The Spirit Seducer (The Echo Series Book 1) by Alexa Padgett

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.”
    “You aren’t boring, Echo.”
    “I am. I don’t know how to talk to you either. You make me nervous.”
    His eyes glinted. “Do I now?” His voice was deeper, the corner of his mouth flipping up with amusement.
    I would’ve retreated farther from him if I could have figured out how. “Why are you looking at me like that?” I whispered, my pulse spiking.
    His eyes narrowed. “I really do make you nervous.”
    “I just said that,” I snapped.
    He ran his hand up the back of his neck. “This has to be so hard for you.”
    I bit my tongue. Adding sarcasm to this situation would not make it better. The silence let me catch the edges of my disintegrating temper.
    We stared at each other. The look soon became awkward, then downright uncomfortable.
    “Maybe you could explain some things to me. Make this less scary. At least give me more information so I know what’s coming and why.”
    Zeke settled back against the wall, all casual nonchalance.
    “I’ve been fighting the demons Coyote sent to infiltrate what you call Earth.” He watched me, probably to see if I believed what he was saying.
    “I remembered you—the first time we met. Earlier, when I was flying through the sky. Crazy part of my day. Way more exciting than my typical party.”
    I tried to smirk, but my face felt wrong, as if it wanted to crumple.
    His eyes softened. “I planned to be there with you today.” He stepped forward to wrap his long-fingered hands around my biceps.
    Heat sizzled up from my skin. I stepped back, trying to clear my fuzzy head, and he let go.
    “Why would the warriors—Layla called them hell-spawn and a lot of other names—help Coyote? I didn’t think he was supposed to head up the spirit world.”
    “The dead are Masau’s job. But, like Sotuk, he’s MIA. No contact in the past three days.”
    “And that’s bad, because?”
    “Gods don’t just go missing, Echo. There’s a reason, and I’m guessing it’s linked to the prophecy.”
    The heat from Zeke’s touch had faded, replaced by cool trickles of dread spidering up my arms, tickling the fine skin at the back of my neck. “Which has something to do with me.”
    “It has something to do with all of us. But first, those warriors you saw today are kachina. Demons. They’re not supposed to walk in this world because they feed off of negative emotions. They crave power. Coyote’s offered it to them.”
    We were silent, me absorbing his words and Zeke studying me.
    “Tell me more about this prophecy, please. Why haven’t I read about it anywhere?” Getting information was proving tougher than Aunt Carolina’s pot roast. “And—to be clear—you and Layla are like me? More than human.” I liked that euphemism. It felt . . . safe.
    “More than human,” Zeke repeated with a smirk. He