Tous les chapitres de : Chapitre 201 - Chapitre 210

It wasn't until Mom physically had her hands on Uncle Frank I realized how much trouble we were in. He was screaming over and over, a high-pitched keening sound into the early morning light, his body burning slowly from one side to the other. I dove for him, Mom's movement breaking my freeze.It seemed we all moved at once then, piling on top of him, the very weight of our presence smothering Odette's magic and freeing him from her grasp. The moment her shields collapsed, the lavender power dissolving away with a sigh, a black cloud of energy enveloped Uncle Frank, blocking his undead body from the sun.I had no idea how much damage was done. He had stopped his unearthly shrieking at least, though I wondered if he still burned and smoldered inside the curtain of darkness.Mom was sobbing, but in control of herself, as if her tears and her actions were completely unconnected. She carefully lifted the shrouded form of my uncle with her magic, floating him toward the parking lot and ou

My room was stifling, but it seemed like the only place in the house I could go to be alone. I shut the door on Sassafras and Galleytrot, not sure I could handle being around anyone until I calmed down.If it had just been Alison and her horrible mother, maybe I wouldn't have been so worked up. But backed by Uncle Frank's condition and the fact we still had to face the Dumonts in a few hours, I needed time to clear my head and screw it back on straight.If that was even possible.Gram scared me a little in the kitchen. Her hate was so powerful it colored my emotions, I was sure of it. How much of my own anger was hers? And did I give a crap enough to put an end to it? I could think of nothing more satisfying than taking out the entire Dumont family. And though my demon had been known to expose a violent streak in me, I didn't often wallow in the need to physically hurt others.The house fell quiet. I must have dozed off because I jerked awake just as my room was beginning to darken

This was it. I couldn't believe she'd finally done it. Odette stood there, shaking violently, her magical mask wavering between the middle aged woman she presented to the public and the withered, furious old crone she really was. Gram was actually beaming in joy, though I knew that happiness was fed on pure revenge."Challenging another coven leader is against our laws." Mom's magic rippled around her, branches and swirls winding through her clothing, her hair. She was prepared, I could feel it, the humming connection between she and I, and the rest of the coven loud and clear.Against the law or not, she would fight. And be in the right.Odette knew it. Held back because of it. She'd spoken the words, but no action had been taken. This could still end peacefully. Probably wouldn't, but there it was.Until Gram decided to do some more prodding."You're as weak as your sister," she said with that same grin on her face, a hint of her old madness in her eyes. "I manipulated her too,

Black robed figures circled us in the sky, some hovering in place, others swooping in a pattern above. Three landed, their power gently parting the top of the dome. Odette panted her way to her feet, rage out of control even as one of the figures swept back his hood."You are ordered," he said, deep voice full of power as his light brown eyes swept over us, "to cease and desist all hostilities by order of the North American High Council of Witches."Enforcers. Had to be. Fed by the universal power of the entire Council, only they could be so strong to shut down the battle. I could feel the tingle of defensive magic coming from him, how it sparked in his honey brown hair.About time they showed up.Mom bowed her head to the Enforcer. "I was challenged," she said."Irrelevant." He glared at all of us. "Such challenges are illegal. You know better, Hayle coven leader."Gram growled something under her breath, but held her peace while Odette drew herself up, trembling, face wreathed

What was it about the feel of him that brought me running even when I hated him just then? The back yard felt so far away as I scrambled out of bed, lurched from my room, down the stairs and through the screen door. I stopped myself finally, panting and angry.No way were we playing this damned game again. I glared at Quaid where he stood, hands in his pockets, a thin T-shirt the only thing between him and me. That and the ten-foot gap my anger insisted on. "What do you want?" I hated the mere touch of his mind had so much unconscious control over me. He'd left me, hadn't he? How dare he come back like this after abandoning our family magic, severing the link between us, shacking up with that ice-cold bitch Ameline?He didn't say anything for a moment, gaze on the ground."Well?" I stormed closer to him, the hem of my pajama bottoms instantly soaked with dew from the grass. "Look at me, you coward."Quaid did. And the moment our eyes met all of my anger and hurt went away. I couldn