I felt my hackles rise even as Jared Runnel, Erica's boyfriend, rose from the table and headed for the door, past me. He rolled his dark eyes, one hand rising to squeeze my shoulder on the way out.Normally, I would have taken a few seconds to sigh over the very handsome, dark-haired Jared, to feed my secret little crush on his broad shoulders, muscles and chiseled jaw, but not now.Not while doom waited for me in the faces of three witches and a demon cat.I ground my teeth together, considered a dash for the stairs and my room, but before I could bolt, Mom spoke up."Sydlynn," she said, words heavy with concern, "we need to talk about the echo you encountered."The what? Oh, right. A part of my fear faded, stomach unclenching as I realized this wasn't about my job or Evie. In fact, I hadn't done anything wrong this time, not technically. It was Mom's fault formissing him when she swept the house.A little spark of smug woke inside me as I shrugged, confidence rising."What
I managed a fast, hot shower which did little to dull my mood. In fact, I spent the entire time scrubbing my skin raw while I argued with Mom in my head.Productive? Totally.By the time I snuck across the hall and back into my room, I felt even worse than before, a sullen and bitter cloud hanging over my head. It really bothered me when I slipped into petulant whiner mode, but there were times when I just couldn't help feeling sorry for myself.I figured this one was bad enough I should cut myself about a hundred years of slack.I paced my room for a while, wet hair soaking the back of my t-shirt as I struggled with what to do about the echo. No way was I going to be able to sleep up here if he repeated his popping out of nowhere performance and went all pissy on me.My stomach growled about an hour into my pity fest, but I refused to go downstairs and join Mom and Meira for dinner, even when my little sister came to my locked door and begged."Syd, it's okay," she said through
This time I didn't freak out. Okay, I did a little, but not with the mind numbing terror which sent mescrambling last time. Instead, I reacted with magic right away, my demon power crawling in between the echo and myself, holding his bitter cold at bay.He winced as the amber flames licked at him, but didn't run when they threatened. "Give it back." His anger was a heavy, tangible weight in the cold he brought with him. I slipped the bracelet from my wrist and held it out to his ghost."I'm sorry," I said, proud my voice only shook a very little. "Here you go."He scowled at me, ghostly form shuddering as he tried twice to take it. I was grateful for the heat from my demon, keeping him from sliding his hand through mine.Frustrated, even more angry, he backed off, cold pouring from him, so much the edge of my shield misted up from the change in temperature."You do know you're dead, right?" The words slipped out before I could think how heartless they sounded. But the young ma
Another morning, another Mom avoidance tactic. She almost caught me as I slipped out, much later this time than yesterday thanks to another sleepless night ending with a doze pushing me past 8am.Sassafras preceded her down the stairs by a fraction of a second. He hissed at me as I dodged out the door and trotted off up the street on my way to Evie's.Though I didn't have Alex's echo to worry about, at least not when it came to being woken in fright in the middle of the night, his situation and the pressure I was under to find a way to tell his grandmother about the bracelet didn't make for an easy time, either. After a heavy day's work yesterday and two nights with little rest, I was ready to fall over.Only the stress of my predicament kept me upright and shaking like a caffeine addict on her tenth shot of espresso.The bracelet weighed heavy, almost dragging me down the street toward the salon. I knew Alex's need was feeding the burden on my shoulders, but my hissing admonishm
I almost spun and went back into the staff room. So. Close.But Evie spotted Gram waving, Mom's attention to me, and rushed forward, eyes alight."You must be Sydlynn's mother." Okay, I knew we looked a little alike. "She is your absolute clone, my dear. Are you sure you're not her sister?"Gag.Mom laughed, her deep, surprised but delighted laugh, one hand rising to her gorgeous black hair. "Quite sure," she said, a new sparkle in her gaze.Eyeroll."Tell me you're here to let me do something with this amazing hair!" Evie's gushing would get old fast, but Mom didn't seem to mind.Until Gram poked her and grinned at my boss."Mine!" She danced her jig, around and around while Evie smiled and nodded."Of course, darling," she said, patting Gram's shoulder when my grandmother fell still. "And you're Syd's aunt, yes? Or young cousin?"Gram giggled behind her hands, wicked joy in her faded blue eyes. Winked.Oh boy.My stomach a knot of anxiety already, the ball of stress grew
And, as usual, it somehow came back to being my fault in the end.Mom arrived a short time-okay about five seconds-after the kerfuffle was over, fury in her face and power crackling, ready to erase memories of the normals in the salon. It was only Evie's continuing ravings about being a witch that saved her and her clients, Blue and Madge included, from having their minds wiped.While Mom was glad the boy's echo had moved on, she was furious I had failed to watch over Gram. From the startled look on her face when I told her what Gram had done, Mom wondered herself why she'd even considered leaving my grandmother in my care. As though it hadn't been her idea at all.Another thing to make me go hmmm about Gram.My grandmother fell into her worst lapse of sanity yet, barely able to focus on anything and I had to wonder if she'd somehow used up part of who she was, the woman who remained intact deep beneath the crazy, to help Evie and Alex. I felt terrible for her, guessing such was th
Book One: Family MagicI batted at the curl of smoke drifting off the tip of my candle and tried not to sneeze. My heavy velvet cloak fell in oppressive, suffocating folds in the closed space of the ceremony chamber, the cowl trapping the annoying bits of puff I missed. I hated the way my eyes burned and teared, an almost constant distraction. Not that I didn't welcome the distraction, to be honest. Anything to take my mind from what went on around me.Being part of a demon raising is way less exciting than it sounds.The bodies of the gathered coven pressed close, shrouded in the same black velvet, the physical weight of their presence making it hard to breathe. I struggled to censor my clichéd thoughts and focus on the task at hand. The glow of other candle flames floated around me, barely lighting faces, enough for a serious case of the creepies. A low hum sounded from every throat, filling the room with an almost physical presence. I participated half-heartedly, wishing I was
There was a certain presence to my father, a weight, a physical feeling to being around him that always made me uncomfortable, especially when the door first opened. I hated to admit it, but I think it made me feel that way because I was afraid it could be me someday traveling between worlds.Haralthazar took the time to look over us. His chiseled face creased in a soft smile, gentle even, welcoming. Hard to believe, but true. My dad was a nice demon. Forget the whole pit of burning despair thing. Demons simply come from another plane, a different realm of existence. There are good guys and bad guys like here on Earth. Lucky for us, when my Mom decided to go unconventional after the attack leaving her own mother crippled, she fell in love with Dad.He raised one arm over Mom. She stiffened as the energy rippled out of her in visible strings of light, flowing over the pentagram and back into each of us. I flinched as the thread hit me, out of breath and more than a little dizzy. Dad a