was no way he could get in the water, not after what happened the night before. A pang of resentment hit him when he saw Pilot and the guys out further, surfing.

Everything about the beach felt the same today—the rush of wind against his face, the way the ocean tumbled over itself in a race to the shore, the girls wearing small patches of cloth on their bodies, leaving little to the imagination—he was the one who was different, a stranger in the one place he probably felt most at home.

He squinted, blocking the sun with his hand. His desire to find Brie was the only thing that could drive him to come to the beach today, especially considering the risks; but he needed answers. She knew more about the pendant than she was letting on, and after what he'd seen that morning...

Finally, he saw her, standing next to Sirena and one of the twins, he wasn't sure which. He walked in their direction, but stopped when he saw a figure headed his way.

One of the twins, the one that wasn't standing next to Brie, sauntered toward him in a tiny swimsuit, her hand on her hip. He guessed it was Clara from the anger written all over her features. She always looked angry, though Rykken couldn't imagine why—she was pretty and popular and rich and a cheerleader. What else did teenage girls care about?

Clara eyed him like he was a science experiment gone wrong. "I heard you were leaving the water polo team." Rykken wondered how many times he would hear the same line uttered by classmates, friends, and teachers.

"You heard correctly." He caught a glimpse of Brie squeezing her hair out of a wet ponytail. Justin approached the group of girls and hugged Brie, his hands all over her back. He whispered something to her and she laughed. Rykken clenched his teeth and balled his fists.

Clara eyed his hands, a cruel smile playing on her lips. "It's a little hot for that outfit, isn't it?" It felt strange talking to Clara; he had known her most of high school and they had the same friends, but she always ignored him.

Rykken slipped his hand into the pocket of his Levi's jeans, one of two pairs he owned. "I'm comfortable," he said, wiping a bead of sweat from his brow with the other hand. He wasn't comfortable, he was burning up. But wearing anything else was a signal to his classmates that he would be enjoying a day at the beach with them. And he wouldn't be.

Rykken smiled at Clara as politely as he could. "I need to talk to Brie about something."

He walked past her, but she grabbed his forearm with surprising force. "You're probably wondering what's happened to you."

He looked back; Clara gave him a knowing smile. Rykken's eyes widened. "What are you talking about?"

"I think you know what I'm talking about."

"I don't." Rykken shook his arm until she let go of him.

"The pendant. The legend. Transformations. It all makes more sense than you think, but you need my help to piece it together."

Rykken was on guard. "Did Brie tell you about the pendant?" He didn't realize that Brie would confide in someone like Clara—he thought they didn't get along.

"Yes," Clara said. "But unlike her, I can help you."

Rykken blinked. What did Clara know about being a star athlete, having complete control over your body, doing things that no one else could do—and having it all taken away from you? He needed answers, not sympathy. "Only Brie can help me."

Clara glowered, looking up out of the corners of her eyes. She faced him, her jaw set, her eyes taking in Rykken like a snake. "Really? Because Brie looks a little busy at the moment."

Rykken glanced up and noticed Sirena and Cora were nowhere to be seen. Brie and Justin were silhouettes huddled together, facing each other against the bright sky with the blue ocean setting the backdrop. They were in a hushed conversation, and their faces were so close together they could be kissing.

Rykken looked away quickly. "What do you want Clara?"

Her lips twisted into a squat u-shape. "I want to figure out what's wrong with you just as badly as you do. But to do that, you need to tell me everything that's happened, starting from when you first found the pendant with Brie."

Rykken brushed his hair back with his fingers, struggling to make a decision. "Why should I trust you?"

Clara laughed, tipping her head back and shaking out her hair. She grabbed his wrist and guided him toward the parking lot. "Because you have no one else to trust."

*****

Brie watched Clara grab Rykken's wrist and walk toward the parking lot.

"Heh," Justin said. "I didn't realize those two were dating."

"They're not," Brie said. Clara glanced back at Brie, giving her a cruel smile before putting her other hand on Rykken's arm.

"Anyway, what do you think?"

Brie looked up at Justin, blinking. His blue irises were bright against their whites in his eyes, like pops of ocean water amidst the powder-like spray of the waves. "About what?"

"Next Sunday," Justin said. He was wearing O'Neill board shorts loosely at his waist, as if he didn't mind if they fell off right in front of her. "I want to take you surfing. We'll go to a different beach, where the water is tamer than this."

"Oh, right." Brie looked back at Clara and Rykken. She was guiding him to the passenger side of her car. "Sure."

Justin touched the bottom of her chin, gently turning her head back toward him. "You seem distracted." His thumb traced her jaw to her ear. "Is there something you're not telling me?"

Brie blinked, shaking her head. "No." The right side of his mouth twisted upwards, and he gave her a look. "I mean, yes, I'm distracted. Rykken's been acting weird lately."

"I forgot to tell you," Justin said, putting his other hand on the small of her back. He cupped her face. "Rykken quit the water polo team."

Brie met Justin's eyes in surprise. "Rykken loves water polo."

"He and his mom went to the coaches this morning to give them the news." Justin stared at Brie, as if he was confused by her reaction. "We had an emergency meeting this morning to restructure the team.

I'm the new captain."

Brie bit her lip, well aware of how close Justin's face was to hers. "It worked out well for you, then."

Justin frowned. "I wanted to be captain for my talent, not by elimination."

"You are talented," she said, resting her closed fists on his chest. It was hard and finely chiseled, but there was no point in mentioning it because he already knew. "I've seen you play a couple times."

"That means a lot, coming from you." He leaned in, drawing her face closer to his. He tried to kiss her, but she turned her head at the last second.

She pushed against his chest. "Justin, I'm not sure about this."

"Why?" He wrapped his hands around her waist, his fingers digging into her skin. He smelled like a Nautica store—clean and uncomplicated. His scent evoked images of saltwater-soaked nylon. He stepped forward, closing the distance between them. "You wanted to kiss me last night. How is this different?"

Things seemed a lot different in the sun, away from the slow music and romantic lights of the school gymnasium. Brie was still a Hallow; she still had her brother to worry about; she still didn't know what her mother's secret was, and she didn't know who her real dad was or why he left her. None of these were things she could ever tell Justin.

"Well, it's broad daylight," Brie said, pulling out of his arms. "And my brother is here."

"He's busy surfing." Justin looked down at the sand, as if calculating the distance between them.

"Besides, if we're going to be dating, Pilot has to get used to seeing us together."

"It's not just him," Brie said. She took a deep breath, searching her heart for reasons that everything with Justin felt wrong to her. "My mom just died," she finally said. "This is moving way too fast for me. I need to concentrate on school and friends and putting my life back together—I can't see myself with a boyfriend."

Justin rubbed his forehead, looking annoyed. "So when you kissed me last night, that meant... what?"

"I don't know." Brie wondered if he was going to yell at her, with the way he was shifting his weight between his two feet. "They were just kisses."

He ran his hand up the back of his neck, brushing his curly hair forward. "Be upfront with me Brie.

Do you like Rykken?"

"No," Brie said, crinkling her nose. Brie didn't understand why her conversations with Justin always circled back to Rykken. She looked toward the parking lot again, but Rykken and Clara were long gone.

"I'm just worried about him."

"That's kind of a sign that you like him."

Brie felt her insides twist. "No," she repeated. She didn't—did she? No, they could barely stand each other most of the time.

"Are you sure?"

"Things are complicated between us."

Justin exhaled. " Also not something you want to hear the girl you like say about another guy."

Brie's cheeks flushed. She didn't understand why Justin was harping on the topic. "Why do you like me?" she asked, changing the subject.

Justin lifted his shoulders once, lowering his head. "I just do. It's really simple for me." He picked up her hand from her side, his fingertips putting soft pressure on her palm. "This is about you though: you either like me or you don't. I'd rather know now than later."

"I do," Brie said nervously. She tried to think of a nice way to explain to him how trapped he was making her feel. "I'm not sure about a relationship, though. I mean, everyone keeps warning me about you..." She let her words hang in the air, hoping they could provide the space she needed.

But Justin stepped closer, boxing her in. "And you believe them?"

"I just moved here." Brie took a step back. "What am I supposed to believe?"

"The fact that you just moved here should give me a clean slate." He kicked some sand to the side with his toes. "I'm a popular guy at Punahou, and people get jealous. You of all people should understand that not everything you hear is true."

"Okay, I know," she said, not looking at him. She wanted to give Justin a chance, but she'd also lived in the spotlight long enough to know there was always some truth to the rumors. "I just need to know if I can trust you first."

"How about this: no labels. I'll take you to Waikiki on Sunday, just as friends." He grinned. "Worst case scenario, you learn how to balance yourself on a surfboard."

Brie knew she should be happy about the offer, but for some reason, she got a sick sense of dread about another date with Justin. She hated that she could never be honest with him. In fact, she was probably putting him in danger by associating with him. He was another insect caught in her tangle of lies, and she was the spider, weaving her silk web into a tight noose around his neck.

"Okay," she said finally. "But just as friends."

CHAPTER ELEVEN

Pilot ran his fingers across the satin ribbons that adorned the wine library, remnants of a wedding that was supposed to take place the day before on Sunday. The week-long private charter was normally booked a year or two in advance, but Annie had gotten them on when a wedding cancellation freed up the yacht.

The yacht was a patchwork of white metal and slick oak; every square foot of surface was smooth and shiny, aside from the grips on the deck floors that held objects in place as the boat swayed violently against the ocean. The vessel had three floors: a bridge deck at the top and an entertainment deck at the bottom, with an empty, unused cabin deck sandwiched in the middle. The bridge deck contained their bedroom suites, a hot tub, and chairs outside for sun bathing. The entertainment deck held a bar, the dining room where they ate, and an outer deck to sit and enjoy the water. The middle deck was full of smaller cabins, but since it was just Pilot, Brie, and James on the cruise, they had no need for them.

The wine library was different than anything Pilot had ever seen. Instead of books lining the shelves, there were wine racks with some of the finest wines on the planet, including information about how they were made and what foods they should be paired with.

The cruise was a like a packaged blockbuster movie—expensive, with great special effects, but lacking in story lines that audiences could care about. James, Brie, and he each went their separate ways into quiet corners of the yacht in the late evening. Only excursions and pre-planned tours forced them together during the day. The night before, they had boarded the yacht in Lahaina, a historic city in Maui. From there, they'd come to Moloka'i, an island smack between Oahu and Maui. They spent most of today trudging around the Kalaupapa Trail on mules, then exploring the nearby native reservation. Pilot wasn't sure what the point was, since Brie and James weren't speaking, and neither enjoyed the outdoors either.

Pilot's thoughts often turned to Kennedy, whom he wished had joined him on this "holiday." He had tried to hang out with Brie, but she was sullen and cranky about being forced to be there. Pilot couldn't hang out with James because they didn't have much to talk about—James hated sports, and Pilot had no musical abilities to speak of, plus he loathed the heavy metal that James' band put out.

Instead, James hung out with the crew and spent hours talking to them about their families, their countries, and their lifestyle. Brie sulked in her room, only appearing for meals. When she finally showed her face, she seemed antsy, like their family time was delaying the rest of her life. Pilot drank a lot of wine and tried to look on the bright side—no school, no homework, and no water polo under Justin's regime. Still, he couldn't wait for the whole ordeal to be over.

Technically, he still had homework—Annie had collected it for them before they left—but Pilot was too distracted to focus on it. Instead, he spent a lot of time wondering where Kennedy was. Still in Los Angeles, working? Or had her awful sister sent her out on another secret mission? He remembered her unspoken promise that she wasn't using him, and how he let her into his bed the night before she left, her exposed body pressed against his in the darkness. He had tried to call her a couple of times since she left, but she never answered her phone. Was he supposed to wait around until she appeared again? Or was it over between them?

Pilot lurched out onto the open part of the main deck, meandering slightly drunk from restlessness.

Lights from other ships twinkled in the distance as twilight turned to darkness and the stars took over.

The air was the cleanest he had ever smelled—the type of air that made one wonder what he was inhaling all the other times he had breathed in his life. The night brought silence, aside from the waves'

metronomic pounding against the hull.

Brie's shrill laughter somewhere above him broke the rhythm of his thoughts. He looked up to see her sitting backwards on the railing of the second floor deck on the phone, twirling the cord that attached it to the wall.

On the emergency phone?

He climbed up a makeshift rope ladder that hung from the cabin deck.

"No. It's just James and me." Pilot swung himself over the rails. Brie looked up, annoyed. "And Pilot."

She swung her legs over the rail and faced the ocean, her back to him. "I already told you, I'll visit in December for your birthday."

Pilot heard a high-pitched voice on the other end, speaking rapidly. He couldn't make out the words or place the voice, but he assumed it was one of Brie's pretty friends from school in New York. In other words, a conversation full of vacuities, unnecessary on an emergency phone.

"Well, I'm sorry you can't get into Juice without my stunning credentials. Maybe your dad should switch industries."

Pilot glared at Brie, twirling his index finger in loops in the air, signaling to her to wrap it up. Brie returned his icy stare with one of her own, then childishly stuck her tongue out at him.

"I have to go. Pilot is giving me an evil eye." Brie paused, then pulled the phone away from her ear and pressed her hand over the receiver.

"La la la," she said loudly into the mouthpiece. She held the earpiece to the side of her head. "Please for the love of God don't ever put that mental image in my head again."

Pause.

"If it happens, and you tell me, I'm going to throw up on your favorite Louboutins."

Pause.

"Whatever. Muah." Brie kissed into the phone and killed the line.

Pilot folded his arms in disgust. "That phone bill is going to be ridiculous. James might even make you pay it."

"With his credit card?" Brie jumped down from the ledge. She was wearing this ridiculous old-fashioned dress that Annie had packed for her. Brie spent the entire first day of the cruise complaining about the contents of her suitcase, claiming her entire wardrobe came from the 1950's.

"Besides," she said, "it was one phone call. Isn't that what people get in prison?" She set the receiver on its base. "And who pays for that, the inmate? I think not."

Pilot threw his head back in annoyance. "Whom were you talking to?"

"Adele."

Adele was a tiny girl from New York with a pinch of a nose and over-sized eyes. She reminded Pilot of a doe, but not in a good way. Her father was James' lawyer, and she had been Brie's best friend for as long as Pilot could remember. "How is she?"

"Still Adele. She says 'hi.'" Brie paused, her head tilting off-axis. "Well, sort of. She didn't say those words specifically."

"Tell her I said 'hi' the next time you talk to her."

Brie laughed. "I'd rather not. The girl has no filter, and she either has a crush on you or she's trying to torture me."

Adele was exactly the type of girl Pilot used to date; the exact opposite of Kennedy. "Probably the latter."

"Aww, don't be so hard on yourself." Brie gave him a tap on the shoulder with her fist. Her spunky attitude oozed with confidence reminiscent of her former self, back in New York before they had lost their mom. Pilot wondered if this was a sign that Brie was happier, or if it was just an aftereffect of catching up with her best childhood friend.

"I just know her motives," Pilot said. "Wanting something and getting it is only good if you had good intentions for wanting it in the first place."

"That's deep," Brie sashayed toward him. "You should write a Facebook update to immortalize those words.

Or you can borrow Rykken's notebook and jot it down there."

The mention of his best friend perked Pilot's senses. "Yeah, speaking of Rykken."

"Are we?" Brie asked innocently, her smile crashing. In an instant, she'd flipped a switch, going from the unabashed girl she was in New York to the uncomfortable, out-of-place girl she was in Honolulu. Pilot realized that even with cheerleading and her new friends, Brie still had a long way to go before she would ever call Honolulu home.

"The Homecoming dance is all blurry to me. What happened? I can't remember anything from that night, but I feel like the parts I'm missing are hints about what's going on with Rykken."

Pilot didn't think Brie's eyes could get any sadder, but they did. "I doubt it," she said. "I do remember you seemed a little confused, but nothing out of the ordinary happened. Rykken wasn't even at the dance.

Justin dropped Cora off at her house, then he dropped you and I off." She sat down. "You went straight to bed I think."

"I can't remember if I was supposed to do something with Rykken that night. I think he's really mad at me. He won't talk to me at all. He doesn't want rides to school from me anymore and he quit the polo team

—"

"Pilot!" Brie grabbed Pilot's shoulders, jostling him back and forth. "This isn't about you. This is the way Rykken deals with all his problems—running away, quitting, giving up. Haven't you noticed that?"

"Running away," Pilot said, confused. "What gives you that impression?"

Brie dropped her hands from his shoulders, backing away in silence. "I can't think of a specific example," she said finally.

Pilot nudged her. "You must have something specific in mind. Why else would you say it?"

Brie gave him a manufactured smile. "Forget about it. I'm not sure what I meant by that comment."

"Great. This conversation has been extremely helpful." Pilot felt irritation pulsing through his veins.

He still had a funny feeling in his stomach, like he was missing something big. He spun around. "Are you sure you're not hiding something from me?"

"Of course not. If Rykken were talking to someone, it wouldn't be me. We can barely stand each other."

Pilot looked at her skeptically. Brie was good at acting for the media, which was a lot like being good at lying to anyone she needed to. Including him.

"We aren't supposed to be on this deck. Have you been hiding out up here for any particular reason?"

"Yeah," Brie said, twirling her hair around her finger. "James. I thought that was obvious."

"You do realize the reason we're even here is because you refuse to talk to him, and he won't force conversation on you."

"No, he'll just trap me on a tiny boat with him for a week." Brie raked her fingers through the ends of her hair. "Nothing forceful about that."

"He wants to spend some time with you," Pilot said. "Maybe if you get it over with now, we won't have to go on another family vacation next month."

Brie cast him an iron-clad glance. She swung her legs over the rail, twisting and wriggling until she found her footing on the rope ladder. "Where is James now?"

"Top deck," Pilot said. "In the hot tub probably."

Brie gave a loud sigh. "Great," she said as she disappeared below the railing. "I've been looking forward to some father-daughter bonding on this trip."

*****

"Father-daughter bonding," Brie said, laughing to herself as she climbed the stairs to the top deck. When she got there, she found James in the hot tub right where Pilot said he would be. James was drinking his usual black coffee and reading a stack of papers bound together by a large, black clip.

"What is that?" she asked, taking a seat on a nearby lounge chair.

"A manuscript," James said. He tried to wipe his surprise from his face, but his voice gave him away.

"I'm writing a book."

Now it was Brie's turn to be surprised. "Have you been writing it this whole time?" she asked. She hadn't seen James on the computer much since he'd gotten back from recording in LA, but that didn't mean much since she'd been avoiding him.

James smiled, his eyes crinkling. She hadn't looked at his face this closely under the light in a long time. He looked older than what she remembered. "I've been in the recording studio, doing a series of interviews that got turned into transcripts." He held up the manuscript. "My editor sent me the first half of the book, based on my interviews. I'm reading through it now."

Brie thoughts were paralyzed; she wasn't sure what to say. She simply felt empty, like she was talking to a stranger in a foreign country.

Her shock wasn't lost on James. "I thought you knew about the book already. I'm almost sure we've talked about it before. The book gives me a way to work from home for a little while."

Brie thought of an angry retort, but she didn't have the heart to say it. James seemed so happy and vulnerable in that moment, she didn't want to destroy the few seconds of peace they had left, before she got down to business.

"You don't need to stay here, you know. Pilot and I can take care of ourselves."

"I know that," James agreed. "You've done a good job taking care of each other."

James flipped through the manuscript pages, letting the silence sink in all around them. He was waiting for her to make the next move; and of course, she had to. She was the one who approached him. If she wanted information out of him, she needed to make an effort to have a conversation with him.

She sighed. "What's the book about?"

"The book is a reflection on my life and all the regrets I have." He set the manuscript down next to his coffee. "How fame changes people, and forces people to choose. How I lost everything important to me.

How I haven't been a good father—which you remind me of almost every day."

"You haven't been a father," Brie cried, her body shaking. "The 'good' is extraneous." She had no idea he was writing a tell-all, exposing their pathetic excuse for a family to the media so soon after her mother's death. After everything he put them through, he had the nerve to make money off of his children's misfortune?

James got out of the hot tub. He retrieved his mug of coffee and sat down on the deck in the lounge chair next to her, lying back into it. "Every time I look at you, I see your mother." He sipped his coffee.

"Sure, you look like her, aside from those eyes. Jade, like mine." Brie bristled at the sparkle in James'

eye as he spoke, upset that they had anything in common, even if it was something as simple as their eye color.

"But it's not even the physical resemblance," he continued. "You have the same spirit as her, calm and composed in crowds, but keeping what's going on inside from the people around you."

Brie felt that anger again, rising from her chest. Her lungs felt tight and her stomach felt clenched.

"Don't worry about me."

"How can I not worry about you? James rubbed his neck, the spiny veins popping out underneath his skin.

"Pilot thinks things are getting better for you, but I think they're getting worse. You don't have to do everything by yourself. I've been young, and I've been in the press for most of my adult life. I know I haven't been around much, but you can talk to me about whatever is happening to you."

"I said I'm fine." Brie choked back her tears. "I have people to talk to."

"I feel like you've got something bottled up, and I'm afraid it's going to break you. You're keeping secrets."

"Secrets." Brie caught a tear from her nose with the back of her hand. How could he tell how broken she was? She wished she could crawl into James' arms, like a three year old, and cry into his shoulder. He would probably let her if she wanted to, but she didn't—she wasn't a child anymore. "You're one to talk about secrets."

Her words came out rough, rougher than she'd intended; and she realized that even if she could dig past her sadness to let James in, all he would find was years and years of stormy, relentless anger.

James sighed. "What do you want to know about me Brie? You haven't spoken to me for the last month, even with me living in the same house as you. You act like you've asked me all these questions and I refuse to answer."

Brie's lungs emptied. She felt the shaky, delicate tendrils of a bond that had formed between them withdraw, like the sleeping grass that was so prevalent on the islands. "What questions should I ask James?" Brie's anger rolled off her so quickly that she almost felt sorry for him. "How about this one: Why didn't you tell me I'm adopted?"

James' eyes widened; he put his hands over his face, raking his fingers down it the same way Pilot did sometimes. It occurred to Brie how alike James' and Pilot's mannerisms were.

"Where did you hear that?" he asked. Brie's heart sank.

"Not from you."

"The media?"

"No. Your file cabinet." Even though she was the one confronting him, his confirmation that the story was true was overwhelming. The gravity of her emotions bent her in two, forcing her to clutch her stomach.

James scooted sideways on his lounge chair, motioning for Brie to sit down next to him. She surprised herself by actually doing so.

"I kept that a secret to protect you and our family," James whispered, looking around. There were no crew members nearby; no one to have heard Brie's outburst. "I'm going to tell you what happened, but I don't want it to leave this boat. The media would have a field day with it and it would ruin any semblance of normalcy you and Pilot have with your school schedules and new friends."

Brie nodded, saddened and slightly terrified by what might come next.

"After Pilot was born, Milena became pregnant again almost immediately. We hadn't..." James closed his eyes, putting his fingers on his temple. "We were so busy with the new baby. The thought of it being someone else's... I couldn't believe it myself. I loved your mother so much. I pretended to be happy she was pregnant again, though somewhere in my heart, I knew it wasn't mine."

James spoke in a low, dull voice, lulling Brie into that familiar daze from her depressed months.

"The whole time, Milena was having difficulty just taking care of Pilot. Please don't tell your brother this. It's not something he needs to know, especially now that Milena is gone. She would sometimes not want to feed him. When he cried in the middle of the night, she didn't wake up for him right away like a normal mother does. She was deeply troubled, but she didn't confide in me. I thought it might be the hormones because she was pregnant.

"I confronted her one day about the pregnancy. It was one of the hardest things I've ever had to do. I pulled out a calendar when I talked to her. She gave me a hard look, but didn't deny it. I still remember that look, resilient and strong, with touches of sadness at the corners of her eyes.

"I told Milena that it didn't matter who the father was—that I didn't want to know. I would adopt the child to make things legal in the case of my death, so the estate would be properly divided. We agreed to keep it a secret from even our closest friends and family, because we couldn't trust them to keep the truth a secret from the media.

"You were born premature, but when you came into this world, you were so beautiful. You were one of the most beautiful babies I'd ever seen. There was something special about you too—I couldn't put my finger on it, but I knew I wanted to be your father. I knew I'd made the right decision to secretly adopt you and raise you as my own."

Brie watched the water in the hot tub as the wind blew over it—it rippled lightly, and she wondered if tiny drops clung to the wind, escaping into the ocean. "Why didn't you then? Why did you leave us?" Her voice was plain, like she'd asked a stranger where the bathroom was. She searched her body for feeling—

any sort of feeling—that would prove she was still alive, still human.

"Milena asked me to leave after you were born." James' voice cracked, and Brie could tell this was as hard for him as it was for her. He was silent for a minute, his hands folded against each other in his lap. "I asked her if there was someone else," he said quietly, annunciating every word. "She promised there wasn't. I still remember even the smallest details of the conversation we had. We were sitting in the living room of the apartment we had just bought, right there on the edge of the upper east side—the same one you grew up in. She bit her lip just like you do. We argued back and forth, but at the end, she said she had her reasons, and that she'd always love me.

"I didn't believe her at first. We had babies together, and she said she still loved me. Our family seemed so perfect and I was so happy to have the three of you in my life. I thought it was the aftermath of back-to-back pregnancies, like maybe she was exhausted and not thinking straight.

"It became more and more clear over time though, as she shut me out emotionally, that our life together was ending. I gave her space, thinking she would come around, but eventually I couldn't reach her at all.

She said I could see Pilot and you whenever I wanted, but seeing her was difficult so I spent most of my time on the road with the band. I threw myself into my career. I moved as far away as I could from New York to Honolulu and spent the rest of my time in Los Angeles.

"The whole time though, I watched Milena's movements. It wasn't right to spy on my former wife, I know.

But since we never officially divorced, I had more access to her private life than she realized. I took advantage of it. She was constantly taking these trips to the most random places, and I spent years trying to decipher her movements. I couldn't figure out how she chose where she went, or why she visited so many places every year. A part of me just wanted to understand why she pushed me away, and I thought her travel patterns held the answer.

"Before I knew it, you and Pilot were older. Milena convinced Pilot to spend the summers in Honolulu with me. To be honest, I wasn't here for him any more than I was there for him in New York. I had adjusted to a bachelor life and it was difficult to introduce kids into the fray again.

"You were a different story. You had no interest in the island and you were a miniature version of Milena. You stayed with her and traveled with her through Europe, Asia, Australia, everywhere. You loved the romance of art, and you would sit in her studio and watch her as she painted. She painted you sometimes. You loved to spend time with other artists and writers in her circle of friends, and they adored you. You were pure inspiration.

"When you hit your teenage years, you were angry with me for obvious reasons. Pilot was too, but his anger wasn't as fierce as yours—he was willing to give me a chance, to try again. I think the summers in Honolulu helped.

"At fourteen, you were name-dropping to get your group of girlfriends into eighteen and over clubs. Your mom freaked out, you know. Sure, Pilot got into trouble too, but she never worried about him. Or maybe she worried about you more because you were the youngest, and a girl. You always fought with her. It was night and day from your childhood. She got stricter with you, but it just made you lash out more."

"I never did anything," Brie argued, wishing he would shut up. She didn't want to remember how she treated her mom those last few months. "It was mostly Adele."

"Well, you worried your mother sick. She started traveling even more too, almost every week. It was almost like she had a deadline. I still have no idea what she was looking for. All the time I spent, looking for a pattern. If I had known what was going to happen... I probably would have just asked her what she was looking for. It's only in death that you realize how silly some secrets are."

Brie jumped to her feet. Secrets. James had given her all of his, but she knew she couldn't return the favor.

"So you think she was looking for something, but you don't know what?"

"She never confided in me. I spoke to some of her friends afterwards, but none of them had a clue either. Very few of them knew how much Milena traveled."

Brie folded her arms across her chest, staring at James for a moment. He stared back, waiting for her to make the first move. "I need some time to myself," she said. James' face fell, but Brie had gotten what Cora told her to get, so she left anyway.

She ran down the stairs to the lower deck and sat at the edge, holding onto the railing. Pilot wasn't around, so she had the deck to herself. She was desperate to feel something, anything. She hurdled over the flimsy railing and sat at the edge of the boat, facing the water.

A slight panic built in her chest. She knew she could fall at any minute, but it wasn't enough. Brie kicked off her Dolce Vita thong sandals into the ocean, watching them drift away. She wanted to disappear with them.

She focused on the single square foot beneath her feet, reliving everything James' had said to her.

The whole story was the opposite of what she had seen of James her entire life. A James that was open and honest? It was unbelievable.

She searched her body for feeling, and realized she was angry at her mom too. If James was telling the truth, why would Milena cheat on him? Why would she let James adopt her, then send him away? It wasn't just James who kept this a secret from her. Milena did too.

Brie let go of the railing slowly, balancing delicately on her toes. Her body ached, but Brie couldn't tell if it was because she was scared or because she was just now learning about all the things Milena had taken from her. She could have had a father growing up. She could have a father somewhere out there that she'd never met. Either way, it was another loss, like losing a parent all over again.

Brie stared at the sky dotted with stars, pretending she was floating above water. The boat churned underneath her, and then it hit her—wooziness.

She felt her toes slipping and reached for the railing, but she was already falling. She screamed, but no one came to her rescue; her hollow voice was swallowed by the waves rushing underneath her. The jarring impact with the ocean knocked the wind out of her, and the sky, water, and boat faded as she submerged into blackness.

*****

Brie woke up in the water. She waited for her lungs to burn from the lack of air, for the salt to sting the insides of her mouth—but the pain never came. She shivered; the chill of the water spread through her skin. She inhaled and exhaled slowly through her mouth to calm herself down as she tried to let her eyes adjust to the darkness. She imagined a series of waves crashing far up above her head as she drifted through the green-blue water, but she couldn't see anything. It didn't matter though; she was somehow able to breathe underwater.

It wasn't the same uncomfortable breathing she had experienced when she went diving with Sirena. Her breathing was natural, considering the precarious situation she was in. She was able to breathe more deeply this time, but she didn't understand why.

Brie's vision wasn't getting any better, and she had trouble deciding which way was up. She figured it was either the middle of the night or she was so deep she couldn't see the surface. Brie twisted her body around trying to guess at the direction of the surface, only to face a massive black figure circling ten feet from her.

A large seal stared her down. Its head was probably the size of a human's, but its body was long and tubby, making the head look shrunken, unnatural. Its skin was dark, though it had a lighter underbelly.

It gazed at her with those human-like eyes and blinked.

Brie resisted the urge to scream. Was this the seal from her training with Sirena? What was it doing here? Brie wished she had paid more attention to the maps showing the cruise route. She had to be at least 60 miles from the place where Sirena took her underwater. Did seals swim this far away from their homes?

The seal ventured closer and Brie went rigid. But the seal merely nudged her, and then looked to its back. Brie tried to speak before remembering that she was surrounded by sea water—and that she was talking to a seal. The seal nudged her again, and she wondered with alarm if it wanted her to climb on its back.

Was this seal conscious? Brie knew that dolphins were supposed to be the smartest non-human mammals on the planet, but she couldn't think of anything specific about seals having smarts. Those eyes though—they bore into her with a specificity that seemed remarkably human. This wasn't an ordinary seal, and it wasn't a coincidence that this seal was here.

Brie swam above the seal, holding her hands out to touch it. One glance at the back of her hands showed that her skin was tinted a light purple blue from being underwater for so long. The skirt of her silly fifties dress was long and baggy on her; useless. She pulled the dress off reluctantly, though she knew there was no reason to hold onto it. Not only was it dark, but it was a seal. What was it going to do—snap pictures of her and sell them to OK! Magazine?

She let her hands stroke its slippery skin, testing to see if it would swim away at her touch. When it didn't, she grabbed hold of its slippery body the best she could, wrapping her arms around its neck and gripping its body the way she gripped the body of a horse.

The seal swam, as if it knew exactly where it wanted to go.

CHAPTER TWELVE

Brie drifted along on the seal's back for what felt like hours, until finally she could see both the surface and floor of the ocean at the same time. How far down had she fallen? Once she could feel the sand and rock beneath her feet, she let go of the seal and broke through the ocean surface, inhaling the salted air for the first time since leaving the boat. She took the deepest breath she possible could, letting her brain buzz from the overdose of oxygen.

"Thank you," Brie said, once she'd caught her breath. "You saved my life." When she glanced back at the seal, it had been replaced by a gray, mutated human head and shoulders, floating just above the water.

Brie yelped—the face had a squashed nose and pink cheeks with long whiskers and a fat chin. On pure instinct, she jetted toward the shore, but the water was thick and it was like trying to sprint through a pool of honey.

"It's me!" the mutant form said. The voice hit Brie like a bucket of cold water. She knew those husky undertones and, slowly, turned her head over her shoulder.

"Rykken?!" She treaded back toward the head to get a better look. Aside from the whiskers, it looked like Rykken. She patted his face, tracing his forehead, his cheeks, his nose, his lips. "What happened to you?" she asked, avoiding the whiskers that sprouted from the skin just above his chin. "I don't understand."

His face was a mixture of sadness and anger. "Pretty disgusting, isn't it?"

She realized how terrible she must sound. "You're the seal?" She waited for him to tell her she was crazy, and this was all a hallucination brought on by the shock of almost drowning.

Instead, Rykken paled, his whiskers disappearing into his face. "Yes. I'm the seal. And you... you have gills?"

"What?"

"You have gills. That's how you were able to breathe underwater."

Brie reached up to her neck and felt 3 large slits on one side. "Oh, no wonder," she said dumbly. She felt her face heating up as she concentrated on removing her gills, forcing the skin on her neck to smooth over.

"Amazing." Rykken reached out to touch her neck, running the back of his two forefingers lightly over the spot the gills had been. His fingers were gray and slippery, but her skin still warmed at his touch.

"Sirena too? When I saw you girls in the ocean... I couldn't believe it. I think I scared you, didn't I?"

Brie noticed a dark gray body mass floating behind Rykken, and something clicked in her mind. "Your body... it's still..." Rykken pulled his hand back from her neck, as if she were all of a sudden contagious. "I guess we both have a lot of explaining to do," Brie said.

"Can you wait for me here, while I head to shore?" Rykken asked. "And close your eyes, even though it's dark. When I change form, I'm not exactly clothed." Now it was his turn to blush.

Brie did as she told, but it was hard to keep her eyes closed. She wondered how Rykken would get out of the water when the bottom half of him was a seal. Did he drag himself along the sandy bottom of the ocean floor?

A minute later, Rykken called out to her. "I left clean clothes for you on the beach." Brie suddenly remembered she was down to her bra and panties. Every inch of her felt warmer than necessary, and she was thankful that Rykken couldn't see her. It's the same as a swimsuit, she told herself. And Rykken had seen her in a swimsuit plenty of times.

Brie waded to the shore of a deserted stretch of beach, noting that Rykken faced the opposite direction. She stripped down and pulled on the board shorts Rykken had left her. She inhaled the fresh scent of rain water and coconut on Rykken's shirt as she tugged it over her head. She pulled her arms around her chest to cover herself.

"Where are we?" she asked. Rykken faced her.

"Off the coast of Moloka'i. This volcano—Moanalua—is the largest volcano on any of the islands." He took in her outfit from head to toe. "I figured you'd want something dry to wear, if you weren't dead by the time I reached you. The clothes are probably too big for you, but—"

"They're perfect. Thank you." Brie sat down on the beach, exhausted.

Rykken sat down next to her, leaning back into the sand on the support of his elbows. "I wanted to talk to you after I saw you in the water with Sirena. I came to the beach to look for you, but Clara found me first. She told me about the Hallows, and that you were one of them. She said she's suspected I was one too, for awhile now."

"She didn't tell me." Brie's pulse quickened, stirring irritably. "Not that we ever talk. But she would have told Thessa, and Thessa could have told me. I wish I knew. I've felt so alone this whole time, not having Pilot to confide in."

"Thessa didn't want you to know, I don't think." Rykken sat up, dusting the sand off his arms. "She doesn't want us to train together either. Cora and Clara are going to train me, so I can learn to control my gift."

"Your gift is turning into a seal?" Brie didn't think it was so much of a gift as it was a curse.

"Do you remember the legend Pilot told at the Homecoming bonfire? About the selkies and the shark-men? They were two real families that once resided on Hawaii—Hallows and Nephilim, respectively. Clara thinks I'm a descendant of the Hallow family."

Brie stared at the ocean. "The pendant was for you, wasn't it?" In the distance, where the ocean met the sky, a sliver of color peeked through the night blue, indicating that it was close to morning. "I thought it was for me, or Pilot."

"Yes, it was for me, but I regret ever touching it now." Rykken smoothed the front of his shirt. "It did this to me."

He spoke with regret, but Brie couldn't think of a happier circumstance. She finally had someone to share her world with.

"It's not bad," she said, rolling up her baggy shorts. "Being a Hallow, I mean."

"Not for you," Rykken said, chuckling. "Your body parts don't morph into seal body parts every time you touch too much water. My foster mother... I don't think she'll recover. Clara and Cora are going to pay her a visit, but I'm worried it won't be enough."

"How did you explain it to her?"

"She thinks I'm cursed." Rykken told Brie about the night of the dance—how he stepped into the shower and the bath tub broke under his weight. "When the tub cracked, the water drained away into the living room. My foster mother turned off the shower head, and within a few minutes I was back to normal.

When I fell, I bruised my head, but even that healed quickly. It didn't take long to figure out what made me turn into a seal."

"I'm so sorry," Brie said. "You probably freaked out." She resisted the urge to hug him. Rykken seemed so sad and she wished she could comfort him, but a hug between them was out of the question.

"I did. I was afraid to even brush my teeth." Rykken laughed. "Luckily, I need more water than that to change."

"That's why you quit water polo," Brie said, putting the pieces together.

He looked at her, his cheeks the color of a soft sunburn. "When I saw you under water, swimming without any equipment—I felt hope. That you had a secret and you were surviving." Absentmindedly, he traced the outline of her planted hand in the sand with his index finger. "Sure, it made you act weird, and your family didn't understand what was happening to you and that hurt them. But overall, you were dealing with it."

"You hurt Pilot and Justin when you quit water polo," Brie said. "Pilot kept asking me why you were ignoring him."

"He did?" Rykken looked at Brie curiously. "What did you tell him?"

"Same thing I told Justin—I didn't know."

Rykken scoffed. "Justin hates me right now, but I don't think it has much to do with water polo."

"He doesn't hate you," Brie promised, even though he hadn't told her that. She didn't want Rykken to feel guilty though. "He was upset that you quit, even though he gets to be captain now. His priority is the team."

Rykken was silent, and Brie wondered what was going through his mind. "I didn't have a choice to stay."

"I know," Brie said. She patted his arm. "I guess that's what secrets do—they hurt people."

He looked up, and his eyes were like liquid chocolate she could drink. "Sometimes it's better to hurt someone than lose them completely by telling them the truth." His fingers brushed against the back of her hand. He cringed, his eyes drifting away.

Brie nodded, pulling her hand away from his arm. She was afraid she'd lingered too long and he didn't want her to touch him. "Exactly."

"Brie," he said softly, his voice full of concern. "On the boat... were you—were you trying to commit suicide?"

Brie sat up. "What? No! Why would you think that?"

He leaned back, folding his arms behind his head and laying in the sand. "I didn't just appear. I fell asleep early last night, mostly feeling depressed. The only person I could talk to about my new condition was you, and you were on the boat cruise for a week. I... I dreamt about you though. In my dream, you climbed over the boat railings and jumped off, hitting the ocean with a wicked smack. Then you sunk, not even fighting the water that was pulling you under."

"Sounds about right," Brie admitted, "except for the jumping part. I was being stupid and I fell off the boat." She lowered herself into the sand next to him, resting her head against the palm of her hand and holding her weight on her elbow. "How did you dream about that though?"

Rykken glanced at her nervously. "Dream visions? Does that sound like a Hallow thing? I'm so new to it all, I can barely keep it straight."

Brie frowned. "Maybe, as a gift. But you already have a gift—turning into a seal."

"This dream vision is the first one I've ever had. It was so vivid, I knew it couldn't be just a dream. Anyway, I thought you were dead, for sure, but I got up right away anyway and packed a bag. I took a taxi to the airport and took a red eye here."

"I'm sorry you had to do that."

"Don't be," he said softly. He met her eyes, like he wanted to say more. He didn't though.

Brie looked down, drawing shapes in the few inches of sand between them. "Why didn't you call Sirena or Thessa?"

Rykken laughed, turning sideways to face her. "Because I'm an idiot. Thessa was out of town, and by the time I thought to call Sirena I was already on the plane." He looked at Brie with those deep brown eyes. "I bet Sirena could have gotten to you much faster."

"Maybe. I don't know though, we were pretty far out. How did you even find me?"

"Through sound," Rykken said, smiling. "It's crazy. When I'm underwater, I can make the slightest noise, and the noise bounces back and gives me a picture of the entire ocean, for miles. The detail is incredible. I know the location of everything, right down to the sea cucumbers buried in the sand, or the man-o-wars' floating in formation, stinging everything in their paths. It's a useful skill to have in pitch darkness, since I can't see that well when I'm in seal form."

"That is amazing."

"So how did it happen?" Rykken asked. "You falling off the boat. You still haven't said."

Brie felt a lump in her throat. "I slipped," she said.

To Brie's dismay, Rykken didn't even pretend to be fooled by her answer. Brie typically prided herself on her ability to lie persuasively, but she wondered if she was losing her touch.

She let her guard down a little further. "I was testing the limits of my balance, and I went too far."

Rykken didn't seem alarmed. "And why were you doing that?" he asked calmly.

Brie paused for less than a moment before she spilled the entire story about James and the adoption.

As she spoke, she noticed she had his full, undivided attention. His gaze seemed to extend from his eyes to his entire body. It made her nervous, like he was taking in details about her words, her tone, her posture—things she didn't even realize she was doing.

She swallowed, sitting up. The energy building up between them was nearly painful. "Thessa is looking for my blood father right now."

Rykken sat up next to her, dusting the sand off his own back. "Join the club. She's looking for my parents too."

"Thessa hopes my real father will help them figure out more of Milena's secrets." Brie wrapped her arms around herself as she pulled her knees to her chest and laid her head sideways, facing Rykken.

"Are you cold?" he asked. He pulled a towel out of his bag and wrapped it around her, letting his arm linger. She responded to the momentary heat of his body by scooting closer. She could feel the slight pressure changes from the tips on his fingers, even through the towel and her clothing.

"So you know about the Hallows," Brie said, trying to lighten the mood. "What do you think of Thessa? Of all of them?"

"I've always thought there was something unusual about Thessa and the twins. They were so popular, almost immediately when they moved here. Even as freshmen, they had something about them. Clara was funny and witty, and Cora had a quiet, sensitive beauty to her. Thessa was a queen bee. She always seemed so much older than the rest of us, and all the girls looked up to her. All the guys wanted to date her. She kept her distance from me, but she was always watching. Now I know why. She's the person who found me when my parents abandoned me. I was wrapped in a blanket, floating along the Kaukonahua River in a basket, almost drowned in rain water. She took care of me, sort of. She made sure I had money, at least.

The reason I was able to stay with such good foster families is because there was a special fund. Each family received a stipend to care for me. The same is true for my school scholarship. It was rigged so I could still go to a good school."

"Thessa never told me." Brie felt betrayed—hadn't she placed all her trust in the Hallows? Yet, all this time, Thessa and the twins had been keeping secrets from her, just like she'd suspected. "She's never said anything about you to me."

"I don't think she knew for sure about me until now."

Brie wasn't satisfied with his answer. "But she had an inkling, and she left you here, in foster home care."

Rykken shrugged, letting his hand drop from her shoulder. He leaned back. "I guess Thessa couldn't care for me herself; how would she explain to people why she wasn't aging? How would she explain to me why she wasn't aging? She did the best she could under the circumstances, and I'm grateful for that. She said she looked for an explanation of how I ended up in the river for several years, but didn't find one.

And she came back. To watch over me, I suppose."

The sky was orange and strawberry red like a summer popsicle, and the edge of a glowing ball of energy floated slightly above the ocean surface. Brie wanted nothing more than to feel the sun on her skin, which was finally returning to its natural light bronze color from the purple tint it had been earlier. The soft hints of sunlight were faint, but they left Rykken's black hair shiny. Brie wanted to reach out and wind her fingers through it.

"If you really are a Hallow," she said, "you were supposed to transform at fifteen. But you're already seventeen."

"I know," Rykken said. "Clara doesn't know why I didn't. She thinks the pendant finally made me change."

"It makes no sense though," Brie said. "The pendant gives me headaches. If you're a Hallow, why would it affect you differently?"

"I don't know, Brie. I also change into a seal and you don't." He brushed a strand of her long hair from her shoulder. "What's you gift, anyway?"

"I still haven't found mine, and they said if I had one, I wouldn't know it for several years."

"Oh," Rykken said, kind of bashfully.

"It's so strange how gifts manifest, isn't it? You already have two gifts that manifested right away, and I have none."

"You're lucky then. You have time to adjust to your Hallow powers without being a freak in the process. I had to quit water polo, and probably lost all chances of getting a scholarship from it. I can't surf anymore or go anywhere near the beach with friends. People will start to notice. My mouth is parched too, I'm so afraid to have a glass of water."

Brie looked at Rykken's lips, which did seem a little chapped. She wished she had lip balm to offer him. She knew avoiding the water must be miserable for him.

"On the bright side," she said, attempting a small grin, "nobody wants you dead."

"Don't be so sure, Brie." Rykken's brows formed a dashed line across his face. "You forget that someone, probably a descendant of the shark-men, planted the pendant on me. Not to mention that when I was a baby, I was left for dead in a basket full of water, floating down a river."

"Can I ask you something?" Brie asked. "Why did you hate me so much when you had the pendant?"

Brie could see Rykken probing his own memories, deliberating on his feelings and formulating an answer.

"The pendant changed me," he finally said, "but I can't blame it for the way I treated you. I think it simply brought feelings of resentment toward you to the surface, until they spilled out."

The brutal honesty of his words were too much for Brie. He resented her. He had finally said it out loud.

She could feel Rykken's eyes watching her. He let out a deep sigh. "You don't remember meeting me when we were young, do you? For four years, Pilot and I have been playing water polo together every summer. You came to the meets every once in awhile, when your mom would force you."

Rykken's raw, vulnerable tone was a welcome peek into his heart and mind. Brie felt a flutter in chest, listening to his husky voice.

"We probably met a couple times," he continued, "but you never noticed me. I was the kid in the secondhand clothes, with no parents to cheer me on. I was the poor kid who could only afford to be there because he had a full private scholarship to the program.

"Pilot was alone too. The other kids knew each other, and some made an effort to talk to him—but most were intimidated. And no one would talk to me for obvious reasons. It was only after a couple years, when people saw me around more. They probably forgot I was poor." Rykken chuckled. "It helped that I was the most talented water polo player the club had seen in 10 years."

"I'm sorry. I didn't know."

"When you first moved here," Rykken said, "I knew so much about you already from Pilot, and from all the news stories about you. But I could tell you didn't even recognize me. I knew Pilot had talked about me to his family, but it was like I wasn't worth remembering to you."

His words crushed into Brie, making her feel suddenly small. "Rykken, you saved my life. I will never forget you, not in a million years." Rykken's stony expression didn't budge, but his shoulders relaxed at her words. "I was a different person in Manhattan," she confessed. "My friends... they pressured me to do things I shouldn't have." Her body gave an involuntary flinch. "I use the term

'friend' loosely, since almost all of them sold me out once my mom died. Then once I moved here, I was depressed. It was the most terrible feeling in the world. There were times I wanted to die, but I was so sad that I couldn't even move from my bed or figure out how to kill myself."

"I know." Rykken gave her a worried look. "Pilot told me, but I didn't believe him at first. I thought he was blowing things out of proportion. You're very good at pretending everything is okay, but now that we've spent more time together, I can see the difference."

"When I found out I was a Hallow, it changed me," Brie continued. "I woke up. My life had purpose again, because there were people who could help me find my mom's killer."

Rykken's skeptical eyes bore into hers. "You don't know that someone killed your mom, Brie. It could have been an accident."

"I do. I had a feeling even before I was a Hallow, but now I know someone caused her death. You know how? Because she was powerful and could have found a way to avoid that plane crash. She would never, ever have abandoned me if she had any inkling that I might have Hallow powers."

Rykken looked away. "My parents abandoned me, despite the Hallow powers."

"I didn't mean to be insensitive," Brie said. "I know my mom wouldn't though. All the clues she's left me point to a highly orchestrated back-up plan, in case something happened that was out of her control. Like someone murdering her." Brie crossed her legs. "The New Order wanted her dead anyway. Maybe they just found her."

"You wouldn't be alive if the New Order murdered Milena."

"That's what Sirena said."

"Sirena is probably right." Rykken's entire body was rigid; Brie could sense the mood shifting between them. "What else did your mom leave you that would make you think she was murdered?"

"Well, there's the map that James told me about," Brie said. "My mom was looking for something, and whomever killed her was probably trying to keep it from her. Clara found the map in James' office. She's encoding it for us right now."

"Us?"

"Sirena and me. We're taking it with us when we leave."

"Leave?" Rykken jolted upright, leaning in toward her. His face was only inches from hers, and she could feel his warm breath against her neck. "Brie, you're not thinking of pursuing the killer, are you?"

"The killer knows my mom's secrets. It's the next logical step."

Rykken fell silent for a moment, his fist clenched, his face concentrated and dangerous. In a split-second, he seemed to make a decision. "I'm going with you then."

Brie laughed nervously. She figured he would try to talk her out of it, but volunteering to go with them? It was the last thing she expected. "You can't," she said. "It will be dangerous, and you can't control your powers yet. Plus, you have school and a life here."

Rykken's entire face changed with her words; his features twisted into an angry jumble of emotion.

"You have school and a life here too."

"That's a pretense," Brie said, waving his concerns away. His stare was so intense, she couldn't meet his eyes. "My life here is a facade, created by the Hallows. The Hallows and this mystery with my mother are my real life. I just have to be careful about maintaining the act."

Rykken looked around, stirring his fingers in the sand, searching for something. "Pilot," he said.

"It's going to break his heart if you run away."

His words hit her like a roadblock. Rykken was right. She hadn't thought about what she would tell Pilot when she left. How would she explain it to him?

"You're not going without me," Rykken said again. "I'll tell Pilot everything if you do."

Brie glared at him. She tried to think of an argument to placate Rykken. "The more Pilot knows, the more danger he's in."

"He's tougher than you think. And he would want me to go with you, to take care of you since he can't."

Brie sniffled; that was precisely what Pilot would say, if he knew the truth about the Hallows and their mother. She wrinkled her nose. "Let me think about it, then." She had no intention of bringing Rykken with her on a dangerous mission, but it didn't matter. She would figure out how to tell him later.

They sat in silence for several minutes before Rykken spoke again. "Plus, there's Justin, isn't there?"

"Justin?" The word tasted bitter on her tongue, out of place here on her deserted beach with Rykken.

"There's Justin... for what?"

"He's a part of your real life here, isn't he?"

Brie considered it for a moment. "Yeah, kind of." She felt Rykken's eyes scrutinizing every slight movement of her face.

"Is it..." Rykken paused. "I mean, are you... did you..."

"Did I what? Sleep with him?" Brie's cheeks burned. "No, my virginity is still in tact, despite Justin's reputation and apparent irresistible charm. Thank you for asking."

Rykken burst out laughing. "I was just going to ask if you had fun with him at the dance."

Brie ducked her head, happy she could make him laugh. "Sure ya were."

"He likes you a lot. He called you his girlfriend."

"I guess the make-out action at the end of the night might have given him that impression."

Rykken didn't respond, though the veins on his forearms nearly popped out of his skin. Brie covered her mouth with her hand, annoyed at what she had just blurted out. That little tidbit of over-sharing was bound to make it back to her brother now.

"It is what it is," Brie said, trying to reverse the shift in mood. "We went to a dance together.

That's all. We're not together or anything."

Rykken gave her a pained look. "So if someone else asked you on a date, you would consider it?"

"I always consider options," Brie said. "Right now, I'm focused on my mom. I don't need distractions, especially not in the form of earthlies."

"Earthlies," Rykken said, with a slight curve of his lip. "Good point." Brie wondered if he was still talking to her, or just to himself.

"We should get going," Brie said, noting the color of the sky. The sun had risen, and Brie guessed she'd been missing for over eight hours already. "James and Pilot are probably worried sick." Brie wondered for a second if she had enough energy to transport herself back to the boat and pretend that she'd been hiding the whole time. She wondered why she hadn't thought of it before, then realized it required knowing where the boat was.

Her exhaustion hung like deadweight from every limb of her body. With a sinking feeling, she realized she wouldn't have enough energy to transport back to the boat even if she knew where it was. In a few hours, she might be able to recoup from the night. But by the time that happened it would be too late to convince anyone she had been sleeping in some hidden nook of the yacht the whole time, undiscovered.

Rykken exchanged a glance with her; he seemed to reach the same conclusion as she had. They were screwed.

"Where exactly are we going?" he asked.

"We should get to the airport," she said with a feeling of dread. How was she ever going to explain her disappearance and rescue to her family? To the media, if they found out? Suddenly, she realized just how dangerous the situation was.

"This way," he said, standing up. He held his hand out to her, and she took it, letting him drag her to her feet. The minute he let go of her, she felt a hole from the absence of his touch.

He gestured to some buildings in the distance. "This whole side of the island has been shut down, but we can get a taxi to pick us up."

Rykken made a call from his cell phone as they walked along the beach. Then he handed the phone to Brie, and she attempted to dial Pilot. His phone was off. She considered calling James, but no, that wouldn't work either—she had no idea what his number was, and Rykken didn't have the number in his phone.

They soon came across an abandoned hotel resort, which Rykken pointed at, gesturing for her to ascend the beach toward it. It was small and unkempt, with lonely lawn chairs strewn across the beach front and a neglected, rain-filled set of pools up the steps. The pitiful sight had an air of emptiness about it that seeped into Brie, reminding her how remote they were.

"What happened here?" she asked.

"The company that owned it shut it down. Environment concerns from the local community kept halting construction on the land, and the company went bankrupt."

Brie pursed her lips. The politics of the islands were so different than the United States. She couldn't imagine environmental concerns holding up development projects in a city like New York.

They reached the main entrance of the hotel resort where there was a taxi waiting for them. Once in the car and on their way to the airport, Brie found herself distracted by Rykken's presence, even though he wasn't doing anything particularly interesting.

He was handsome, yes, and smart and an incredible athlete, but she'd known those things about him forever. There was something else though, an unbreakable bond, like she'd given a piece of her soul to him, that cast him in a different light.

"What is it?" he asked her. She looked into his eyes, startled.

"You're staring at me," he pointed out.

She resisted the urge to reach out and touch his lips, his hair. "We're alone," Brie said. "Can I see the mark now?"

Rykken lifted his shirt reluctantly, and Brie stared at his abdomen. His muscles rippled underneath the surface of his skin, not a pinch of fat in sight. She let the tips of her fingers graze his chiseled chest. Her hand was trembling, but she wasn't sure why; Rykken seemed equally uncomfortable having her touch him.

She withdrew her hand and concentrated on what she could see. The black mark crossed near his heart and couldn't be more than a centimeter across, an inch high. It was a quarter moon in the shape of a circle, with a star centered in the crescent.

She squinted at it for longer than was necessary, probably, because after a minute or so, he pulled his shirt back over his washboard stomach.

"Happy?" he murmured. His eyes were bright, catching her gaze and smoldering her.

She swallowed a lump in her throat, trying to regain her ability to breathe. "Sorry," she said, collecting herself. "I was curious."

"It's okay." He watched her with a slight sense of alarm before dropping his gaze.

Brie felt stupid. What was she thinking? This was Pilot's best friend—he probably saw her like a little sister, nothing more.

"What's your plan once we get to the airport?" he asked.

Brie felt a pain in her chest as she slowly shifted gears in her thoughts. "Get you safely on a plane I guess," she said. "Find internet access and figure out where the boat is. Meet them at the next port."

Then she thought of something. "Do you have Sirena's number in your phone?"

"I didn't save it," he said regretfully. "But I have Clara's."

Brie took the phone from him silently, dreading what she had to do next.

"Rykken, where are you?" an angry Clara said into the phone. "Brie's missing and James and Pilot are on a coast guard boat, searching for her. Sirena's searching underwater and I need you to go—"

"It's me." Brie took a deep breath, bracing herself.

There was a short pause, then a string of deafening obscenities that Brie couldn't quite decipher.

Finally, Clara said something comprehensible. "Both of you get on the next flight to Honolulu. I'll be there to pick you up at the airport."

CHAPTER THIRTEEN

"So James and Brie got into a fight about something, but you don't know what?"

Pilot shifted in the hammock behind his house, trying to find a position where the palm trees blocked the rising sun. The pool twinkled and sparkled under the sunlight, calm and undisturbed. There wasn't a breeze, but the air was cool and comfortable. His backyard felt like a beach resort—the only thing missing was a guy on ukulele and some hot girls in coconut bras.

He slipped his arm around the waist of the girl next to him, burying his nose in her wet, lily-white hair. "Yep."

"And then Brie was so upset, she decided to risk her life to get away from your dad, so she jumped off the boat, thinking she was a good enough swimmer to make it back to land."

"Yeah..." Pilot's hollow laugh had a twinge of contempt. "Stupid."

"Local fishermen found her and gave her a ride to the shore, and she somehow got to the airport and flew back to Honolulu."

"By taxi," Pilot corrected. "She took a taxi to the airport. It was a really expensive taxi bill. I think she paid more for the taxi driver's silence than the car was worth."

"Intriguing." Kennedy scooted closer to him, kissing his chest. "And that's why the paparazzi is swarming your house property, and you can't leave?"

"That about sums it up." Pilot tried to feel upset about Brie's idiocy, but he couldn't. She was safe.

And the night they'd gotten home, condemned to a different kind of isolation than the trappings of the yacht, Kennedy had called him to see if he wanted to meet up.

Kennedy strummed her fingers across his abdomen. "Your sister is selfish."

Pilot felt the muscles in Kennedy's face flex against his chest. He imagined Kennedy lips extending into a smirk. "This is coming from a girl who defies her own sister to spend time with me." He was teasing her, but he felt her body stiffen against his chest.

"She doesn't worry about me," Kennedy argued. "Plus, we aren't famous."

"Right," Pilot said, confused. But confusion was always a part of spending time with Kennedy. "By the way, how did you get in, given the aforementioned swarming paparazzi?"

She laughed, stroking his flexed forearm. "Those are some big words. What's the occasion?"

Pilot tried not to let Kennedy's circular responses vex him. "You're doing that thing again. You know, where you talk in circles and try to avoid my questions."

Kennedy pulled her damp hair into a side ponytail, holding it toward the sun. She turned over, facing away from him. "A magician never reveals her secrets, Pilot." She shot him a single, sexy pout.

"She should," Pilot whispered, laying back down next to her, leaving soft kisses on her now exposed shoulders and neck.

"You like me because I'm mysterious and challenging. You think you want to know my secrets." She adjusted her swimsuit top, untying it, leaving her neck bare. "If I told them to you, though, you wouldn't want me anymore."

"No, that couldn't happen, trust me." He thought of the night before, swimming in the moonlight with her, falling asleep together in a hammock under the stars. Kennedy was by far the sexiest girl he'd ever been with. Most girls from New York had been hot but ultimately insecure, and in a little over their own heads. Kennedy was different—she was confident in every movement, so sure that everything she did would be exactly what he liked and wanted.

"How about one secret?" he asked, stroking her neck.

"What do you want to know?"

"I'm not saying." He let his fingers drift to her shoulder, down her arm to her elbow. "Not until you promise me that you'll answer the question."

She flipped her head around and kissed his lips. "Okay," she whispered into his mouth.

Pilot was surprised that she actually agreed.

"But to make it interesting," she continued, "you can't ask me anything you've asked about before."

Pilot beamed, happy that his question met her criteria. He traced the arc of her bare back, letting his fingers linger on her spine. She gave a soft sigh, barely audible except that he was so in tune with her he could hear her heartbeat. "This tattoo," he said, tracing the Gothic cross and angel wings in the center of her back. "What does it mean?"

Kennedy stiffened again. She rolled onto her back, pulling his hand away from the tattoo and placing it instead over her heart. Her corn-silk hair fell away from her body, revealing a skimpy swimsuit that barely covered her breasts. Pilot gulped; he couldn't pull his eyes away from her naked skin.

Kennedy considered him for a moment, flashing him a knowing smile as if she could read his thoughts. "It means nothing," she said finally. "Just a cool tattoo to get in a moment of rebellion." She pulled herself closer to him, tucking her head under his chin and wrapping one arm around his waist. He pushed her hair out of her face, stroking it gently and inhaling her sweet scent. Hibiscus.

"Are all rebellions named 'Silver Smoke,' or just your personal one?" he whispered into her hair.

She smiled, looking up. "I was hoping you wouldn't notice that."

He kissed her forehead, the tops of her cheekbones, the tip of her nose. "Be honest with me. I can handle it."

"It's this group that I'm a part of. Sort of like a club." She kissed him lightly. "It's nothing." She kissed him again, this time a little deeper.

He pulled away. "Nothing my ass." People didn't tattoo 'nothing' on their backs, last time he checked. He put space between them, not letting her distract him with kisses. "And what's the purpose of this club of yours?"

She swallowed, her eyes shifting all over his face. "To protect a way of life. To stop injustice." She smiled again. "Good things, I promise."

"Does this club have to do with the mysterious company you work for as well?"

Her forehead creased and her brows dropped over her eyes. She traced the outline of his chest. "They are one in the same, actually." She spoke slowly, wincing. Or bracing herself for his reaction.

Dumbstruck, Pilot tried to interpret her revelation. He only knew it was difficult for her to be honest, and he didn't want to give her any reason to not be honest with him in the future.

Finally, he carved out a small, encouraging smile for her. "Can I join?"

She let loose the softest, sweetest laugh he had ever heard. "Believe me, I want nothing more than for you to be part of it. We only accept a certain... type of person though."

"What? Women?"

"No. There are men in Silver Smoke." She sat up. "Don't worry Pilot. If you really want to be in it, I'll find a way." She touched his shoulder lightly. "It's already in your blood." She absentmindedly traced over his broken skin with her fingers.

Pilot sat up next to her, winding his shoulder with a wince. He rubbed his hand on the raw patch where Kennedy had bitten him the night before, drawing the slightest amount of his blood with her teeth.

"I'm sorry," she said softly. "It should heal in a couple days."

Pilot nodded. He had kind of liked it, to be honest.

"The trips you take to the mainland... do they have to do with Silver Smoke?"

"Usually."

Pilot's confusion thickened. "Is it a job or a club? I don't get it." It sounded more like a cult than an extracurricular to him.

"It's a movement. My older sister runs it, like I told you before. We don't need money, so we dedicate our lives to other things. Think of it as a non-profit, almost." Kennedy smiled at him again. "Can we talk about something else now? I kept my promise and shared a secret—probably the biggest secret I've ever shared in my life. We aren't supposed to tell anyone about Silver Smoke."

Pilot felt the truth in her words, but he wasn't quite ready to back down. "I'm worried you're in over your head in something."

"Relax." Kennedy pushed him firmly onto the hammock, gently catching his head in her palm. "I'm not your sister Pilot. I don't need you to watch over me."

" I need to watch over you. I need to be a part of whatever you are a part of." He reached for her waist, marveling at her tiny curves. "Kennedy," he whispered. The sunrise reflected off her hair and highlighted her skin, the light and dark of the two in stark contrast. "I'm falling in love with you."

He watched her face as he said the words. Her eyes flickered with surprise, then pain, then finally a softness he had never seen in her before.

She kissed him lightly, barely brushing his lips. "'Tis one thing to be tempted, Pilot, another thing to fall."

"So I shouldn't be falling in love with you?"

"I'm not complaining." Kennedy smiled. "It's just a Shakespeare quote."

He pulled her down into the hammock with him. "Brie reads Shakespeare." Kennedy snuggled into his chest, her chest rising and falling with his. "You would like her."

Kennedy pressed her lips to his skin. "Maybe."

He held her tighter. "Don't leave again," he begged.

"I'm not leaving the island yet. But I have to leave your house soon—your family will be up."

"They sleep late," Pilot said. "At least stay for breakfast. I can sneak into the house and make something for us."

"Okay." She pouted a little. "That's not what I'm hungry for though," she whispered. She pressed herself on top of him, pulling him into a gentle kiss.

His hands ran the length of her body as he kissed her deeper. "Okay, you win." He tugged at the strings of her bikini, unwinding them with his fingers. "No breakfast."

*****

"Thanks for not forcing me to join the cheer squad," Rykken said when Clara answered the door. He was at the two-story beach house right off of Kamioniole Highway that Clara, Thessa, and Cora shared. The exterior had clean lines, steps that fanned out leading to the entrance, and a panel of seven tall, rectangular windows in a row. The second floor railings looked like they belonged on a boat. There was a tree in the front yard that nurtured the type of tree house Rykken always dreamed of as a kid.

"Well, you aren't as important as Brie is," Clara replied, gesturing for him to come inside. She wore a trendy, printed shirt and lots of jewelry—the kind of clothes that get you noticed at a school like Punahou. He stepped into the house, taking in the white walls, snowy chenille furniture, and dark mahogany floors. "We have to watch her almost constantly."

"She's a handful," Rykken mused, chuckling. The house was quiet, and Rykken guessed the other girls weren't home. The living room smelled like chocolate and batter.

Clara stared at him, not finding his comment as amusing as he did. He knew Brie's erratic behavior wasn't a joke, but he understood what she was going through. She was trying to make everyone happy and accomplish something important; but to achieve that, she had to bury her pain. Like he did—like he had done most of his life.

He cleared his throat. "So what are we learning today?"

Clara rubbed her hands together, like she meant business. "How to deflect attacks on your mind." She paused."Well, for today, I'd be happy if you recognized an attack on your mind."

He took a seat on the couch across from her. "Your confidence in me is staggering."

"This isn't kindergarten Rykken. You have to earn your gold stars at the school of Clara."

He tried to smile, but he wasn't sure he could focus on mind attacks today, not when there were more pressing matters. "Shouldn't I be learning how to control transforming into a seal every time I'm submersed in water?"

Clara waved her hand in the air, dismissing his concern. "That should clear up in three or four weeks,"

she said. "You need to get used to it. The selkie family would toss their children in the ocean until they figured it out. They were usually gone for less than a month."

Rykken scowled impatiently. He didn't know when Brie was planning to leave to investigate her mother's death, but he guessed he didn't have a month. "Is there any way to speed the process up?"

"Don't know," Clara said. "There's no mention of it in the information I checked."

Rykken looked at Clara, feeling slightly sorry for her. Her wording made him realize she wasn't much of a problem-solver—her typical go-to solution was to look it up. He knew she was a human computer, but he wondered if she had always been like that, or had gotten lazy over the years.

"Why are you staring at me?" she asked.

"I'm not," he said, grinning. "Why would I?"

"Well, I know it's not because you're in love with me."

"Right." Rykken scrunched his nose. "That would be weird."

Clara smirked. "Okay Romeo, here are the rules. You'll think of an image, anything you want, and I'll try to upload a different image to your brain. We'll see if you can still remember what your original image was." She leaned back into the couch. "Here's a hint: the more vivid your image is, the easier it is to hold onto it."

"Got it," Rykken said.

"Also, no images that involve kissing or love or anything gross. This isn't like Never Never Land.

The goal is not to think happy thoughts, but to conjure the most intense, lifelike images you can."

"Shouldn't be a problem." Rykken had plenty of recurring nightmares that would probably be perfect for this exercise.

For about an hour, Rykken and Clara pitted their minds against each other with moderate success. He couldn't exactly block her powers yet, but he could press back on them, consciously storing both the truth and the information she was feeding him side-by-side in his mind. He still couldn't always tell which piece of information was true, but Clara promised him that would come with time.

They took a break, heading to the kitchen. The kitchen had granite countertops and cabinets the same shade of mahogany as the flooring. They munched on some chocolate chip cookies that Cora made earlier that day.

"Hey," Clara said in between mouthfuls. "So our interim lesson is 'don't try to rescue the princess by yourself two days after you find out you have super powers.'"

"Three days," Rykken said, correcting her. "I think turning into a seal last Saturday night kind of tipped me off to something strange."

He braced himself for a verbal onslaught over his rescue mission, but Clara seemed to be in good spirits.

She smirked appreciatively. "Next time, call us."

"I know." He wondered if he would call them in the future though; his time alone with Brie on the beach was one of the happiest hours of his life. She had been so sweet, so pretty, and so honest with him. More importantly, they had a connection, and it wasn't just on his end anymore. She wanted to spend time with him, wanted to confide in him, wanted him to help her and protect her. It would have been exhilarating, if the unknown destination of their feelings didn't scare him so much.

"The princess is not worth your life," Clara continued. "Well, she is. She's worth all of our lives, sadly. But that means we all get to die trying to save her, not just you."

"You're blathering." He noticed that Clara had a habit of going on and on, not making sense.

Clara laughed. "Better to blather than fall desperately in love with someone you're not supposed to."

Rykken choked, lowering his cookie from his lips. "What's that supposed to mean?"

"Ugh. You don't have to pretend. Everyone call tell you're in love with Brie, aside from her moronic brother."

Clara's words left Rykken's mind reeling; he was so surprised, he didn't even bother defending Pilot. "I didn't realize I was so transparent."

"It's not a big deal." Despite her attempt at reassurance, the pleasure dancing across Clara's eyes told Rykken that it was, at the least, a topic of discussion among the girls. "What inquiring minds are really wondering is if the princess likes you back."

"I have no idea," Rykken said, his face a bonfire of emotion. "She's coming around I guess." He wasn't sure he wanted to talk to Clara about this, especially since Clara hated just about everyone he cared about, from what he could tell.

"At least you have blood on your side," Clara teased.

Rykken locked eyes with Clara, and the glint in her eyes told him she had him right where she wanted him.

"You didn't know? Brie is a daughter of Michael. They always end up with sons of Gabrielle. It's tradition." Clara smirked. "Or at least it was, before the New Order took over."

"And you think I'm a son of Gabrielle?" Rykken asked.

"Well, I can't be sure until we test your blood, and we can't do that because we don't want to draw attention to ourselves with Sirena and Brie here. Plus we don't know what Kennedy wants, or who she's working for, so we can't trust the New Order anyway. But the selkie family from the islands—they were all Gabrielle's children."

"And the shark family?"

Clara grinned wickedly. "Leviathan's children."

The name alone triggered an unearthly shudder within Rykken.

"He's the archdemon of envy, usually taking the form of a sea monster that guards the gates of hell.

That's why the shark-men couldn't leave the selkie family alone. They wanted their land and people.

Leviathan also lusts for the blood of the evil ones on this earth. The shark-men were fulfilling their father's purpose, and the selkies were trying to stop them."

"Do you think Kennedy is a member of the shark-men family?"

Clara's lashes fluttered, mocking him. "Good question. I don't know. But it would provide a motive."

"Don't be sarcastic." Rykken took a swig of water. "I'm asking so I can figure out if this Kennedy chick is out to kill me."

"I hope not," Clara said playfully. "That would make my job of training you quite complicated." She grabbed another cookie. "Either way, that little tidbit should make you happy. You and Brie might be destined to be together."

Rykken wasn't sure why Clara cared so much about Brie and him; she wasn't his friend, and she almost seemed to be digging for information.

"As long as she's not destined to be with Justin, I'm happy." But Rykken had to admit the news gave him hope.

"That earthlie? You're kidding, right?"

A twinge of an idea creeped into Rykken's mind. "Cora would know, wouldn't she? How Brie feels?"

Clara uncorked a round of laughter that had been growing in her belly for some time. "That's cute," she said, her eyes tearing. "You're like, pining over her."

"I'm glad you find me amusing," he said dryly.

She laughed again. "Cora knows, but she would never tell you. She tries to be respectful of other people's feelings, usually."

"Usually?"

Clara stared at Rykken for a long moment, like she was debating whether to tell him something or not.

"I've experienced Brie's feelings only once, right after the Homecoming dance," Clara said. "Cora did it. Brie and I were fighting, so she formed a connection between the two of us, without our consent."

"What does that mean?"

"It means we shared emotions. I felt everything Brie was feeling, as if I was feeling it myself. She felt everything I was feeling, as if they were her own feelings. Cora wanted us to empathize with each other."

Rykken struggled to keep the eagerness out of his voice. "And she felt something for me?"

Clara volleyed the question with a dangerous look. "Yes, the princess couldn't stop thinking about you, even as Thessa was nearly dying." She grabbed another cookie. "We should nickname you 'prince charming,'"

she said, taking a bite.

"That's okay," Rykken said, his cheeks flushing again. Or maybe they had been flushed the whole time; on a scale of one to embarrassing, this conversation probably ranked near mortifying. "I don't need a nickname."

"Shut up. You're delirious with just the thought of her liking you, I can tell." Rykken wasn't sure what to say to that, because his face was so hot and Clara was sort of right—he couldn't wipe the silly grin off his face.

Clara wiped her mouth. "Oh, by the way, don't tell Thessa I told you," she said. "Thessa is weird about the two of you hooking up." Seriousness had returned to Clara, and her narrowed eyes proved it.

"Right. She doesn't want us training together."

"It's not just that." Clara beat her fingernails against the granite. "She won't tell me why though."

Clara grabbed another cookie.

"How many of those are you going to have?" he asked.

"That's the beauty of being a Hallow," she replied, chomping down. "No matter how old you get, no matter how much you eat, you can always morph back into a skinny person."

*****

"Thanks for coming over." Brie closed the front door of her house behind Rykken. "I know it's not fun to claw your way through a nosy herd of guys with cameras."

"Yeah, it's a zoo out there. The paparazzi practically attacked me, asking me all sorts of questions about your family. Luckily, the security guards at the gate recognized me and let me through without too much hassle."

Brie gave Rykken a quick once over—the neckline on his soft gray shirt dipped lower than normal t-shirts, revealing the topmost part of his chest. He had on worn jeans with a rip at the thigh, and they balanced low on his waist, revealing a sliver of waist band with the words 'Calvin Klein' on them.

Brie steadied her breathing. "Glad to hear it."

"Well, this is not a bad place to be holed up in." Rykken smiled at her, his eyes sparkling.

"It's better than the boat," Brie said. "Plus I still get out of school this week."

He looks so good, she thought to herself. She walked toward the kitchen and Rykken followed her.

"What are you so dressed up for?" he asked.

Brie felt a flush tickle her cheeks. She wasn't sure why she'd put on her favorite dress that morning—the soft, jade wrap that hugged her waistline and made her chest look bigger. It wasn't like she was leaving the house anytime soon, she just felt like it was a dressing up kind of day.

"The paparazzi," she said, improvising. "In case they stampede past the gates and come crashing through the doors."

Rykken nodded. "You look nice." His eyes were warm and his smile was unnerving, like he knew something about her that she didn't want him to. "Has Pilot spoken to you since the accident?"

"Nope," she said, grabbing a can of soda from the refrigerator and two glasses from the cabinet. "He's still mad at me. He took a bunch of food from the fridge outside with him though. He's been out there all day." She filled the glasses with ice and poured water into one. She poured the can of Coca-Cola into the other glass and pushed it across the counter to Rykken. "James is in LA doing interviews for damage control, and Annie is busier than ever with all the security we had to hire. I think this is the first time I've been grounded, too."

Rykken stared at his glass of soda, surprised.

"Oh!" Brie exclaimed. "You wanted Coke, right? I just assumed, but I can get you something else."

She reached for the glass on the counter, but he swiped the glass before she could.

"It is what I wanted, but..." He sipped on his soda, a funny look on his face. A smile waltzed across his lips. "Thank you."

The tension between them was palpitating, pulsing through the entire kitchen. She wasn't sure what to say anymore; she was so embarrassed and nervous in his presence.

Rykken kindly broke the silence with a subject change. "The Hallows are mad at you," he told her.

"I know." Brie bit her lip, relieved. "Falling off that boat—it was a stupid, stupid thing to do. The last thing I need right now is to attract attention to myself."

Rykken set his glass on the counter, empty. "It was an accident though, right?" He spoke softly, moving closer to her. "I know you said you fell, but Brie, if you have any thoughts about dying, you can talk—"

"Yes," Brie said impatiently. "It was an accident." She was sick of everyone thinking she was trying to commit suicide. She brushed past him to the refrigerator and pulled out a tray of food.

"Do you want a tomato mozzarella sandwich?"

"Sure," he said. He looked at the tray in confusion. "Where's the bread?"

"The tomato substitutes for the bread. The mozzarella is the inside. It's delicious." Brie set a single sandwich of a paper plate and slid it across the counter to him.

Rykken grabbed the sandwich from the plate and took a bite. His face turned from skeptical to surprised.

"It is good," he said, still chewing.

"I made them," Brie said with satisfaction. "The seasoning is what makes it good. All great cooking is in the ingredients—the more expensive and fresh, the better the end result."

Rykken smiled, taking another bite. "You like cooking, don't you?"

"It reminds me of my mom," she said. "Some of my happiest memories of her are in the kitchen. She was a bit of a health nut, so she always cooked our meals at home. We lived in the city, but we rarely ate out."

He took another bite without taking his eyes off her. "Well, you're good at it. Cooking, I mean." It was the second compliment he'd given her in five minutes, and Brie wondered what was going through his mind.

"Do you want to get started on the song?" she asked nervously. Their project for English was due in a few weeks. Brie had been working on lyrics that captured the feelings between Paolo and Francesca, two characters in Dante's Inferno, in modern terms.

Rykken nodded his head. "Right. That's why I came over."

Brie laughed; it sounded like he was reminding himself. He gave her a boyish grin, finishing the last fourth of his sandwich in one bite. They took the stairs two at a time to James' recording studio.

Brie hadn't been in there in a while, but the room looked much more lived-in than usual. There was a computer and a miniature soundboard, with controls that Brie didn't understand how to work. The floors were a tangle of cords and carpet; several keyboards and guitars littered the lower four feet of every wall and corner of the room. The upper walls were covered in awards—gold records, platinum records, and shelves full of statues that Brie couldn't even begin to name.

Brie stood in front of a microphone stand with her notes in her hands, and Rykken sat across from her on a stool with one of James' guitars in his lap.

"What do you have so far?" he asked. He adjusted the strings on the guitar, using a metal clamp to change its tune.

Brie nerves escalated; what if her song was terrible? "Well, Francesca and Paolo's love was forbidden,"

she started. "Francesca's husband was Paolo's brother. That's why they were in hell, where Dante met them. So I tried to write about a forbidden love centered around a kiss, where the girl is crying because she knows it is their last."

Rykken gazed at her, his jaw slightly unhinged. She crinkled her nose, feeling exposed. She wondered if she was reading too deep into the assignment, or reaching too far.

He pressed his lips together encouragingly. "Why don't you sing the chorus, so I can get an idea of what types of harmonies will go well on guitar."

Brie closed her eyes, blocking out Rykken and the rest of the world. She had never written lyrics before and never sung for an audience.

Her lips parted...

We close our eyes as the rain pours down cold

We say goodbye to the stories we haven't told

We may be broken, but I have one last wish

I want one last crying kiss

Warm eyes and a soft smile met her when she opened her eyes again. "That was good," Rykken said. "You have a beautiful voice." He tuned his guitar, strumming a string of notes to the same tempo. After several minutes, the tune formed stronger and more fluid. The rhythm coaxed her into adding her layers of vocals.

"... I want one last crying kiss," she crooned. As the chorus ended, she looked up to find him watching her, his eyes sparkling. She ducked her head.

"Want to hear the first verse?" she asked.

"Sure."

They kept working on the song until they had a chorus, verse, and bridge pattern laid out. He made suggestions to her for some of the lyrics, making them sharper or more interesting as they jammed along.

A few hours later, her throat had developed an unnatural, scratchy tone. "I need a glass of water," she said. Rykken set James' guitar aside and they walked back upstairs to the kitchen.

Brie threw back her head, gulping down an entire glass. Rykken stood next to her tentatively, a little unsure of himself.

"Good session today." The warmth that exuded from Rykken as he spoke reminded Brie of the sun—he was practically glowing.

"Agreed." She wiped her mouth, then pulled tomatoes, onions, and an eggplant out of the fridge.

His neck flexed when he tilted his head. "Hungry again?"

"I have to make dinner," she explained. "You're welcome to stay if you want."

Guilt bubbled to the surface of Rykken's face. "As much as I want to experience more of your incredible cooking skills, I don't think my presence would help your family situation."

Brie thought back to the night when James first arrived. Rykken was uncomfortable then, too. "You're probably right," she agreed, not allowing her disappointment to seep into her voice. She distracted herself by searching for their potato peeler.

Despite what Rykken said, he didn't make any motion to leave. Instead, he leaned against the counter with his arms folded, watching her work. "Have you talked to Justin since you got back?"

"He's called a few times." Brie pulled out a cutting board and started cubing the eggplant. "He's taking me out for a surfing lesson this weekend," she said carefully, watching Rykken's face. "We were supposed to go when I got back from the cruise, but since I'm back now we're going Saturday morning instead."

Rykken flinched. "I thought you were grounded."

"I am."

"Today is Wednesday," Rykken said skeptically. "Does your grounding end before Saturday?"

"I don't know. Maybe." Brie tilted her head, plastering a smile on her face. "But it's not like I can't transport out of here if I want."

She said it playfully, but Rykken's forearms tensed at her words. "I thought you didn't want distractions."

"I'm thinking of it as a training session rather than a distraction. I don't think I can go underwater again, not yet—so I'm hoping surfing can be a transition for me."

Rykken slouched against the counter, letting his shoulders drop forward. He opened his mouth, then closed it. Then opened it again. "I don't think you should hang out with Justin anymore," he said. "I told you he really likes you. If you don't like him, you shouldn't mess with him."

Brie sighed. "I know," she said. "I need an instructor though, and I already told him it wasn't a date and I don't have time for a boyfriend."

"It won't matter what you told him. You're spending time alone with a guy who likes you, one that you've apparently made out with." Rykken made a choking sound, but it didn't sound deliberate, like he was making fun of her or anything.

"Stop," Brie said. It was so uncomfortable for her to talk about kissing Justin to Rykken.

"I can't. You're leading him on."

"Well, I don't have anyone else to train with," Brie snapped. Two cubes of eggplant shot across the counter; the knife blade edged into the cutting board, leaving a dented sliver. "Pilot isn't good enough to teach me and you can't go to the beach until you have your powers under control."

Rykken gently pried the knife from her hands and set it on the counter. "I can teach you," he said, letting go of her hands. "I can help you get comfortable in the water again. You just have to wait a few weeks for me to get my powers under control."

She stewed in fury for a minute, unsure of where to place her hands now that Rykken wasn't holding them.

She finally tucked them in her apron. It was uncomfortable, but she pretended it felt natural to bend her arms at the odd angle.

Brie bit her lip. "A few weeks?" she said with feigned concern. She had a feeling she knew where the conversation was going. "I don't know if Sirena and I have that much time to wait."

"I don't see why I can't teach you," Rykken said softly, "especially since you can't leave without me.

You have to wait until I have control of my powers anyway."

Brie cringed. She hadn't yet figured out how to tell Rykken that he couldn't come with them to investigate Milena's death. "Sirena didn't want to involve any of the other Hallows," she said. "She doesn't even want me to go. I don't know if she'll let you."

"You need me though, more than you need any of the other Hallows. We can travel underwater where it's safest, and untraceable. I'll have a better sense of direction than either of you. I can be the navigator."

Brie wrung her hands with every word he spoke. "We might travel a different way. Maybe transporting."

"You can't transport that far. If you could, you wouldn't have needed a plane to get us home from Moloka'i."

"Rykken..." Brie could hear the desperation rising in her voice.

"No," he said, shaking his head vigorously. "This isn't an option. What happens if the media follows you?

What happens if the New Order finds you and Sirena together by yourselves and figures out who you are?

You're less conspicuous if I come also."

He made good points. Still, Brie wasn't comfortable dragging Rykken into her problems. "Maybe you can practice in our pool at nights," she heard herself saying to him, trying to placate him in some way without agreeing to anything.

"That's a good idea," he said. He grabbed her arms, forcing her to face him. He looked her in the eyes.

"Once I can control my powers, we can go."

"It's so dangerous Rykken... please." Brie grasped at anything logical she could think of, any argument that could change his mind. "Look what happened to my mom," she pleaded. "Whatever she was messing with got her killed."

"I don't care."

"I can't let you die for my mother's secrets."

"I can't let you die for your mother's secrets either." Rykken ran his hands up her arms to her shoulders, brushing her hair from her neck. "You're not going to leave without me. I'll follow you if I have to." He took a deep breath, cupping her face gently. "If something happened to you and I wasn't there—"

"Pilot wouldn't blame you," Brie interrupted, not wanting him to finish his sentence. She turned her face to the side, and he dropped his hands.

When she looked back, Rykken was glaring at her. "It's not about Pilot and you know it." His Adam's apple moved up and down, full of emotion.

She watched him for several minutes as he paced around the room, picking up random objects and setting them down again. It was the closest they'd come to talking about what was happening between them. It was more than a crush, more than an attraction. They were standing at the edge of a line, but it was the type of line you couldn't come back from once you crossed it. And what good would crossing it do? It would only tie her to the island, let her talk herself out of leaving—because he couldn't come with her. She cared about him too much.

Watching him bounce around the room was miserable, so she forced herself to return to her chopping. The tension between them reminded her of a wave, sucking in the coastline, building momentum as it moved toward the beach. She wondered how long they could go on like this. The thought only exacerbated her twisting stomach, forcing it to tumble over itself.

Rykken had stopped pacing. He was standing next to her, watching her chop. "I'll be here tonight," he said with determination. "Midnight. You're an innate, so I'll need your help figuring out how to control my transformations."

She nodded ever so slightly, so unsure of her voice that she didn't think she could speak without losing her resolve. She felt his breath on her head, but he didn't touch her. A minute later, he was gone, leaving her with a feeling of emptiness, like he'd taken her soul with him.

Brie didn't know much about waves, but there was one thing she was sure of. No matter how long they built up for, or how high they towered, they always broke eventually.

CHAPTER FOURTEEN

Rykken was in a new, post-water polo schedule with a singular goal—to control his seal powers whenever he was near water. He slept in a little more on weekdays, rode his bike to school, went to classes, then went to Clara's house to learn about the Hallows. The lessons were surprisingly interesting, and Clara was impressed by his progress and memory.

"So much better than Brie," she had said. "The princess probably doesn't remember which limbs to put her socks on in the morning."

After his Hallow lessons, he went home to nap before completing his homework. He usually ate dinner on his own a little after his foster parents went to bed to avoid them. His foster mom didn't remember what had happened in the bathtub—Clara made sure of that—but she still remembered how she felt about Rykken. She was scared of him, and she knew he was different than other people. But she couldn't remember what about him made her so uneasy, or why she wanted to toss him out of her house like a pair of old, dirty boots. She was speaking with their family counselor and they were reconsidering his living arrangements. He had no idea where he would go if she kicked him out—probably to another foster home until he was eighteen and could finally be free of the system.

After dinner, he slept again. Around midnight, without fail, Brie texted him when the paparazzi risk was at a minimum and the rest of the family had gone to bed. He snuck out and rode his bike over to the van Rossum's pool to practice controlling his seal transformations.

It was easy working with Brie. He could see why she was an innate—she looked at problems from several different perspectives until she found the right solution. Most people who couldn't master a skill would try harder and practice more. That's how Rykken excelled in both sports and school. Brie wasn't particular good at either, but now he understood why—if something wasn't working for Brie, she disregarded the rules and tried a different way of thinking about it until she found a path to her end goal.

The hardest part of working with Brie was talking to her about anything other than staying human when he was submerged in water. Their family situations were depressing, the trip they were going on was terrifying, and their feelings for each other... well, they hadn't broached that topic since earlier that week when she rejected him in her kitchen.

Saturday night came, and Brie said he could come over early. She met him in a simple tank top and shorts, but the sight of her caused a stir in his chest. She opened the gate for him like she always did, letting him in through the back entrance of their property. "No Saturday night plans?" Rykken asked.

Brie's lip curved upward at the corner, showing her dimple. "Not tonight. Pilot is on a date though."

Rykken watched her carefully. "Did you enjoy your surf lesson morning?"

"I cancelled."

"Cancelled?"

"Yep," she said. He wanted to press her for more information, but didn't. He wasn't sure the reason mattered anyway.

They walked through Annie's garden of plumerias, pink cottage roses, and hibiscus, to the area closer to the pool near the house. Brie sat at the edge of the pool soaking her feet. He sat down across from her, letting his feet sink into the water slowly.

The first night they practiced, this very act of dipping his toes in the water started the seal transformation on the lower half of his body. The weight pulled him under into the natural water pool until his entire body was submerged, turning him into the slippery sea mammal. It must have been comical to watch, but to Brie's credit, she didn't laugh. She immediately jumped into the water and guided his body to the steps, helping him out of the pool. Uneven strips of fabric from his swimsuit floated to the surface of the pool from when he transformed, but Brie had thought of that too. She didn't giggle or look or get squeamish at all. Instead, she tossed him another pair of water polo briefs the van Rossums kept stockpiled next to the towels.

He tried to enter the pool without transforming a few more times with no success.

"I think it's because you're fighting the transformation," Brie had said. "Instead, imagine that you are okay with the transformation of your toes, as long as you can change back before you fall into the water."

"That's cheating," Rykken said. "I'm still transforming."

"But if you do it fast enough, it will look like you didn't change at all," Brie said, amusement lighting up her face. "And eventually, you won't change, because the transformation back will be so fast."

She made him sit on the topmost stair of her pool, holding onto the rail for balance. He let his feet transform into a tail, then transformed them back into his feet. It was a much simpler process to go from seal to human underwater than he expected.

Over the next several nights, they practiced transforming underwater for speed, then for large amounts of body surface exposed. Eventually, he could transform from full seal to full human form in a few seconds.

Tonight, his feet slid into the water with no repercussions. He could tell something was bothering Brie, because she didn't congratulate him or even look up. He racked his brain for what it could be, until he realized that just about anything could be bothering her at this point. Both their lives were such messes.

"No swimsuit," he said instead. "That seems optimistic."

"I have a good feeling about tonight." Brie smiled sadly at him. "In fact, I don't think I should stay down here with you. I think you're at the point where you can figure it out without my coaching."

"I hope you're right."

She didn't make a move to leave. "Before I go, have you... have you had any more dream predictions?"

"No. The one I told you about is the only dream like that I've had." He may not be having any more vivid dreams, but he still dreamt about Brie every single night. Some nights were good dreams—his arms wrapped around her on a sailboat, keeping her safe as they watched the sunset, the water from the motor spraying all around them. But most of his dreams were nightmares. Brie swimming away from him so fast he couldn't keep up, until she disappeared into the blackness of the ocean. Sirena and Brie leaving him at a strange hotel, transporting out into the streets of a large city and fading into the crowds without him. His dreams often brought out his greatest fears, the most torturous ways he could lose her.

"You're lucky," she said. "It's an amazing gift. Getting glimpses of the future will be useful once you hone it."

He studied her face; even from where he was sitting, she seemed a little... desperate. For answers?

"Brie, what do you want to know about the future?"

"Anything," she said.

"Is this about Milena's map again?" he asked. "I'm still going. Even if Sirena says no."

Brie pursed her lips, worried. "Sirena thinks it's a good idea for you to come with us. She said you're strong and smart, and not corrupted by the New Order. She was impressed with your idea about traveling underwater."

"That's great." Rykken heard the words coming out of his mouth, but he was surprised that Sirena thought so highly of him. "It's settled then."

"No, it's not," Brie said. "I can't let you. She doesn't understand how I feel about—" Brie stopped, leaving Rykken to fill in the blanks for himself. It only made him want her more, but he knew saying so wouldn't help him convince her.

Brie's expression turned hard, resolute. "This is not your fight. You've been a Hallow for what, a week?"

"Clara said your life is worth all of ours."

"Clara hates me! If anything, Sirena's life is worth more than mine. She's the heir to the throne and she's the fighter between the two of us. She has a fire about her that could lead the type of revolt the Hallows want to plan."

"Maybe the Hallows haven't told you everything yet," Rykken said quietly. "If Sirena agreed to let me come, she might know something you don't."

"Sirena doesn't keep secrets from me," Brie said, though the look on her face seemed doubtful. "The rest of them do, but she doesn't. She sees me as an equal."

"Brie," he said. He cleared his throat. "Don't worry about me. I don't have a family to leave behind."

Brie gave him a look the color of unburned coal. "That doesn't mean you don't have people who care about you."

"You and Pilot, for the most part. And I would die to protect you."

"I know that," she said angrily. She seemed flustered by his admittance. He was desperate for her to admit that she felt the same way about him—that she needed him just as much as he needed her.

She folded her hands in her lap, picking at her fingernails. "That's why I can't let you come with us." She stood up, folding her arms across her chest. "Text me if you figure out your powers tonight,"

she said quietly, before racing back to the house.

Rykken stared after her for a few minutes before starting his training. He understood if she was scared—

he was too—but he didn't understand what would cause her to be so angry about their growing feelings for each other.

He progressed down the pool steps slowly, concentrating instead on his transformations. For her.

Because somehow, he associated getting his powers under control with getting Brie to understand that she couldn't keep pushing him away.

He spent the next couple hours running through the exercises that Brie and he designed, pushing the limits of how fast and how much he could transform at a time. He practiced from in the water, transforming to a human. He practiced sitting away from the pool, transforming to a seal. His speed increased, until the transformation was so instantaneous that his body didn't even bother change when he hit the water.

Finally, Rykken climbed the ladder for the diving board. He figured if he could withstand a sudden submersion in the pool without changing, he would finally be comfortable going out into public waters.

He counted to three and jumped, savoring the rush of air that hit his human face before his skin touched the water.

*****

Brie sat on her bed and studied the map of Milena's travels again, for what felt like the hundredth time that day. Clara had given Brie a device the size of a cell phone that projected images onto any surface for easy viewing. She could zoom in and out with a few drags of her fingers, and she could tap the dots on the map for more detailed information.

She had no idea what Milena was looking for, which meant she had no idea what Sirena and she were looking for, which made it hard for Brie to figure out where they should start. Then, what they would do when they reached any one of these destinations on the map? Hang out until a miracle occurred or someone tried to kill them?

There was also the business of everyone she was leaving behind. Pilot and James and Annie would be safe, she thought—as long as Cora and Thessa agreed to look after them. It seemed impossible for anyone to get hurt under Thessa's watch. Brie still didn't have a story to explain her absence, but she thought she could come up with something that didn't draw media attention.

Last, there was Rykken, who tore Brie's heart apart with indecision. Maybe he would be safer coming with them on the trip instead of staying in Hawaii. After all, Kennedy was still out there. Couldn't she come back for him?

Brie stopped herself. Was she trying to justify her actions, roping that beautiful boy into more danger than they could possibly imagine? Brie knew the New Order wasn't behind Milena's death, but someone was.

She had no idea what they might be walking into, or whom they might find on their quest for answers.

Brie had other reasons for leaving Rykken out of it, anyway. She knew the moment she gave in to letting Rykken come with them, she would give into everything else she felt. It would be a relief, at least, to stop pretending, but that didn't make it the right decision.

Brie was overwhelmed with the prospect of leaving, but she knew the day was coming soon. She would wait for Thessa to return with news about her real father. After that, Sirena and she might go to him, or plot a different move. Maybe they could visit the part of the ocean where Milena's plane crashed? Brie doubted they would find anything valuable there, not six months later, but it was something to do at least.

Either way, she would have no excuses for staying once Thessa came back, which could be any day now.

An upbeat chiming sound came from her phone—a text, interrupting her thoughts. She didn't have to look to know who it was or what it would say. She grabbed her phone, silencing the text, and made her way downstairs quietly.

Outside, Rykken jumped around giddily. Her grin turned to laughter as she watched him prance around the deck, celebrating his victory.

When Rykken saw her, he ran to her, hoisting her into his arms. Brie gasped. She wrapped her arms around Rykken's neck, holding him tight as he spun her around once before setting her down.

He rested his forehead on hers, his hands settled firmly on her waist. His thumbs stroked her back lightly, sending tingles along her spine.

"Brie," he whispered softly.

She didn't say anything, just ran her fingers along the tips of his wet hair, catching the drops of water on her hand. The wave was breaking, washing away any lingering resolve she had to distance herself from Rykken. She was too nervous to look at him; her entire body was aware of how close he was. She let her fingers explore his neck, stroking his Adam's apple, tracing the bone structure of his muscular shoulders.

He kissed her forehead lightly, tucking her hair behind her ear. He traced her ear down the side of her face, lifting her chin lightly with his index finger. She finally looked into his eyes. She felt her mouth watering; she could smell the mixture of natural minerals and rain water on his skin.

He cupped her face, staring into her eyes. She knew she should push him away again, like she had the last time, but she couldn't stand to hurt him. She couldn't stand to be so close to him, yet so dishonest about what she wanted. What they both wanted.

"You're shaking," he observed.

She swallowed. "You make me nervous."

He smiled slightly. "I'm glad I make you nervous." He closed his eyes and leaned in, brushing her lips with his.

His lips were salty, delicious. Brie couldn't breathe. She stood on her tippy toes and wrapped her arms around his neck again, pulling him toward her, parting his lips hungrily with hers.

She surprised him, she could tell, and who could blame him? She had put so much emotional distance between them while they were training; but now, she couldn't think of anything she wanted more than him.

He responded to the pressure of her kisses, wrapping his arms tightly around her waist, tracing the lace at the edges of her flimsy camisole.

She felt his fingers on her bare back and let out a soft sigh. He pulled back. "You're driving me crazy,"

he whispered into her mouth.

She touched his face tenderly. "I think I need a breathing break." She took a step away from him, giving them both a little space. Her entire body tingled; she was so aware of him, and all of a sudden there he was in tight polo briefs. She tried not to gawk at his chiseled body, sculpted from years of water sports. He held both of her hands lightly in his fingers. She swallowed again, trying to steady her breathing.

He beamed at her, his eyes never leaving her face.

The trusting, loving look on his face chipped at her heart. "We should think about this," she said, trying to think logically. "We had good reasons for not—"

"You look so beautiful right now."

She looked down—she was barefoot in a tank top and silky shorts, her hair in a messy ponytail pulled to the side.

"In this?" she asked.

"It's a very natural look."

"You mean it looks like I just woke up."

He pulled her toward him. "No, not at all. I mean you look like yourself. Not the Brie you put on for the rest of the world." He coughed. "Not that she isn't hot too," he said, stroking her hair. "But I like you like this best."

Brie raised an eyebrow. "Rykken..."

"It's pointless to pretend," he said, touching her face lightly. "Whether I kiss you again right now or not, it doesn't change how we feel." He traced her nose, her mouth. "If the next months, maybe years, are going to be as dangerous for us as you think, then at least give me this one moment of happiness with you."

Once again, Rykken made such a perfectly logical argument that Brie couldn't refute it, couldn't even refuse it. She tried to pretend that she was a regular girl and he was a regular boy and they could have a regular, high school relationship.

She took a deep breath, giving him a smile. "Maybe if I wore my nightgown to school, you would have kissed me sooner."

"You have no idea how long I've waited to kiss you," Rykken whispered. He let his thumb trace the edges her lips. "Years."

"What are you waiting for then?"

Rykken gave her a hard look and put his hand around her neck, gently pulling her face to his. She felt her entire body turn to jelly, but his arms held her up as he kissed her again, rougher this time. She ran her hands through his damp hair, resting them on his hard chest as they let themselves get lost in just one moment, the quiet eye of a typhoon.

"What the hell is going on out here?"

Brie and Rykken jumped apart, both of them recognizing the voice instantly.

Pilot.

*****

Pilot looked from Rykken to Brie, not sure who he was more angry with at the moment. His night with Kennedy had already ended poorly, when she informed him she was leaving again and didn't know when she'd be back. Then, when he got home from his date, he noticed the kitchen light on. He followed it outside and saw his best friend and sister kissing through the patio door.

Rykken stared at the ground, stirring his foot in circles on the cement. At least he had enough sense to be ashamed; Brie met Pilot's eyes with defiance.

"What are you doing out here?" she asked. "Did you just now get home from your date?"

Pilot stared at her in disbelief. "What are you doing out here? It's three in the morning." He turned to Rykken. "And why are you at my house?"

Rykken looked up, opening his mouth to answer; but he stopped when Brie stepped in front of him. Brie folded her arms across her chest. "I invited him."

Pilot gaped at the two of them. "For what? You're definitely not finishing up a school project! You're supposed to be grounded."

"Don't make a big deal out of this," Brie replied. She glanced at Rykken, who averted his gaze. "We were just kissing."

She said it like it was something normal, like 'we were just picking flowers' or 'we were just chewing gum.' But anyone who knew Brie and Rykken even a tenth as well as he did would know that two of them kissing was monumental. They hated each other. They could barely be in the same room together without hurling insults at each other. How did that lead to kissing outside the van Rossum patio door?

Pilot took a deep breath. "Again, it's three in the morning. So that doesn't explain much." Pilot rubbed his forehead. "Can I have a minute with Rykken?"

Brie grimaced. "This was my decision too, Pilot. I get to choose who I date."

"Who says I want to talk to him about you?" Pilot asked. "The world doesn't live and breathe for your existence."

Brie opened her mouth, but Rykken spoke first. "Stop it," he said, holding his hands up and stepping between the two of them. "You two squabble like siblings or something." Pilot guessed that Rykken meant it as a joke, but he didn't smile. Brie continued to glare at Pilot.

Rykken put his hand on the small of her back and whispered something in her ear. Her eyes iced over, and when she looked up she was glaring at Pilot again. She stalked past him, opening the patio door to the kitchen and slamming it behind her as hard as she could.

Even this simple act—the two of them whispering together, his best friend's ability to command his sister

—gnawed at Pilot's stomach.

Pilot looked up to see Rykken trying not to laugh. "What's so funny?"

"Nothing," Rykken said, his face turning instantly serious again.

Pilot paced back and forth for several minutes, so long that Rykken sat down in the meantime. Pilot had so many questions swirling around his head, he didn't know where to start. Finally, Pilot pulled up a patio chair and sat down next to Rykken.

"Are you sleeping with my sister?" he asked, barely choking the words out. He rested his forearms on the small glass table positioned between them.

Rykken looked genuinely surprised. "No. It was a kiss. I swear I didn't touch her until tonight."

"You had your hands all over her," Pilot said. "You can't expect me to believe that this wasn't planned."

"Pilot, I swear, it just happened. It wasn't like I came over here to kiss her or anything."

Pilot glared at Rykken. "What are you doing here then, if you're not sneaking around with her?"

Rykken looked away. "I couldn't sleep. I needed to swim, and Brie said I could do laps in your pool any time I wanted."

Two words rattled around in Pilot's brain. Brie said. It was those two words that finally unwound him.

"Are we not friends anymore or something?" Pilot asked. "Since when are you closer to my sister than me?"

Rykken seemed taken aback. "You're still my best friend. Like Brie said, it was a couple kisses."

Pilot wasn't sure which bothered him more—the kisses themselves, or that the kisses represented another secret in a string of secrets Rykken was keeping from him.

"If we're still friends, why aren't you ever honest with me anymore?"

Rykken stared at his hands, avoiding Pilot's eyes. "What do you want to know?"

Pilot flinched, wondering if he was going to get real answers this time. "Tell me why you quit water polo."

"I already told you, I played water polo for the wrong reasons. I was doing it for a college scholarship, and once I realized that, I didn't want to go the water polo route anymore."

Pilot wished his friend would look at him. "Is that the same reason you quit surfing?"

"I didn't quit surfing. I've been busy the last few weekends, but we can go next weekend."

Pilot hated himself for doubting, but his gut feeling was that Rykken was lying. He tried a different line of questioning.

"What's going on with your foster mom?" he asked. "She was scared last Sunday at the school."

"She's fine," Rykken said. Pilot gave him a skeptical look. "I have no idea what you're talking about,"

Rykken continued.

Pilot slammed his fist into the table. "Why are you lying to me?" The table gave underneath the swing of his arm; he had hit it harder than he realized. His hand came away covered in slices of blood. The pattern in the surface of the table looked like the thin beginnings of a spider web, with thick, red liquid smeared across the center.

Rykken's eyes widened. He stared into the pool, his forehead scrunched.

"Yeah, great friendship." Pilot walked over to the towel stand and grabbed one to wrap his hand in. His fist throbbed, and he regretted losing his temper. He sat down again. "How long?" he asked, in the calmest, most normal tone he could manage.

Rykken's head flipped back to Pilot unnaturally fast. "How long what?"

"You and Brie. How long has this been going on?"

"I told you, it just happened tonight."

"No. I mean how long have you liked her."

Rykken stared at the table, picking at the shards of broken glass nonchalantly. "I don't know," he finally said. "For as long as I can remember. Since I first saw her probably."

Pilot whistled; shocked and not at all amused. He twisted his neck around to release the building tension. His anger subsided a little, but it was quickly replaced by a stabbing pain.

"Since you first saw her," he repeated. "So Justin has been telling me the truth this whole time."

Pilot's temper begged to get the best of him. "He tried to tell me you liked her, but I didn't believe him. I thought you were making an effort because I asked you to be nice to her. But Justin was right, and you were the one lying." He felt his anger turning into something much more vulnerable, something that no guy liked to experience when it came to his best friend.

"I didn't lie to you," Rykken said angrily, his voice choking up.

Pilot shrugged his shoulders helplessly, unsure how to repair their friendship. "You didn't tell me the truth."

"Fine," Rykken said. He took a deep breath, wincing. "This is hard for me to talk about with you, though."

"It's not easy for me either, man."

"Okay. The truth is I liked Brie before, superficially—I mean, your sister is pretty. I'd be blind not to notice that." Pilot didn't look at Rykken. "But I've gotten to know her better since you both moved here. My feelings for her aren't like Justin's—they're real and genuine. I don't have any hidden agenda."

"Why haven't you told me this before?"

"What was I supposed to say to you?" Rykken asked in an aching, unbecoming voice. "That I'm in love with your sister?"

Pilot balked; love? That didn't ease his emotions any.

"What would that have accomplished when up until tonight, I had no idea how she felt about me?"

Rykken placed his fingers on the sides of his forehead, leaning forward and resting his elbows on the portion of glass table that wasn't cracked. "I know this isn't what you want to hear, but I'm completely crazy about her."

Rykken wasn't saying the words, but Pilot could hear the subtext. It wasn't what he wanted to hear.

He let out the breath he had been holding in. "We are like brothers, Rykken. I've trusted you with everything. You've seen my house. You've seen my family situation. You know my secrets. I don't let people in very easily."

"I haven't betrayed your trust on any of those things."

"You have though." Pilot's head shook uncontrollably. "If there was one unspoken boundary on our friendship, just one—it was dating my sister."

"I can see that," Rykken said, his hands trembling. "Do you think I wanted this to happen? I've tried to hate her, trust me."

"Does Brie trust you?" Pilot asked. He couldn't imagine Brie falling in love with someone who was keeping things from them. She had more trust issues than Kennedy, almost.

Rykken looked away again, a sure sign he was about to lie. "I guess she trusts me. I don't know."

Pilot's eyes sharpened to a knife point. "If she trusts you, it's because she knows what you're keeping from me, isn't it?" Pilot was surprised by the words that had come out of his mouth, but now that he said them, he knew they were true.

Rykken's glossy eyes confirmed Pilot's suspicions. The confession was almost too much to bear. it was one thing to be suspicious, another to know the truth. He turned away from Rykken. "I must have done something really wrong if the two people I trust the most are confiding in each other and leaving me out."

"Don't," Rykken said. "If you want to talk about friendship and trust, why haven't I seen you all week?

And whom are you dating anyway? How long is this mystery girl going to stay a mystery from the 'two people you trust the most,' supposedly?"

"Don't try to change the subject," Pilot said quietly. They were keeping secrets from him—even now, when he called Rykken out on it. Pilot felt himself deflating, all the anger and pain escaping him, leaving behind a pit of emptiness in its place.

"Is it so terrible?" Rykken asked quietly. "Brie and me," he said, when Pilot looked up. "You didn't freak out when Brie dated Justin."

Pilot thought for a moment. "You're different."

"Why?" Rykken asked. His voice was so pitiful, Pilot almost felt sorry for him. "Am I not good enough for her? I know I don't have money—"

"No," Pilot said, waving his hand. "Of course it's not about that. You know that."

"What is it then?" Rykken sounded desperate. "I thought you'd be happy to get her away from a guy like Justin."

Pilot sighed, trying to put into words why he was upset. "Brie is just starting to come back around," he said. "She's alive again. If something happens to put her back into that depressed state... I won't be able to forgive the person who caused it."

Rykken nodded slowly. "Never. I won't hurt her."

"Ever?" Pilot said. "Look. I can tell she really likes you. Maybe you're even in love, like you say you are. But I don't want to choose between you two. If it comes down to it, I'm going to pick her; even if it's her fault to begin with."

Rykken stared into the pool again. "I understand."

Pilot tried to put himself in Rykken's shoes, but he couldn't. There was nothing good that could come of this situation. "So that's your choice, then," he said. "You really want to risk our friendship on a relationship that may not work out. Hell, we're all in high school. It probably won't work out."

Rykken blinked several times, his eyebrows flinching. "If you understood how I felt about her, you'd know that I don't have a choice."

CHAPTER FIFTEEN

Rykken didn't go the van Rossum house on Sunday. Instead, he settled for a few text messages with Brie, agreeing that they would talk about their relationship in the coming week.

He missed her though. At the same time, Pilot's ominous words echoed in his head. If something happens to put her back into that depressed state... But Pilot had no idea how intricately bound the two of them were, and how far Brie was willing to go to get closure for her mother.

Rykken wondered if he should try to talk Brie out of the trip she was planning. He doubted anything he said could change her mind, which is why he had insisted on going with her instead. But he questioned whether Pilot was right about Brie's mental health. Sirena could easily talk her into something, and he wasn't sure how much he trusted someone who would approve of her fifteen year old niece going on a dangerous mission.

Lunch on Monday was awkward, partly because the water polo team lost their second match of the year that weekend, but mostly because Pilot was barely speaking to him. The van Rossum's were finally back in school with extra staff on hand to protect the campus and their privacy. Of course, that didn't stop the students from violating the van Rossum's privacy—the excitement over Brie's accident was near breaking level. Pilot tried to be polite to the intermittent groups of girls who kept asking him to autograph their magazine copies of James and him in their swimsuits on the coast guard boat, but Rykken could tell that the extra attention made him uncomfortable.

Pilot's tolerance ran out after a particularly bold freshman girl asked him out on a date. "I'm going to hide out in the library," he said, bolting from the table.

Justin mocked his departure in true form. "Library my ass. He's probably meeting that sexy girlfriend of his in a bathroom stall for a quick one."

Rykken blocked out Justin's crude words. Pilot and him didn't talk about their sex lives much, thank God. That would have made their conversation about Brie a million times worse than it had been.

But one part of Justin's sentence bothered him. "You've met Pilot's girlfriend?"

Justin shoveled mashed potatoes into his mouth, not looking up. "You haven't?" The manilla sustenance sloshed between his tongue and his gums when he opened his mouth.

Rykken gritted his teeth together. He didn't want to admit to Justin that he wasn't exactly at the top of Pilot's list of confidants anymore, partly out of pride, and partly because he didn't want to explain the reason for their fallout.

Luckily, Justin wasn't the type of guy who could pass up gossip. "She's hot," he said. "Dark, smooth skin, long hair the color of snow, incredible body."

The description left Rykken unsettled. The image he conjured of the girl seemed familiar for some reason, like he'd seen her before. But he would have remembered if he met Pilot's girlfriend—it wasn't like there were a ton of teenage girls with long, white hair walking around.

Justin studied Rykken's face and smirked. "I take it you haven't met her. If it helps, she was there that day we went to Tonkatsu Ginza Bairin when you were wearing that girly necklace and you couldn't afford to eat." He looked at the empty space of table in front of Rykken. "Is today another fasting day?

I can loan you five bucks if you're hurting that bad."

Rykken's shoulders pulsed upward. Justin was a jerk sometimes, but he was always the guy who defended Rykken when other people made fun of his lack of cash flow. "What's your problem bro?"

"You, mostly." Justin stabbed a chunk of meat. "Everyone on the team is pissed off at you for quitting."

"I'm sorry," Rykken said, remembering Brie's words. Justin doesn't hate you... his priority is the team.

He hoped she was right. "Things will pick up. At least the season is almost over."

Justin set his fork down, his jaw set. "Our loss this weekend makes me look like a loser of a captain who can't win matches."

Rykken hadn't thought of it that way before. "It was one match," he finally said, furling his eyebrows.

"It's not the end of your career."

"It sucks that they'd all rather have you leading them, though. It's like you're off the team, but still stealing them away from me." Justin glared relentlessly. "Brie too. She called me last Thursday to tell me that she couldn't see me anymore."

Rykken's heart skipped a beat. "Oh."

"She said someone told her she was 'leading me on,' and I think it was you." Justin's eyes challenged Rykken to deny it, and he did with the shake of his head. But despite Justin's shortcomings, he had known Rykken since they were kids, and Rykken could tell Justin didn't buy it.

"Real clever line Camacho—and once I was out of the picture, that paved the way for you to make your own move."

Rykken couldn't believe Brie had told Justin the truth. He swallowed hard, wondering how to salvage the situation. "Neither of us can control how we feel about her. I'm sorry."

"I'm just wondering if Pilot knows that you're screwing his sister."

"First of all," Rykken said, "I'm not. Not everything is about sex. And second, Pilot knows that I like her." He's just not thrilled about it.

Justin popped the knuckles on his right hand, then the left. "A few months ago, we were best friends. We have years of friendship behind us... we've been surfing buddies for as long as I can remember. Two celebrity kids show up, and you've become this different person."

"It has nothing to do with them," Rykken said, annoyed by Justin's implication. "I don't abandon my old friends just because I found shiny new ones. Our friendship has been on the decline for awhile, when I earned captain instead of you. I didn't ask for that."

"I know you didn't." Justin voice sounded gravelly. "But you could have said something to the coaches!

I've worked my ass off for that team, and you just saw it as another bullet point on your college applications." He broke a small piece of wood off the side of their picnic table, genuinely upset. "A real friend would have known how much I wanted to be captain and how hard I'd worked to earn it. A real friend would have waited a year and taken his place in line." Justin stood up, grabbing his tray. "But I don't have any real friends at this table, do I?"

Justin stormed off, leaving Rykken at the table alone. Justin's parting words punched at Rykken's conscience; he was right about water polo and right about the position Rykken had put him in with team.

All this time, Rykken thought Justin was the terrible friend, but was he any better?

I didn't steal Brie though, Rykken told himself. Brie and Justin would have never worked, even without his intervention. He might have sped up the process, may have coaxed her to dump Justin—but only because she wanted to be with him too.

Rykken pulled out his journal but he was too shaken up over his conversation with Justin to write anything down. After several minutes of staring at a blank page, Rykken abandoned the table and went to his fifth period class early.

When he arrived, Brie was already sitting in her seat, reading Dante's Inferno. Her hair flowed down her shoulders in soft waves, and she was wearing less makeup than usual. She looked up, and her face instantly melted into a smile.

He bit his lip, grinning as he took his seat next to her near the back on the classroom. His problems with Justin and Pilot seemed so distant in her presence.

"Did Pilot give you hell on Saturday?" she asked.

"He's just hurt," Rykken said. He lowered his voice. "He knows we're keeping something from him."

Brie's mouth dropped at the edges. "What should we do?"

"Live with it, I guess?" Rykken wondered how many more times he would lie to his best friend about his new life as a Hallow. He wondered how many more friends he could lose over it.

Brie shook her head. "Maybe we should just tell him the truth."

Rykken cocked his head to one side, considering it. He wondered how Pilot would react to hearing that his sister and his best friend were descendants of archangels and had super human powers.

He had plenty of time to think about it because class was boring, and his thoughts kept drifting to the pretty girl next to him. It was uncomfortable to sit next to her quietly, wanting the simplest, most innocent touches—but pretending instead to focus on the lecture. He kept getting distracted by her movements and her restlessness, and how she twirled her hair constantly on the end of her pen. He looked down at her notebook, where she scribbled in the margins instead of taking notes.

He watched for a minute, and her scribbles changed to words. He looked closer. Pay attention, it said. A light smile played on her lips.

He reached over to her notebook, and wrote in the margins, I am. To you. She grinned.

She wrote one word in big letters over his: Later.

She stopped writing, the expression on her face tight. Then she wrote, Thessa's back.

Rykken wasn't completely sure why this bothered Brie, but he knew he would find out eventually. The class dragged on, killing Rykken slowly. When it finally ended, he walked Brie to her locker.

Brie tossed her pompoms on the floor and pulled a few books from her locker, placing them carefully in her purse.

"I'm done for the day," Rykken said, picking up the pompoms. "You have cheer practice though, right?"

"Nope." Brie smoothed the bottom of her navy skirt. "I quit."

Rykken rested his hand on the top of her locker door, leaning against it. "Did you?"

"It was just a ploy anyway." Brie took the pompoms from him and tossed them back in her locker. "Plus I missed so much practice when I was stranded at my house. Most of the squad thinks I'm not dedicated." She smiled. "Whatever that means."

Rykken laughed. "Punahou takes its sports very seriously Brie. Sounds like your heart isn't in it enough if you're skipping practices and games."

Brie grinned, her eyes fluttering. "I talked to Cora, and she agreed that the Hallows didn't need me there anymore. They replaced me with one of the alternates."

"Hmm," Rykken hummed between his lips.

Brie scrunched her nose. "What is that? Hmm, " she mimicked. "Hmm what?"

He grinned michieviously. "You were so cute in school colors, with your little ponytail and little skirt."

Brie shut her locker, leaning up against it. "I don't think I'll miss it. There are plenty of other ways to spend my time after school." She wrapped her fingers in his polo shirt and tugged him toward her playfully.

Her touch made his stomach contract, like she was tickling him. She was wearing high heels and her eyes were more level with his than usual. He ran his fingers across the thin necklace chain on her neck, then moved to her hair. Her chest rose and fell, and she gave him a look he was starting to recognize, the one that told him she wanted him to make the first move.

He leaned in to kiss her just as a locker down the hall slammed.

Justin strut toward them, a flare of cockiness in his gait. "Aww, look at the happy couple." Rykken dropped his hand from Brie's hair.

Justin grabbed Rykken's shoulder, clenching down. "Don't stop on my behalf," he said. "You finally got her to notice you. You might as well enjoy it."

"Justin..." Brie reached for Justin's arm. "I'm sorry I didn't—"

"Don't." Justin shrugged her off. "You were just a game to me."

Rykken gave Justin a dirty look. "Just go, man."

Justing smiled cruelly, leaning to Rykken's ear. "She's incredible in bed, by the way." Rykken's skin boiled from his cheeks to his fists. He flashed Brie a look of disbelief.

She shoved Justin away from them, stringing together a sentence that contained the phrases "shut up,"

"liar," and a number of expletives Rykken had never heard her use before.

Justin cracked up, pointing at Rykken. Gotcha, he mouthed, before striding down the hall toward the gym.

Rykken's throat was dry. There must have been something savage in his expression, because Brie stroked his face. "He was trying to get under your skin. Nothing happened between us."

Rykken shuddered, shaking his head. "The mental images weren't pretty, either way."

"Come here." Brie grabbed Rykken's hand, leading him out the door. "I want to show you something." She guided him in the opposite direction of the parking lot where the paparazzi were waiting and over to the school's secluded gazebo.

He wondered why she wanted him to see this place. Did she bring him out here so they could kiss in private, without Justin or anyone else interrupting them? He faced her, grabbing her other hand. "What are we doing out here?"

"Run with me," she said. He thought it was a strange request, but she gripped his hand firmly and ran without his answer, pulling him into a jog.

Before they disappeared, Rykken saw a flash of white between the trees and heard a faint female voice whispering, "Game on."

*****

A few seconds later, they were standing inside the van Rossum kitchen.

"Did you see that?" Rykken asked. He clutched his chest; they had transported so fast, it had nearly knocked the wind out of him.

Brie set her purse down on the kitchen counter and kicked off her high heels, shoving them under a kitchen barstool. "See what?" She grinned and walked to the staircase. "Is anybody home?" Her words reverberated against the walls. As usual, the entire house was empty.

Rykken pressed his palms into the granite countertop, trying to catch his breath. He told Brie about the white flashes he kept seeing, and her face fell. "The flashes move so fast, I can barely tell if I'm just imagining them."

Brie was lost in thought. "Fast like someone transporting?"

Something clicked in Rykken's mind. "Kennedy."

Brie's face registered alarm. "Do you think she's following you?"

"I don't know," Rykken said miserably. "I was hoping this pendant business was over."

Brie scoffed. "Most villains don't concoct their evil schemes just to let their victims go."

Rykken flinched; the casual tone of her words stung. "Where did you learn that?" Rykken said.

"Saturday morning cartoons?"

Brie bit her lip, like she regretted her words. She wrapped her arms around his waist. "Sorry Ry. I wasn't trying to turn it into a joke."

Rykken set his backpack next to her purse on the counter. "I want to tell the Hallows about this, but not if you think it's stupid."

She stood on her tippy toes and brushed her lips against his. "Nothing you think is stupid." Brie smiled and pulled her cell phone out of her purse. "Make the call."

He dialed Clara's number and told her what had happened. She didn't seem pleased, but she didn't seem particularly surprised either.

"At least you're safe at Brie's house," Clara told him. "We protected the entire perimeter from intruders. No one can get in unless someone who lives there wants them to."

Clara hung up, and Rykken leaned against the kitchen counter, staring at Brie's cell phone.

Brie touched his forearm. "This doesn't change anything, you know. We already guessed Kennedy planted the pendant on you. Now we have proof that she's stalking you."

"How can you be so calm about this?"

She shrugged. "If Kennedy wanted to kill you, she's had several chances. I'm not saying you shouldn't be careful, or you shouldn't train like crazy, but Kennedy is just one threat among several."

"You're right," Rykken said, pacing back and forth in the kitchen. He opened the fridge, looked inside, and closed it.

When he turned around, Brie stood in front of him. She held her hands up against his chest to stop him from pacing. "Maybe I can think of something to distract you." Her fingers slipped under his polo shirt, pressing against his stomach. She traced the crevices of his abs before her arms settled comfortably around his waist.

He wrapped her into his arms and crushed his mouth against hers. He could taste watermelon on her lips; he could smell coconut on her skin and vanilla in her hair. She squeezed him and guided him out of the kitchen.

She pushed him gently onto the leather couch in the family room, climbing into his lap and kissing him more forcefully. When she ran her hands through his hair, her touch felt soft on his scalp. He looked down; Brie's skirt hiked up several inches, revealing the soft inner part of her thighs. He couldn't see her panties, but he also couldn't help but think about them with her straddling him. He washed the thought from his mind—this was Brie. She tested his restraint, but when he thought of the future he wanted with her, it wasn't hard to make a decision.

He tried to find a safe place to put his hands, but he knew that anywhere he touched her would lead to more. He finally rested his hands on her shoulders, gently pushing her away.

"What's wrong?" she asked. "Is this a bad distraction?"

"No, it's good," he said, catching his breath. He stroked her hair, letting his fingers trace her hurt face ever so lightly. "This is just so..."

"Intense?" she asked.

"'Fast' was the word I was looking for."

She moved from his lap and sat next to him on the couch. "Is it me?"

Now that there was a safe physical distance between them, he felt more in control. He held back a chuckle, lifting her face to his. Her emerald-stained eyes glistened, searching his face for answers.

"Don't look at me like that," he whispered.

"I've never done this before," she said, touching his chest absentmindedly. Her touch stirred his insides again.

"Never done what?"

"A relationship. I've never been close to someone like this."

"Is that what you want?" he asked. "A relationship?"

She looked at him, her face crumpling at his words. "No, no!" he said. He cupped her face with both hands. "I want to be with you Brie. I've wanted you in every way possible for longer than you can imagine."

"So what is it then?" She bit her lip, wrapping her arms around her stomach. "I'm throwing myself at you and you aren't taking advantage of it."

Her words saddened him—did she really think that what he wanted was physical? It was hardly the most important thing on his brain at that moment. He would be just as happy holding her in his arms and talking to her, stealing kisses in between paragraphs.

"Brie, I don't want to take advantage of you." He kissed her forehead, pulling her closer to him. "I don't want to rush things between us. I want to enjoy the fact that just being in the same room with you makes my heart dance. Plus Pilot—"

"Ahhhh," Brie said, interrupting. "Let's not talk about my brother right now."

"He's your older brother," Rykken said. "I'm trying to be respectful of him."

Brie gave Rykken a sideways glance. "That's stupid."

Rykken laughed at her expression. "You would understand if you were a guy. Plus, do you really want something to happen on your dad's couch?"

She pursed her lips, a serious look on her face. "No," she whispered.

"This trip we're taking," he murmured. "We should focus on that. You and me, that will come naturally."

She smiled at him, her eyes twinkling. She tucked herself under his arm and rested her head against his chest, right over his heart.

They stayed like that for several hours, talking about everything and nothing. She described her favorite New York spots to him, explaining how the tall buildings and the gritty sidewalks and the people everywhere made her feel secure instead of claustrophobic.

"It's because nothing can happen without someone noticing," Brie said. "You're never alone."

"No," he said, shaking his head. "It's because everyone is a stranger. Anything can happen without someone noticing, and you want to be invisible to people."

He told her stories of when he and Pilot were younger, how they sneaked around and played pranks at water polo practice. She talked a little about her friend Adele's obsession with Shakespeare.

"You should see these pictures we took," Brie said. "We paid one of Adele's friends to photograph us as various characters from the plays. I have a bunch of them framed in my room. Want to see?"

Rykken had only been in Brie's room it once, under very different circumstances. The thought of sitting with her on her bed made him gulp. "We should probably steer clear of your bedroom for now."

"Why?" she teased. "You might lose your control and reason?"

"Definitely," he whispered into her hair. "You're very tempting. And I don't think you're that convinced with this whole 'taking it slow' thing."

She pressed her lips to his. "Nah, I like it. It's romantic." Her words warmed his cheeks and he kissed her back to hide his face.

The front door opened and Pilot announced his arrival loudly. Rykken moved to disentangle himself from Brie, but she held on to him firmly.

"Don't," she said. "I'm done with secrets. I want to tell him everything." She searched Rykken's eyes for acceptance, and he nodded slightly.

Pilot came to a dead halt when he saw them sitting together on the couch. "I'm not ready yet," he said, pivoting in the direction of the stairs.

"Pilot, wait," Brie said. "We need to talk to you."

Pilot's movements were stilted, like he had to physically force himself to backtrack to the living room.

But eventually, he sat on the opposite couch. "I have nothing to say about this." He nodded to Brie and Rykken holding hands.

"Oh, stop being dramatic," Brie huffed. "We're together and you can get over it. We have more important things to talk about anyway."

"Like all the stuff you've both been hiding from me?"

"Yes," Brie said. Pilot blinked, pure surprise splattered across his face at her willingness to be honest.

Brie took a deep breath and began to tell Pilot everything. Rykken sat silently while she told him about the car incident, and how she thought she saw their mom but really saw Sirena. Then, Brie told him about the Hallows and her powers and Rykken's powers and the pendant.

"I know this sounds ridiculous," she said, "but it's all true."

Rykken expected Pilot to flip out, to yell, or to be afraid; but his reaction was the complete opposite.

By the end of Brie's explanation, Pilot's face had drained of most of its anger.

He spoke slowly. "I believe you."

Brie's jaw fell. She seemed just as surprised as Rykken was over the turn of events. "I'm sorry I didn't tell you sooner then."

"Keep going," Pilot said, leaning back into the couch with a confused look on his face. Brie told him about Cora and Clara's powers, the selkie curse, the accident on the boat, and how James adopted her.

Pilot's ears perked. "Adopted? But... how is that possible?"

The color seeped from her skin. "I don't know," she admitted. Her apparent exhaustion showed that the conversation had taken its toll on her.

Pilot wrapped his sister in a tight hug. "Adoption or not, you'll always be my sister. I'll always be here for you," he promised. "For anything."

But Pilot's expression flatlined when Brie described Thessa's trip to Silver Smoke.

"Silver Smoke?" he echoed, as if the name were familiar to him.

"Thessa wouldn't tell me much about it," Brie said, "but I know it's in LA. It's run by a cult of superbeings that cause problems for the Hallows. Thessa almost died when she went there."

Pilot's shattered expression told Rykken that something was seriously wrong with his best friend. Every bit of progress they had made by opening up to him had disappeared; somehow, they had managed to crush him with the truth.

Then Pilot whispered, "Kennedy."

The hushed name wafted through the room, but despite its delicate phrasing, it lit a firework in Rykken's mind.

"How do you know that name?" Brie asked. "She's the one Thessa was looking for. The pendant belongs to her family, and we think she's following Rykken."

The firework exploded, and Rykken was left with the broken pieces. "Pilot, please tell me that you aren't dating that girl."

Pilot didn't respond, but he didn't need to; the truth hung from his face in revolting remorse.

Brie glanced at Pilot, then at Rykken. "What?"

"The flashes," Rykken said. "It was her. Your girlfriend has white hair, doesn't she?"

Pilot's forearm flexed, but he didn't answer. Rykken wasn't sure that Pilot could anymore.

"Pilot," Brie exclaimed, balancing on her feet. "I told you Hawaiian Myths and Legends was dangerous! Didn't you think the person who gave it to you might be too?"

PIlot's voice came out as the beginning of a roar. "Kennedy didn't give it to me! I found it in our library."

"Kennedy planted the book in our house?" Brie asked.

"Clara told me that no one could get in unless someone who lived here wanted them to," Rykken said.

Brie paced around the couches, her arms jittery. "Well, obviously Pilot wanted her to." Brie's eyes flashed over PIlot, blazing. "Is she the one who gave you that object that exploded the bonfire?"

"I didn't know what it was!" Pilot barked. "It looked like a vial of blood, but she said she bought it from a prank shop..."

Brie's temper flared. "Well gee, I wonder what it was then Pilot? Something that looks like blood...

hmm, let me think..."

Rykken put his hand on Brie's shoulder and shook his head slightly. "Don't take your anger out on your brother," he whispered so only Brie could hear. "He didn't know."

Brie fumed, but her movements softened, and the fury etched across her face turned to deep distress.

"The question is," Rykken said, "whose blood was in the vial? The day after the bonfire I turned into a seal, so that could be important."

Pilot's expression had progressed from shock to broiling outrage. "I can't believe it. Kennedy used me." The cemented stiffness in Pilot's body ran from his pulsating neck to the knuckles on his clenched fists.

"Are you kidding?" Brie said in despair. "She's stalking Rykken and you're worried that she used you?

That's the least of our problems!"

Pilot's face crumbled, and Rykken could practically see the tension in Pilot's body evaporating into helplessness. He tried to put himself in his friend's shoes, though he was still in shock himself.

"Lighten up, Brie," he said as reasonably as he could. "He just found out his girlfriend is a liar."

"Liar?" Brie ranted. "She's an assassin for Silver Smoke."

"Assassin?" Pilot's voice shook with denial. "Look, she's not killing anyone. She's not that kind of person. And if she wanted to hurt any of us, she's had plenty of chances." Pilot folded his face into his hands. "She just wanted to change Rykken into a selkie."

"Why would she want that?" Brie asked skeptically.

Rykken didn't buy it either, but he didn't want to cause Pilot more pain. "I'm guessing it's not to get me kicked off the water polo team."

"Alright, let's go." Brie dragged a limp, shell-shocked Pilot to his feet. "Thessa will want to hear what you just told us."

"Wait," Pilot whispered. He locked eyes with Brie. "Before we talk to Thessa... I haven't been completely honest with you either." Pilot flinched, and the twitch echoed through several of his limbs. "There's something I need to show you."

*****

Pilot felt dizzy and numb as he trailed after Rykken and Brie up the stairs to his bedroom. He couldn't stand Brie's anger at him for trusting Kennedy, or Rykken's pity toward him for falling in love with the villain of their story. All the other stuff they'd told him was a jumbled mess, leaving a fog over his mind that he would have to sort out later. The only thing he could think about with clarity was how Kennedy had gotten tangled in the mess.

The part of the story that didn't match up was that Kennedy was some sort of assassin. Kennedy liked tricks, but she didn't strike him as a killer. Yes, she had placed the book somewhere he could intercept it. He could accept that. And she manipulated him to activate some sort of spell on Rykken at the campfire. But that was weeks ago, and he'd just seen her. Why did she keep coming back? If she really wanted to hurt any of them, why hadn't she done so yet? Why had she instead started a relationship with him that seemed so real?

He reviewed the facts: no one could have pulled Silver Smoke out of thin air. That meant Brie and Rykken were telling the truth, at least to the best of their knowledge. But where was their truth coming from?

Much of it seemed to be coming from the other Hallows—Thessa, Cora, Clara, and Sirena. And hadn't he trusted Cora too? She had lied to him and manipulated him just as much as Kennedy did, but for some reason, Brie and Rykken still trusted her.

There were only two explanations he could think of regarding Kennedy: she really did love him, and had a good explanation for her actions... or she still needed him for something. He cringed over the second option. She promised him that she wasn't using him for anything, but that could easily have been a lie.

Still, he decided to withhold judgment about Kennedy until he had the chance to confront her. If there was any chance that what they had was real...

They reached Pilot's room, where he kept the contents of the package from his mom. He didn't know why he had kept the package a secret from Brie for so long; partly because his mom's lawyer told him to.

But also because his mom had picked him, not Brie, this time.

Pilot opened the drawer and pulled out the bubble envelope the lawyer had given him. Inside, he knew, were two letters—one that had been read hundreds of times, and one that was still sealed.

Brie looked at him curiously, while Rykken watched Brie's face carefully, a wrinkle in his forehead.

Pilot handed her the sealed letter.

"From mom," he said.

Brie took the letter from Pilot's hand gingerly. Rykken stood in the door frame, his wide eyes training on Pilot now. It didn't take Pilot much to figure out what Rykken was thinking.

Brie sat down on Pilot's bed, turning the envelope over and over in her hands.

Rykken took a step toward her. "Do you want me to read it to you?"

Brie simply shook her head. Rykken stood around uncomfortably, shuffling his feet.

"Mom told me not to give it to you in her instructions," Pilot said, defending himself against the unspoken tension in the room. "She said to give it to you when you were ready, and that I would know when the right time was."

"I spent two months locked in my room." Brie's voice wobbled. "Do you have any idea what it was like?

Lying in bed, unable to think of anything. Not having hunger or thirst or any interest in human interaction. Wanting to die, but not having the interest in plotting my own suicide. Not wanting to think about the potential aftermath." She looked at him accusingly. "You knew, better than anyone." Brie laid her head on Pilot's pillow calmly, slowly.

"I'm sorry," Pilot said. Rykken fixated on Brie curled up in a ball on Pilot's bed, as if he could feel the pain coursing through her.

Pilot knelt down beside his bed. "Brie, I know you're angry with me. Maybe even angry at Mom. But I think you should open the letter. A lot of crazy stuff is happening and it might have some answers."

Brie sat up. "Did she write you one too?"

"Yes."

"Did it have answers?"

"Not really."

"Did it give you closure?" Brie asked, raising her voice. "Did it help you get over Mom's death? Did it help you move on and deal with the paparazzi and with James and with all the ridiculous bullshit we've been through in the last three months?" Brie's tormented voice had morphed into a shrill yell.

Pilot tried not to let Brie's dramatic tirade give him guilt. "I did what Mom wanted," he repeated. The expression on Brie's face turned to near-tears. "There's no point in dwelling on the past," he said, sitting on the bed next to her. He put his arm around her and gently pulled the letter from her. "If you don't open it, I will."

Rykken's eyes blistered, like he was having trouble restraining his anger. "Give her a minute. She's been through a lot."

But to Pilot's surprise, Brie grabbed the letter from Pilot and calmly tore it from its envelope. She unfolded it, touching the paper where his mother handwrote her last instructions to her only daughter.

Brie read it out loud.

"Dearest Brie, If you are reading this, you know the truth. You know that I've done everything I can to help you, and I've failed. You know that the road ahead is long and there are very few people you can trust. You know that the person most like me will find you, and help you complete the work I've started.

And I hope you know that I love you, and I'm sorry about what's happened."

Brie stopped reading. She looked up, then glanced back at the note, her eyes skimming it. "If you have any more questions, look in your heart for the answer. We are more similar than you think. Love Mom."

Pilot looked at Rykken, puzzled, but Rykken was watching Brie. Pilot sighed. He wondered if Rykken was always looking at Brie and he had never noticed until now.

"Is that all?" Pilot asked.

"No. But it's like it's written in code or something." Brie crumpled the paper, throwing it at Pilot's wastebasket and making the shot.

Rykken walked over to the trash can and fished it out, smoothing the letter flat against the wood on Pilot's desk. He folded it twice so the paper would fit back in its envelope.

Brie folded her arms across her chest. "That was fun. We should go talk to Thessa now."

"Do you want to talk about this?" Pilot asked.

"I want you both to promise me something," Brie said. The alarm on Rykken's face reflected what Pilot felt.

"What?" Rykken and Pilot asked in unison.

Brie's gaze sharpened. "No more secrets. From now on, we tell each other everything, no matter what. If today has proven anything, it's that we have to trust each other." Brie held her hand out, palm down.

Pilot looked at Rykken, who shrugged. Pilot put his hand on top of Brie's. Rykken put his hand on top of Pilot's.

Brie put her other hand on top of Rykken's. "Thessa's." Pilot felt a tug at his arm getting sucked through a vacuum. The rest of his body followed, and when he opened his eyes again, he was inside a house with white furniture and mahogany floors.

CHAPTER SIXTEEN

Brie didn't realize what she'd done until she was standing in Thessa's foyer. Mirrors lined the walls on either side of her, creating reflections within reflections.

"Whoa," Pilot stammered, nearly falling over. He caught himself on a small table, almost knocking over the tall vase sitting on top of it.

"You could have warned us," Rykken added, looking a little dizzy himself.

"I didn't mean to bring us here." Brie walked toward the living room. "I just meant to say that we should leave."

Pilot's sour tone was a warning to her. "Don't ever do that to me again."

Cora walked out of the kitchen, Clara right behind her. "Pilot?" Clara said with surprise.

"You brought your earthlie brother?" Clara said in confusion. "Thessa told me you were coming alone."

"Pilot knows everything," Brie said. Or he would soon, she thought. Brie didn't want to overwhelm Pilot by telling him about the trip she was taking with Rykken and Sirena, and she didn't want him to alert the other Hallows or James.

"You can't tell an earthlie about us," Clara said. She seemed to be in a good mood. "That's against the law."

Brie pursed her lips, tilting her head to one side. "So is my existence," she said dryly. She didn't mean it as a joke, but Brie thought she caught a curl to Clara's lips.

Pilot, on the other hand, was still a wreck. He eyed Cora with distrust. "Can I speak to you later?" he asked her.

Her eyes widened. "Sure," she replied. Cora's eyebrows twitched, like she was turning something over in her head. "Thessa and Sirena are waiting for you upstairs."

Brie walked up the stairs confidently, and the boys following her. She didn't feel confident though; she was about to find out who her real father was. If he was alive, she would soon be visiting him to learn more about her mother's past. If he wasn't... she was still faced with the daunting task of leaving behind the safety of the island, her family, and the Hallow's protection to face the unknown. Either way, she knew in her heart that this meeting marked the beginning of the most difficult and dangerous time of her life.

Brie knocked on Thessa's bedroom door. When Thessa opened the door, surprise flickered on her face, but she barely missed a beat.

"Come in," she said. "I wasn't expecting all three of you."

Brie, Rykken, and Pilot filed in. The room was different than it had been the first time Brie saw it, when Thessa was sick and lying in her bed after the Homecoming dance. Now, it held comfortable couches and a table with cheese slices, crackers, chips, olives and pretzels.

"Pilot!" Sirena exclaimed, nearly choking on an olive. She put her hand over her heart. "You scared me.

You look so much like James."

Pilot tossed his dark brown hair out of his eyes, cracking his neck to the side. "You look so much like my mother," he said, with an edge in his voice. Suddenly, Brie realized how things looked—Pilot's own aunt had barely spoken to him, even before Brie learned she was a Hallow.

The three of them sat down in a row on one of the sofas. "Before we talk about my real dad," Brie said,

"I have to tell you both something. Kennedy has been using Pilot to get to Rykken."

If Thessa seemed worried, she didn't show it. "Interesting," she said. "I would advise you, earthlie, to stay away from Kennedy. She's an assassin for an organized crime group called Silver Smoke."

"Kennedy told me that they served good causes." Pilot's voice sounded strained. "Protecting lives.

Fighting injustice."

"Of course she did," Thessa said. "No one thinks they are serving a bad cause, do they? People only fight passionately for what they truly believe in. Kennedy fights for the injustices she's had in her life."

Thessa sighed. "I suppose I should tell you why Silver Smoke hates the Hallows, at least the Hallows that live and operate outside of the New Order. The monarchy did not tolerate their kind—to be one of them meant an immediate death. The members of Silver Smoke live underground because they were once exiled from our world, forced into hiding."

"What are they?" Brie asked. "I thought they were Nephilim."

"Half Nephilim," Thessa said. "And half Hallow. They are an abomination—neither Michael nor Luci planned for them to happen. Super human blood, loyalty to neither the light nor dark side, mixed with inherently flawed human blood. The mixture of the three types of blood strengthens their powers. They are stronger than either the Nephilim or the Hallows, but their powers are unstable at best, deadly at worst. They are called Trinities."

Rykken rubbed his chin. "It sounds like they were persecuted for something that wasn't their fault though. No one gets to choose what blood they are born with."

"There was one other option," Thessa said. "The stones. Anyone may be baptized again under the stones from the seven archangels. If they survived the ritual, they would have purely Hallow blood coursing through their veins."

"That sounds terrible," Pilot said. "What if they didn't survive?"

"It happened often," Thessa said quietly. "The arch isn't supposed to be used on anyone over a year in age, so it was safest when detected early. But even if the child had grown up, it was worth the risk. It would be better to die than to live a cursed, immortal life.

"Mother nature works in strange ways. The Trinities can't have children and thus can't pass on their instability through reproduction. So they live and wreak havoc and ruin themselves until they are put out of their misery by falling in battle... or by murder."

Pilot shut his eyes and held his temples between his thumbs and pointer fingers. The news must have been hard on him. Brie wondered how Pilot felt, finding out that his girlfriend was basically pure evil.

Sirena eyed Pilot with a heightened sense of empathy. "Our family was ruthless toward the Trinities. My grandfather was obsessed with hunting them down and ridding them from this earth for good. He didn't believe in giving them second chances with the arch—he thought their blood was too stained to be born again into the Hallow kingdom. It was no surprise that when the rebellion started, Silver Smoke sided with the New Order to bring down the monarchy."

"How does it happen?" Brie asked. "The Hallows and Nephilim—they never mix, do they? I can't imagine two of them conceiving children."

"Rape," Thessa replied dully. "Every Trinity I've ever met is the product of a rape." Thessa looked away suddenly, raising a bitten cracker to her lips, but not placing it in her mouth.

Brie's gaze met Sirena's. She wished now that she hadn't brought the boys, so she could ask the burning question she had on her tongue.

The moment passed. "I didn't find out anything new about your birth father," Thessa said, setting the cracker down. "I went to see one of your mother's oldest friends in New York. I thought for sure if she had left a clue, she would have left it with him. But he couldn't remember anything out of the ordinary from Milena." Thessa sighed. Brie felt as deflated as Thessa sounded.

"So I have no options left, save one. I need a sample of your blood, Brie. Yours too, Pilot. Your blood will carry both Milena's DNA and James' DNA. We can compare it to Brie's and identify the differences to narrow down the bloodline, at least. There is a guy named Thomas who owes me a favor. He can get into the New Order's research center and get the test results quickly, without raising suspicion."

"Are you sure?" Brie asked. "Where did this guy come from, and why do you all of a sudden have access to him?"

"I learned something new about Thomas recently that I'm confident will secure his cooperation, even for a task like this."

"Blackmail." A pinch of nervousness rose from Brie's stomach. "It seems risky."

"We have no choice," Thessa said. "We need to know who your father is if you are leaving to investigate Milena's map."

"Leaving?" Pilot asked. "Who? Where?"

Sirena looked at Brie with alarm. Rykken, who had been quiet almost the entire conversation, ducked his head.

"How did you know?" Brie asked, realizing a few seconds too late that she had just confirmed the trip with Thessa.

"I see things," Thessa explained. "I see the future sometimes." Thessa walked over to her dresser. "I'm not sure where you are going or what your plans are, but I think I owe it to you to explain how the New Order came into power." Thessa opened one of her dresser drawers and pulled out several needles, tubes, bags, and a pump.

"That looks huge," Brie said, gulping at the size of the blood bag she needed to fill. "Why does your contact need so much?"

"He doesn't," Sirena said. "I'm guessing Thessa wants to create several blood samples for each person, to ensure accurate results and throw Thomas off."

"That's right," Thessa said. She looked at Brie and patted the seat next to her. "Come. I can draw your blood for Thomas while I talk."

*****

The Hallows haven't always been ruled by a monarchy, but the model emerged around the middle ages. The royal family was made up of Michael's children, but there were complications. For a reason no one could determine until recently, the family only had daughters. Then, the archangel Michael's blood had a special property about it. When paired with another archangel's blood in a birth, Michael's blood dominated to the point where no one could even trace the other parent's blood in the child. That made the royal family not only the most powerful blood type of the Hallows, but also the purest. The rest of us all have a mix of bloods, passed down over time, but Michael's bloodline remained pure and intact.

Since our blood determines the powers we develop, the most prized powers and abilities were always kept within the royal family. This wouldn't be as big of a problem if the royal family hadn't turned it into a competition. The pure-blooded women who dominated the family ruled the Hallows—men were handpicked to join them, to stand at their sides, but never to rule in their places. The crown was passed from mother to daughter. The women of the family would hold contests among the Hallows to determine which men would be inducted into the family next.

Families began to breed pure-blooded children. Consequently, the Hallows divided into social classes based on blood, with pure-blooded children having better opportunities than mixed-blooded children. The women indicated their preference for pure-blooded men of the highest caliber. After Luci left, Michael never chose another co-captain for their army; but he appointed Gabrielle as his second-in-command. The women began to marry sons of Gabrielle almost exclusively in their quest for pure-blooded children.

There was one other way to become a pure blood again—to stand under the original stone arch sent from Michael himself; the one erected from the stones made from pieces of each of the seven archangels'

hearts. The royal family controlled the arch and who could stand under it. They charged hefty prices for the opportunity, allowing only men to stand under it for fear that a woman outside their family could become a daughter of Michael. They also sent these men on the most dangerous Hallow missions to test their worth. Even if the men came back alive, they only had a one in six chance to become a son of Gabrielle.

There was a group of mixed-bloods who wanted to see an end to the daughters of Michael. They felt the royal family was building themselves up at the expense of the Hallows they were meant to rule over.

When the faction of Hallows turned against the royal family over 100 years ago, I had to choose sides, as did Bes, my husband at the time. We had worked for the royal family for years because I had a genetic defect that didn't allow me to have children. We had both lived so long and had such knowledge of the royal family that the New Order accepted us readily as spies for their operations.

What they didn't know is that we were double agents, loyal to the royal family and the monarchy. We passed the information back to the royal family, but only enough to help them make plans. We didn't want to give up our own positions within the New Order because then we would be of no help to the royal family at all.

The family made preparations, specifically for their two newborn daughters, Milena and Sirena. When the New Order finally stormed the capital, it was I who smuggled them out, leaving behind the rest of the royal family to fight, and ultimately die.

I hid the girls and returned to Barcelona, only to find that the New Order had won. I was ready to turn myself in and die with Bes, our lives together more than lived. The New Order had taken over my family, my work, and my home. I had nothing left to lose. But we stayed, working alongside the New Order and forming a small coalition of dissenters on our own time. Milena and Sirena stayed in two separate places almost halfway around the globe from each other, in the midst of the New Order's own territory.

Milena stayed in New York City, a major port of theirs, and Sirena stayed on a small island in the middle of the Pacific called Guam. I visited them when I could to explain things to them and coach them through their first years with Hallow powers.

Not long after the New Order took over, they held a meeting to destroy Michael's arch. What once was a symbol of birth for the Hallows was now a symbol of division between them.

Of course, you can't actually destroy Michael's arch—you can take it apart and you can separate the stones, but the stones themselves are unbreakable. There was a council to decide how to get rid of Michael's arch for good. The meetings were held in absolute secrecy from the general Hallow public, but Bes and I were among the few invited to attend them.

The council decided that an appointed seven from the group would each be entrusted with one stone, which he or she would hide in an undisclosed location. The head of the council appointed a stone master, who would distribute the stones to the seven chosen by a secret ballot. Only the stone master would know who had each of the stones, and each of the seven chosen would know where one stone was, but not the other six. It was the perfect solution of checks and balances.

Naturally, Bes and I each vied for one of the seven spots, but neither of us was chosen. We were thankful though, several months later when the seven chosen stone-bearers returned from hiding the stones and the head of the council held a dinner to honor them and the stone master. The dinner was a secret also, of course, until the next day when the entire Hallow community found out that all eight had been murdered, to ensure that the arch was truly lost forever.

Bes and I were feeling overwhelmed at this point. We tried to piece together any snippets of information we could about the locations of the stones, but there was no chance. The members chosen to hide the stones were the most loyal of the council—they truly hadn't spoken the whereabouts to anyone or left any record—not a crumb of trail for us to follow.

A few years passed, and we learned of new sorts of cruelties, much different from the cruelties of the monarchy. The New Order leaders were chosen by vote, but that didn't mean the leaders were always the best for the job. Often, they used propaganda to gain their votes. The political field had turned into a popularity contest, where few Hallows truly understood the issues and few cared about the direction of the organization. Mysterious deaths cropped up, starting with any pure-blooded Hallows who had gained their pure blood from the arch in recent years, followed by members of the families who bred their children to be pure-blooded. The darkness of that time period motivated many of these remaining pure-blood Hallows into hiding. Bes and I kept a network of communication open for these families, but we couldn't gain the trust of all of them in order to organize them. Our efforts to infiltrate the New Order had failed on a different level that we hadn't taken into account. We were so ingrained in the politics that we ourselves were pawns, not to be trusted by either side, not really.

Eventually, any semblance that we would lead a revolution against the New Order disappeared; we became comfortable with finding places for ourselves within the New Order hierarchy. It was the second time for me to start over, giving up on things I couldn't change. The New Order had risen to power and was more powerful than the government they'd overthrown. The only difference between the two was that the New Order was easier to game because it relied less on luck and more on smarts and strategy. I only hoped to keep the few I was able to hide alive, and to keep my ears open for anyone else I could help.

A new, twisted challenge soon emerged—a grave shortage of men. A disproportionate number of unwed female Hallows now existed thanks to the New Order's extermination of pure-bloods from Michael's arch.

This, coupled with the natural shortage of male births due to male twins being less common than female twins, had dwindled our numbers greatly. And now there was no arch to create new Hallows from humanity or infuse our ranks with strong, pure blood.

Bes was called upon to marry. He was married to me, but the New Order annulled our marriage because I couldn't bear children.

He said we could run away, but I wouldn't let him. I told him to go to his new wife. We were both so tired of the politics of the Hallows, tired of seeing all of our friends and everyone we loved die, century after century. He took his wife, had the children the New Order wanted, and died shortly after.

A few years after Bes, my best friend Magda had children—two twin girls, with the most beautiful almond eyes, skin the color of coffee, and heart-shaped faces. When they grew up, I trained them, and we noticed that their powers were unique and unlike anything we'd ever seen before. They were the most powerful young Hallows I have ever trained, aside from Milena and Brie.

Magda had seen what had happened to me, Bes, and countless others. She didn't want her children's powers to be used by the New Order, so when she died, I took the girls with me, away from Barcelona.

We found Milena and Sirena. I told Milena the story of the stones, but by then she had already fallen in love with an earthlie named James. She didn't know her real parents or her aunts or even her twin sister.

She had grown up in the earthlie world and that was where she felt she belonged. She wanted to get married to James, have children, open an art gallery in New York, and continue her charity work.

I was disappointed in her, but I could only hope that she'd change her mind. Sirena was slightly easier to convince. We stayed long enough to watch Milena walk down the aisle toward her soul mate from the balcony of the church, hidden behind the choir.

After that, we went our separate ways. The twins and I headed out to meet some of the families in hiding, while Sirena went to see others. Very few of the families were interested in fighting the New Order, and by that time many of their children had married earthlies as well, letting their blood lines die.

We were stuck again, with no further course of action. There were so few people who had experienced the atrocities of the New Order outside of the capital, and even fewer who were willing to take a stand for a new government that could easily be equal to or worse than the current one. None of us had the vision needed to rally others to our side. It was at times like this that I longed for Bes, with his beautiful words that could convince anyone of anything.

After Milena had children, she called me. She was leaving James due to his work schedule and exposure to the media. She wanted to form an escape plan for her two children, both under two years old, in case the New Order found her. I should have known then that something was strange about the request, but I didn't put things together until after Milena was already gone and we discovered you, Brie. We formulated the plan that you all already know about...

*****

Thessa slicked the needle out of Pilot's arm and covered the penetration point with a bandage. Sirena, Brie, and Rykken were hanging on to Thessa's every word, but something about the story seemed off to Pilot. He drifted from the chair to the couch, leaning back into the pillows to counter the dizziness of losing so much blood at once.

"I've thought about Milena's map and all the trips she took," Thessa continued. "They were after she had already given birth, so her Hallow powers would have been slowly dwindling. But I wonder, was there a chance she was looking for the stones so she could start a revolution? And why would she be looking for the stones without us? I still haven't figure it out yet, though I can't imagine what else she would have been looking for." Thessa's eyes slid over Pilot as she looked at the other three. He tried not to let it get to him, but the lack of attention only reminded him of how out of place he was in this new world.

"It's an interesting theory," Sirena said. "I wish Milena had just been honest with us—that would make this whole mess much easier."

Rykken plopped down the chair Pilot had just vacated. "I want you to draw my blood too," Rykken said, holding out his arm.

Thessa looked at him with surprise, then gave him a single nod. "We'll test my source's trustworthiness with your blood, first," she said, jabbing a fresh needle into his arm.

If Thessa's statement worried Rykken, he didn't show it. It didn't matter anyway—all three of them handed over their DNA, and if the source was bad all three would have to contend with the New Order.

Brie paced the room, passing behind Pilot on the couch. She seemed completely healthy, like the blood drawing hadn't affected her at all. "So if you're right about Milena and she was looking for the stones, how would she go about finding them? Thessa, you said yourself that you and Bes had no idea where to begin, and you were there when the stones were first scattered. How would Milena even have a chance?"

"She wouldn't," Sirena said, her eyes narrowed. "Maybe that's why she died—she snooped too much and got caught."

Thessa seemed to contemplate this. "I guess you'll find out," she said. "If you still plan on going, that is. Maybe this answer satisfies your curiosity."

"It's not an answer," Brie said, a determined look in her eye. "It's a theory." Sirena nodded, but Thessa's worry lines deepened.

When Rykken's blood was drawn, he steadied himself out of the chair. "I'm going to head home," he said.

"Thanks for having us, Thessa."

Thessa nodded and looked at Pilot. "Please let me know if Kennedy visits you again."

Pilot wasn't sure that he would; he didn't feel comfortable turning Kennedy in. What if the Hallows hurt her? Pilot was still convinced that Kennedy had an explanation for everything the Hallows accused her of.

Pilot refused to travel using Brie's power again, and Rykken didn't want to go to his own home for dinner, so they walked several miles back to the van Rossum house. Brie and Rykken were completely absorbed in a discussion about Milena's motives for searching for the stones when Pilot interrupted.

"Why are you doing this?" Pilot asked Brie.

Brie spun around sharply, though he wasn't sure if her surprise was over his question or because she had just remembered he was there.

"Doing what?"

"Messing with these powerful stones." Pilot flexed his shoulder blades back, moving his arms to loosen the tension in his neck. "The New Order has nothing to do with you and you're probably going to get yourself killed."

Brie stopped walking. "Aren't you curious what happened to Mom?"

"Is that what this is about? Mom?" Pilot shook his head. "What do you think you're going to do, find these stones when Thessa couldn't? Make sure that Mom's death wasn't in vain?"

Brie folded her arms. "I was considering it."

"You don't even know that she was looking for the stones! It's just a theory that Thessa came up with."

And now that Pilot thought about it, the theory was completely illogical. Finding the stones was Thessa's goal, not Milena's. Hadn't Thessa said as much? That Milena wanted to get married and have children?

Pilot put two fingers to his right temple. "Can't you see?" he asked. "The Hallows are manipulating you.

You heard all the terrible things they did to their own people. How do you know you're on the right side, Brie?"

Brie forehead creased with genuine worry, as if she was questioning herself. Finally she said, "Mom's letter."

Pilot bit the air he exhaled. "Mom's letter?"

" You know that the person most like me will find you, and help you complete the work I've started," she quoted. "The person most like her is Sirena, her biological twin. She wants Sirena and me to complete her work."

"She could have meant anything by that," Pilot said, though now he was the one in doubt. It all made his head spin anyway—how did Milena know that Brie would have powers and he wouldn't? Did Milena know she was on a suicide mission before she wrote those letters?

"I need to do this," Brie said, walking backwards so she could face Pilot. "I need to know the truth about what happened with Mom."

"This isn't a game or some curious itch you need to scratch!" Pilot grabbed her by the arms, wishing he could shake sense into her. She yelped under his firm grip, even though he knew he couldn't be hurting her. Rykken's arms tensed, but he didn't make a move toward the siblings. "This is insane," Pilot railed.

"All of it. You need to think this through Brie. You are only fifteen years old, they can't expect you to

—"

"Sirena thinks—"

At the mention of Sirena's name, Pilot let go of Brie, practically pushing her away. He walked past her.

"Don't talk about Sirena anymore."

Brie was quiet for a minute as she fell into step with him. "Maybe you should talk to Sirena. She's your family too."

"No. You are my family. Sirena is the one taking my family away." Pilot rubbed his eyes, feeling panicked. "There is no way I can go with you, is there? Not as a human... as an... earthlie."

Brie shook her head sadly. "I'm sorry Pilot. I don't know how I could protect you or how you could help."

How you could help. Pilot was helpless in the Hallow world. He was a burden.

"I'm going with them though," Rykken said. He said it with a reassuring voice, but something about that sentence just fueled Pilot's anger.

"Don't get me started on you." Pilot turned to Rykken. "You knew she was planning this suicide trip and you didn't tell me!"

Rykken clenched his mouth, as if he wanted to say something, but couldn't. Brie glared at Pilot, then grabbed Rykken's hand and pulled a few steps ahead. Pilot let himself fall behind them.

Pilot wished he had something to punch, and right now the back of his best friend's head looked pretty inviting. Consciously, he knew he was misdirecting his anger, but at that moment he didn't care. He felt like his sister and his best friend were leaving him at the same time, becoming a part of this new world that excluded him. Together.

Then there was Kennedy. Kennedy was part of Silver Smoke, which was part of the Hallow world—a world he should have been a part of. He was Milena's son—why didn't he have powers? Was it because of what Thessa had said about the sons of Michael?

Every fiber of Pilot's being ached for answers, anything that would make him feel less alone. Brie and Rykken were so silent and peaceful, his hand in hers as they walked. Pilot wasn't angry about the two of them together anymore, not really. He still didn't understand how it happened so quickly, or how every look between them seemed to have years of history behind it. He didn't understand why their thoughts, words, and movements seemed to be so perfectly in sync.

The only part he was still mad about was how he didn't fit in with them, the same way he didn't fit in to the Hallow world. Pilot tried to imagine a scenario where their trio could work: a scenario where it wouldn't always be two against one. A scenario where they wouldn't choose each other over him.

He couldn't.

The void left Pilot with a single thought—Kennedy. He needed to find Kennedy.

CHAPTER SEVENTEEN

Exactly four chairs with thin, patterned covers surrounded the small, round iron-wrought table in the dining room. There was a simple abstract painting of tan, concrete buildings on the wall. The small room contrasted with the van Rossum's huge, formal dining room, but the warm, neutral colors used to make Rykken feel at home.

Rykken pictured sitting there with his foster parents, before things had gotten so terrible. In his vision, his mom— Mrs. Wakefield, he told himself—spooned red rice and Korean barbecue onto his plate. Mr.

Wakefield ate his food quietly, but never failed to tell Rykken the one lesson he'd learned that day.

Mrs. Wakefield was the chatty one—she asked Rykken how his day was, how his grades were, if there were any girls he liked.

When he moved in with the Wakefields at age twelve, he was a quiet kid, shy from being shuffled through schools and families the same way people change wardrobes or haircuts. The Wakefields weren't nearly as well off as his other foster families, but they worked hard and they actually spent time with him. Under their influence, he grew out of his shyness, figured out he was good at sports, and began to excel in school.

He never expected to get kicked out of the Wakefields before he was eighteen and done with the system. Technically, they didn't kick him out—he volunteered to move in with the van Rossums until he turned eighteen, about nine months from then. They protested, but neither of them hid the relief on their faces when he brought a few packing boxes home from school one day.

It doesn't matter, he told himself. It's over.

After burning the parting image of the dining room into his mind, he walked outside to the Camry where Pilot waited in the driver's seat. He took one last look at the blue and white house with the wrecked blue Chevelle in the driveway. The temperature was unusually warm for a November evening on the island. Rykken opened the car door and settled into the passenger seat. "Do you mind?" He held up his iPod.

"Sure man. Whatever you want to listen to."

Rykken spun the wheel of his iPod until he found the playlist he used when life overwhelmed him.

Soft-rolling, explicit lyrics exploded from the sound system. He felt like the Eminem song banging from the speakers—angry and raw, and underneath it all, lost.

Pilot turned the volume down as they pulled up to the van Rossum house. "You know you're going to be okay, right?" Pilot rolled his window down and punched in the code to open the gate to his home.

Rykken nodded, swallowing his emotions. "When I was young," he said, "I had this crazy idea that I was different from the other foster kids—that my parents would come back for me. I hoped and prayed every single day that I would meet them." Rykken gazed beyond the glass at nothing in particular, idly tapped his fingers along the rim of the car window, in time with the music. "As I got older, I realized they weren't coming back to rescue me, so I held out for the possibility of getting another family." He sighed. The garage door creaked open, revealing an empty spot where Annie's SUV was normally parked. The house lights were out; Rykken guessed Brie was with Annie, wherever she was.

"Did you think the Wakefields were that family for you?" Pilot asked. His tone was casual, but guarded.

The question pierced Rykken's thoughts, causing him to wince. "I guess not—they never talked to me about adoption. Doesn't matter though—the reality is I'm seventeen years old and still in the system. No one ever adopted me. Statistically, I should probably be in juvie right now, but I'm not."

Pilot twisted the key, killing the engine. His brows hung close to his eyes and his every move screamed of his discomfort.

"I know I'm one of the luckier ones," Rykken said, trying to keep his voice nonchalant. "But I think about the rest of my life and realize that I'll never have a mom and dad. I'll never have siblings. I'll never have people to fly home from college for on the holidays."

Pilot frowned. "You might have a Hallow family, I thought."

"Like I said, if they wanted me, they would have found me." Rykken unclenched the fists he didn't know he was tightening. His palms had dotted lines across then from where his fingernails dug in. He pressed down on his fingers, stretching the muscles in his forearms. "I have to accept that they either died or abandoned me." His voice caught, and Pilot looked up, finally meeting his eyes.

"Then you have me," Pilot said quickly. "You have my family, however messed up it is."

"Thanks." Rykken wiped the corners of his eyes. Pilot pretended to fumble with the handle on the door.

"We should unload," Pilot said, practically falling out of the car.

Rykken inhaled the evening air to collect himself. Pilot was doing him a huge favor, and he didn't want to make things more uncomfortable for his friend. They both circled to the back of the car and Pilot popped the trunk. He handed Rykken a box of stuff, one of three that Rykken brought to the van Rossums.

It pained him that he only had five items to move—the three boxes, his guitar, and his surfboard. His life's possessions could fit in someone's car.

Pilot grabbed the other two boxes and they walked up the sidewalk to Pilot's house. "You know why I put up with James?" he asked. Rykken's eyes still brimmed with wetness, but he looked up anyway.

"Because I've seen what you've gone through, not having parents." Pilot shrugged. "James isn't much of a dad, but I'm lucky to have him. I hope you know you can ask him for anything you need."

Rykken nodded; he wasn't comfortable with asking James for anything, but he knew Pilot was trying to help him.

They set the boxes down in the guest room where Rykken usually stayed. Rykken pivoted in place, turning a full 360 degrees. The bed looked inviting, with light green sheets and a fluffy blue comforter covered in palm trees. The walls had paintings on them—the humdrum kind that hotels used to give a room that expensive feel. There was a flat screen TV on the wall and a dark, wooden desk in the corner next to a bookshelf with random ceramics and seashells instead of books. He had slept in that same room so many times before, but he had never really looked at it. Now that he was, he felt like a stranger, intruding on the generically appealing accommodation.

"Are you sure James is okay with me staying here long-term?" Rykken asked.

Pilot nodded, but his eyes didn't seem convinced. "Well, I didn't tell him about you and Brie. So yes, for now. But if he figures out..." Pilot let the sentence die. He tackled stacking the three boxes in an empty corner of the room with renewed energy. When he finished, a non-judgmental but questioning smile flashed across his face. "Won't it be weird living with your girlfriend?" he asked. Pilot's eyes flickered to Rykken's, but then he redirected his gaze to something on the floor near Rykken's feet.

"Yeah," Rykken admitted. He sighed, thinking back to the awkward conversation with Brie earlier that week. When he told Brie about his predicament and asked if she minded, she said it was fine; but he could tell she was just as nervous as he was.

"We're leaving anyway," she had said. "So it doesn't matter where you leave your stuff."

He wondered how true that was, but before he got very far with that train of thought, he was distracted by Pilot's intense, drilling stare.

Rykken felt something hot in his throat and coughed to dislodge it. "Nothing will happen with Brie,"

Rykken said, once he'd pounded his chest a few times. "If that's what you're worried about."

"I'm not." Pilot puckered, like he'd swallowed a salted lemon. "I mean, if you're dating her... I'm assuming you'll eventually want to, you know, be with her."

The heat in Rykken's throat burned to his head and chest. Rykken forced the thought of fooling around with Brie out of his mind, almost as quickly as it came. He was getting better at not thinking about her that way, at least not when Pilot was watching him.

"Are you still mad about us?" he asked tentatively.

"I don't know," Pilot said, his forehead creased across the center. "I want you both to be happy, but I wish you'd take things slower."

"We are," Rykken said, confused. "I haven't..." Rykken couldn't finish his sentence. He hated how lately, his conversations with Pilot could quickly take an awkward turn.

It didn't matter though; Pilot seemed to hear the words Rykken couldn't say. Pilot scrunched his eyebrows, concentrating very hard. Rykken guessed the conversation was just as awkward for him.

"Not physically," Pilot finally said. "But emotionally you seem too serious. It came out of nowhere."

"I care about her," Rykken said. The words couldn't even begin to describe how he felt about Brie, but he didn't want to get ahead of himself.

"For the record, I'm glad her first real boyfriend is a good guy that I can trust. But I don't want to see either of you get hurt, and I don't want to get left out."

Pilot's admission stunned him. "You'll always be my best bro. You know that, right?"

Pilot exhaled. "I guess I should be glad, because she needs someone to take care of her and I can't anymore." He cringed involuntarily, but tried to fold his arms across his chest to cover it up. "At least not with this Hallow stuff."

"Right," Rykken said. He waited; Pilot had a look on his face—

"Do you think Brie and Sirena have any chance of finding these stones?" Pilot asked, rushing through the words. He was visibly upset—more upset than Rykken had seen him since the last time they were at Thessa's house.

Rykken sucked in, buying himself a few seconds to think carefully about his words. "No," Rykken said finally. "But I can't let Brie go by herself. Hopefully the trip will give her closure for your mom's death, and she'll agree to come home."

Pilot's expression was a mixture of confusion and gratitude. He opened his mouth, the worry in his eyes lessening. His mouth formed the beginnings of a sentence, but before he spoke, he shook his head, changing gears. "Will you help me talk her out of the trip altogether?"

"We can try." Rykken shrugged, unsure why Pilot was asking. "We both know she won't change her mind though."

Pilot nodded emphatically. "I can handle this though," he said, more to himself than to Rykken.

"You'll go with her, make sure she doesn't get hurt, and convince her to come back as soon as possible so we can go back to our normal lives."

"That's the plan," Rykken said. "I think I can convince her that the stones are impossible. We still don't know why Milena would want them."

"She wouldn't have wanted them," Pilot said with conviction. "Thessa wants them. My mom just wanted a family."

Rykken didn't engage the subject further. He didn't want to get into another argument about Thessa's motives. He was used to Pilot's overprotective outbursts when it came to Brie. Their sibling relationship had always fascinated him, probably because he was so alone in the world. It seemed like they were always at each other's throats, but underneath every argument and complaint was teasing. They never hung out with the same group of friends, but they always had a pulse on each other's lives. They said terrible, brutally honest things to each other that could rip normal friendships apart, but an hour later they'd be laughing again. No matter what, they knew they'd always have each other.

Rykken wondered if that's why most Hallows were born as twins—so they always knew they had someone else who understood the changes they were going through. He was lucky he had Brie, since he didn't have a brother or sister—

"Oh my God," he said, putting his palms on the sides of his head. Twins. Hallows were born in pairs... how had he missed it?

"What's wrong?" Pilot asked.

"Nothing," Rykken said. "Can I borrow your car? There's something I need to check out."

*****

Pilot paced James' study, unable to sit still that Friday night. He knew Brie and Annie would be back from errands soon, and Rykken would be back a little after them, but the large, desolate house was too quiet for his liking.

His heart-to-heart with Rykken reassured him about Brie, but there was one topic they hadn't covered

—Kennedy. His last few evenings had been the same—he sat at James' desk and stewed over what he knew about the Hallows and Silver Smoke. Anything he could pull from his conversations with Kennedy, Brie, Rykken, and Thessa could be of use to understanding what Kennedy's motives were. He stared at the maps canvased across James' office walls, speckled with color-coded pushpins. He had finally figured out that the red pins represented the places Milena travelled without James. Did Kennedy know about Milena?

Kennedy hadn't hurt Rykken yet, but maybe it was because he wasn't the target. Maybe she'd found out about his mother's past.

Pilot shook his head—he couldn't believe that Kennedy was evil. Misunderstood, maybe; but he didn't think he could fall in love with a murderer.

He heard a soft tread on the carpet, and he knew it was her without turning around.

"I guess I shouldn't bother asking how you got inside," Pilot said, facing the map on the wall. "I know all about Silver Smoke and the Hallows and Nephilim."

The footsteps coming toward him stopped abruptly. He took her silence for guilt.

"Where have you been?" he asked, trying to keep the accusation out of his voice. Give her a chance to explain, he reminded himself.

"Trying to figure out how to get your powers back." She spoke softly, with none of the playfulness that normally filled her voice. The difference startled Pilot in a way her presence couldn't.

"My powers?" he asked.

Her voice just above a whisper, she said, "Aren't you curious why you don't have powers?"

Pilot finally looked at her. She wore her usual black ensemble, and the dim lamp lighting reflected off her pale, platinum blonde hair while relinquishing the rest of her face and body to the shadows. Her wet, silver eyes twinkled like the surface of a lake beneath a full moon.

"I've been wondering," he admitted.

Her shoulders fell back from their stiff, upright position. "You should have powers, and I think I know how to get them back for you." Her voice picked up, returning to a normal volume. "We just need Brie's help."

The mention of Brie shook sense into Pilot, bringing him back from the alternate reality he'd been living in with Kennedy for the past several weeks. He had thought, at the time, that it was okay to escape his mundane day-to-day with her—that it didn't hurt anyone. Now, he realized how very wrong he'd been about relationships—they couldn't function in a vacuum, fueled by desire. This was all his fault.

He choked on his own emotions hanging in his throat. "Brie said you're some sort of assassin for Silver Smoke."

Kennedy opened her mouth to speak, but something in his face made her pause. He could see her mind churning, as if she were reversing a car, backing up and changing course. "You didn't hear that from Brie."

Pilot's skin tingled, sensing manipulation. "So it's true. You do kill people."

"I've done what I had to," Kennedy said defensively. "You know what my sister is like. She would have killed me if I didn't do her bidding. I didn't have a choice."

Pilot wanted to accept her answer at face value. Her wounded gaze lured him in and he wanted so badly to trust her it hurt.

"Were you sent here to kill Rykken?"

"Not this time." Kennedy pierced him with her eyes. "If I had been, he'd be dead already." Her words were snappy and alive, far from how she'd greeted him, but closer to her normal demeanor. She walked toward Pilot and pushed his hair out of his face. "I know you're surprised about my past, but everyone has one.

The things I've done to survive don't change what we have." She leaned in closer, until he could smell her hair. She probably hadn't washed it in days, judging from how shiny it was, but it still smelled amazing to him. "I'm still the same girl you met in the school library," she whispered, "the same girl you held and kissed just outside this window, in your hammock—"

"You're a murderer," Pilot said, pulling away from her. He needed to keep his head clear and her touch wasn't helping.

"You are young," she said coldly. "You don't understand." Her words were harsh, but the pained look on her face told him that he had hurt her. She turned away from him, staring at James' desk. She picked up a framed picture of his mother and James. "And don't think that Milena never killed to save her children."

Pilot felt like she'd slapped him. "My mother wasn't a murderer."

"She was," Kennedy said, folding her arms. "She just defined murder differently."

Pilot fell into his dad's chair, glaring at Kennedy. "Why are you here? To taunt me with secrets about my dead mother?" Pilot felt a deep sadness in the pit of his stomach, desperate to rise into his throat. He swallowed, determined not to tear up.

"No," Kennedy said softly. "I came here to tell you I love you."

Her words immediately softened him in a way that made him hate himself for being so weak for her. She crawled into his lap, pulling his willing arms around her and tucking her head under his chin.

"I'm sorry," she said. "I should have been honest with you from the beginning, so you wouldn't doubt me like this." She pulled away from him slightly and looked into his eyes. "The Hallows didn't give you and Brie the whole story." She stroked his cheek, and her lips found his. They tasted of Mentos, and slightly of blood. "If you want to be a part of Silver Smoke, I've figured out how. But you have to trust me."

"Why would I want to be part of Silver Smoke?" Pilot asked. "Look what your sister has done to you." His anger toward Kennedy was melting away, replaced by anger toward this unknown sister of hers.

Kennedy studied his face. "We can overthrow my sister if we can reclaim your powers." She must have noticed the skepticism bubbling along Pilot's lip line, because she added, "Taking over Silver Smoke is the only way I can guarantee your safety, and Brie's. "Her face contorted as he deliberated over her words. "And it's the only way we can be together."

"You could leave Silver Smoke," Pilot countered.

"No," she said with sad eyes, "I can't. This is the only way for us, Pilot."

Pilot's breath escaped slowly. He didn't understand all the whys, but he believed Kennedy, despite all the warnings. Kennedy had a past that he didn't agree with, but that didn't mean her future couldn't be better. He shouldn't turn his back on her now, not when he could save her. They could save each other.

Wasn't that what love was about?

All he needed was Brie.

He looked down at Kennedy's face. She was waiting for his response, her eyes glistening. "Will you come with me?" she asked.

"What about Rykken?"

Kennedy's head wobbled. Surprise flashed in her eyes, then anger. "Do you think that your friendship with Rykken is real?"

"Yes," Pilot responded automatically.

Kennedy rocked her head, pity in her eyes. "It's not. Thessa needed a way to tie you to Honolulu, in case something happened to Milena. Cora manipulated the two of you to become friends."

"That's not possible." Pilot felt a stab of pain mixed with a slight sense of guilt at the mention of Cora's name. He had forgotten about her completely. He didn't trust the other Hallows and wouldn't think twice about leaving them, but Cora... "Cora would have told me," Pilot said. "She's not capable of lying like that."

Kennedy pulled his cell phone out of his pocket and pressed some buttons. "Ask her then," she said, a layer of something he didn't understand over the normal tone in her voice. She taunted him with the phone, set to Cora's number. All he had to do was press the green button.

Pilot pushed her claims out of his head and pushed a red button to clear the number from the screen.

"Rykken is my best friend."

Kennedy's eyes flashed, reminding him of oncoming headlights in the middle hours after sundown and before sunrise, when the night was at its darkest. "Do you want to know the truth, Pilot? Or do you want to believe the lies these Hallows are spinning to you and your sister?"

He gently pushed her out of his lap, until she stood up, facing him. "What's the truth then?" he asked.

His body shivered; the room was chilly without her in his arms.

"The truth is that Milena didn't care about you, or James. She only cared about protecting Brie. She forced James away, and Cora convinced him to buy a home on this island. Thessa found Rykken nearly dead on the river, and she planted him where she needed him—in a water polo camp you just so happened to be attending. She used you to tie the family closer to Honolulu, in case something happened to Milena."

Pilot felt cold all over. "How do you know that?"

"Because I was there, watching. Not you. I've watched Rykken though, since he first came to this island."

"Why Rykken?" Pilot asked. "What are you keeping from me?"

Kennedy tossed her hair over her shoulder. "It doesn't matter. He's a Hallow; he belongs with the others. He can't come with us."

Nothing Kennedy said made sense. "You're manipulating me," Pilot said.

"Don't you understand?" Kennedy said, the rage slicing through in her voice. "It's not me that's manipulating you. It's the Hallows!"

Pilot jolted out of his seat. "You manipulated me with the book. You tricked me to use it to unbind Rykken's powers."

"Yes, it's true. At first, I only saw you as a tool. But that was before I knew who you were—a son of Michael and—"

"Who I am?" Pilot was disgusted. He turned and hurled his balled fist through the Atlantic Ocean section of James' map, halting upon sharp impact into the solid wall that didn't give nearly as much as he hoped.

When he wrenched his fist free, he turned around.

Kennedy's mouth hung open, her shoulders uncharacteristically hunched over.

"You're just like every other girl, Kennedy." Pilot enunciated every syllable, giving them crisp edges.

"You don't care about me—you only care about who my family is and what they can do for you!"

Kennedy deflated into the chair in front of James' desk. "No, I didn't mean it like that—"

"Son of Michael," Pilot said, scoffing, as he sat back down. Pain seared through his right arm up to his shoulder.

"I know that's what it looks like," Kennedy said, assuming a calm, rational demeanor.

Pilot thought about what Thessa had said. The royal family was made up of Michael's children... The family only had daughters...

"And with your father being as famous as he is, I understand why you would expect that. But I have real feelings for you and—"

"Sons of Michael must be rare if you value dating me so much," he said.

"The Hallows didn't tell you?" Surprise caked Kennedy's expression. "You have no idea how rare sons of Michael are. You would be the first in over 2,000 years."

Pilot's heart plummeted to his stomach. "I'm done." Pilot stood abruptly. "I can't listen to you anymore." She had told him everything he needed to know in her reaction. Son of a musician, son of Michael—what did it matter? No matter what world he lived in, he was destined to be a status symbol in some bigger power play.

Kennedy relinquished her seat. "You aren't ready to listen to me," she said sadly. She circled the desk to the other side. "I need to take care of someone."

Pilot looked up. "Rykken?"

"I'm going to finish the job I should have finished years ago."

"You're not going to kill him, are you?"

"It doesn't matter if I do," she said matter-of-factly. "You're too worked up to reason with, though, so I need your sister's help to convince you. And to convince her, I need Rykken anyway, to show her...

well, I'll let her explain to you later." Pilot was struck by her frankness; he could practically see Kennedy's mind working, mapping out the next steps in her head, like she was playing a game of checkers.

The corner of her lips fell as she whipped her hair out of her face. "But sure, I might kill him. He's dangerous to us. You'll understand why someday."

Pilot lunged at her across the desk, but his hands slid away from her skin like it was wrapped in satin.

Kennedy looked down at his hands as he struggled to grab on to her, pity behind her eyes. "And we'll be on more equal footing when you finally get your powers."

"I don't care about my powers!" He screamed obscenities at her until he noticed that her expression hadn't changed, as if she didn't believe any portion of his anger was real.

She sat him back down firmly. He struggled, but it was fruitless—despite how much raw strength he should have over her tiny frame, she barely flinched at any of his movements. "Yes, you do care about your powers," she said softly. "And you can't have your powers and me and Brie all safe and sound unless I do something about Rykken."

Pilot's voice felt raspy. "You. Can't. Hurt. Him."

"Would you prefer me to trap him, so he can never live a normal life? Or turn him over to my dear sister?

Who knows what she would do to him."

"I won't forgive you if you hurt him."

"Forgiveness comes in time, Pilot. And you'll have forever to forgive me, once you embrace your place in Silver Smoke."

These words confused Pilot more than anything else she had said. She made it seem like he already had a place in Silver Smoke, like he was... destined to be there.

Pilot's thoughts rolled, the pieces coming together. When Pilot was just beginning to surf, he tried to tackle a wave far beyond his abilities. His balance was off and he was too far up on the board. When the wave overtook him, his board came up behind him, smacking into his body before the ocean pulled him into somersaults underneath it.

The meaning of her words hit him just like the board, knocking the wind from his lungs. He swallowed.

Kennedy looked at him sadly. "I'm sorry I didn't tell you sooner," she said.

"What do you see for us?" Pilot asked softly. "Even if..." he stopped. He couldn't bring himself to finish the sentence. "Even if what you're saying is true, we can't be together if you hurt Rykken."

"It is you who will want forgiveness from me someday. When you figure out that I'm the one telling the truth, and the Hallows are the ones lying to you." Kennedy gave him a soft kiss on the lips. He hungered for more, but he didn't kiss her back. Not yet—not until he had time to think about his new revelation.

"Don't worry," she said, her body turning into a hollow shell, a flicker of her physical body. "I've already forgiven you." Then she disappeared.

*****

Brie twisted in her seat, eager to get the groceries into the house as Annie parked her SUV in the van Rossum driveway.

"It's sweet that you wanted to make dinner for Rykken tonight," Annie said. "I feel terrible for him

—getting kicked out of his foster parents' home and everything."

Brie smiled politely. "I'm glad James is letting him stay." James was still in LA, but he said yes right when Pilot asked, to Brie's relief. Rykken's social services worker faxed James the paperwork and waived the interview process; the deal was done in just a few days. James' willingness to let Rykken stay with them, despite the potential publicity and security risks, warmed Brie's heart.

When Brie glanced up, Annie was staring at her. "Have you told James about you and Rykken yet?"

Annie asked, a twinge of knowledge in the corners of her eyes.

Brie bit her lip, unsure how to answer. How did Annie know about them?

"Oh, come on," Annie said, taking in the look on Brie's face. "I'm not blind. I see the way Rykken looks at you."

Brie's eyebrows flattened across her forehead. "How does he look at me?"

Annie laughed. "Like you're the only person in his world."

Brie felt her expression softening. "We just started dating, and it's not serious." Annie scoffed, chuckling to herself.

Brie clasped her hands together, entwining her fingers. She twisted sideways in her seat to face Annie. "Please don't tell James yet. I'll tell him soon. But I don't want Rykken to get kicked out of another home... it'll destroy him."

Annie reclined her head, glancing up at the ceiling of her car. "You know I'm risking my job by keeping your secret."

"If James finds out, you don't have to tell him you knew. I won't tell him. We won't even tell Pilot you know."

Annie tilted her head the other way. "So Pilot knows... I wondered how he would take it."

"He understands," Brie said, even though she was fairly sure Pilot was still freaked out about her dating his best friend.

Annie smirked, getting out of the car. Brie felt her face heat up; it was obvious that Annie didn't believe her. Maybe she'd heard Pilot yelling at them when he first found out? Annie noticed everything.

As she circled around to the trunk, Brie wondered if Annie had noticed something useful; something that could help her understand Kennedy's motives.

"Speaking of Pilot," she said casually, "he told me I could borrow this book from him, Hawaiian Myths and Legends." Brie watched Annie's face, but her expression didn't change at the mention of the book. "I can't find it anywhere in the house though. Have you seen it?"

"Nope," Annie said. "The last time I saw it was when Pilot asked for it."

"Oh," Brie said, playing dumb. "Maybe I'll just get a copy of it. Where did you buy it?"

Annie sighed. "Honestly, Brie, I don't remember anymore." She grabbed grocery bags from the trunk.

"That's weird." Brie said. "I thought you had a good memory for those things, since James is so particular about what comes into the house. Isn't that the reason he hired you?" Brie looked at her middle finger casually, like she was examining her manicure. "Unless you borrowed it from someone, or someone you knew gave it to you..."

Annie set a bag of groceries on the cement garage floor. "What do you want, Brie? I already said I wouldn't tell James about Rykken."

"I'm not threatening you." Brie smiled, hoping she could prove her sincerity. "I just need to know how you got that book, especially since it's missing."

Annie was quiet for a moment. "There was a girl, okay? I met her at a bar on my night off right after your mom died and right before you and Pilot came here."

Brie clamped her mouth shut, utterly shocked.

"The girl came over afterwards to talk, and have a drink. I know James doesn't like strangers in the house, but nothing happened—I cannot stress that enough to you. She was just a friend." Annie put her hands together in front of her like she was praying, but Brie guessed she was actually incredibly embarrassed.

"Anyway," Annie continued, "she was from out of town and she noticed our collection of books about Hawaiian legends. A few weeks later, she sent the book." Annie shrugged. "It was a nice gesture, so I put it on the shelf with the rest of them."

"Are you gay?" Brie blurted out. She couldn't believe no one had mentioned it and Annie hadn't told her.

Annie rolled her eyes. "My sexual preferences are none of your business, Brie."

This gave Brie pause, as she considered why Annie would keep this a secret from them. "You know my sexual preferences," she said.

"No, I know you're dating the guy James just agreed to foster. Let's be clear that this entire conversation is in confidence. I'll keep up my end as long as you keep up yours."

"I'm not going to rat you out." Brie heaved with exasperation. "I was just wondering... anyway, what did the girl look like?"

"She was pale blonde, skinny, dark skin... why do you care so much?"

"No reason," Brie said, a sinking dip in her tummy. "Please, if you see her again, just stay away from her."

"What? Why?" Annie's expression turned to stone. "Do you know this girl?"

"I can't explain right now, but for your own safety..." Brie felt weak and disgusted. She couldn't believe Kennedy had penetrated their lives so deeply without getting noticed. What did she want? Brie didn't know how to get ahead of this girl and whatever her sick plans were.

Annie gave Brie a moody look, and thrust a bag of groceries into Brie's arms. "Your boyfriend is waiting." She picked up a bag and stalked toward the house.

Brie ran to catch up to her, but Annie stopped short, right next to a wall of bushes, one of the many walls scattered over the property.

"Do you hear that?" Annie whispered.

Brie listened and heard familiar voices arguing near the steps of her home.

"We have to turn Brie in." Thessa's animated voice was laced with shadowy fury.

At the mention of her name, Brie ducked behind the bushes, hoping they hadn't heard Annie and her coming.

She set the bag of groceries down and tugged Annie to the ground. Annie knelt down quietly, keeping her sense about her. They locked eyes as they strained to listen, trying not to make a sound.

"This is the New Order we're talking about." Sirena had an urgency about her voice that Brie had never heard before. "Whose side are you on?"

"What's the New Order?" Annie whispered. Annie set her bag down next to Brie's bag, her eyes sharp.

Brie hushed her and peeked through the bushes. Thessa had papers in her hand, and Sirena looked...

scared.

Thessa's aggressive stance startled Brie. "You know what the blood results mean," Thessa said, speaking very quickly. "You know the rules that Michael set out. If Brie is the first sign, we have a duty to put our differences with the New Order aside and work for the greater good of the Hallows."

"They are expecting a Nephilim," Sirena said. "Do you really think they will keep Brie alive?"

"It's not my choice!" Thessa said. "If Brie's death is what's best for the Hallows, then so be it."

Brie gasped, pulling away from the bushes. She let herself fall back into the dirt, soiling her clothes, but she didn't care. Annie's eyes were wide, but she didn't ask Brie any more questions. In the yard, there was a stint of silence.

"You swore you would keep my family safe," Sirena said, finally breaking the tension.

"This is bigger than your family and you know it," Thessa retorted. Brie worked up the nerve to peek through the bushes again, only to see Sirena with the most dangerous look Brie had ever seen.

"If you give them Brie, I will give them you. I don't care if they kill me in the process."

Thessa scoffed. "I know you care little for your own life Sirena, but you're mistaken if you think I care for mine."

"Clara and Cora will go down with you though. You care about them, correct?"

Silence. Brie squinted, but she could only see Thessa's back. "They will choose what's best for the Hallows too, even if it means self-sacrifice."

"At least wait until—"

"No," Thessa boomed. "I can only go so far against the New Order. We will make them understand who she is, and they can help her fulfill her role in the sacrifice."

Then Brie heard something she couldn't reason with: crying. She couldn't imagine either girl shedding tears—they were both so strong and sure of themselves. When she peaked through the bushes, she saw Sirena burying her face in her hands.

With a steady voice, Thessa said, "You're making this unnecessarily difficult. If we work together, we can come up with a story that protects everyone. If we rat each other out, we'll all fall."

Sirena sniffled. "Go tell Clara and Cora then. I'll get Brie and meet you at your house."

There was a pause, then Thessa sighed. "Fine. Tell Brie however you want to. But you know if you run, we'll just find you."

Sirena's voice was small. "I know."

Brie heard a whoosh sound, then footsteps. Her phone beeped and she quickly silenced it. There was a text message from Sirena with three words: "Ready to go?" Brie heard the doorbell to her house chiming, once, twice, then three times. No one was answering.

Brie took that as a good sign. "Annie," she whispered. "Use the gate in the back yard to get out of here.

I want you to go to one of the hotels on the strip and charge a room under the name 'Kate Rosalind.' Wait for me to call you or find you for further instructions. Do not call me. Do not call the police. Do not tell anyone what you are doing or why you're there."

Annie nodded; she seemed to sense the seriousness of the situation. "Where are you going?"

"I need to find the boys. Pilot's car is gone and no one's answering the door, so they must be out."

Brie opened a new text message, filling in two names in the recipient box. She typed her message and hit send, hoping they could move fast enough.

CHAPTER EIGHTEEN

Pilot felt numb as he sunk into James' desk chair, helpless, seconds after Kennedy disappeared. He heard the doorbell ringing, but he refused to answer. The person he needed the most was gone, and anyone else who he could tolerate had a key to the house.

He didn't know what Kennedy planned to do to Rykken, or why she needed him out of the way in the first place. Pilot wished he hadn't gotten angry with her. If he could have just kept her here and gotten the whole story from her, he might know what to do now. Instead, he only knew that he couldn't save Rykken himself and that he didn't trust the Hallows to help him.

He quickly sent a text to Rykken, warning him about Kennedy. What a pathetic way to help a friend! But nothing he did would make much of a difference. Like Kennedy said, if she wanted Rykken dead, he would be. Pilot didn't doubt her abilities to do whatever she wanted.

Finally, the ringing doorbell stopped, only to be replaced by his phone buzzing. He pulled it out of his pocket, checking the screen.

The message was from Brie. SOS. I'm coming to you. The text message was only sent to him and Rykken.

Did Brie know where Rykken was? What Kennedy planned for him? Pilot doubted it mattered. Brie and Rykken would be no match for Kennedy anyway, and Kennedy said she needed Brie's help. Brie was safe, Rykken was not, and Kennedy could find either of them in a heartbeat.

Before he could untangle Brie's message, Pilot heard a faint female voice down the hall. "Brie?" The voice sounded familiar, but it wasn't Annie. He heard footsteps padding toward him. The light! James'

study must have been the only room lit up in the entire house.

Hallow, Nephilim, Trinity. This wasn't an ordinary burglar, it was someone who could move through walls undetected and unchecked. When the girl ran into the room, a mess of dirty blonde hair that contrasted with her tan skin and brown eyes, Pilot didn't even bother hiding or trying to evade her.

"Pilot!" she said, gasping. Pilot sat up straighter.

"What are you doing here Sirena?"

Sirena hesitated, a hint of distrust in her eyes. "Brie," she said. "I need Brie. Where is she?"

Pilot paused. He had no idea where Brie was, and only the faintest clue where Rykken was. Odds were that they were together now, with Kennedy on their heels. Would Kennedy hurt Brie if she stood in the way?

Pilot stretched out his back, twisting his neck around.

Sirena eyed him warily. "Are you okay? What happened?"

Pilot tasted blood in his mouth from where he bit the inside of his lip. Focus, he thought. What did Brie's text say? Just that she was in trouble. But she had only sent it to Rykken and him. Could she be running from Sirena and the other Hallows?

"I don't know where Brie is," Pilot said in the most nonchalant voice he could muster. He could hear the baritone in his voice trembling. "Let me text her."

He opened his phone again to text Brie. Held up by Sirena. Kennedy after Rykken. He wished he could say more—give Brie instructions, like 'save Rykken' or 'leave without me,' but he couldn't think straight enough to give his sister directions that he could be confident about. He left it at that and hit send.

Sirena eyed him curiously, and he knew he spent too much time hesitating to fool her. She said nothing though; she just paced the room the same way he had an hour earlier.

"What's the emergency with Brie?" he asked.

She glared at him. "Who did you really text?"

Pilot flexed his torso, coming to his feet. "Brie, like I said. Your turn." The way Sirena stalked around the room raised his anxiety level.

Sirena sighed, hunkering over. "Thessa is looking for Brie and I'm trying to reach her first. I need to keep them away from each other. Thessa..." Sirena's cheeks flinched. "I don't think we can trust Thessa anymore."

Sirena's eyes pleaded with him. She was desperate.

Pilot tried to act surprised. He felt exposed, like Sirena knew about Kennedy's bomb. "Why does Thessa want Brie?"

"It would take too long to explain." Sirena stopped pacing and threw up her hands. "Pilot, if you know anything about where Brie is—"

"How can I trust you if you don't tell me what's going on?" he asked. "Maybe you're on Thessa's side and this is a trick."

Before he knew it, his chair had toppled over backwards. Sirena had tackled him and the chair; she now straddled him, pinning him down. She grabbed his phone from him.

He yelped, trying to swipe it back, but she was across the room already.

She flipped open the phone. "Kennedy is after Rykken? Why didn't you tell me?"

Sirena swore all the way across the room, grabbing Pilot.

"You have a lot to learn about this world, earthlie, and the first is that I'm on your side!" She pulled Pilot along with her the way Brie had before; the only difference was that Sirena moved much slower. As the scenery changed from James' study, to the front gates at the van Rossum estate, to a blur of houses, one after the other, Pilot was happy he hadn't eaten. He was almost sure he'd be chucking it if he had.

Finally, the scenery stopped, and they were standing in front of Rykken's house.

*****

The Kaukonahua River was smaller than Rykken expected. He didn't spend much time near the barracks or the little shops that dotted Wilikina Drive, and he'd never been behind them, past the mossy swamp of trees that bordered the stream.

Now that Rykken was there, he wasn't sure what he had come to accomplish. This was the river where Thessa had found him fifteen years earlier. Any evidence of another sibling would long be washed away; a trip to the police station to check records would be more productive than this.

Rykken felt dumb. He had been walking for over a mile along a deserted river at twilight, looking for his long lost brother or sister. It was more than illogical; it was insane. How was he going to explain this to Brie and Pilot when he returned to their house?

He trekked back toward Pilot's car. His phone beeped, but he was distracted—a shadow ahead gave him pause. The slender figure dressed in all black had the body of a teenage girl who hadn't quite grown into her curves. The hood pulled over her eyes was a warning.

He stopped walking, panicked. His phone beeped again, and he hastily shoved his hand in his pocket to shut it off. He summoned his energy, prepared to transport.

"Who are you?" he called out.

The woman didn't remove her hood, but there was enough light to see the corner of her lips as she smirked.

Rykken didn't hesitate; he transported as fast as he could back to Pilot's car, keeping the river a blur to his left. A few seconds later, his pace slowed, until he was merely running a few ticks faster than a normal human would. He stopped, keeling over, trying to catch his breath.

He heard a clapping sound and knew the hooded figure was watching him. When he looked up, a woman with shiny, long hair the color of spun silver stood in front of him, her hands on her hips. He didn't have to ask her name.

Kennedy's liquid metal eyes bore into his. "Rykken Camacho." He tried to back away from her, but an invisible wall blocked him from moving in any direction but forward.

She twirled her hair between her fingers, reminding him of Brie just a little. "What is it about you that those van Rossum kids are so attached to?" she asked. "First, you convince Pilot to be your best friend, and now I hear you're dating Brie?" Rykken opened his mouth, but no sounds came out. His tongue felt paralyzed, like it was missing. Kennedy had complete control over him.

"Don't answer that," she said mockingly. "I think I know why anyway, but we'll test my theory later."

She circled around him, ignoring his fists pounding and stopping mid-air, like a pantomime stuck in a vertical, rectangular casket.

"You probably want to know if I'm going to kill you." She spun Rykken's cell phone in her hand. He had no idea how she got it.

"You dropped it," she said, answering his unspoken question. She flipped it open, glancing at the screen. "The answer is that I would kill you, but I can't, at least not yet." She pressed the screen onto the invisible wall he was pounding on.

He squinted at the backlit blue device, reading a text from Pilot.

"This is why I can't kill you," she said softly. "You mean too much to them."

Rykken pulled his bloody hands away from the solid structure that held him in. His hands dripped crimson, but the structure was still invisible, no bloodstains.

Kennedy clicked some buttons on his cell phone before tossing it aside. "We're just waiting for Brie," she said nonchalantly. "She's on her way."

Dread filled Rykken and he wanted to yell, to punch something, to tell Kennedy to take him and leave Brie alone.

"Rykken?" A soft, sweet voice called his name. "Rykken, are you out here?"

He spun around and searched for Brie, but he couldn't see anything—not because she wasn't there, but because his eyes had been forced shut. He tried to open them, but he couldn't move his eyelids.

Kennedy's voice penetrated his thoughts, cold and detached. "Perfect. Just in time."

He couldn't see Kennedy, but he could picture her, stroking her long white hair, squinting at Brie with those creepy silver eyes. Rykken was baffled over how Pilot could find her attractive—how he kissed her without feeling disgusted.

"Kennedy," Brie said icily. It was a fact, not a question.

"How did you find us?" Kennedy asked. "A tracking gift? Or perhaps a gift for reading people and predicting their thoughts and moves, like me."

"GPS. There's this neat little app that allows you to track your car... or your brother's car."

Rykken heard the sound of an object sliding against jean material—Brie's cell phone, sliding into her pocket. "Technology these days," Brie said. "It's putting supernaturals like yourself out of business."

Kennedy laughed. "Resourceful and sarcastic. Of course, my explanations would be more interesting.

We would have something in common. They say men fall in love with people like their mothers and their sisters, but in your case—"

"My brother doesn't love you," Brie declared. "He knows exactly what you are—"

"Then why did he kiss me goodbye just a few minutes ago, before I got here?" Kennedy asked. "I think you should hear me out," she whispered. "I have no intention of hurting you, Brie van Rossum."

"That doesn't reassure me." Brie said. "What have you done to Rykken?" He could tell from her tone that she was trying to be brave, but he heard the scratchiness of her voice, the wavering of her resolve.

"Rykken's fine," Kennedy said. Yeah, if you don't mind a boyfriend who's trapped, who can't speak or see.

Rykken wanted to yell at Brie for trying to defend him instead of running away, like she should have. No matter how powerful she was, she would be no match for Kennedy. Why didn't she get the Hallows help?

"Oh, well if you say so," Brie said, a heavy dose of sarcasm in her voice.

Rykken heard shuffling and the slam of two bodies making impact. There was a struggle, followed by a soft squeak.

Brie!

Kennedy panted heavily. "Why don't you come with me? We have a lot to catch up on. It'll be fun." Rykken guessed she had Brie in some sort of bind, but he couldn't tell. He felt completely helpless, a live mind inside a paralyzed body.

"I have a biological sister, but she's never liked girl time. But you, you remind me of myself—

tough, smart, and very, very powerful."

Rykken heard struggling again. "Ah ah," Kennedy said. "Don't you want to know the truth before you dismiss the possibilities?"

"I know the truth already," Brie spat.

Kennedy scoffed. "The most dangerous people in this world are those that don't know how much they don't understand."

"Nothing you say matters," Brie said. "I know what you're trying to do, but you'll never convince me to trust you."

"That's too bad," Kennedy said with mock disappointment. "Because your life, and Pilot's, depend on just that."

Rykken heard a heavy thud, followed by a body hitting the ground. Images of Brie crippled, soaked in a puddle of bloodstained grass and dirt, wafted through his mind. He gave a soundless scream, the ability to cry out stolen from him.

Kennedy walked toward his cage, her heavy footsteps creating a sinister tune in his mind.

"Showtime," she whispered. She wrapped her fingers around his arm, causing the hairs on his skin to writhe like worms in the rain. He felt a violent sensation course through his body, right before he blacked out.

*****

When Brie woke up, she was laying on the deck of a white, floating building. She stood up quickly, grasping for her bearings. Once standing, she realized it wasn't a building at all—she could stick her hands out the open cutouts that posed as windows. Or, at least that's what she thought—when she actually tried, she hit an invisible barrier that blocked her from extending her arm. She looked outside—the water was tainted with a sheeny substance that reflected in the moonlight. Brie could only assume it was an oil spill.

"Welcome to the USS Arizona Memorial," Kennedy said.

Brie spun around at the sound of Kennedy's voice. She noted that they weren't far from other structures in the water—were they close to Pearl Harbor?

"Don't bother formulating a plan to get out," Kennedy said, running her fingers along one of the railings that kept tourists in line during the daytime. "I've secured the building."

With Kennedy's words ringing in her head, Brie focused instead on looking for Rykken. She finally located him at the other end of the floating structure, leaning up against the wall, unconscious.

"I'm impressed," Kennedy said. "My knock outs usually blind people for hours."

Brie took in the structure—Rykken at the other end, with Kennedy standing between them, separating them.

Brie had no chance of reaching Rykken before Kennedy did, and she didn't want to provoke Kennedy to hurt him further. "What do you want, Kennedy?"

"I suppose I have to answer you, don't I?"

"You have other options," Brie said. "You just need my help to make Pilot stop hating you."

"Yes, unfortunately Pilot has made this job a little more delicate." Kennedy smirked, sitting down. Brie remained standing, knowing that her chances of reaching Rykken and escaping with him were still impossibly bleak. "And it's true that if I could convince you, you could help me convince him, since he's too hurt to listen to my side of the story."

Brie was surprised at Kennedy's honesty. She wasn't expecting a confession, but Kennedy was truly trying to gain her trust, however twisted her methods were.

"As you already know, I'm an assassin for an organization called Silver Smoke, which houses the Trinities of the world, or the superbeings of mixed descent—Hallow and Nephilim blood combined."

"Yeah, I've heard about you. They say the mixture of bloods makes you unstable and evil."

Kennedy grinned widely, as if she was part of an inside joke Brie wasn't picking up on.

"I'm assuming you've heard some of our history with the Hallows. The Nephilim ignored us and avoided us, but the Hallows made it their personal mission to rid the world of us. We were brutally murdered by them, unfit for life due to a defect in our blood at birth. We were driven underground to hide from them."

Kennedy paused, standing up to walk toward Brie. "It wasn't until the New Order came along that the Hallows relented. While they still don't accept us to this day, they let us be, like the Nephilim have, as long as we don't wreak too much havoc on their people or politics."

"What does this have to do with Rykken and me?"

Kennedy tilted her head to one side, amused. "Fifteen years ago, my sister Bristol sent me on a mission based on a vision she had. The vision was of a young man, a son of Gabrielle, who became the president of the Hallows after leading a revolution against the New Order. I was never very fond of the New Order—it is simply a less evil version of the monarchy that ruled before it. But Bristol has always supported the New Order, even helped them during the revolution. She saw this young man who threatened the New Order as a threat to Silver Smoke as well. The only problem was that we didn't know where he was.

"But there were not many pure-blooded sons of Gabrielle at the time. Most had been hunted and killed by the New Order, their bloodlines firmly stamped out for the preferential treatment they received from the daughters of Michael. We tracked down a set of twins who fit the physical description of the young man.

They were children though. Babies, really.

"My sister dispatched me to kill the set. I didn't want to go. Killing adults with training in our ways is far different than killing children, especially when we didn't even know if we had identified them correctly.

"There was something more in the report, though, that forced me to accept the job. In our research of the family's genealogy, we learned that they were descendants of an ancient Oahu family of Hallows; a family that feuded against my own father's family of Nephilim."

"The shark-men and the selkies," Brie said.

"So you see why I couldn't just do the job," Kennedy said, her silver eyes gleaming. "I became obsessed with these two baby twins, descendants of the family with which mine had an ancient feud. It seemed too coincidental."

"The selkie family moved away from Oahu years ago to stop the feud from taking their children's lives.

What they didn't know, however, was that their Hallow powers were tied to this land. They discovered that their children didn't mature into Hallows unless they grew up on the island. This baffled me because it's unheard of. Powers are always tied to blood, whether you are Nephilim, Trinity, or Hallow. I wanted to learn more.

"So I captured the twins, leaving their parents alone. There was no point in killing them since they couldn't have more children. I'm not one to waste blood unnecessarily. I brought the infants here to Oahu and devised a test, to see how strong the Selkie family was. I was ordered to kill both twins, but I kept thinking back to the vision that Bristol described. In it, there was only one twin left to become president.

"The idea dug into me in a way I couldn't shake. When you live forever, you get bored and curious." She gave a hollow laugh that vibrated through the room. "Plus my sister is a raging bitch, and I'm passive aggressive."

She's insane, Brie thought. Brie tried to imagine growing up in a world where you decided who to kill based on a sibling rivalry. Her own psychological scars seemed like band-aid wounds compared to Kennedy's.

Kennedy continued. "So I tried to drown both of the twins. I decided that whichever one lasted the longest was the stronger of the two, and the most likely to fulfill Bristol's vision. That was the one I would release to Oahu to let fate decide his survival. It was a compromise—I would do half the job, but leave the other half as an experiment that I could check in on from time to time.

"Sure enough, one of the twins lasted longer than the other. I discarded the body of the dead twin into the river and let him drift to his ocean grave. The other, I put in a hand-woven basket and sent down the Kaukonahua River to find a home."

"Rykken," Brie said, balling her fists. The frankness with which Kennedy told her story tore at Brie's insides. She was relieved that Rykken was unconscious at the moment. And his brother! What would Rykken do when he found out that he had a family once, and this woman took it away from him?

Kennedy laughed to herself, more evidence that she was unstable. "You know, when I did it, I was thinking of Romulus and Remus—the beautiful twins who grew up to build Rome. It seemed so fitting, given their names—Rykken and Renner."

"You're nuts," Brie said. She needed to get Rykken and get out of there now.

Kennedy's face contracted, a lilt to her lips. "You like Shakespeare, right? So you must understand the beauty of a good story. Romulus and Remus are iconic. I liked the symmetry of the fate for the boys who would overthrow the New Order."

Brie couldn't stand to hear any more. "What are you going to do to Rykken? And why did you plant the pendant on him in the first place, if you just came back here to kill him?"

"Rykken looked just like the man in Bristol's vision as he grew up. But then he turned sixteen and showed no sign of powers, even though he'd lived in Oahu nearly all his life. I had my doubts about if I had killed the right twin. I used the pendant, a spell, and a vial of my own blood to activate his powers and make sure that he was the one that could lead a revolution."

"And what have you decided?" Brie asked. Keep her talking.

"I haven't," she said. She towered over Rykken, her back to Brie, but their slightest movements echoed throughout the room. "That's why I brought him here."

Kennedy slinked back to the center of the room, away from her victim. Rykken's back arched, and Brie saw something emerald glint in Kennedy's hand. With a sinking feeling, she craned her neck to get a better look, to confirm her suspicions.

"How did you get that?" Brie asked. "I thought the pendant was missing, or destroyed."

"A pendant like this can't be destroyed," Kennedy answered. She faced one of the side walls. "Do you know what this is?" Kennedy asked, pointing to a complicated set of bird wings over the cross on the wall.

"No," Brie said, trying to keep the anxiety out of her voice. "If you're going to tell me, more matter with less art, please." It was a quote from Shakespeare, though Brie didn't know why it came to her at that moment, when she should have been focusing on a plan.

"Madam, I swear I use no art at all," Kennedy said, returning the correct line. She smirked, then pointed at the wall. "This is the symbol of Silver Smoke." She set the tip of the pendant onto the wall at the northern point of the cross.

"I hope you didn't decorate on my behalf."

"You probably don't know the meaning behind Silver Smoke," Kennedy continued. "Both the name and our symbol are mixtures taken from Hallow and Nephilim, just like our blood is."

Kennedy traced the black, gothic cross. "You already know that Hallows get their powers from light itself, but do you know where the Nephilim get their powers?" She didn't wait for Brie to answer. "From the hottest part of the fire, the bright blue core underneath the flames. The part of the fire that is so hot that no smoke pours from whatever materials you use to fuel the fire."

She traced the wings with the tip of the emerald pendant, which had shifted into a dagger shape. Now that Brie looked harder, the wings were not bird wings, but rather angel wings.

"Everything about the Hallows is white," Kennedy said, "which is what the wings represent." She traced the wings twice more and the cross and wing outline lit up, glowing. "The Nephilim are represented by black. But the middle-ground Trinities' powers come from a combination of these two elements—the gray, tarnished light, and the cooler, smoky flames." Kennedy looked at Brie. "Silver Smoke."

"Clever." Brie didn't attempt to mask her abhorrence.

"You want to hear something else that's clever?" Kennedy said, her silver eyes twinkling. "The symbol does more than paint a pretty picture—it's a permanent marker that can't be removed from its surface by anything. No matter where you put it, the Nephilim's Greek fire can't burn it off and the Hallows' holy arch water can't wash it away. It's how we mark the entrances to Silver Smoke to protect us from intruders."

Brie was reminded of something Thessa had said. " Angel blood to get in, demon blood to get out," she repeated.

"Yes." Kennedy grinned. "When I activate the symbol, the door opens. It's the only way to leave the building. But if you have the wrong blood, you die when you pass through." Kennedy smirked. It was only then that Brie realized the full meaning of the Silver Smoke symbol drawn above the door. She meant to trap Brie and Rykken inside.

"I thought Pilot was important to you," Brie said hoarsely, feeling as if she'd been hit by a boat.

"He'll never forgive you for trapping us like this."

"You, no, he couldn't forgive me for harming you. But Rykken... they aren't as close as they once were, are they?" Kennedy strutted around the room, filling Brie with hatred. "As for Pilot—well, yes, he is the main reason I'm so lenient. I love him, so I can't kill his best friend. Instead, I've confined Rykken until I can figure out how to take his powers away." She stopped strutting, her eyes training on Brie.

"It's the best I can do for him. He'll be safe from the Hallows and Nephilim here, and you can visit him every day."

"I'm trapped too though," Brie said with exasperation. She knew she should be afraid, but if Kennedy was sincere about her feelings for Pilot, then she couldn't have trapped them inside without any possible exit. She just blocked the most obvious exit, Brie told herself. Brie scanned the room, looking for another way out that Kennedy could see but she couldn't.

"No, you aren't. Only Rykken is." Brie frowned at Kennedy, but she just laughed. "You still don't seem to see how dangerous Rykken is to you."

"How is he dangerous to me?" she asked. Keep her talking. That was Brie's main goal—the longer Kennedy talked, the more Brie could think about how to get them out safely.

Kennedy's laughter spun into a tsunami. "Pilot said I would like you," she said, almost in tears from laughing so hard. "But you don't seem that bright, to be honest."

Brie glared at Kennedy, but a painful panic rose from her chest. She looked around again; what was she missing?

"It's you, Brie," Rykken moaned. His voice startled Brie—she hadn't noticed him stir from unconsciousness. "It's in your blood," he choked out, the exhaustion in his voice apparent.

"My blood?" Brie asked.

"Yes, your blood. Thessa and Clara made a mistake. You're a Trinity, not a Hallow."

CHAPTER NINETEEN

Rykken could practically see his words traveling across the floating memorial toward Brie. He wished he could chase after them and grab them before they had their ill effect on her, but he couldn't move.

Speech was still difficult too, after Kennedy's knock out. The only sense that seemed fully functional was his sight.

He could tell, because he saw with perfect clarity when his words finally registered on Brie's face. She looked like she'd been socked in the stomach.

She wrapped her arms around her chest and sunk into the floor. "No," Brie whispered. "That's not true."

She was in real pain. It was one of the few things that could cut through his own misery, misery brought on by hearing the entire conversation about his family between Kennedy and Brie.

When he looked at Brie again, she was glaring at him. "Thessa and Clara wouldn't make a mistake like that. Would they?" Brie looked at Kennedy, as if suddenly this manipulative girl who had torn him from his home and killed his brother was a trustworthy source for information this important.

"Yes," Kennedy said. "It amazes me how much people overlook when they don't want to consider a possibility. The answer was so obvious to me the whole time—why your powers come to you so much faster than a typical Hallow, why your mother pushed your Nephilim father away, why Clara and Cora's talents give you headaches." Brie looked at Kennedy in wonder. "I've watched you for awhile now, Brie van Rossum."

"You have no proof," Brie said.

She flashed Brie a disgusted look. "It pains me that you think I could want Pilot if he were a Hallow. I tested him of course, once I realized what had happened. His blood carried all the information I needed to confirm my suspicions."

"What did you do? Drink it?" Brie laughed, shaking Rykken. Her laugh was wicked and hollow and too Kennedy-like for Rykken's taste.

Kennedy rolled her tongue over her teeth like a snake. "Precisely."

Brie looked unhinged. She shook her head back and forth several times, as if she expected something to fall out if she shook hard enough. "My Nephilim father? James? Who—?"

"James is your father, a first generation son of Luci. He had children before he could even begin to explore the powers his blood gave him. Milena, a daughter of Michael, is your mother. Pilot is your twin brother, but he was born earlier than you because he is an earthlie. In the womb, you sucked his powers from him."

"Thessa said the only way to birth a Trinity..." Brie trailed off, horror etched in her face. "Did my father—"

"No," Kennedy said. "At least I don't think so. My understanding is that they truly loved each other."

Rykken sensed a hint of sympathy from the girl, which only angered him more. What right did Kennedy have to feel sorry for Brie? No matter what Brie's blood was composed of, it was Kennedy who was the monster.

"You never explicitly answered my question," Brie said. She looked across the room again, finally meeting his eyes. "Why is Rykken dangerous to me?"

"He's dangerous to all Trinities," Kennedy said. "He's a son of Gabrielle that will overthrow the New Order. The New Order is the only thing that protects us from the Hallows."

"He doesn't have to kill Trinities though," Brie said, standing. She walked toward the middle of the memorial, until she was standing almost directly in front of Kennedy. "He could overthrow the New Order and leave the Trinities alone as long as they didn't cause trouble."

Kennedy's eyes flashed. "You are so naïve. Did you know that your grandfather was the one who passed the decree to execute any discovered Trinity on sight? He would have driven a dagger into your heart himself."

"No," Brie said desperately. "The Hallows have reasons to kill Trinities. The Trinities have done terrible things, like what you did to Rykken and his family. That's why they hunt down Trinities." Brie's voice faltered. "It has to be."

Kennedy laughed. "You still don't get it, do you? We are the way we are and we do the things we do because of our blood. Internally, we are at war with ourselves, struggling between right and wrong." She strode toward Rykken and he winced. "Then there's the power," Kennedy said. She took his hand, biting the tip of his finger until blood flowed. Rykken yelped, repulsed by the idea of her tongue touching his skin. He tried to pull away from her, but there was no contest. "We are more powerful than humans, Nephilim, and Hallows. They should bow to us, but their numbers protect them." She moved on to each of Rykken's fingers, breaking the skin with her teeth, until little streams of blood flowed to the palm of his hand.

Brie stood there observing, not trying to save Rykken, not even acknowledging him. Instead, she looked at him as if he were a piece of meat she'd like a turn gnawing at.

"The blood," Kennedy said to Brie. "You're attracted to it, aren't you? I knew it! His blood especially, because it's pure. It sharpens your senses when you drink it. You will feel it calling to you, if you haven't already. The intoxication. The power. The invincibility. The immortality. These are the things that will change you. The blood lust is just the first sign."

Rykken could see himself reflected back in Brie's grass-and-mint tinted eyes. She stared at the drops of blood flowing from his hand.

"How do I stop?" she asked Kennedy, without taking her eyes off the blood. She was wringing her hands, which meant she was panicking. Rykken had seen her do it enough times before, but usually it was over something stupid, like Justin or cheerleading. Now, the hand-wringing unnerved him like nothing else. He was losing her.

She looked at Kennedy for the briefest second. "How do I stop wanting his blood?"

Kennedy dropped Rykken's scarlet hand. "You don't," Kennedy stood up, sauntering toward Brie. "You don't get to choose to be good, Brie. The longer you're a Trinity, the harder it gets to resist the darkest of temptations. You will be as helpless as a heroin addict."

"I don't understand why though." Brie's voice pleaded with itself.

"It's not for any of us to understand. Just to experience. The entire world will shun you as they have the rest of us." Kennedy's eyes shined, as if they were emitting light rather than reflecting it. "In thousands and thousands of years, none of us has escaped. Every Trinity eventually finds his or her way to Silver Smoke, one way or another. It's the only refuge we have."

"Brie," Rykken choked, finally finding his voice. "Don't listen to her. There's a way out, remember? The Hallow stones."

"The Hallow stones are gone," Kennedy promised.

Brie said nothing. She seemed to be concentrating almost entirely on Rykken's blood flow now. He swallowed several times, wondering what would happen if Brie had even a taste of his blood. Would it send her on the dark, spiraling path Kennedy predicted? Would she drink his blood until he had none left?

"Brie, think of your mother," Rykken said, pleading with her. "She was looking for the stones. For you, because she wants you to be Hallow, not a Trinity."

Brie's spared a glance at Rykken before turning to Kennedy. "Did you kill my mom?" she asked.

"No," Kennedy said. "But we can find out who did, if we work together." She waved her hands in the air. "The Hallows have tried to find out, haven't they? Or at least they said they did. Let me guess—they told you not to look too deeply into it, because it wasn't a murder."

Rykken saw the skin over Brie's jaw tightening, but she didn't answer.

Kennedy scoffed. "Of course it was murder. Milena had plenty of enemies, even without an impossible quest for the stones of the archangels."

"So she was looking for the stones," Brie said.

"I'm assuming so. They were—well, they are—the only hope she had to fix the rather large mistake she made when she gave birth to you and Pilot."

"That we're Trinities?" Brie asked.

Kennedy's eyes twinkled. "Something like that."

"Brie," Rykken said, finding his voice. "You can't listen to her. Your mother died for you, remember? Now you and Sirena have to finish her work and find the stones."

"Even if you had an inkling of where to start looking for them, retrieving them would be extremely dangerous," Kennedy argued. "You could maybe recover one or two in your lifetime, but all seven? It would be a miracle."

"Brie," Rykken whispered. "If I'm really the one to overthrow the New Order, you know I would protect you. I can't protect you if we don't work together now."

"He's not one of us," Kennedy said. "And as you get darker, you'll act out. He'll be forced to kill you.

No one can promise you immunity in the future."

Brie looked at Rykken sadly, walking toward him. "Thessa has the blood results. I overheard her and Sirena talking." Brie was wringing her hands furiously, rubbing the skin on her knuckles raw. "She wants to turn me into the Hallows. She said it might be best if they kill me." Rykken tried not to show his surprise, but it baffled him why Thessa would do this. Brie must have misunderstood. Thessa was on their side, protecting them.

Brie gave a little laugh. "I can't choose what I am, can I?"

Kennedy gave a slight shake of her head at the same time Rykken said, "Of course you can."

Brie looked back and forth between Rykken to Kennedy, her eyes finally landing on him.

"I'm sorry, Rykken," she said. "You need to stay here while I sort this out with Pilot."

Rykken felt his leg coming back to him. "Brie, don't go with her," he begged. He used his free, non-bloody hand to grasp hers. "She's a murderer. Do you want to become a murderer?" For all of Kennedy's talk about Trinities going dark, he couldn't imagine Brie—his Brie—killing someone's child, someone's twin brother.

Brie pulled out of his grip. "When I was a human, I knew I was different—and it wasn't because of my dad.

I always felt isolated, apart from regular teenagers. I didn't understand what drove them to care about the things they did." She bit her lip. "Even in the Hallow world, I felt out of place. It's because I'm not like you. I can feel the difference now."

Brie put her hand on Rykken's heart. It felt cold against his body, like snake skin. Behind Brie, Kennedy's lips were curled, her face twisted into a smirk.

"Let me see that emerald dagger," Brie said, gesturing to Kennedy. For a second, Rykken thought she might use it as a weapon against him.

"Brie, don't," Rykken said half-heartedly, but he could feel his energy draining with each word. Whatever Kennedy had done to him to make him weak worked.

"I want to trace the Silver Smoke symbol for myself," Brie said. "Learn how things work in our world."

Kennedy smiled, but there was something in her expression. Hesitation. "What are you worried about?" Brie asked, clearly seeing it too. Brie held out her hand. "You already know you're stronger than me."

Kennedy handed Brie the dagger, then turned those silver eyes on Rykken once Brie walked away with it.

She gleamed at Rykken, rushing toward him and tracing his throat with her index finger. He tried to make a sound, but his vocal chords shriveled under the pressure, dead.

Kennedy followed Brie to the symbol. Brie tossed the pendant-turned-dagger between her hands, a pained look on her face. Rykken remembered the first time he'd shown her the pendant, how it gave her headaches.

He wondered if that's what she was fighting now.

Kennedy watched Brie's movements, giving her a bit of space to explore. "You know, you don't really need the dagger to trace it," Kennedy said. "You can trace the symbol with your fingers—once along the cross, three times along the wings."

"Good to know," Brie said, still looking at the dagger.

"Why don't I hold that for you," Kennedy said, her anxiety evident.

Brie touched the tip of the dagger to the top end of the cross. She dragged the dagger down as if she were tracing it, but the dagger sunk deeper and deeper into the wall, like a knife slicing the building apart.

Before Rykken even knew what was happening, Kennedy was standing over him. "Any further and I kill him."

Brie didn't even look at Kennedy and Rykken—she simply dug the dagger into the wall further, cracking the building open and separating the symbol into two parts on detached walls.

Kennedy held her hand over Rykken, her rage apparent. An indescribable pain rattled under his skull and blood ran from his nose and eyes. He was dying quickly, he could tell.

But a moment later, the pain weaned. A faint light pierced through the red liquid pooling in his eyes.

Blood spewed from Kennedy's chest, a glimmer of emerald sticking out right over the spot where her heart was.

Brie ran over, pulling Kennedy's limp body off of Rykken while he rubbed the blood from his eyes and mouth. She pulled the dagger from Kennedy's back, letting Kennedy sink to the floor. Brie shoved the dagger into her heart savagely.

"That's for Rykken's family," she said. Dark, rouge liquid spurted from Kennedy's chest, all over Brie's hands and arms, but she didn't stop. Rykken wished she would. Instead, Brie pulled the dagger out and stabbed Kennedy again. "And that's for my brother."

Kennedy grabbed Brie's arm, and Rykken wished he could cover his ears. He didn't want to hear Kennedy beg for Brie's mercy.

"Pilot..." Kennedy mumbled. "Tell Pilot that you killed the only girl he's ever loved."

Brie's next thrust froze in midair, hovering over Kennedy's body as the wicked girl laughed, then choked up blood.

"Mmphh," Rykken murmured, trying to get Brie's attention. Whatever Kennedy did to him caused serious damage, and he still couldn't speak, but he wanted the stabbing to end. Now.

Brie ran over to him, looking horrified. She dragged Rykken's body to the gap in the walls. "I don't know if I broke the symbol," Brie said. "Do you want to take your chances? Thessa survived it once."

Rykken nodded, wishing he could drift into unconsciousness. He doubted that he stood much of a chance against the Silver Smoke symbol if it almost killed someone as old as Thessa, but he didn't care. He wanted to get Brie out of there, away from Kennedy and back to the Hallows, where she could be safe.

Brie pulled him through the opening, which brought about a new round of searing pain. The last thing he saw before he blacked out was Kennedy, blood covering her hands, wrenching the glinting, emerald dagger from her chest.

*****

"What is she doing here?" Clara asked.

Pilot rushed to the window that peeked out into the van Rossum's front yard, but he didn't see Kennedy, Brie, or Rykken on the front steps. Sirena had filled Pilot in on the results of their blood tests: one pure-blooded son of Gabrielle and two mixed-blooded fraternal twins, a son and a daughter, who both carried equal amounts of the blood of the most powerful archangel, Michael, and the most powerful archdemon, Luci. Pilot was born 10 months earlier than Brie because he was an earthlie and Trinities took longer to develop in the womb. Michael and Luci were sworn enemies, and a child between them was unheard of until Brie.

Thessa, Clara, and Cora showed up at the van Rossum's shortly after, with a promise to Sirena that they wouldn't turn Brie in—whatever that meant.

Clara opened the front door for Cora, who walked into the van Rossum's living room, dragging Annie along by the arm. "I found her lurking in the bushes when I parked Pilot's car." Cora led a wide-eyed and somewhat petrified Annie to the couch, before gesturing for her to sit. "Well, I sort of parked it. I wasn't technically driving the car when I transported it back here."

Annie mouthed "transported" to herself, before shaking her head several times. She was staring at Pilot, but he looked away. He was already worried sick about Brie and Rykken, and Annie just made him feel more guilty.

"I didn't find Brie and Rykken at the river," Cora continued. "I sensed a supernatural presence, but they were gone when I got there."

Thessa sat calmly in an overstuffed chair, largely unconcerned about his sister or Rykken. "Let's go over this again," she said. "We've ruled out the school, Rykken's house, Waikiki, Sandy Beach, and the river where Rykken was found."

The tips of Clara's eyebrows were almost touching as she stared at Annie. "Give me your hand," she said to her. "I can help you can forget any of this happened." Annie shook her head violently and locked eyes with Pilot, unable to speak.

"Not now," Pilot told Clara. He grabbed Annie's hand and pulled her away from the couch, out of Clara's reach. Clara glared at him, but he shrugged her off and said, "She's in shock." Annie clung to Pilot, wrapping her arms around his waist and burying her face in his shirt. He let her, resting the palm of his hand on her head and stroking her short, spiky hair. He noticed Cora watching them, but when he tried to catch her eye, she quickly turned away.

Sirena burst down the steps. "They're upstairs!"

Pilot pushed Annie away and chased Sirena up the steps, a mixture of relief and dread rushing through his body.

When he reached the guest room where Rykken normally stayed, he found Brie collapsed on the floor holding Rykken in her lap. Rykken was drenched in blood.

"Help me," Brie said softly, colorlessly.

Pilot and Sirena rushed over to help Rykken into the bed. They stripped as much of Rykken's clothes as they could without hurting him further. Pilot barely noticed the other Hallows lined up against the walls, not moving to help them.

Annie appeared at his left, holding warm, wet washcloths. She sat next to Rykken's bedside and dabbed his body to coax the blood from it.

Brie hadn't moved from her spot on the floor; she was staring at the three Hallows standing against the wall, who were staring back at her.

Pilot knelt down next to Brie. "You can trust them," he told her. "They aren't going to hurt you."

"At least not yet," Sirena grumbled under her breath. "Rykken's dying," Sirena announced much louder. Annie whipped around, alarmed, but none of the other Hallows acted like this was meaningful news.

Even Brie didn't seem surprised.

"Well do something!" Pilot roared. "Use magic or whatever the hell you do!" He felt sick; the Hallows' hadn't even looked at Rykken, and they were already giving up on him. Had Kennedy done this to him?

He shook his head, ashamed of himself. Of course she had. When was he going to accept that Kennedy was an assassin and murderer?

Brie pulled herself up over the side of Rykken's bed and wrapped his hand in hers. She then described the events leading up to Rykken's condition—how Kennedy had trapped them with the Silver Smoke symbol, how Kennedy had hurt Rykken and tempted Brie, and how Brie had weakened the symbol enough to get Rykken out, but not enough to avoid damage.

Brie didn't say anything about Kennedy's current state—where she was, if she was hurt—and no one asked.

Pilot held back, trying not to think of the questions on the tip of his lips. His friend was dying, and he shouldn't be worried about the girl who'd tried to kill him. Besides, the answer was obvious—Brie and Rykken wouldn't have escaped unless Kennedy was hurt.

She was a bad person, he told himself. She manipulated you. She tried to hurt Brie and Rykken. But the only thing he could think about was that sad girl who told him of the sister who controlled her every movement.

Rykken was getting worse by the moment. Because of Kennedy, Pilot told himself. His best friend was dying because of Kennedy.

Pilot soon found himself slumped over in a corner of the room. He wasn't sure how he'd gotten there, he just knew that his mind was racing, confused, yelling at him. He opened the bottom drawer of the dresser next to him and pulled out a small, gold wall clock. The clock looked otherworldly, with a jumble of leafy, metal branches surrounding the face. Pilot promptly broke it over his head.

The physical pain distracted him from the mental pain. No one noticed him; they were all huddled around Rykken's bed. He scooped the largest pieces of the clock, plus a marble-sized rock that had been lodged inside, back into the drawer to hide the evidence.

Brie's tears turned to screaming as the life drained from Rykken's body. She placed her hand over Rykken's heart, trying to do something that Pilot didn't understand. A trade, Pilot heard Sirena say. Her life for his. Sirena dragged Brie away from Rykken's bed, saying something about how it was too late for him. That Brie was just going to kill herself. That Rykken was done either way.

Clara and Cora held Brie back, forcing her into submission with their powers. Annie was nowhere to be found, and Pilot wondered what the Hallows had done with her. Thessa approached Rykken's bed, peering down at him. Pilot felt defensive, the same way he had felt when Clara approached Annie earlier, but he didn't bother trying to stop any of them. He couldn't. They were Hallows. They were going to do what they wanted, just like Kennedy had.

Her choice, Pilot thought. Whatever may have happened to Kennedy, she always had the upper hand, which meant she had a choice. She was a bad person. She manipulated you. She tried to hurt Brie, and she probably killed Rykken. He repeated these things to himself, over and over again, as he huddled in his corner.

Quietly, Thessa put her hands over Rykken's chest, crawling into the full-sized bed beside him. She slowly slipped into unconsciousness, the color draining from her face.

Clara cracked a weeping scream. She let go of Brie, and Brie limply slid into Cora's arms. Clara rushed to the bed, but she was barricaded from Rykken and Thessa by some sort of invisible wall.

Cora set Brie down next to Pilot. "Hold onto her."

Clara continued to pound on the invisible wall. After several minutes, Cora firmly pulled her away.

Rykken and Thessa laid next to each other, both at various stages of unconsciousness, unreachable in more ways than one.

Pilot wrapped his arms around Brie, trying to comfort her. Sirena sat near him now, staring across the room at nothing.

"There are bits of glass all over the floor," she said quietly, brushing her hands on the jeans she was wearing. She looked at Pilot's forehead. "And you're bleeding."

Before Pilot could respond, Brie dug her fingers into Pilot's arms. "Kennedy," she gasped in between sobs. "She's hurt. I don't know if she made it."

Pilot's heart dropped. He let go of Brie, clasping his hands in his own lap. His mind spun with images of Kennedy, staring at him with vacant, dead eyes.

"Who?" he asked, though he didn't want to know the answer.

Brie told him anyway. She didn't look at Pilot when she finished talking; she just dragged herself to floor and curled up in a ball.

Sirena shot Pilot a warning look. "It was in self-defense," Sirena whispered so that only Pilot could hear. Sirena knelt to the floor, rubbing Brie's back, like one might rub a child's back at daycare during naptime.

Pilot repeated the words to himself, over and over again in his head. Brie hurt Kennedy in self-defense.

Rykken is dying because Kennedy is a bad person.

Clara was talking to herself too. "Thessa, you don't have to do this," she whispered. Pilot didn't know what she was referring to, but he didn't have the energy to find out. He needed everything he had left to hold back the tears that were threatening to pour at any minute. And the anger. Because that was dangerously close to surfacing, and then where would he be?

Cora, who hadn't said anything, hadn't cried or tried to reach Thessa or bothered to comfort Brie, let go of her sister and made her way to Pilot. She knelt down in front of him, the light from the room surrounding her in a halo.

"Come with me," she said, grabbing his hand, cupping it gingerly in her own. "I know how to make this easier."

*****

Brie woke up dazed and aching from passing out on the cold, unforgiving floor. What had she done? She was losing Rykken and she was losing Pilot, and she was maybe losing herself. At the least, she was losing a sense of what was right and wrong, true and real.

Sirena rubbed Brie's back to comfort her. But Sirena didn't know, didn't understand what Brie really was—

a murderer, who had just killed one of her own kind to save her boyfriend. Rykken would probably die anyway, and Pilot... Brie didn't even want to think about Pilot. Instead, she focused on how much she hated Kennedy for involving her brother in the first place.

Brie didn't see Clara or Cora or Pilot anywhere. "What's happening to Rykken and Thessa?" she whispered to Sirena.

Sirena's expression didn't change, but there was a flicker of pain in her eyes. "She's trying to save him, like you tried. Only Thessa has lived for so long that there's a chance it might work."

Brie stared at a chip of glass on the floor, trying to process the information Sirena had given her.

A minute passed, maybe two. "When you put your hands over his wounds," Sirena said, "weren't you trying to perform a Cronus ritual?"

"No." Brie flicked the glass across the room. "I don't even know what that is." She hadn't tried to perform anything on Rykken—all she had tried to do when she touched him was lend him her transmutative healing abilities so he could heal faster. Was that what Sirena meant?

"I could have sworn—" Sirena blinked, shaking her head. "There is only one way to save someone's life when they are in the condition Rykken is in—the Cronus ritual, which allows a Hallow to sacrifice his or her own life in place of the person dying."

"Oh," Brie said. "Thessa is sacrificing her life for Rykken's?" Brie was surprised by the tone in her own voice, so dull and unfeeling. She wondered if she was so far deep into shock that nothing, not even one of her friends dying, fazed her anymore.

"I don't know Brie—either way, we can't do anything for them right now." Sirena pulled Brie into an upright position. "Now that Pilot's gone, what really happened with Kennedy?"

"I killed her," Brie said, finally feeling the weight of her own words. "I thought she was going to kill Rykken. The emerald stone from the pendant had a sharpened tip, so I threw it at her back. I've never even thrown a knife before—where would I have? I have terrible aim normally. But this was just like when I was playing volleyball—I could control where it was going. Sirena, I hit her in the heart." Brie felt an onslaught of tears coming on. "She's dead, Sirena. Dead." Brie buried her face in her knees.

"It's not your fault," Sirena said, reverting automatically to stroking Brie's back. She sounded worried.

"It was in self-defense."

Brie knew in her heart, though, that it was her fault. She could have just wounded Kennedy to escape, but blind hatred had taken over. When she held that emerald dagger in her hands, she wanted Kennedy dead. She acted on those impulses, and no matter what Sirena or anyone else said, Brie knew the truth. The circumstances of Kennedy's death were irrelevant if Brie's intention had been to kill her in the first place.

The permanence of the murder seeped into her, not unlike the depression that had blanketed her just months earlier. Kennedy knew how to get to her, and she'd risen to every bait Kennedy had tempted her with; but what if Kennedy was right? What if Brie was on the wrong side? What if she had just made the worst mistake of her life?

Sirena left Brie to her thoughts, which were running wild. The uncomfortable knowledge that she was a Trinity among Hallows dangled over her for several minutes, until there wasn't any point in pushing off the conversation any longer. "You know I'm a Trinity," Brie said. "Why are you still trying to protect me if I'm a Trinity?"

"Because," Sirena said immediately, "we can find the stones. We can fix you." Sirena's answer came too fast, like she was trying to convince herself. The tone in Sirena's voice also bothered Brie—like Brie simply had an ear infection that required antibiotics. To be fixed or cured meant that there was something dangerously wrong with Brie in the first place. But Brie knew that already.

"Sirena, I killed someone. I'm a murderer."

"Listen to me." Sirena faced Brie and grabbed her shoulders. "You have to pull yourself together. None of this is a game. Having powers seems fun at first, but they are a liability, not a blessing. In the Hallow world, there are struggles for power at every level. There is treachery. There is death. This will not be the last time you're faced with a difficult choice." Sirena sighed. "I thought you understood what you were getting into."

Brie tucked her legs into her body. She felt small, but not small enough. "Do you think my mom knew what she was facing before she died?"

Sirena wrapped her arms around Brie. "Your mother was desperate and she didn't know who to trust. I wish she had trusted me, just like I wish you had trusted me earlier this evening. She shouldn't have sought the stones on her own, but her intentions for wanting them were sound. She was trying to save you. And I'm going to try too."

"What about the other Hallows?" Brie whispered.

"They won't bother us," Sirena said. "Clara convinced Thessa that she should wait to tell the New Order anything until we understand what is happening to you. But I wasn't going to turn you in anyway. I was going to run with you."

Sirena's words took Brie's full-blown panic down a level. She wasn't completely alone—not yet anyway.

"I'm sorry for not trusting you."

"I don't blame you—I'm the one who told you to trust Thessa, and clearly, we couldn't. Besides, you might have saved Rykken by being in the right place at the right time."

"Or I might have guaranteed his death."

"I don't think so, Brie."

Brie knew Sirena was just trying to calm her down; Sirena couldn't see what a terrible person Brie was. If she had just thought through some of her actions, or just paid more attention to where Rykken was

—there were a million other scenarios. She could have kept everyone safe, and she could have avoided a confrontation with Kennedy. She could have avoided killing someone that her brother cared about...

Brie mustered the courage to ask her next question. "Will Pilot forgive me for killing Kennedy?"

"Are you sure Kennedy is dead, Brie? She's strong—it's possible that she could heal just fine from a dagger to her heart. Even normal earthlies sometimes do."

"It wasn't just a dagger to her heart," Brie said. "I went after her. I pulled the dagger out of her chest and I stabbed her. Repeatedly. Blood all over my hands..." Brie's thoughts drifted to something unexpected—Adele wearing silk, red gloves the color of blood to mimic Shakespeare's Macbeth.

Sirena raised her eyebrows; her sharp intake of breath broke through Brie's thoughts. "Well, you'll have everyone in Silver Smoke after you if you really did kill her."

"And if I didn't," Brie said, "I'll just have her after me."

Sirena and Brie looked at each other; Sirena's raisin-colored eyes reflected the conclusion that Brie herself had just come to.

"So you understand why we can't stay here, right?"

Brie did understand. They had been planning to leave anyway; but now that Brie understood the stakes, she was truly terrified. How much more was she going to lose, and would she lose herself in the process?

"Brie, there's something else you should know," Sirena whispered with great restraint. "There's a reason why you have powers and Pilot doesn't. Pilot is an earthlie because Michael doesn't allow sons to be born with his blood. Do you understand? There are no sons of Michael."

"Why not?"

"I don't know," Sirena admitted. "I know there have been before, and every time something horrible has happened. Not just to the son of Michael, but to world." Brie opened her mouth, but Sirena cut her off. "That isn't the point," she said. "The point is that the opposite is true in the Nephilim world with daughters of Luci."

Brie let the words sink in for a moment. "And I'm a daughter of Luci?"

"Not a traditional one, but yes, by definition..."

"And the fact that I exist means something really bad is going to happen."

"Maybe," Sirena admitted. "Thessa certainly thinks so." Sirena shook her head in disbelief. "All this time, we've been worried about if Pilot could ever be a true son of Michael, double and triple checking that he will never have powers—"

"Because I stole his powers from him at birth," Brie said.

"I don't know if that's true," Sirena said.

"It is," Brie said. "Kennedy told me. She figured all of this out faster than the Hallows did." Brie heard the accusation in her own voice, but Sirena didn't respond to the bait.

"You can't believe everything Kennedy says."

"I guess not," Brie said. "But Kennedy hasn't lied to me yet."

CHAPTER TWENTY

When Rykken woke up, he was lying on a small, full-sized bed, clothed in flowing jade materials as soft as silk. He sat up, patting his chest and face with his hands. His skin was perfectly intact. There was no blood—no remnants of his last encounter with Kennedy.

The room was large but minimal, with few pieces of furniture—the bed he was lying in, with heavy blue drapes hanging from the ceiling, and a large, old trunk against the wall. The floors were covered in handmade tile the color of rust, and the ceiling was adorned with ornate wood-carvings. The walls were covered ceiling to floor in faded murals of angel-like men and women in long robes. Their wings, bodies, and clothing tangled around each other in a large, unending battle.

Rykken heard footsteps at the door and looked up, hoping it was Brie. But the only person to greet him was Thessa.

"Where's Brie?" he asked.

Thessa gave him a long, cold stare. "Alive," she said dryly.

Rykken considered her word choice. "Does that mean I'm dead?" he asked.

"No," Thessa said. "Not yet."

Thessa sat delicately on Rykken's four-poster bed. She looked like a Grecian princess, with white robes and large, gold jewelry. She wore an encrusted band of gold and jewels on her head, and her brown hair fell in rigid curls over her left shoulder.

"Where are we?" Rykken asked.

"We're in my mistress' quarters," Thessa said, her lips curling into a small smile. "My grandfather was King Phillip the second of Macedon. He was a Hallow, of course—most of the royalty that you read about in the history books are either Hallow or Nephilim, and most of the wars that you read about are between the Hallows and the Nephilim.

"You were born in ancient Greece?" Rykken struggled to keep the surprise out of his voice, but he couldn't believe it—Thessa was over two thousands years old.

Thessa's grin bloomed at his realization. "King Phillip's famous son was Alexander the Great. He had no brothers or sisters, which was unusual, as most Hallows are born in sets of twins. King Phillip later had a child with another Hallow—my mom. She was Alexander the Great's half-sister, young enough to be his daughter, almost.

"Her name was Thessalonike and when Alexander was murdered, she became the wife of his successor, Cassander. Cassander was utterly non-Hallow, with no divine blood running through him, but Thessalonike would have been executed with the rest of Alexander's family without the marriage in place. She had two children with Cassander named Phillip and Antipater, named after her father and Cassander's father, respectively. She later had twins with another man, a Hallow. She named them Alexander, for her brother, and Thessalonike, after herself. As the years went on, I shortened my name to more modern versions—Nikki, Tessa, Thessa, or Theresa, depending on where I lived.

My father was executed almost immediately and the incident was hidden from the public. The kingdom was simply told that we were Cassander's children. I stayed out of the public view as my mother had when she was young—she felt Cassander would kill me on sight if he saw me as any sort of threat. My mother wanted to ensure a Hallow was named king, and I was her back-up plan, to repeat her choices if her first plan failed. Meanwhile, Cassander died and my brother was installed to the throne with Cassander's oldest son, Phillip.

"Cassander's younger son Antipater was jealous, and eventually murdered our mother. Without her protection, I begged Alexander to leave with me—but he was so involved in the politics of the kingdom. I left without him, fleeing to the seas, where I stayed for several years. The only contact I had with humans is when a ship passed near enough to me to prompt an exchange. I sometimes tried to gain information from them. 'Is Alexander the king still alive?' I would ask. Eventually, I found out he was dead, assassinated by a friend of his vying for power."

Rykken wasn't sure that Thessa was speaking to him anymore; she seemed lost in a faraway ocean of her own thoughts, aimlessly adrift.

"Thessa," Rykken whispered. Her eyes met his, focusing on him again. "I need to find Brie. She's..." he tried to put into words the pain Brie had to be feeling, but he came up short. "She stabbed Kennedy," he said. "I think she killed her."

"I know," Thessa said. "Brie is going to pay for that." Thessa's eyes faded from brown to black. "Do you know who you are?"

"Yes," Rykken said. "A Hallow. A son of Gabrielle."

"And a future leader of the Hallows," Thessa said, finishing the list.

"How do you know that?" Rykken asked.

"I told you, I see things. I see you and Sirena disbanding the New Order and taking over the Hallows, several years from now."

"I don't care about the Hallows right now. Brie needs me."

Thessa sighed. "Do you remember what I told you about my husband, Bes?"

Rykken nodded his head.

"I lied," Thessa said, not a hint of remorse in her voice. "Bes was an Egyptian monk I met wandering the desert. This was at a time when Egypt was rejecting its pagan gods and deities and turning to various forms of Christianity. After several years, we married, ready to grow old together—but we were unable to get pregnant. We lived at the Hallow capital so I had access to all the researchers and sociologists and historians who studied and tracked the lifestyles and abnormalities of the Hallows. I underwent all sorts of tests, but at the end of it all, their findings were inconclusive. While infertility happens to humans, it had never happened in the history of either Hallow or Nephilim.

Hallows and Nephilim have the ability to heal themselves. So genetic defects, bacteria, viruses, cancer, and other types of sickness don't affect us. We even elude aging until we have children. The only other way to die is by falling in battle.

"I was an anomaly. The team finally concluded that I had simply waited too long to have children. If you'll remember, I spent hundreds of years in hiding, and the doctors said there must be a reproductive limit even for the Hallows.

I cried for weeks when I found out. Bes tried to comfort me, insisting that he wouldn't leave me. Both Hallows and Nephilim typically mate for life, but I couldn't imagine anyone choosing to endure eternity with me. Finally, I moved on, investing myself in my relationship and my work. Bes and I travelled the world together, trying to accomplish the mission of the Hallows among humans. We had lots of free time, so we made a game of visiting every country, tasting every delicacy, seeing every wonder the area had to offer.

"Eventually, we had been everywhere and done everything several times over. Even the changing times, the different periods, the way the human race was developing didn't bring enough newness to the experiences.

Bes and I went back to the capital.

"When the New Order took over, Bes' had to take a new wife—but not just any wife. His wife was Magda, the friend I told you about—Clara and Cora's mother. She had heard our story, of course—everyone had—and she felt guilty for taking a man away from the woman he loved. At the same time, I felt guilty for giving her a husband who would never be in love with her. What could we say to each other though?

"I stayed away, as much as I could. I travelled some, but my travels only reminded me of Bes. A few years later, I returned to the capital. That same year, Magda did bear children, two twin girls, with the most beautiful almond eyes, skin the color of coffee, and heart-shaped faces.

"When I held Bes' children, I felt like they were my own almost, as if Magda was a surrogate mother for the children I couldn't have. Bes aged quickly as soon as the children were born, the years he spent alive catching up to him. The girls crowded around his bed as he withered away of old age, begging him to tell them stories. He told them stories about us, replacing my name with Magda's. The three of us, in the strange relationships we had formed, agreed it was the best way to protect the girls. Bes was gone by the twins' tenth birthday."

Thessa gently placed her hand on Rykken's. "It was hard to let go of Bes. I'm not going to pretend it was easy to see him with Magda, and to see her still when I look at Clara and Cora. But it was for the best. In many ways, she had given Bes and me a gift. She was the ice pick, cracking the moulding surrounding our relationship, which had been frozen in time for far too long. And if I hadn't let go of Bes, I wouldn't have the twins now."

"Why are you telling me this?" Rykken sensed the troubling, double-meaning of her story.

Thessa's gaze shifted to one of genuine empathy mixed with stout certainty. "I know how much you think you love Brie, but she's a Trinity. I'm sorry Rykken. She isn't one of us."

He glared back at Thessa, pain pricking him all over his chest. "I don't care."

"You should. The Brie you're in love with now will fade, replaced by someone neither of us recognize anymore."

"No," Rykken said. "The stones can cure her."

"And how will you find the stones?" Thessa asked, tilting her head curiously. "The odds were against Brie even when I thought she was an extremely powerful Hallow. Now, the chances of her going dark before she finds them all... well, it's almost an impossible task."

"You know what's going to happen in the future, don't you?"

Thessa buffed her nails on the bedsheets, admiring a gold ring she was wearing. "Yes, some of it. Just images, really."

"Like my vision about Brie falling off of the boat and almost drowning."

"We share a gift—the ability to see the future in our dreams." Thessa gestured to the door. "All of my visions are catalogued in the next room. You can reference them any time you want."

"What do you mean?" Rykken asked. "How?"

"I'm giving you my visions, but I don't advise you to go looking for trouble. Knowing too much about the future is just as dangerous as not knowing enough. I would let your subconscious decide what to look at, if I were you."

"I don't understand."

"Rykken, you were dying. I used an ancient ritual named after a man named Cronus that allows a Hallow to use his or her healing abilities to help another living being. The Cronus ritual is not always a death sentence for the healer, but with your wounds, the only way I can save you is by giving my life in place of yours."

Rykken's jaw plunged into total astonishment. "Did Kennedy kill me?"

"Yes and no. She is the reason you're dying, but Brie brought you back to the van Rossum house just in time." Thessa left Rykken's side and traversed the room, meandering in random patterns. "You're alive because my own life force is keeping you here. You can tell, because I'm controlling the room."

"Why would you die for me?"

"Because you're far more important than me," Thessa explained, an uneasy passion in her words. "You can bring down the New Order." She gestured to a shelf. "I'm passing on my powers to you too. It's a rare gift, to receive another Hallow's powers. But you'll need them, if you are to fight and win the wars that lie ahead."

"What about Brie?" he asked. "She doesn't trust you anymore. She said you were going to turn her in to the Hallows."

"I was." Thessa sighed. "When you live as long as I have, you learn to look at the bigger picture. But I was overruled." Thessa held up her hands. "Either way, I'm dying. Brie doesn't need to worry about me spilling her secret anymore."

"You also said she would pay for what she did to Kennedy."

"She will," Thessa said. "Sirena will protect her, though, for as long as she can."

"So will I," Rykken said.

Thessa's bottom lip twitched. "Brie is just one person. You're destiny is bigger than her or you—you have the chance to change history; to overthrow the government, to make things right with the Hallows, for once."

"What happens to Brie affects me," Rykken said defiantly.

Thessa's stern look reminded him of a teacher. She pursed her lips. "I guess it could be better that you're close to her. I thought it was a weakness at first—something that would just hurt both of you at the end. But now, I wonder if it might help you."

"I can fix this," Rykken said. "My visions helped me save Brie once."

"My visions say otherwise," Thessa countered, "and I have lived for thousands of years. I've never once changed the course of one of my visions." She sat down again. "Not even the vision of my husband having children with another woman."

"What's the use of having visions then?" Rykken asked, frustrated. "If you can't change what's going to happen, there's no point in knowing early."

"Because in rare circumstances, you may save someone. Like the way you saved Brie. Sometimes good things happen, but most of the time the visions just prepare you for the inevitable. They help you let go of the ones you love."

"I won't give up on her," Rykken said.

Thessa pursed her lips. "Very well," she finally said. "It's best if you discover your true destiny on your own." She kissed his cheek. "Be well, my friend."

She shoved him back down onto the bed. He panicked, wishing he could say something wise to her, or at least thank her for sacrificing her life to save his. But his eyes drifted shut against his will, pushing him back into a clear, blinding world of pure white.

*****

In the hallway, Clara screamed at Brie. "I'll never forgive you if she doesn't wake up! You deserve to be a Trinity! You've been evil all along and—"

Cora buried her head in Pilot's chest. "Don't let go of me," she begged.

Pilot wrapped his arms around her, resting his chin against the top of her head. They sat like that for several minutes, blocking out Clara's screams and Brie's sobbing.

"Why do you find me comforting?" Pilot asked. It didn't make sense to him. They weren't particularly close, and he was an earthlie. For the most part, the other Hallows ignored him.

She looked up at him, tears glistening from her eyes. "Because you do have powers," she choked. "The others are wrong." She sat up. "My powers change peoples' emotions, but you can block them. I don't understand how, but even when I touch your skin now—it has almost no effect. I can barely feel what you're thinking. It's like possessing any sort of sensation—sight, sound, hearing—and all of a sudden, having it dulled, perhaps by a blindfold, or earplugs."

Pilot paled at the unspoken truth in Cora's words, reminded of what Kennedy had told him earlier in James' office. "You've changed my emotions before, haven't you?"

"Yes," Cora confessed. "And Clara has changed your thoughts too, twice. We had no idea—"

"That I was a Trinity also?" Pilot asked.

"You aren't a Trinity, Pilot. We made sure of it, actually. We bound you, once we realized that you weren't going to develop powers naturally."

"Great," Pilot mumbled. It was news to him that his powers were bound, but he didn't have the energy to question whether it was a good or bad thing at the moment.

Cora looked at him. "Oh no," she said. "We didn't take your powers away from you. We just prevented you from getting powers, for your protection."

"My protection," Pilot repeated.

"So you are an earthlie with Trinity blood, and the ability to block Hallow attacks. It's unheard of."

She hesitated. "You block their feelings for me. You can't imagine how hard it is, feeling everything that everyone around you feels, in addition to your own pain. It amplifies and intensifies everything you're feeling two or three times."

The tears were falling down Cora's cheeks now, and Pilot brushed them away with his pointer finger.

"You're right," he said. "I can't imagine it."

There must have been a tone to his voice, because Cora looked up. "You're mad at me, aren't you? I mean, I think you are. Like I said, I can't tell." She sat up and positioned herself in front of him, holding the back of her hand to his cheek. "Yes, you're mad at me. Why, Pilot?"

He reached up and entwined his fingers with hers, gently pulling her hand away from his face. "I get it," he said. "Everyone else's emotions exhaust you. Being with me is like putting a mute button on the TV, and..." he paused. Cora had her other hand on his other cheek.

"You think I'm using you," Cora said, staring into his eyes.

"Everyone else does." Pilot turned his head, breaking contact with her hand. It scared him, the way Cora communicated—she had a way of making him feel like they had a connection, but they didn't. It was just her powers.

"I guess I am using you," she admitted. She brushed his bangs out of his eyes, lost in her own thoughts. "But I can take away your pain also, if you want. Then we'll be using each other."

Pilot looked up quickly. "Kennedy," she said. "I can siphon away your feelings for her."

"How?" Pilot asked. He had a hard time imagining anyone taking away the emptiness he felt right now.

Cora's arms drifted to his waist; she lifted the front of his shirt and put her hands on his chest. He wrapped his own hands over hers, hoping she wouldn't let go of him. "Open your emotions to me," Cora said, closing her eyes. Pilot wasn't completely sure what she meant, and he wasn't sure he could trust her with how he was feeling.

He closed his eyes and tried to pretend Cora was Kennedy, letting the most secret, painful feelings he had creep to the top.

Cora's hands trembled against his chest as she pulled the feelings out of him, absorbing them into her own being. He had to admit that it made him feel better to release the feelings he was struggling with at the moment. Slowly, he released more anger, more hurt, dredging up things he didn't even realize existed.

Anger toward his father and mother for making bad decisions. Jealousy toward Brie for being the favorite child. Embarrassment and pain toward himself for stupidly falling in love with a girl who didn't know how to love. One by one, Cora replaced his dangerous feelings with resolution and peace.

Finally, she dropped her hands, shaking herself. He stared at her, wondering if he'd gone to far, wondering if he'd shown her something that would make her hate him. "I can't do any more," she confessed.

"Another time."

Brie came outside, lingering on the steps next to them. Or maybe she had been standing there the whole time and Pilot hadn't notice her. The way she looked at him made him feel like he'd been caught making out with someone. He wondered how much she had seen and what she made of it.

Her face was red and blotchy and wet. "Can I talk to you?"

Cora decoupled herself from Pilot and stood up. "I should check on my sister."

Brie sat down on the stairs next to Pilot, but she didn't say anything.

"What's going on in there?" Pilot finally asked.

"Thessa and Rykken are stuck in a different world," Brie said. "I don't know what's going to happen to either of them. We're just playing the waiting game at this point."

Pilot nodded absentmindedly. He knew why Brie was out here, but it didn't make it any easier on either of them. Pilot closed his eyes, repeating his mantra. Kennedy lied to me and manipulated me. Kennedy was using me. Kennedy tried to kill Rykken. Kennedy tried to hurt Brie.

He added something new to the list. Kennedy might be dead.

Brie stared at Pilot, with those green eyes that were so similar to the ones he saw in the mirror every day. "Please forgive me for Kennedy," she said. "Both Rykken and Thessa could die tonight, and it would be my fault. Clara hates me. I can't live with you hating me too."

Brie's face reminded Pilot of a lost puppy.

"You don't need forgiveness for what you did," Pilot said, more for her benefit than because it was true.

She met his eyes, pain piercing her face. "It wasn't your fault," he said with more conviction. "Kennedy made her choices. She knew that hurting you or Rykken would destroy me and anything we had left."

Brie gave him a hard look. "I hate her," she said. "I hate her for involving you."

Pilot looked away, ashamed that he couldn't hate Kennedy, not yet. "I made my choices too," he said. They sat in silence for a minute. When Pilot glanced at Brie, she was practically biting her lip off.

"Sirena thinks that we have to leave," Brie said.

Pilot considered her words carefully. 'We' meant Sirena, Brie, and Rykken—not him. He couldn't decide if it was for the best or not—Cora's trick had left him in a better place, but there was no telling how he would feel about Brie and Rykken in the weeks to come. "Where are you going?" he asked.

"No idea. Sirena doesn't feel safe here anymore." Brie fidgeted with her hands. "But you'll be fine here. Clara and Cora can protect you. Thessa too, if she comes out of this..."

The look on Brie's face told Pilot that Thessa probably wasn't going to come out of whatever it was.

"Okay." Pilot swallowed. Two conflicting sentiments toward Brie battled each other in his heart, but he refused to let the negative one win. "Brie, I'm worried about you."

"I know," she said. "I'll be okay."

"Kennedy's sister is going to notice she's gone when she doesn't report back in a few weeks. If she sends Trinities after you and Rykken—" Pilot stopped, not wanting to finish the sentence.

"I know," Brie said more forcefully. "But what choice did I have? She was trying to kill Rykken."

"That's the problem," Pilot said with more emphasis. "Rykken was an important target for Silver Smoke. If Kennedy didn't succeed..." He paused—the thought of Brie getting hurt pained him so much. His sentiment toward her became clearer—if given the choice, he would have saved Brie over Kennedy. Brie was his sister. He couldn't be mad at her for this.

"If Kennedy didn't succeed," he said with more conviction, "none of us are safe."

*****

When Rykken woke up a second time, he felt like an abused rag doll, not nearly as physically sound as he had felt waking in Thessa's cavernous room. This time he recognized his surroundings at the van Rossum house, in the guest room where he always stayed. He didn't look to his left—his instincts told him not to.

Rykken fell back into his pillow, wishing he could bury himself there a bit longer. Out of the corner of his eye, he noticed a girl sitting next to him on the right.

"Brie?"

"She's outside," Sirena said. Now that Rykken's eyes had adjusted to the light, he saw the girl for who she was. Where he expected to find long, flowing brunette hair, he instead found dirty blonde. Sad brown eyes replaced the emerald ones he longed for.

Sirena glanced across him on the bed to his left, where he guessed Thessa laid. Dead. He didn't have to look to know because he sensed her presence inside of him.

All of a sudden, a million realizations smashed against his consciousness. Kennedy tried to kill him at birth. She drowned his brother as a baby. He had a family, but they hadn't come looking for him. Kennedy was most likely dead. Kennedy was the only one who knew his family. He had a family.

Brie killed Kennedy. Pilot loved Kennedy. Would Pilot forgive either of them?

Sirena was on the other side of him, hovering over Thessa's body. She kissed Thessa lightly on her forehead, then folded the bedsheets over Thessa's head.

"I know why you wanted your blood tested," Sirena said, wiping tears from her eyes. "You think your parents are out there still, hiding from the New Order."

"Kennedy told me they are," Rykken said, unsure of his voice.

Sirena nodded her head. "Maybe I can help you find them."

Rykken bit the inside of his mouth. He didn't want to talk to Sirena right now. All he wanted was Brie, the girl who had saved his life, the girl who had chosen him over her own kind. "Can you help me find Brie?" he asked her.

Sirena stood up, her face devoid of emotions. "I'll have her come to you," she said, before touching the bed where Thessa laid. They both disappeared after several seconds.

Rykken waited for at least ten minutes by himself. When Brie finally entered the room, she didn't rush to Rykken. She just looked at him in shock.

"You aren't bleeding anymore," she said.

"Come here," he told her. He wanted nothing more than to touch her face. He didn't understand why she wasn't happy to see him, alive.

Brie stepped a little closer, but stayed out of his reach. "Clara says that they could have gotten you out. She thinks that Kennedy was just testing me to see how fast I would go dark."

"You passed then," Rykken said.

"Rykken, I killed her. And I killed you. The only reason you're here is because Thessa saved you. Now she's dead, and it's my fault."

"You didn't know," Rykken insisted. "You were running away from Thessa, remember? She was about to betray you."

Brie didn't answer him—it was like she was tuned into a different station. His words bounced off her, not making a dent in her mood.

"Brie—I know you're scared, but you're not going to turn into Kennedy." He reached for her hand and pulled her toward him. She let him, reluctantly. He couldn't stand the pain on her face that seemed to reverberate through him against his will. "Your mom wanted you to search for the stones and become a Hallow, and we're going to make it happen."

"Kennedy was right though," Brie said. "If Thessa couldn't do it, it's an impossible task. And I'm going to get darker and darker as time passes. I can already feel it."

"It's not an impossible task," Rykken said, his voice rising. Why was she giving up? "I'm not going to let you go dark. I'm going to save you."

She looked at him sadly. "I've already murdered someone. Put that on the list of irreversible dark crimes I've committed."

"I can put saving me on the list of good deeds you've done. I owe you my life." He cupped her chin.

"Brie, you are the bravest, most talented supernatural girl I've ever met."

"Maybe," she said, though she seemed to cheer up a little. "Though it's not like you know a ton of supernatural girls."

"You're stronger than the other Hallows, and I'll be there every step of the way to help you." He sat up to get a better look at her.

Brie reached up to the nape of her neck and found a clump of hair to twirl in her fingers, like she always did.

Rykken did a double take. The strands she twirled were the color of quarter coins, like they had been spun from silver itself.

He stroked her hair, his lips meeting hers. After several seconds, she responded to him, kissing him back. He wrapped his arms around her waist, wishing he could lose himself in her before he had to face the rest of the Hallows.

Rykken heard a knock at the door, followed by Pilot walking in without waiting for an answer. He pulled away from Brie automatically—Rykken expected Pilot to react to the way he was entwined with her, but Pilot completely ignored it. "I'm glad you're okay brother," he said, grabbing Rykken's hand and pulling him into a one-armed hug.

"How are you," Rykken asked cautiously, eyeing Pilot's overly cheerful smile.

Pilot blinked, his smile growing tighter across his face. "Better than I would be if you were dead and Kennedy were alive."

CHAPTER TWENTY-ONE

The clock struck midnight; it was time. Brie sprang from her bed and quietly donned the robe she had created, copied from the one Cora showed her earlier that day. The colors had been difficult to perfect—

the robe started with yellow at the top, blended into orange toward the middle, and tapered off with inflamed red at the bottom. Annie, in exchange for not having her memories erased, helped Brie sew the material together once she had worked out the colors.

Brie pulled the canary yellow hood over her head, tucking her loose hair under the cap. She looked at herself in the mirror. I'm on fire.

The attire was modeled after the phoenix bursting into flames, a symbol of rebirth. Brie was headed to a funeral, but in the Hallow world, funerals were celebrations.

Brie hoped the ceremony started on time. She concentrated and summoned her energy to travel. A few minutes later, she was standing in front of Saint Andrew's Cathedral in West Honolulu.

A statue of St. Andrew stood in the center of a rectangular water fountain filled with bluish-green water. The fountain was lined with egg-white stone that extended throughout the structure. A cloistered garden surrounded the fountain, and the scene was reminiscent of the gothic architecture Brie remembered from her trips to Europe. The building looked empty and desolate from the outside, but Brie knew that inside, a ceremony was taking place.

The entrance to the church was a mosaic of stained glass that spanned from the ground to the rooftop. She grabbed the handle to the outer doors, but her hand passed right through the frame. She stepped through the double doors and entered a cavernous room with the brightest, softest yellow light she had ever seen shining from every direction. The light bounced off the white pillars of arches that formed the inner cavity, which towered several stories high. The Hallows guarding the gate waved her in, glaring at her for being late only. They ushered her towards the endless rows of custom wooden pews to find a seat.

Brie wasn't supposed to be there. In fact, she was taking a huge risk, attending an event as an unregistered Hallow. She wasn't even sure what the consequences were, because Clara and Cora and Sirena would never suspect that she disobey them at this point—not after the prophecy and Kennedy and everything she'd learnt about the stones.

But Brie hadn't yet said her goodbyes to Thessa. Despite Thessa's near-betrayal, Thessa protected her and trained her and saved Rykken when she couldn't. Brie would always owe her.

The official story about what happened was that Kennedy's attack on Rykken was a personal vendetta against his family. Thessa tracked them down, took out Kennedy, and used the pendant to split the Silver Smoke symbol. Splitting a symbol like that required incredibly powerful magic that only someone like Thessa could gain after thousands of years of life. Thessa brought Rykken back to her house and sacrificed her life to save his under Clara and Cora's watch.

The story matched up on all fronts. It gave Kennedy a different and more believable motive, instead the truth—which was, of course, attacking the future president of the Hallows based on a vision. It matched up with Rykken's selkie abilities and bloodlines, in case someone dug far enough back to uncover Kennedy's family vendettas. It matched what Thessa had discussed with Bristol, the head of the Trinities.

It matched the Hallows expectations of Thessa's abilities too. Apparently, the Hallows ran a raid on Silver Smoke over one hundred years earlier under the monarchy, to eradicate the Trinities from the world for good. This was before the Hallows understood the true nature of the cross and wings symbol.

Thessa was the only one to escape; and even then, she almost died.

There was only one loose end, one person who could possibly decipher the truth—Thessa's contact at the New Order. None of the other girls knew his name, and he didn't have Brie, Pilot, or Rykken's names. He only had the knowledge of their blood samples, and the knowledge that Thessa was dabbling with a unique and not-entirely-legal crowd. The Hallows hoped that whatever Thessa had on him was so incriminating, he wouldn't take a chance on ratting them out. Besides, he didn't know that Thessa hadn't passed on the blackmail tidbit before she passed away.

Brie took a spot near the back of the room, watching the events unfold.

Mateo Vega, the president of the Hallows, took to the podium to speak before the blur of rituals started.

The beautiful rituals broke Brie's heart, saddening her. She thought of her mother, who never got a Hallow send off like this one. Like Brie, Milena was someone for which a Hallow send off could never have been possible, even if Milena had embraced her powers. These same people would not accept her either, no matter what she did to save their people or fight the Nephilim.

Clara took the podium, her presence alone sending chills through Brie's body. Brie closed her eyes, their last conversation at Thessa's deathbed replaying in her mind. Clara blamed Brie for Thessa's death. Clara would never forgive her. Clara wanted her to get the hell out of Honolulu.

Clara began reading the speech that Cora and Sirena helped her write. The three of them decided that the funeral was the best place to do damage control and upload the fake story into people's minds. The speech was carefully crafted to have the right amount of logic and emotion, the latter of which was not Clara's strong point. Clara was a surprisingly good actress though, probably from years of being a Hallow.

But the presentation cast a new wave of guilt over Brie, because Clara was still protecting her.

Maybe she was protecting herself too, a little. Either way, Clara's last goodbye to Thessa was a complete lie. This was Brie's fault too.

Then, Rykken stood up. There was a ripple of interest through the crowd over the new Hallow who was so precious that someone as ancient and important as Thessa might sacrifice her life for him. He was also young and attractive, which didn't go unnoticed by the women near Brie. All Hallows were attractive by nature, but Rykken's tan skin contrasted so nicely with the hood, highlighting his eyes and lips. This, combined with the rest of the outfit, reminded Brie of their time together—specifically his passionate, soft kisses that were the perfect combination of angel and fire.

Plus Rykken had this pure goodness about him that was impossible to ignore. He was the only reason she could handle the news that she was a Trinity, the only reason she wanted to keep fighting.

Rykken started reading his rehearsed speech. When he had finished reading it, he looked up.

"Thessa still lives inside me though," he said, going off the speech they had so carefully crafted. There was a murmur through the crowd, and Cora turned sharply in her seat. "The memories Thessa left me with are so beautiful and rich in detail. Her visions of the future are so vivid and fluid." Rykken stopped, looking out into the crowd. Brie felt a sense of foreboding, starting in her stomach and traveling through her chest. The entire assembly was buzzing, but not because they were interested in Rykken. The sentiment seemed... angry. Outraged. Brie saw Clara drag her pinched fingers across her lips, signaling to Rykken to shut up.

What was Rykken talking about anyway? Thessa left him memories and visions?

Brie didn't have much time to think about it, the next part happened so fast. Rykken dropped to the floor, moaning and holding his head with both his hands.

Brie's scream was only one of several that echoed off the walls. Several people rushed forward to help Rykken, but Brie backed away toward the doors. Just before she turned, she saw Clara, glaring at her with daggers in her eyes.

*****

Rykken heard Brie scream, but he couldn't tell if it was part of this new vision or if it was real life.

The visions had hit him sporadically ever since Thessa had passed her powers on to him. Usually they happened at night, when he was sleeping, but this one must have been triggered by the room full of Hallows humming about his latest revelation, which he hadn't realized was a secret until a few seconds earlier.

Cora was the first to reach him, sending calming waves over him that only created a dim layer of padding between him and the panic-inducing images that played out in his mind. She helped him stand up, but it was no good. All he wanted to do was run out of the cathedral, back to his house where he could examine the vision again without so many eyes watching him.

Cora grasped his arms. "What is it?" she asked. Rykken just looked at Cora, afraid to say anything.

The vision hit again, and Rykken's outer senses dulled as he slumped over. In the background, someone spoke, silencing the crowd. He could vaguely feel someone guiding him as he walked.

But his main focus was the vision. He saw Brie holding a glinting emerald over Kennedy, stabbing her repeatedly, her hands covered in blood. Then, the scene changed, and he saw himself sitting on a bench with Sirena in a park that he didn't recognize, kissing her passionately, his fingers running through her blonde hair. The scene changed again, and Kennedy was back, alive and wild, taunting Brie. The two of them circled around each other, both ready to kill.

Then, a girl he barely recognized filled the vision—it was an older Brie, with long locks the color of metallic steel cascading past her shoulders. A bright light reflected off her tresses like a knife glinting in the sun. She wore a long dress the color of midnight, and her eyes were empty, holding pools of silver with specks of green the same shade as the emerald dagger she held in her hand.

"I did it for you," Brie said, with the same disconnected tone Kennedy used. "Everything I've done, I've done for our love."

Not you! He shouted in his mind, wishing he could change the circumstances, the outcome. This isn't you!

But like Thessa said, visions weren't meant to be changed. They only helped the seer prepare for the inevitable.

Brie screamed, and the vision went black.

*****

The funeral had been such a terrible idea, and Brie hated herself for going and barely escaping. She worried about Rykken, though she knew he was fine—Clara and Cora would have taken care of him, or they would have come to her house to tell her in person if he was hurt. She spent the rest of the night tossing in her bed, wondering instead about how much trouble she might be in the next morning.

Clara, Cora, and Sirena didn't tell her the consequences of getting caught at the funeral, not because they assumed she was good at following instructions—they all knew that wasn't true. The reason they didn't tell her was because the consequence was obvious—death. If she had been discovered, the other Hallows would have killed her.

All of Brie's reasons for going to the funeral seemed silly now. She wanted to show her respect for Thessa, but getting caught would have been a terrible way to repay the person who died for her mistakes.

Brie curled up in her bed, digging her knees into her chest. She threw the covers off her body for what was probably the fiftieth time in several hours. Her body fluctuated between hot and cold, never settling on a comfortable temperature.

When Rykken got home at dawn, Brie flew into his arms without even a hello.

"How is your head?" Brie petted his dark, thick hair, checking for bumps or signs of blood. "I was there last night."

Rykken seemed surprised, and a little concerned. "I didn't know." He had the strangest look on his face, like he was seeing her for the first time.

"You didn't tell me that Thessa passed her memories on to you."

"She gave me her abilities too." Rykken put his hand to his head. "Now, I get visions at the most random times. That's why I collapsed." He twisted his fingers through her hair, winding the streak of silver strands in his hand. "You shouldn't have been there."

"I know—I wasn't thinking. I wanted to say goodbye to Thessa and..." Brie stopped talking. Rykken had taken a step back from her. He hadn't kissed her yet, and he didn't even seem that interested in what she was saying.

"I don't think I can leave with you and Sirena," Rykken blurted out.

Brie's heart stopped. She backed away from him until she hit the wall. "Why?"

He folded his arms in front of his chest. With his wide stance, he looked almost... intimidating. "Clara says it's uncommon for Hallows to die for one another, and even rarer to for them to pass on their gifts.

Thessa was one of the oldest Hallows alive—so naturally, everyone wants to know what she sees in me. I have a target on my back, and you and Sirena are on the run. You need stealth and secrecy, and you can't have that if I drag all my problems along."

Brie sat down on her bed, trying to recover from his news.

"Brie?"

Brie looked up, realizing that she had been silent for several minutes. "I'm thinking." He sat down on her bed next to her.

Slowly, she spoke. "That seems logical," she said finally, though emotionally, she was devastated.

He nodded. "Alright then."

Brie exhaled; she didn't realize she'd been holding her breath. "But how will we keep in touch?"

"We won't." He took her hand in his, pressing his fingers lightly into her palm. "We have to sever communication while we're apart."

Brie took a deep breath. "I can do that. It's just a little long distance, right?" She tried to calm her thundering heart, but it wanted to jump out of her skin.

Rykken's eyebrows formed a single line, splitting his face. "We can't contact each other until your mission is done; until you've found all the stones. The Hallows will never accept you otherwise."

"But it could take years for me to..." Brie trailed off, realizing the true meaning of his words. He wasn't just talking about the trip. He was breaking up with her.

"Why?" she asked, absolute panic shaking through her body. "I—" I love you. But she could never say that to him out loud. "I thought we were doing so well," she finished. They had been, she realized, until they found out she was a Trinity. The Hallows will never accept you otherwise. Rykken was a Hallow, probably an important one—and he would want a Hallow. Not a damaged, broken Trinity.

"We don't belong together," Rykken said, a twinge of regret in his eyes. He gave her a sad, boyish smile that said, Oh well. This, more than anything, unnerved her. Because if breaking up was just an unhappy misfortune for him, then nothing they had together had been real enough in the first place.

Brie turned away from him. "Okay," Brie said, trying to accept that she would face her demons alone.

"I'll always care about you," Rykken said distantly, with the tone of someone who would say anything to soften a blow. "I don't regret these last weeks."

"When I leave," Brie said slowly, "I might not ever see you again." Brie felt dumb and slow, each new realization leaving her with less and less ability to think straight.

"You're not going to lose me forever."

"You're right," Brie said, anger trickling into her voice. "I won't lose you because I never had you,"

she said quietly. "Just the illusion that I did."

Rykken's face registered hurt, before his expression darkened. "This isn't easy for me either," he said quietly. "I'm trying to think of you. I'm trying to protect you."

"Well don't go killing anyone to protect me," Brie said coolly. "The nightmares that come with snuffing the life out of someone are surprisingly scary."

Rykken looked like he could either kiss her or slap her. Before he had the chance to do either, she transported away, to a place where she could finally let the tears fall.

*****

The first night Pilot smoked, he opened the balcony door to let the stench clear, but today he didn't bother. Originally, it was because he wanted to keep the blinds closed and the curtains drawn, so that even in the middle of the day, his room would be dark. But now, he realized he liked the silver smoke that filled his room; it wafted around him ironically, reminding him of his terrible mistakes.

Images of the USS Arizona Memorial flashed on TV, causing Pilot to grab the remote. Within seconds, the screen was blank. He had seen the newscast several times already and listened to the earthlies'

theories on what the sign meant. The building structure had been repaired by a team of Hallows within the first 24 hours of the accident, but the symbol couldn't be removed. The Hallows instead tried to paint over it, lessening its presence in the memorial. Luckily, the symbol didn't affect earthlies.

Kennedy's body was never found, though the Hallows were certain of her death anyway. No supernatural being could survive three stabs to the heart, they said.

Pilot hadn't talked to anyone about Kennedy since the night of the accident. Most of the Hallows forgot his involvement, and Brie and Rykken were so wrapped up in their own drama with each other that neither of them had checked in to see how he was doing.

He didn't blame them. Part of him felt guilt toward them, and part of him felt anger. Shame, regret, remorse—Pilot had given up trying to sort out how he should feel about Kennedy. The truth was he missed her, and he wasn't getting her back.

Cora, his angelic savior, hadn't stopped by either. He was fairly sure that he'd shown her too much when he opened his feelings to her. He wondered if she'd ever speak to him again.

He sucked from his pipe, covering the carb hole until just before he felt the hit. He exhaled, filling his room with more smoke.

When he finished the last of it, he lay down in his bed, but he didn't dare go to sleep. That would only start the nightmares again, and if there was one thing he couldn't take it was reliving Kennedy's return in his dreams.

*****

"Brie, are you there?" Pilot knocked on Brie's door, but she didn't move to let him in.

The day before, Sirena had sat down on her bed, a hard look on her face.

"You have one day to mope," Sirena told her. "The next time I come in here, you better be packing." Then, Sirena walked out without so much as a sympathetic look.

Now, Pilot opened the door tentatively. When he saw her still in bed, he barged in.

"Mail call," he said, tossing a yellow-orange envelope in her direction. She let it hit the top of her comforter, not bothering to free her arms from the depths of her bed sheets, where she had spent the last 24 hours or so curled into a ball.

Pilot's fists clenched as the envelope hit the floor.

"Stop with the melodrama," he said, ripping the sheets from her bed.

"Hey! I could have been naked under here."

"But you weren't," Pilot said. He held his nose. "Though you do need a shower."

"And you need to try sleeping," she replied, observing the bruised-looking patches around his eyes.

"Can't," he said, a small grin on his lips. "I feel better when I'm awake."

Brie sniffed at the air. "Is that smoke?" she asked. "You have some nerve saying I need a shower. You reek."

Pilot sighed. "Just open the damn mail Brie. It looks important."

Something in Pilot's tone made her sit up. He sat next to her on her bed as she ripped open the envelope.

She pulled out the contents, a magazine with her picture on the front, rehashing the stunt she pulled on the cruise.

She barely looked at the cover before tossing the magazine across the room and falling back onto her pillow, burying her head in the slight arch of its shape.

Pilot walked across the room. "There's something else in here," he said, shuffling around beyond Brie's line of vision.

"I don't give a shit," Brie said, wishing she could reach her iPod without getting up. She wanted nothing more than to blast music, tune everyone out, and cry into her t-shirt some more.

Pilot sat down on her bed again, bouncing her roughly. "Wake up! Stop feeling sorry for yourself and look at this."

She threw her pillow at him. "What do you want from me?" she asked. She threw another pillow, and another.

He grabbed her hands, pressing her arms into her sides. She could have broken free with her powers, but something about his grip caught her by surprise. He had always been stronger than her. He had always been the older one and the one in control. She realized now that she wanted him to keep trying to control her.

She was afraid of pushing him away, like maybe he would give up on her too, the way Rykken had.

When she stopped struggling against him, he released his grip on her. She yanked the magazine from his hands. The magazine was open to the main story, featuring James, Pilot, and her, but was obscured by black, permanent marker written all over it.

"This was my signal," she read out loud. She picked up the eight by ten photograph that bookmarked the page. In the picture, Brie and Adele sat with pale makeup pressed into their skin, wearing the most ridiculous dresses. Their photographer posing next to them as Shakespeare. She turned the photograph over.

"This is yours," she continued reading out loud. At the bottom there were six words: New York City. I'm expecting you.

*****

Sirena hated digging through Thessa's private thoughts, but she had no choice. The day that Thessa had taken Brie's blood—after Brie, Pilot and Rykken had left—Thessa had walked over to her dresser and pulled a strange contraption from one of the drawers.

"I want to give you this before you leave," she said. "It's called a Mnemosyne and I invented it."

"Nee-MAH-sin-nee?" Sirena said.

"It's a diary," Thessa said, "but it also contains all my thoughts over time, as I reflected back on each of the memories. I've lived so long, I thought it could be useful, if something were to happen to me."

She unfolded the mnemosyne and flattened it on the table.

"Touch it," she said.

Sirena placed her hand on the object. In her mind, she saw images of memories flashing. She could hear the words, similar to a video, but there was also an additional audio layer of reflection over the original track. It reminded Sirena of watching a movie with the commentary feature on.

Sirena pulled her had away from the pad.

"Pretty neat, huh?" Thessa folded the mnemosyne up and held it out to Sirena.

"Do you expect something to happen to you?" Sirena asked, taking the device from her and slipping it into an inner pocket of her jacket.

Thessa cocked her head to one side, with a slight smile. "Best to be prepared," she had said.

Now, the mnemosyne was Sirena's only hope to help Brie. Sirena felt naked without Thessa's counsel.

She had avoided the New Order for nearly one hundred years, but only because she had help. Her oldest friend Margarita had helped her once or twice, but Thessa was the pro at survival—she could think her way out of any situation. She was Sirena's safety net.

Sirena sighed, setting her fingers on the mnemosyne again. She kept returning to the scene of Rykken and her speaking on a platform to an audience of Hallows. The way she was looking at Rykken in the vision... well, it wasn't a friendly look.

It was hard for Sirena to imagine loving any man, but if she were to choose her future husband, it wouldn't be Rykken. His connection with Brie was one of the only reasons she tolerated him; otherwise, she found him quiet and full of angst, with an average ability in using his Hallow gifts and a weakness for her niece. It was hard to imagine Rykken growing up to be the warrior in the vision, the leader who would lead the Hallow people into a new, less volatile government.

Brie burst into the room, startling Sirena out of her thoughts. Brie was showered and dressed, holding a magazine in one hand.

Sirena quickly shuffled a stack of papers over the device. "Your hair is still wet," Sirena observed, hoping to provide some distraction. Brie's hands went automatically to the tips of her hair, to Sirena's relief.

"Never mind that," Brie said, flipping her hair over her shoulder. She walked over to Sirena, slamming the magazine on Sirena's desk. "It's the stones," she said. "I think I've found one of them."

The book doesn't end after Chapter 21!

You can access additional and deleted scenes online. Go to:

http://forms.aweber.com/form/00/446944400.htm

Or, if that link isn't working for you, go to:

http://monicaleonelle.com/seven-halos-extras

About the Author

Monica Leonelle is a 27 year-old writer living in Chicago with her husband and Westie dog. She started writing the Seven Halos series in 2008. When she's not working on a Seven Halos book, she can be found working on her YA cyberpunk trilogy, starting with the first book, Socialpunk.

Acknowledgments

Books, like relationships, can't happen in vacuums. (Sorry Pilot!) A TON of people helped make this book possible, starting with the amazing and ever-supportive Tanya Fraser, who read some truly terrible first drafts of this book and kept encouraging me to write more. Without her, I doubt this book would have been completed. Thank you to Jay Wigley, who edited this book when it was incredibly broken, and Matt Gartland, who took the book to a whole different level. Thank you to my brother, Matthew Crupe, for the inspiration behind Brie and Pilot's sibling relationship and the perspective on Barcelona. Thank you to all my high school and college crushes, dates, and boyfriends, for inspiring many of the clueless interactions Pilot and Rykken have with girls. (And the sweet ones, of course!) Thank you to my parents, for helping with both the marketing and the editing process.

Thank you to all my Kickstarter supporters! I was so amazed by the outpour of love from this group.

Thank you to Steve Meister, Susan Pogorzelski, Krams, Lauren Burns, Mike Forst, Tiffany Monhollon, Michelle Carter, Jessica O'Brien, Amethyst Kemp, Todd Richards, Kenneth Lim, Greg Rollett, Roman Zelvenschi, Juveria Mozaffar, Brendan Crain, Christine Thompson, Angela Farabee, Andy Drish, Rachael Perrault, Louisa Balich, Ilui, Molly Wenberg, Mike Scalise, Grace Boyle, Adam Baker, Colin Wright, Jun Loayza, and Lennie Leon Guerrero. Special thanks to Natassia Cherne and Margarita Crupe for letting me create what I have dubbed "fan-inspired characters" within my book. Look for the minor characters named after them in Silver Smoke, and keep reading to learn the backstories as these characters develop. I'm looking forward to having more fan-inspired characters in the future!

And lastly, thank you to my husband, Eric, for putting up with my never-ending shenanigans and creative outbursts. It's not as easy as it looks!

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Table of Contents

CHAPTER ONE

CHAPTER TWO

CHAPTER THREE

CHAPTER FOUR

CHAPTER FIVE

CHAPTER SIX

CHAPTER SEVEN

CHAPTER EIGHT

CHAPTER NINE

CHAPTER TEN

CHAPTER ELEVEN

CHAPTER TWELVE

CHAPTER THIRTEEN

CHAPTER FOURTEEN

CHAPTER FIFTEEN

CHAPTER SIXTEEN

CHAPTER SEVENTEEN

CHAPTER EIGHTEEN

CHAPTER NINETEEN

CHAPTER TWENTY

CHAPTER TWENTY-ONE