All Chapters of Hayle Coven Novels: Chapter 211 - Chapter 220

Book Six: GatekeeperThere is nothing more frustrating than staring at a blinking cursor when you want it to move. I just wanted it to start flashing, the little pen to pop up so I would know the person on the other end was writing a message. Something. Anything.I'd been spending a lot of time staring at the stupid thing lately. Too much, really. But it was a compulsion I couldn't shake. Not when there was a chance Quaid might finally contact me.Pathetic, I know, I know. It's not like I was the kind of girl to hang on her boyfriend's every movement, word or contact. But the circumstances of our relationship were a little... odd to say the least. I was stuck here in Wilding Springs on pins and needles, safe and sound with my family and coven while he was out there, alone and vulnerable, playing a very dangerous game of cat and mouse with his birth family. And all because he had a score to settle.Settling scores I understood intimately. I'd had my own to deal with in the last ye

I'd spent years wanting to be normal. Most of my life in fact. This was the first year at school where I didn't crave it anymore. Now that Gram had her power back, her magic no longer pushing against me and my demon, I could actually just be me. Funny thing, I found I was happy being a witch. Even better, I really kind of loved it.But old habits die slow and painful deaths wrapped up in cheerleader fakery and cafeteria food. The closer I came to the front steps of Wilding Springs High, the more the pressure of normal and fitting in returned until I was just Syd Hayle again, no one special, nothing to see here, move along.It sucked, really. I was finally in the same school two years in a row. This was a miracle. Because of coven related accidents and the need to hide who we were from the real world, I'd never had the opportunity to really make friends. Until last year. The past eleven months had been not just filled with magical mayhem, but I actually had friends for the first time

She looked familiar and I had the feeling I should know who she was. Didn't Principal MacKay say something about her in the gym? I couldn't remember, really. Alison had been yammering at me about one thing or another so my attention was blown. My initial reaction was to be a smart ass. But I checked my snide comeback line in favor of caution."Sorry," I said. "I was helping a new student find his homeroom."The bone-thin woman glared down her long, narrow nose at me, black horn-rimmed glasses making her look the classic nasty librarian. The wool suit didn't do much for her figure, either. Or the way her black hair was pulled so tight into a bun it stretched her skin back so her eyes looked all bulgy. That had to hurt."Your name?" I might as well have been a bug she wanted to squash. First Ms. Fiat had a serious hate on for me, now this woman. Who found these teachers, anyway?Suppressing a sigh, I just barely refrained from rolling my eyes. "Sydlynn Hayle, ma'am." Might as well tr

When I stomped into my room, I realized I wasn't alone. Not an uncommon occurrence, except my two visitors didn't offer their usual greetings. Instead, Sassafras crept to the edge of the bed, his ears flat sideways, pupils swollen, almost blacking out the amber of his eyes. Whiskers drooping and tail dragging behind him, he slowly raised one paw toward me. I lifted him into my arms immediately, hugging him as he burrowed his wet nose into my neck."It's going to be okay." I stroked his soft, silver fur, speaking directly to the huge black dog curled up in a miserable ball at the foot of the bed. Galleytrot didn't even lift his head, just swiped one giant paw over his nose. "Honest.""This is very bad, Syd." Sassy looked up, paws resting on my collarbone so we were eye-to-eye. "She could start something we won't be able to finish.""Gram's way smarter than that." And despite the day I'd had, even through my own worry and guilt and anger, I was absolutely convinced of it. "She would n

I descended the stairs to the basement in search of my father. With Mom and Gram gone, and now Uncle Frank, he was the only adult in my life I could really turn to. Yes, I had my doubts. He didn't exactly seem all that enthusiastic when Mom gave it to him earlier. Still, after the humiliation and failure I'd just gone through, I needed someone to lean on.Most of the lights were out, only the single bulb over the pentagram throwing illumination around the large space. My eyes readjusted to the dimness slowly. I expected to find Dad standing in the middle of said pentagram, working. Instead, he was nowhere to be found. I was sure he stayed downstairs... it wasn't until I heard a soft shuffling sound from the far left corner I spotted a bit of movement in the dark."Dad?" My sock barely touched pavement by the time he hurried toward me. His face was drawn into a distracted frown as he stepped inside the circle of light."What is it?" I'd become somewhat used to his new attitude. Uncle