The Spirit Seducer (The Echo Series Book 1) by Alexa Padgett Read Free Book Online Page B

portal. Closed it. I watched him open one.”
    Layla let me ramble; she’d seen me do this before and knew that I’d wrap my head around the situation more quickly that way.
    “I didn’t think gods and humans were supposed to mix. Especially Hisatsinom gods and mortals. There are lots of tenets.”
    But Coyote had kissed me. Talked about my desires. “Why does Coyote affect me so much?”
    Layla tugged at the hem of her tunic. “My take? You’ve been too sheltered. Your mom and I argued about your exposure a lot. The human version of this world is full of sexual innuendo. Hell, their toothpaste ads use sex to sell more tubes.”
    “Is that why you brought me those magazines?” I raised my eyebrows. “Is there worse stuff out there? Worse than what we looked at on the Internet?”
    “Oh, yeah. Way worse. Since your mom was so adamant, I figured it was my contribution to counteracting your naïveté.”
    “Didn’t work,” I muttered. “Coyote makes me . . .” I shivered. I didn’t add that Zeke’s pull on me was even stronger. No point in adding to my pathetic situation.
    “Morality isn’t Coyote’s best-known trait. He likes chaos and sex. Not necessarily in that order.”
    “Seduction through our basest nature,” I said. “So Coyote’s like the gods’ penultimate bad boy.”
    “Worse. Some bad boys actually have feelings. Coyote doesn’t and will never care for you as more than a means to an end. He took your mom for a reason. I hope Zeke’s able to track them down.”
    My stomach rolled like I was about to jump off a cliff. “And if Zeke doesn’t?”

Chapter 5
    L ayla turned her face away . There wasn’t a good answer, no way to offer comfort.
    I stood, strode toward the door. “I’ll go home. Coyote will go back there to look for me. I’ll trade myself for her.” Hell, I’d walk all the way home if that’s what it took.
    “You will not. Absolutely not.”
    A strange pressure jolted against my skull, twisting my thoughts.
    “What are you doing?” I gasped.
    “I’m just telling you that you shouldn’t go home. This is the best place for you.”
    I wouldn’t go home. Layla was right. But . . . I wanted to . . . There was a reason I needed to be at my house. My thoughts were sluggish. More pressure pummeled at my head, further slowing my brain.
    “Stop,” I said, my voice feeble.
    “Just sit down, E. Relax.”
    I collapsed into the nearest chair.
    This—whatever Layla was doing to my head—felt invasive. Powerful.
    Like magic.
    I didn’t want her in my head. My hands balled into fists as I forced my shaking limbs back up. I hated that I’d sat down when she told me to, just like a sweet little lap dog. Well, I wasn’t sweet, and I wasn’t her pet.
    That new place that had sizzled to life during my skirmish with Coyote bubbled over. Layla stepped back, fear filling her eyes. My necklace hummed with a faint vibration I was beginning to recognize as the spirits stirring.
    “You need to stop whatever’s going on up there.” Layla tapped her temple, her voice rising at the end to a squeak. “You’re letting Coyote know where you are. Turn it off!”
    “Not until you stop using magic on me,” I grunted.
    “Okay,” Layla said. She held up both hands. “No magic. Calm down, Echo.” Layla’s power pressed against mine, and my head pulsed in hot waves.
    I tried to steady my breathing, regulate my thoughts. It was like wrangling a tiger back into a too-small cage. Sweat beaded across my forehead and upper lip, the back of my neck.
    The deep yoga breaths only helped so much. The thing inside me quivered with need. It wanted out. It wanted to attack.
    Layla continued to talk to me, her voice now much more soothing, but the words just as powerful against my overheated mind.
    How could I not have noticed the pressure she exerted on me before?
    I had noticed. Many times. I just hadn’t understood what was causing the earthquakes inside my skull. It wasn’t just my