The Spirit Seducer (The Echo Series Book 1) (11 page)

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heir voices faded
, moving away from my prison. I opened my eyes and struggled against my bonds. With each movement, the ropes pulled tighter.

I needed out of my constraints. I had to get away from this place. I needed time to process that Layla took us to a location that her mother suggested, and Coyote just happened to show up moments later. I didn’t believe in coincidences. Not this kind.

Soon I couldn’t feel my fingers at all. I gritted my teeth and tried not to let the tears of frustration pooling in my eyes fall. I couldn’t maneuver my way out of the bonds just as I couldn’t run far enough to forget my current problems.

I inhaled deeply, held the breath. Exhaled. Again. Freaking out wouldn’t solve my problem. Time to look at this situation rationally.

I didn’t have anything sharp, and I couldn’t hold it in my numb fingers even if I did. I needed another plan.

I rolled my eyes at my own stupidity. I had spirits in my necklace. Spirits that did my bidding.

“Spirits?” I whispered.

A frigid coating slid over my chest then out away from me. Ghostly forms glowed softly in the darkness. “I need some help.” I held out my hands, my fingers turning purple from lack of circulation. “And I also need one of you to lead Zeke here. To me. Can you do that?”

Yes. We’ll help. Keep your hands still.

“Can you tell me your names? Anything about why you’re stuck in a necklace?”

“I speak,” one of the spirits said. A man. He was stocky with a wide brow and thick-bridged nose. His eyes were transparent but his cheekbones were high and sharp as an eagle’s beak. “I was called Honani.”

“Nice to meet you. Thanks for being my spokesman.”

He chuckled. “More your personal guardian. We chose to stay with you. It is an honor to serve Sotuk’s child.”

“Huh.” Not my smartest response, but I had no idea what else to say. “Uh, how come I can understand you now but not before?”

“You had to learn us as we had to learn you. The bond between living and dead can be tenuous.”

I winced when the bonds at my wrist tightened further, chafing my skin.

“We will release you from the ropes. Be still.”

Two of the spirits shrank, turning into tiny and very forceful bits of wind. I flinched back as their mini-tornados blasted against the raw sores.

“Wait!” I said. Everything paused. “No, not you guys on the ropes. You’re amazing. The one going to Zeke. Is there any way you can take something that will identify me to him? I mean, he doesn’t speak spirit and if you have something of mine, then maybe he won’t try to stab you.”

Finally, one of the spirits slid forward.

“I’ll go,” Honani offered. “I can speak to him. What would he recognize?”

I sucked on my lower lip, uncertain how to respond.

The spirit ruffled through my hair then delved into my cleavage and down my shirt. I gritted my teeth, trying not to be annoyed by the smug pleasure the spirit took dipping into my top.

“I don’t want to give up my necklace. Can you carry a shoe?”

“Too heavy to move through the dimensions,” he said with a shake of his head. “Something small, light.”

I sighed. This was why my mother didn’t want me around men. Even the dead ones were after the same thing. “You want to take a piece of my bra, don’t you?”

“Brilliant.”

Once again, Honani dipped under my top. After a brief tug and an audible rip, the spirit sped off, his laughter drifting back.

“How long have I been here?” I asked my remaining spirits. The ropes loosened a little and I wiggled my fingers. They didn’t answer as Honani had. It was more of a feeling in my head.

Most of a day.

“Why didn’t you try to get me out of here?”

We cannot move you to our plane. Not without your permission
.

“Permission is granted. Carte blanche,” I said immediately.

The ropes loosened, and I nearly cried out in relief. I wiggled my fingers, squeezing them into fists as I tried to absorb the burning pricks shooting from my hands.

“Thank you so much,” I said.

You have another problem.

I forced my shaky legs under me and stood in one quick burst. Two tottering steps slammed me into a tall, hard body.

Anger. Lust.

The emotions slammed into my senses. Too late. He gripped my hair, pulling my neck back to a nearly unbearable angle. I bit my tongue to keep from screaming at the pain. His face wasn’t covered in a jaguar mask. His head was that of an actual jaguar. The fur morphed seamlessly into skin just below his jaw. A kachina, then. More powerful than a human but not a full god. Darker, most primal in their proclivities.

From what little interaction I’d had into this world, I liked these creatures the least.

I’d seen animal-headed gods before—at the museum and in books. The real-life versions were much more intimidating, and I knew he was more dangerous than the others.

This kachina had captured my mother.

We locked eyes, mine angry and full of fear, his brimming with contempt. His whiskers twitched and his thin lips curled upward to show three-inch-long incisors. Excitement bubbled off him, wrapping around me in a noxious bath of sick need.

Adrenaline spiked through my system, sharp and fast. I gathered myself up and yanked backward, hissing as my hair caught in his hand. I turned to run, only to be plucked from the ground with disgusting ease. I struggled, arms and legs flailing, overwhelmed with an instinctive desire to flee. I hated being small.

Jaguar wrapped his hand around my throat. He tightened his fingers until I felt the sides of my windpipe give. With a shudder, I quit struggling.

“And now you’re mine,” he crooned.

What was it about these powerful beings and claiming me? I wasn’t a freaking chew toy for a pack of dogs to fight over. And I knew, no matter what, I didn’t want to be Jaguar’s. His desire was darker, more violent than Coyote’s.

Watch for my signal.

I nearly cried with relief when I heard Zeke’s voice in my head.

Jaguar yanked my hair. More follicles popped from my scalp. I wanted to rub the tenderness away, but managed to keep my hands balled into fists at my side instead.

“Let go of my hair,” I screamed. Jaguar hissed at me, his nose twitching even as his eyes roamed over my body.

Jaguar tightened his hold against my scalp. “I think not.”

“You’re nothing more than an animal-faced bully. The mistake of gods before they found a better form in humans.”

“I care not what you think of me.” He pulled my head back farther, baring my whole neck. “I’ll own your body, your magic.”

“You may take it, but you’ll never own it. Or me.”

Bravado was all I had. So I wrapped it tight around me like a second skin.

“But I will. You’ll give over everything,” he purred into my neck just before he bit me. Hard.

I screamed.

Up until today, I’d never been touched by a man, let alone attacked by one. This wasn’t the introduction to male-female relations I’d hoped for.

Jaguar’s canines clung to my neck. The water I’d used earlier on the dogs lashed from my consciousness, free as its own entity, slamming the kachina across his fur-covered cheek. He jerked back, ripping my tender skin more, but he also let go of me. I stumbled, hand going to my neck, my knees weak with pain and shock.

He’d hurt me. On purpose. More, he’d relished causing me pain, feeling my body quiver with fear.

Both of us dripped with the water I’d called forth.

My spirits gathered between the hell-spawn and me. There were more of them than I remembered.

“Be careful,” I murmured.

“Our job is to protect you,” Honani said. “Zeke will arrive soon.”

The spirits pressed tighter against me, my skin blooming with gooseflesh and something more important—hope.

That place in my head whipped into a frenzy. “I vow my magic will fight you. Forever.”

Jaguar and Honani paused, both studying me. Power surged from my mind, licking over my skin. I wondered if my eyes glowed as bright as my mother’s had in those moments she stood against Coyote.

“Your power will more than double mine,” Jaguar growled. The low, throaty sound was full of menace, but the skin around his eyes had tightened. “Especially as I’ll be your first.”

I’d read countless books on the topic of Native American’s attitudes toward sex and how they differed from the now-dominant, Spanish-enforced beliefs. Where sex had once been a gift, something both men and women might choose to share with visitors, gods, spouses—a balance between the masculine sky and feminine earth—the Spanish Catholics defined women as submissive whose sexuality was owned by dominant males, especially that first time. Like a prize.

Jaguar was of the conquistador mindset and would take from me what I wouldn’t offer—ever. Eyes narrowed, Jaguar feinted left, then spun back to the right, his elbow connecting with one of the spirits, who lurched. A few more rushed forward, forcing Jaguar back. He growled, the sound low and full of promised retribution.

Blood dripped steadily from my neck. I pressed my hand there, willing it to slow. Jaguar lunged, his lips pulled back in a full-scale snarl, straight toward me, ripping through my spirits with his sharp, yellowed teeth.

“I’m not a virgin,” I shrieked as I backpedaled.

A lie, one I had no intention of speaking, but I didn’t want my spirits hurt further. Jaguar bared his long canines just under my eyes, his large hand back at my throat. He was furious because of my words.

There was something here I didn’t understand.

My mom had feared this—she’d told me nothing about my heritage or her past in an effort to ensure I wouldn’t stumble into a situation where my power was forced from my unwilling body. The exact situation I was in because she hadn’t given me the tools to fight off demons and gods.

“When?” Jaguar’s face slid from cold and calculating to furious, vicious even. I wanted to shrink back, fade into nothingness just to get away from his anger, the pain of his grip.

“Last year,” the words flew from my mouth. I tried to remember. Something had happened then. The only memory I had to draw from even though I couldn’t bring it forth. I wanted to close my eyes, focus on the emotions trying to bubble forth, but my gaze was locked with Jaguar’s. Each time he flicked his eyes to a different part of my face, I took a tiny step backward.

I cringed as he leaned in to press his nose to my throat. He licked the skin that he’d ravaged moments before.

“You lie. I taste the purity on you. I’ll own your body, your magic, and your fertility. As I do the other girl. Then Coyote will have to recognize my power.”

I swallowed with difficulty, ruthlessly suppressing my tears. Fear filled up my every pore, popping from my skin. Still, I whispered my denial.

“You’re the tiny wolf cub the entire pack tries to protect,” he chuckled.

“I didn’t ask for anyone’s protection,” I screamed. Much as I wanted to sound defiant, I didn’t. The fear was too strong.

“But you have it. Coyote didn’t like learning Sotuk’s magic protects you. I wonder that he didn’t realize the level of your protections sooner. It’s all to my benefit.”

“Stay away from me,” I gasped, but Jaguar clamped me tighter. I struggled, wanting desperately to hide. I felt like one of the lizards in my garden. I’d been spotted by a hungry feline, and the ending wouldn’t to be pleasant.

Zeke ran out from the shadows and thrust his spear at Jaguar, catching him in the side near his gut. The kachina doubled over, hissing. Jaguar’s blood dripped in thick rivers, staining his loincloth.

“You don’t stay dead,” Zeke growled.

Jaguar smiled, a thin-lipped curve of feline satisfaction. “The girl’s magic enhances my own. You cannot kill me.”

Zeke’s eyes narrowed as he pulled his spear free. Jaguar staggered, grimaced, doubling over. My spirits slunk to the left, watching Zeke as he stepped forward again. “Black magic won’t save you this time. If I don’t kill you, Coyote can, and he most certainly will.”

Jaguar’s eyes flashed as his lips pulled back to show his long, sharp teeth.

“That’s where you’re mistaken,” Jaguar chuckled. “With your bitch’s magic, I’ll be unstoppable.”

He hefted his spear, pressing an attack. Zeke parried. Jaguar spun and thrust again, but Zeke met the spear with his own. Jaguar pushed forward until his chest bumped Zeke’s. Zeke brought up his left hand and drove his knife toward Jaguar’s side. But Jaguar’s height gave him an advantage and he blocked the strike, hissing as the blade dragged across his forearm.

Arms wrapped around my waist. “Hello, darling. Miss me?” Coyote pulled me back against his chest, his arms sliding low to grip my hips. “This is entertaining.”

Jaguar lashed out with his spear and Zeke stepped back. Their dance was deadly, fascinating. I was helpless.

Rebellion boiled up, flooding my chest. I wouldn’t just be a prize. I was more than that.

“Zeke is good,” Coyote, murmured. “I’ll thank him before I kill him.”

“You’ll do no such thing. I heard your deal with the goddess.”

“Deals are made to be broken.” Coyote laughed, completely unapologetic. “Since Jaguar broke our agreement by going after you—no surprise there—I should let Zeke kill him. Saves me so much trouble.” He nuzzled into my hair, and I hated how my body warmed to the touch. Sickness rose into my throat. My emotions were so twisted. I didn’t
want
to want Coyote. “Maybe I’ll get lucky and they’ll destroy each other.”

I kicked my heels back trying to get free and run to Zeke so we could disappear, but Coyote clutched me tighter. “You are filled with fire.” His voice took on a gravelly quality that caused me to pause. No. I twisted hard again. I didn’t want him touching me. I did not. “One would think you were Masau’s spawn.”

Jaguar lashed out again and Zeke spun inside Jaguar’s weapon, catching Jaguar with his short knife. The blade didn’t sink in, probably glancing off the demon’s ribs. Zeke spun out of the way in a flash of footwork.

“Such control of his blades and body,” Coyote said. “Years of practice. He’s a killing machine.”