The Spirit Seducer

Chapter 6

He turned, glancing around the yard again. From the tenseness of his shoulders, I could tell he expected more of those things—or even scarier ones—to show up soon.

No, thank you. Those suckers had lots of teeth that they were more than willing to use.

"You should be safe for a bit, but, still, head inside. And stay there this time."

My face flamed, and I forgot he made me nervous.

"So very sorry," I said, my voice edged with the sarcasm and some of the hurt that was ripping through my chest. "I didn't know I could, or did, contact you. Thanks for the in-person visit to tell me you don't care."

I spun toward the door, planning to slam his door shut in his face. He stepped in the house before I had a chance to complete my epic door slam, which irritated me even more. One, because he was fast. Two, because that would've been an amazing exit worthy of just about any reality TV show.

I loved The Voice and Survivor, though Layla said way worse shows were out there. I'd planned to watch some of them on her iPad because my mom would never approve.

Yeah, really rebellious of me. What can I say—I respected my mom. Loved her. When she asked me not to do something, for the most part I tried to adhere to her wishes.

Now I wished I'd pushed harder for what I wanted—like true martial arts and more details about my father. If I had, maybe my mom would still be here. And I would've been more capable when she'd needed me.

"Echo, you need to pull it together so you don't make the situation worse."

"How am I making the situation worse?" I asked. Layla had said the same thing earlier.

"You don't have any control over your magic. That makes you unpredictable. It also makes you an easy mark. Not just for Coyote."

"I've heard that an awful lot today, and the whole 'you don't get it' thing is getting really old. Especially because no one's bothered to tell me what's going on. I'm just supposed to be cool with the fact my mom's missing and there are real gods who want to hurt me. Well, I'm not fine with this situation. I'm not."

I was close to yelling. I stepped back and forced my fists to unclench. I blinked up at Zeke, shocked by my vehemence.

I was unsettled and scared and . . . lots of other things. It didn't help that his frustration was creeping over my skin like millions of angry fire ants.

"Echo, you have to understand. You have power, and gods want it all. Any way they can carve it from you."

"Right, but I'm just the person least prepared possible to deal with the threats because no one bothered to tell me about them." I leaned my elbows forward on the narrow counter top. "Care to explain why my father's missing while all this is going down? Seems like he could at least offer some moral support. Or want to tell me why my mom's trapped in a soul-sucking darkness?"

Zeke's lips thinned as he glanced away, the frustration I could sense emanating from him growing stronger with each heartbeat. "Because Coyote and his cohorts planned better than we did."

"Seriously?" The anger I'd been trying to control boiled dangerously close to my upper limit for the second time today. Gah. I didn't know how to answer him—I didn't know how to fight with a guy. I didn't know guys. "You are such a jerk."

"And you're in a mood. I haven't seen this one before."

I sent him a look that should've turned him to ash on the spot. "I don't get moody often. Because I've always been more boring than watching paint dry."