Silver Smoke (#1 of Seven Halos Series) Read Online Free PDF Page A

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.