Light and Shadow

Welcome to Demonicon

“I am Pagomaris, first aide to Ruler. I’m thrilled to have you both here. It’s my responsibility to ensure you are presentable for the parade.”

Presentable? Parade?

“Everyone is so excited to meet you.” She turned and clapped, a pair of young female demons dressed more simply than her scurrying forward with armloads of what appeared to be cosmetics, jewelry and the most elaborate clothing I’d ever seen. “Shall we begin?”

I’m not normally a stubborn person. Okay, stop laughing. But something about the woman’s attitude ramped me up to dig in my heels so hard I expected the stone floor to split under me.

“No,” I said.

Syd is home for a well-deserved Christmas break and the whole family has gathered for a happy holiday. But when Harry shows up to tell his daughters their paternal grandmother wants to meet them, Syd and Meira eagerly leave for the demon plane with a mix of excitement and nerves. Their long-delayed family reunion is really a disguise for political games that put both of their lives at risk, forcing the Hayle sisters to fight for the status they’ve been granted by the woman who Rules everything, and wants what she can’t have—Syd.
 

College Bound

I grunted from the weight of the suitcase as I heaved it out of the back of the van. What had I packed again? I didn't remember it being this heavy when I loaded it into the twin's car only seven hours ago.

Seven long and painful hours. I forced a smile as Esther and Estelle stepped up onto the curb, matching prim skirts and twin sets as much their uniform as their very comfortable looking shoes.

They didn't smile back, but through my connection to them from the family magic, I was sure their flat expressions had nothing to do with how they felt about me.

Well. Pretty sure.

Summer is over, and Syd is finally off to Harvard to take her witch training, leaving things back in Wilding Springs in her grandmother’s crazy but capable hands. The rush of excitement about her new beginning is quickly doused when Syd stumbles on a secret club taking advantage of normal students, including her friend Simon. An unhappy roommate, troubles with Quaid and his Enforcer friends and Liam’s sudden protectiveness makes it hard for Syd to fit in, let alone get to the bottom of what’s happening on campus. If only her Council Leader mother would listen…

The Enforcers Cometh

The moment my hand touched the handle, I felt Quaid enter the back yard, just like always. But if it wasn’t him on the other side of the kitchen door, who was? I pulled it open on reflex, still smiling, to find three black robed Enforcers looming in the darkness.

They didn’t wait for me to stand aside but muscled their way in. The leader, a woman with familiar features if not a face I knew personally, took a stand in the middle of the kitchen, body shimmering with blue power as the wards of the house tried to repel her.

“We’ve come for Miriam Hayle,” she said. “Your leader is under arrest.”

Syd’s life is finally settled. She’s even going on her first date with Quaid. That calm is shattered when a group of High Council Enforcers arrive and arrest her mother on countless charges. Desperate to defend Miriam, Syd calls on all of her family’s allies, even seeking out those she should probably leave in peace. Certain the Dumonts are behind the whole thing, Syd is shocked to discover there is much more to this attack on her coven, an attack led by an old enemy who holds Miriam’s life in her hands.

Demon Boy

The smoke began to clear, the bubble of family magic collapsing to let it out. I choked on the taint of it, terror rising as I understood why it tasted so foul, felt like death. Blood magic. Dad lay across the pentagram, one outstretched hand marked with a thick line of red, a pool of it spreading around his flesh. No. Way. My brain would not process though my heart died a little at the sight.

A flicker of motion caught my eye, distracted me. A stranger stood there, a guy about my age, amber gaze glowing, black hair shaggy around his cheeks. “Syd,” he whispered, looking at his hands, touching his face, the demon fire fading from his eyes.

“Sassafras?”

When Syd’s father chooses to use blood magic in an attempt to return to Demonicon, he not only seals his own fate, a death sentence, he somehow transfers all of his remaining power into the demon cat, Sassafras. Transformed by Harry’s magic, Sassafras is suddenly back to his human form. Faced with a sullen and angry teen demon who refuses to help, Syd must somehow find a way to reach the other plane before Harry’s depleted body destroys itself or he is burned at the stake for his crime.

The Call of the Sidhe

The Gate awaits me, shining splendor glowing in the pale light. I look up, see the moon hanging over me, full and bloated, speaking a promise of freedom.

The otherworld portal begins to hum a welcome as I move closer, calling me. But as I draw near, a great tension takes me over, a suffocating terror that grows, fed by the call of the Gate and the moon, until I cry out for it to end.

Syd had been hoping grade twelve would go smoothly. But it’s not even the first day of clazz and she’s dreaming about some Sidhe gate and an approaching threat. Before she can enlist her mother’s help, her grandmother Ethpeal disappears, presumably gone after the Dumonts. Miriam pursues her mother, leaving Syd in charge of the coven. All fine and good, except no one trusts or believes in her. Add to that her new friend, Liam, seems somehow tied to the dreams she’s having, threats from Celeste and the fact Meira is suddenly acting like a little brat and Syd has her hands full. Maybe too full.

Someone is knocking at the Gate and she has no way of answering.

Prom from Hell

“Should you be driving?” 

“I’m fine,” he said. And pulled away from me. “Are you coming or not?”

This was stupid. I knew he was drinking. What was he thinking?

Before I had a chance to do anything, he slung me into his arms and kissed me. He tasted like alcohol and garlic and he pressed so hard it hurt. I jerked away from him at the same time he stepped back. 

"Syd,” he said. “Look, I didn’t want to do this tonight. I wanted to wait. You know. Until after.” He ran his hand through his hair, shuffled his feet. “It’s just… I don’t think we should see each other anymore.”

Oh. My. God. He was dumping me. At prom.

Syd has what she’s always wanted. Thanks to her demon’s sacrifice, she is finally normal. Why then does she want her magic back so badly? It really sucks to find out Brad was only into her because of her power. And even Quaid is keeping his distance. Her loss couldn’t have come at a worse time. A storm is brewing, one that could devour the entire world. Syd refuses to accept she will never be a witch again, doing everything she can to track down the Chosen of the Light and rescue her demon. If only the ordinary life she’s been building didn’t interfere. 

A Dumont Witch

“That talk you promised me?” I hated myself for throwing it in Quaid’s face, but I couldn’t help myself, couldn’t. I’d waited for this moment, for him, we’d been through so much together it just wasn’t fair.

Wasn’t.

“Things are complicated now.” Quaid looked away from me, hands clenching. “I just wanted to let you know I was okay. That I found my family. And to tell you I’m happy.”

Syd’s worst fear has come true. Quaid found his family, the Dumont coven, and has chosen them over her. Not to be outdone, her friends are all going their separate ways, her solid normal foundation falling out from beneath her. When the Dumonts come for a visit, Syd’s family history unfolds, leading her to discover things that shake her beliefs about herself and those she loves while struggling to accept she’s lost her one true love.

Trial by Vampire

“We are within our rights to bring you here without your permission.” The vampire Queen finally spoke, tearing my gaze from the others. I focused on her as she went on, motionless, voice velvet over jagged ice. “You've stolen our power, and we want it back.”

Um, what?

Me, Sydlynn, the vampire essence inside me sent. They want me.

Oh, hell no.

Syd’s pre-Harvard California vacation is supposed to leave her relaxed and ready for another year of study. And the family shower she’s hosting for Sunny’s upcoming wedding to Frank should be a milestone of happiness. Trouble is, an uninvited guest has other ideas. Kidnapped by the Wilhelm vampire clan, Syd is forced to face the ruling Queens who claim possession of the undead essence Syd carries, with the intent of having her give it up or, if she resists, removing it from her by any means necessary.

Battle of Wills

I stood  in the misty rain talking to my mom about the demon who lived inside me like she didn’t belong there. That felt wrong. And weird. But more wrong.

Mom guided me to Erica’s van and helped me in the back seat while I whined about my injuries privately to myself.

Only I didn’t get privacy. My demon saw to that.

Stop being such a baby.

I slumped in my seat and tried not to hear her. Or feel her as she pushed the boundaries between us. I had the sudden realization my mother was wrong. Now that she knew what it was like, I knew my demon was determined to be free.

Even if that meant getting rid of me to do it.

Syd has only ever wanted to be normal. And now that the rift between her and her demon is growing wider, that future is finally a real possibility. But Syd is having second thoughts, especially when a vampire kidnaps her little sister, Meira. And her normal life at school is falling apart around her, thanks to the new kid, Benjamin, who seems to be an expert at turning her new friends against her. Syd finally understands the value of what she has, but may be too late. The demon inside her has her own agenda and will no longer be ignored.

Buried Power

Alison appeared out of nowhere and grabbed my arm. Her cheeks were flushed and she looked really happy.

“Party!” She laughed, pulling on me to follow her.

I took the first step inside the circle and felt a surge of something I didn’t recognize flow up through the ground and into me, then out to the night. I stumbled from the magical contact and looked around a little panicked for the source. But whatever it was had gone and I was being bodily dragged into the light.

The sight of Brad waiting for me by the bonfire with a huge smile on his face was enough for me to forget my own name.

Magic? What magic?

Sydlynn Hayle has finally done it. Despite the fact her coven leader mother and demon father almost guarantee she’ll be an outcast forever, Syd has finally made friends. More than that, the captain of the football team wants to be her boyfriend. So why is it then, even though an ordinary life is all she’s ever wanted, Syd is so attracted to fellow witch Quaid Moromond? When an ancient power is freed and turned loose to ravage the town of Wilding Springs, Syd does her best to help her family fight while keeping her own goals in mind. Too bad the mysterious Chosen of the Light have other ideas in mind--ideas that will lead to her family’s destruction.