Free Silver Smoke (#1 of Seven Halos Series) by Monica O'Brien Page A

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