The Spirit Seducer (The Echo Series Book 1) (10 page)

She grabbed my hand, held it tight.

“I’ve always felt like you and your mom were more of a family for me than my dad ever could be. Than my mom ever was or is.”

“Us being neighbors. That’s more than a coincidence, Layla.”

Layla rolled her eyes. “Duh. Your mom knew—that’s why she wasn’t so keen on us hanging out.”

“I remember.”

“The gods have their agenda,” Layla said. “But they couldn’t make us like each other. Think about it. We’ve always had each other. We were similar for so many reasons: our broken families, our powers—though I know you didn’t have any idea about those—our fashion-police tendencies.”

She smiled, and the overture warmed my insides. She was right. I couldn’t pass by a fashion train wreck any more than she could. It was like rubber necking without the gore, which was why I loved it.

“So do you think we were destined to be friends?” I asked.

“Of course. Just like my dad was destined to get the job and move in down the street from your mom. Some possibilities are certainties.”

“There’s something I always wanted to ask you.” I hesitated. “My eyes. They never seemed to freak you out.”

Layla studied my eyes, hers a sharp pewter. “They’re gorgeous. Striking, especially against your tan skin.”

I pressed further. Might as well, since she was sharing. “I read something about the Fourth World. Is it separate from Earth? Could Coyote have taken my mother there?”

Layla bit the pad of her thumb. “There aren’t separate worlds—not like you’re thinking. You’ve read about scientists’ ideas about parallel living, parallel worlds. Well, in this case, they’re in plain sight.”

I frowned but then shook my head. “I’m not sure I follow you.”

“The mesas. They’re sacred. But not because of the different topography like some uneducated people believe. They house the former worlds. Worlds wiped from Earth at various points over the past five or six thousand years.”

Simple. Elegant. Hiding our history in plain sight. “So each peak encapsulates that version of the world? But there are only three mesas.” A frown tugged at my brows. “Oh. Because we’re in the Fourth World. The three mesas are testaments to the three failed worlds.”

“Right. They show our people that we’re on our last chance. The Hisatsinom deities set up four worlds—four chances to reach something like the Buddhists’ nirvana. If we couldn’t get it in four, then we were obviously a failed experiment.”

“You mean Sotuk,” I sighed.

Layla shrugged. “Doesn’t really matter who came up with that plan. It’s thousands of years old. What Sotuk did was set up a stop-gap in case the experiment was tampered with and someone tried to end it before he was ready.”

“The Prophecy of the Four,” I said. “So time between the mesas—worlds, I guess—is linear? Can we change the past? Go back—redo something?”

“No. Humans continually move forward. The gods sealed each of the mesas—and the failed worlds therein—when the people drifted too far from their teachings. But because of the missing tablet, the worlds seem to be bleeding back into each other. There’s some nasty shit in those previous worlds. At least as bad as the world wars, the Spanish Inquisition. It’s the worst of what humans and gods can do to each other. I’d rather not see more of that here.” Layla gestured with her hands to include the entirety of the world.

“Zeke can explain this better than I can. He was fostered and taught by Masau.”

I fiddled with the hoodie, the only dark one I’d found. It seemed like the best choice, so I could blend in to the night while Zeke and Layla kicked kachina ass.

“What if I can’t figure out how to harness my power? Like earlier when I almost lost it with you. I could feel something big building inside me. I don’t want to hurt anyone.”

“You won’t.”

“You hope that’s true,” I sighed.

“Look, there’s so much we can’t control. All we can do is work with what we have. You have power, E. Lots of it. Zeke wants to give you time to figure out what that is and how to use it. That’s why he brought you here. And it’s why he’s worried.”

I sighed, feeling the weight of his earlier words come back to settle on my shoulders. “Because I need a safe place to practice and learn. And I already blew that.” I shook my head, the self-disgust threatening to spill over and choke us both.

“Not completely your fault. But Zeke will deal with Shakola.”

“The goddess that tried to get me outside the fence earlier tonight?”

“That’s the one.”

I hesitated to ask the next question, but I needed to know. “Do my aunties know? What my mom and I are?”

“Your aunts aren’t involved. At all. And they wouldn’t believe you if you were to tell them, and we haven’t. For their protection.” She sighed and shook her head again. “The powers get easier. It’s all about control and focus.”

“And we all know how good I am with controlling myself,” I said with a snort.

Layla squeezed my fingers in a gentle grip. “The headaches messed with that. I would’ve fought with your mom about that more, but Zeke had already gone many rounds with her without getting anywhere. We’re hoping the headaches will disappear now that you’re here.”

“Coyote mentioned four of us. Not fully god but not human either. Is there a word for that?”

Layla shrugged. “Not really. I’ve heard us called halflings, mongrels, and lots of less pleasant names. The biggest problem we have is that we haven’t found the fourth. Some claim he died.”

“He? Why he?”

“Balance, E. You, me, Zeke. The other has to be a guy. It keeps the male-female ratio right.” Layla slapped her hands on her thighs. “Let’s go. No more dragging your feet.”

When Layla used that voice, I obeyed. Only now, I could feel the pressure of the command, so I scowled at her back as she led me to the living room. Zeke waited, staring out into the dark night.

Had he wanted to hunt demons or had the gods forced him to do so? He’d said he was thirteen when he started to kill them—so young.

Zeke took one of Layla’s hands. He held out his other hand toward me, and I liked the warmth of his callused palm as it slid across my own.

Layla held out her other hand, and we stood there for a moment, linked in a small circle. I raised my eyebrow.

“Welcome to the Zeke express,” Layla said.

“So this is how you got me home earlier?”

“Yep.”

“Mountain we seek; the ancient Oraibi, our most sacred of sites,” Zeke chanted in the old language. Just like with Coyote’s band of dirt demons, I understood the slippery syllables. His voice was clear and strong, very beautiful. Hypnotic.

Layla added her soprano and they chanted in rich harmony for the last line. My necklace warmed as I was sucked into a tight space like I’d imagined a wormhole to be. Contractions slammed against me, shoving me forward.

Zeke knew what he was doing. We landed right where he’d asked, in the original village built at the base of what the Hisatsinom called the Third Mesa, home to the Third World.

Crumbling adobe apartment-style buildings huddled on a bluff. Native ferns grew through some of the fallen adobe bricks while cacti and juniper thrived over what had once been the village’s communal area. A few weathered cedar ladders leaned haphazardly against crumbling walls.

Abandonment permeated the air, and I struggled to breathe. Zeke stood next to me, but he stepped closer when he noticed my sour expression.

“The weird feeling will pass soon.”

“Do you have to chant to make the magic work?” I panted in an effort to curb the nausea.

“No. I just thought you’d like to hear one of the old songs.” He spoke quietly so only I could hear.

“Yeah, it was great.” I stood up straight and swallowed hard. “No offense, but that’s an awful way to travel.”

Zeke shrugged. “You get used to it.”

Horror slithered through my still-churning stomach. Getting used to something meant doing it often.

The terrain was barren, dusty. The architecture here reminded me of the trip Mom, Layla, and I took to Bandelier a few years ago.

Nothing moved.

Not a lizard or the wind. The stillness was unearthly.

“This place is older than any written documents,” Zeke murmured. “Oraibi was settled by Masau himself.”

“In the year of the blood moon,” I said, “the Great Spirit told his people, ‘You will travel in four directions. But I will give the Original Teachings so when you come together again, each will share my words so you can live in peace on Earth.’”

“What was that?” Layla asked, shivering at the words. They were powerful here at this sacred site.

“That’s the beginning of the Hisatsinom beliefs,” I said. “I read about it in a few of my courses. According to one scholar, those were Sotuk’s words to his original people. One of the places they settled was Oraibi, under Masau.”

Zeke pulled his spear from his back with his left hand while his right went to the longer sword strapped to his side. “Too bad our ancestors didn’t pay better attention.”

I trailed a couple of steps behind as Layla crept forward, her feet moving silently across the dusty ground. She had to be using demi-goddess stealth because I’d never encountered anyone so quiet before. Then Zeke moved forward with the same level of inaudibility, not that I expected any less than perfection from him.

Layla and Zeke inched toward a large hole, taking their time to traverse the hundred or so yards. The way they moved, their ease with each other, told me they’d done this before. Many times.

The large pit was probably the ceremonial kiva, the most likely place to construct the
sipapu
. While I was interested in the space, I hung back, not wanting to embarrass myself with my clumsy feet.

I hated feeling like an interloper, though I should have been used to it. Hell, I barely had a place in my own family. Probably because they weren’t really mine.

I closed my eyes and hugged my arms around my middle. With my mom gone, I didn’t have anyone.

Interest--the hunting kind--slithered up my back and over my neck, testing the edges of my mind. I bit off a gasp as I shied back from it, both mentally and physically. The power inside my head leapt to answer the unspoken question.

I turned slowly, just in time to see Coyote step from a cleft between two large granite boulders. He was at least twice as tall as Zeke and every bit as compelling.

His eyes sought mine, locking there. His lips turned up in a smile that told me he could make my every sensual dream come true. Attraction tugged at me, warming my skin, and breaking my concentration.

“I’m glad you’re here,” Coyote said, whiskey-colored eyes dancing with delight.

I stepped closer, unable to resist Coyote’s scent filling my head. His golden eyes alight with mischief and lust. He knew his power over me. Bastard.

“Come, darling,” he crooned. “We’ll fix everything. Together.”

“Echo, don’t,” Layla called as she scrambled back toward me.

“Pay them no mind,” Coyote said. My head whipped back toward him. He was smaller now, human-sized, though he still towered over me. He stepped closer, his hand cupping my cheek.

My breath shattered at the feel of his warm skin on mine. Oh, I liked that. I wanted more of his touch, craved it.

Coyote leaned in, his nose nuzzling the hair from my ear. “Zeke doesn’t deserve you.” He ran the tip of his tongue over my ear’s soft shell before tugging the lobe with his teeth. Much as I wanted to step away, I also wanted to be closer. My mind screamed warning but my body began to melt into his. “I’ll show you how to love with your body.”

No, he wouldn’t. He’d rip me apart with those teeth. Disgust pushed through the arousal he’d carefully cultivated. I shoved against Coyote’s chest, surprising him into releasing me. I pivoted, intent on escape. Breathe. Concentrate. Force him out.

Run
.

My eyes settled on Zeke and I sped toward him. Layla veered toward me. He’d moved to the center of the green, eyes narrowed as he fought Coyote’s kachina. I hadn’t even known they were here; I was so focused on the god.

Four warriors danced around Zeke, whose hair was dampening with sweat. He let the demons push him closer to us. His footing was sure and his face tense with concentration. He brought his spear up into one of Coyote’s demons, and it burst into pieces.

The remaining three demons converged on him, screaming war cries. Zeke was lost within the vortex of flailing limbs and swirling grit.

“Echo,” Coyote said. I slowed, turned to look at him. “Leave the boy. He doesn’t matter. Trust me, darling, I’ll fulfill your desires. We can bypass the prophecy and you can rule with me. Everything you’ve ever dreamed will be yours.”

Layla gripped my sore wrist, and I winced. My feet stumbled after her as we ran toward Zeke, who was still surrounded by the kachina.

I glanced back at Coyote as we pelted toward the unfair fight Coyote had orchestrated.

“Every wish,” he boomed.

I couldn’t see Zeke anymore. He didn’t push me, didn’t try to force feelings on me. Zeke protected me from the god who’d already taken so much.
Please
, I sent up, out into the ether.
Please
. Zeke had to be okay.

“Then give me back my mother,” I shouted over my shoulder, refusing to look at Coyote again. He was my kryptonite, just his voice made my insides melt.

Coyote’s lip curled upward in the start of a snarl as he lunged toward us.

“
D
on’t
you dare stop running,” Layla gritted. “I can’t believe you
liked
him touching you.”

“Later. Yell at me when I’m not about to die.”

I slammed my shoulder into the closest demon surrounding Zeke. The demon froze before he blew apart. Zeke still slashed and hacked at his attackers. I leapt back to avoid his sword.

“Watch it,” I squealed. I backpedaled into Layla, who grunted.

She grabbed my arm. “We need to get out of here. Now.”

Zeke stabbed another demon with his spear before snaking his other arm around both of us. I gripped Zeke’s wrist and saw Layla do the same with her free hand. Her gray eyes were huge as she looked over my shoulder.

“Coyote,” Layla squeaked.

I huddled tighter into Layla, my eyes slammed shut. I didn’t want to see the god. He’d use my desire to manipulate me. Again.

“On it,” Zeke gritted.

“You’re mine,” Coyote snarled. My good intentions flew away at the sound of his voice, and I looked at him. His canines flashed as he bounded toward us in an odd hop-step. Once transformed from man to fur-covered cur, he was large, as big as a wolf, but sleeker and faster—so fast, he appeared to be a blur of wind blowing across sand dunes.

My stomach twisted in that deep, disorienting pull. I fought the overwhelming urge to yank myself from Zeke’s hold. Coyote was just inches from me, his eyes no longer full of seduction. His breath, thick and hot, slid over my exposed skin.

Layla cried out, her hand sliding from mine. I reached for her, but she was too far away.

Coyote leapt forward, knocking me from Zeke’s grasp. I slammed into the ground so hard all the air left my body.

Golden eyes glittered inches from my face; hot canine breath puffed across my skin causing it to ripple in gooseflesh. Long, sharp teeth settled at my throat.

Whatever Coyote wanted to do, I wouldn’t survive it.

I clamped my jaw together hard to stop my teeth from chattering.

Slowly, as though he had oodles of time, Coyote morphed back into a man, the hunger never fading from his eyes. “I plan to keep you,” he said as he nuzzled into my neck. “At least for a little while. To see if you’re worth the trouble I’ve already put into finding you.”

He bit the tendon there, hard. I arched, trying to pull away.

He chuckled as he licked the spot, his arm sliding down my torso to band around my waist. He pulled me tight to him, forcing my thighs apart so he could settle between them. I twisted and writhed but he was too big. He chuckled at my struggles. The place in my head erupted. I felt this odd tugging, a pull at my consciousness. Cold air pressed against my cheeks, lifted my hair.

“I like your spunk,” he whispered into my ear before sucking the lobe. I gritted my teeth against the pleasure shooting through me as his wet tongue lapped over the sensitive flesh.

I turned my head and stared into the concerned face of a spirit. A scream strangled into my throat as Coyote gripped my jaw, forcing my gaze back to his.

“How did you do that?”

I wasn’t exactly sure what I’d done. A frigid cold slid between Coyote and me, forcing our bodies apart. I shoved him back with my feet, immediately surrounded by a group of twenty or so spirits. Taking advantage of Coyote’s brief moment of confusion, I scrambled to gain my footing.

The spirits glowed with an opalescent sheen not unlike the ethereal bits I’d seen in the clouds that settled over my backyard that afternoon.

“Command us,” one of the spirits whispered into my ear. I shivered.

“I-I don’t know—” I stammered, not really understanding what was happening, what I was supposed to do.

That ozone smell and a flash of energy preceded Zeke. He stepped from the void, his spear angled in front. Coyote rose and reached past the specters to grab my arm as Zeke glared at us. He snarled and Coyote huffed, amused.

“You should’ve claimed her when you had the chance.” Coyote’s palm covered my breast, weighing and measuring its size and weight.

I struggled, slamming my head and feet back against the god holding me. The spirits—my spirits—swirled forward, answering the request I was too afraid to speak aloud.

Help, me. Please. I don’t want to go with him.

They slammed into Coyote, a swirling mass of energy. He stepped back with a yelp. His hand tightened around my breast and his fingers lengthened; his body stretched. He gripped my entire torso with one hand as he morphed into a twenty-foot giant with a coyote head. He snarled, swatting at the swirling mass of ghostly bodies.

I mourned each as he shredded through their translucent forms. They cried as they blew apart, and their pain rippled over my skin.

“Stop,” I pleaded. “Don’t hurt them.” I clawed at Coyote’s arm, struggling in his hold, but his strength was as immense as his height. I probably looked like a doll in his grasp, and my struggles were just as ineffectual.

The spirits paused, confused by my order. “I don’t want you hurt.”

My stomach dropped as something big and nasty slithered out of the kiva, moving rapidly toward Zeke. The gate, how could I have forgotten about it? The unprotected opening continued to let things through to our world.

My necklace heated as the spirits approached, drawn to my father’s power. They slid into the pottery, cooling it past freezing. My thoughts seemed to hop and skip too fast to collect, let alone process.

Close the gate. That’s right. I needed to do that. But, how?

Coyote squeezed me and the air rushed from my lungs. I felt my bones creak and shift. Any more pressure and my spine would snap. My efforts became feebler as Zeke pulled his spear from the slithery monsters and sprang up at Coyote’s feet. Zeke slashed with his sword, ripping the blade across Coyote’s calf. The god stumbled and brayed.

Something even bigger climbed out of the kiva. It was huge, prehistoric, and scaly. Those things needed to stay dead. The first of the abominations charged Zeke, its trumpeting blast deep, vicious, unearthly.

I writhed within Coyote’s hold in an effort to draw a full breath. I had to close the damned gate. I gripped the chain at my neck and the coolness shot up my arm, over my shoulder, up my neck, giving me enough space to draw a full breath. The cold pressed against my jaw, forcing the words from my mouth.

“I’m in charge of the spirits, and I want to shut the gate. Only Masau shall be able to reopen it.”

That sounded so lame. But from Coyote’s tightening grip, I guessed it worked.

“A mistake, that,” Coyote snarled. “I will exact my revenge, Echo Ruiz.”

He cuffed the side of my head as the sound of Zeke crying my name reverberated through my skull.

* * *

W
aking
to my arms bound behind my back was even more unpleasant than I could have anticipated. My shoulders ached and my fingertips prickled from reduced blood flow. I winced, trying to find a more comfortable position. There wasn’t one.

My ribs hurt from Coyote’s grip. I took a deep breath, held it, and tried not to wince as I assessed my surroundings.

I seemed to be alone. In some type of depression. I didn’t feel Coyote’s presence, which was really, really good because I wasn’t in the mood to fight with a god just yet. My head felt like an unripe melon that had been cleaved from the top. I was pretty sure all the right parts were still inside. I was thinking after all, which had to be a good sign—but holy hell did my head hurt. This wasn’t like my migraines.

Thanks to all the hours I’d spent stuck in my tiny house, I’d watched four different specials on concussions. I could tick all the symptom boxes.

My first concussion. Because I was knocked out by a god. Yay, me.

I closed my eyes, my vision too blurry to help me in the relative dark. The pounding in my skull eased and I could feel another presence in my mind. Waiting.

Tell me where you are.

I gasped. Someone was in my head. Their words were in my head. Not my thoughts at all. More like someone’s voice, all angry and concerned.

Echo! Talk to me. Now.

Sounded like Zeke. “You called me,” he’d said earlier. Did that mean he could call me, too? Tears leaked from the corners of my eyes, a mixture of relief and impotence because I had no clue where I was or how to answer him.

I rolled over, wincing, and looked around, trying to find some type of landmark to share. My head was so fuzzy I shut my eyes again.

I must have drifted off. Boots sounded on the rocks above me and I jolted awake, barely biting back the agonized sound building in my throat. I squeezed my eyes tight.

Zeke
?

I’d heard him. He’d mentioned our connection, but I didn’t know how to instigate it. Dammit, that would have been useful to go over.

Darkness slid over my skin, complete and chill. Someone stared at me. Each place his eyes touched, my body warmed more than it would to another man’s caress. Coyote. My breath burst forth in shallow puffs, but I held still.

“He’ll come for her,” a voice said.

A woman’s voice. I knew it—it was the woman from Zeke’s yard. Layla had mentioned her—Shak . . . My head wouldn’t cooperate, preventing me from recalling her name.

“She even thinks of him in her sleep. That is not a connection easily severed.” Anger dripped from each of her words. Her jealousy chafed at my skin. If I hadn’t already figured out she hated me earlier, her being here, with Coyote, was the only further reinforcement I needed.

“I’ll kill him,” Coyote responded. “Then I’ll own her desires. You see how she thirsts for me.”

“My mother gave you many gifts, Coyote. I expect something in return.”

“Zeke. Yes, I know. Your fascination with him is abhorrent.”

“No worse than yours for this child-woman,” Shakola sniped.

“Me? My love has never been for the humans. Just what they offer me,” Coyote reasoned. “Once I have her magic, I’d happily kill them both.”

“I have a long memory, Coyote. And you owe me this. Come now or our deal is null,” she said.

“You’re a fickle bitch,” Coyote sighed.

“No more than you,” she whispered on the wind.