“I met Jaguar almost six years ago, totally by accident.” She twisted her shirt into a ball, her brows pulled together in a series of wrinkles.
The only time we’d been apart that year was during that one cross-country trip with her father. They’d planned a summer in San Diego, but they’d come home weeks early. Layla had been withdrawn. I thought she’d had a fight with her dad; they’d been rocky most of that school year, but their strained relationship was much worse after that trip.
“He told me his name was Troy and he was a freshman at UC San Diego. He can do a full-on human mode—part of his demon magic. I didn’t know that then.”
My stomach twisted. “He didn’t—”
“I’d just started to have these weird blips of power. That’s pretty common.” She shrugged. “Your mother did something to block your powers—but that didn’t stop them. Not if you were able to see Zeke in your dreams.” She blew out a breath. “Jaguar was more than happy to help me figure out what my powers were. He told me he was studying native cultures. I trusted him. My dad’s a federal cop, and I trusted a guy I knew less than a day.”
She dropped her shirt and gripped her arms tight, her fingers white. “My dad was being a dick—all over some chick in the bar. I met Jaguar outside and he suggested we take a walk on the beach. I thought he was being romantic when he took me to that cove.”
Her eyes dilated. She didn’t seem to see me as I moved closer. The instinct to comfort her was strong. “We were too far away from the hotel for anyone to hear my screams,” she whispered.
“Layla . . .” I’d felt his teeth tearing my flesh, his hot breath on my neck and chest. The shudder rippled through her and I answered it, a subconscious attempt to cleanse our bodies of his memory.
She turned to smirk at me, but the horror lingered, deep in her eyes. “It was a long time ago. Haven’t you heard that time heals all wounds?”
My eyes burned with the need to shed her tears. “Not betrayal. Those wounds are too deep.” I paused, swallowed a couple times before I was able to say, “That’s why I was so angry with you.”
Layla brushed her gleaming hair from her cheek. “I never want you hurt like that, E.”
I rubbed my hands up and down my arms, remembering Zeke stepping from the darkness. He’d been calculating, ready to kill a powerful god and the kachina—anyone who posed a threat to me.
The truth settled on my chest, sending tingles through my fingers. “He rescued you from Jaguar. That’s why Zeke hates him so much.”
Layla nodded. “One of the reasons.”
I opened my mouth, but wasn’t sure what to ask. This silence wasn’t accusatory. “Jaguar talked about owning you.”
“He owns my body.” She swallowed. Her chin wobbled and her eyes dropped.
“No. He can’t. He raped you.” I nearly gagged on the word. “That doesn’t mean he has any claim on you now.”
Her gray eyes were wet. “It’s different for us. What isn’t?” Her smile wobbled, collapsed.
“What does that mean?” I asked.
“That’s why the gods and kachina are fighting over you. Your first time—that lover,” she spat the word. “He owns your ability to have children.”
I stilled. Even my heart seemed to quit beating. “What?”
“The man who takes your virginity. He owns your ability to have children.”
“Just mine?”
Layla shook her head. “It’s similar for them. Not the same though. For them, it’s about love. The woman they love is the only one they can have children with.”
“Whoa,” I whispered. “No wonder there are so few of us.” I frowned. That’s not what Zeke had said about his parentage. “But Zeke said he wasn’t wanted. I got the feeling his parents weren’t in love.”
“The one epic flaw in an otherwise horrific system.” She laughed, but it was abrasive. “Believe me, the gods are not known for their celibacy. Every once in a while, something happens. Like a condom breaking. Then you get me. And Zeke, too, I guess. A cosmic middle finger.”
What could I say to alleviate her bitterness? “I’m glad you’re here. Zeke, too. Even if it’s from a birth-control malfunction.”
“Poorly designed system,” Layla said, her voice dry.
I cleared my throat. I wanted to be thankful she was making a joke, but . . . Not now. Not this kind of joke.
Layla drew a deep breath. “Yes. I-I can’t be near Jaguar, Echo. I just wanted to leave.”
I dropped my head. Yeah, I could see that. I’d been so scared when he attacked me. I couldn’t really comprehend how much strength Layla had shown to be near him again. But that didn’t give her the right to sacrifice me to the sick bastard.
“Zeke had been tailing Jaguar and heard my screams. The fight was brutal. Jaguar likes blood.”
You don’t stay dead. Zeke had said that to Jaguar last night.
“I noticed. So Zeke killed Jaguar.”
Layla nodded. “Gutted him. Like he’d tried to . . .” Her voice faded as she slid back into the memory. She shuddered, hands creeping up to grip at her stomach.
I forced my fingers to relax, smoothing them over the comforter. “But Jaguar’s a kachina and they can reform, more quickly if a god summons them. That’s why they rode in to my house the other day with Coyote. Because he called them back from the underworld.”
“Zeke and I think so.”
“Why didn’t you tell me about it? I would’ve supported you. Helped you any way I could.”
Layla shook her head. “My mom visited me. That didn’t go well, by the way. I was so hurt and scared. Zeke had wrapped me in his shirt. My clothes were too torn.”
I gripped her hand; her shame slid into me and she sighed, relaxing. “Sussistanako forced Zeke to leave. She healed me. Physically anyway. She told me I’d never have the powers I could have had because I’d been stupid enough to let that kachina rape me.”
A tear spilled over Layla’s lashes and she dashed it away with her pale fingers.
“That’s when you started hanging out at our place more. When my mom got so serious about me never dating.” I sighed. Small details in my life clicked into place. “And you started going to Arizona in the summers.”
“I came here, actually. To visit Zeke and mommy-dearest. I wanted to learn to fight and Zeke offered to teach me. She decided as her only half-human child I’d be a big help saving the world. Especially as your BFF.”
“I’m not sure I want to meet your mom, Layla.”
“You don’t.”
I gripped her hand again, squeezing her fingers. Layla smiled, and this one reached her eyes.
“There it is. My sordid past.”
“You kicked sordid’s ass,” I said, leaning my head on her thin shoulder.
She hesitated, then squeezed my fingers.
Her eyes glowed bright. I knew that look. She planned to tell me something I wouldn’t like.
I braced myself to hear about her fling with Zeke after he rescued her. My nails dug deep into my palms, opening the scabs. I tried to regulate my breathing.
“Do me a favor, okay? Be careful. I know you like Zeke. But he’s a walking arsenal. Totally alpha kick-ass-and-don’t-bother-with-the questions kind of guy. And Masau’s not the warm cuddly type.”
“What are you saying?”
She met my gaze, her eyes as serious as the line of her mouth. “Zeke makes Jaguar look like a kitten.”
Chapter 12
“I don’t believe that,” I mumbled. But . . . why did Zeke feel so much shame whenever we mentioned his parents? “He’s one of the Four.”
“That doesn’t make him good, Echo.”
“It doesn’t make him evil either,” I shot back. “Especially if he’s trying to help save the world.”
Layla plucked a piece of thread from the hem of her tee. “So, I actually came in here this morning to give you something.”
Concern drifted up, surrounding both of us. She stuck her hand in her pocket.
It must be small because she clutched it in her hand.
“Zeke thought it might be better if I gave it to you. It was outside, on a chair. He brought it in a few minutes ago.”
She hesitated. Finally, she opened her palm and let the object fall into my hand. I recognized the chain. It was the same as the one I wore around my neck—the delicate links interspersed with turquoise.
The ugly clay pendant that used to hang from it had been ripped off. I stared at the chain. Don’t take it off, Echo. The more you wear it, the more it’ll come to know you. You’re the only one who can remove it.
I hadn’t understood when Mom had given it to me. A talisman more than a fashion statement. It was her—my—last form of protection. Sotuk’s gift to keep us safe.
Grief welled up, deep and sharp.
“Does that mean she’s dead?” I asked.
Layla crouched down by the bed and pulled my leg from the covers. She dabbed at my sore ankle from a tin of ointment she pulled from the back of her jeans.
“What do you think?”
“She severed the connection between us.”
Grasping my chin, she smoothed her fingers over the angry skin on my neck. I brushed her hand away.
“Leave those. I wanted to remember. I’m going to destroy Jaguar. For both of us.”
She paused and her shoulders tensed. She dropped her gaze to my neck, then went back to rubbing in the ointment. “No. You won’t have scars because of him. Tell you what, you can destroy him after I kick him in the nuts.”
“I’m very good with my water torture.” I rolled my eyes, trying to cover the anxiety building there. Sure, I’d showered last night—with Zeke—but no matter what he said, I wasn’t sure I’d be able to focus enough to control my element like he did.
Layla laughed. “Zeke told me about your water wall. That’s cool.”
“I’m not sure I did anything. Shakola said that was her.”
“She’s such a bitch.” Layla sighed. She bent back over her task of putting me back together.
“So I’ve wondered—when did you start feeling other people’s emotions?”
I appreciated her attempt to shift my focus. “It’s not like I’m trying to pry into you,” I said. “It’s only when you exude something really strong.”
Layla chuckled. “Never thought you were. Thanks, E. Seriously. I guess I needed to talk to someone about it.”
I clutched the broken necklace in my hand. “I’m just a girl, Layla. I’m not prepared for this. Like, at all.”
I tucked my lips in, biting them.
“We don’t know what’s happened to your mom, Echo. She’s strong in her own right.”
“Not powerful enough to withstand a god, especially one as strong as Coyote.”
“Don’t think like that. It’ll take the fight from you before you’ve even tried.”
But I didn’t hold out much hope—and I knew, even if my mom was still alive, she didn’t have much time. Not if Coyote had smashed her last defense.
“Breakfast’s here,” Zeke called.
* * *
“Might want to put on better shoes,” Layla suggested. “We need to be able to leave at any minute. Coyote’s slunk off to do something we won’t like, and you better believe he’ll show up to get that relic soon. Oh, and try to kill you. Again.”
I’d put on another clean, loose-fitting camisole, jeans, and the wedge sandals I’d worn to my party the other day. I’d considered clasping my mother’s necklace around my neck but just couldn’t. Not until I was sure she was dead. Instead, I slipped the chain into my front pocket, making sure I shoved it down as far as it would go.
I’d debated on the top and decided to go easy on my skin, hence something loose-fitting, albeit not entirely flattering. I still carried too many healing bruises on my torso, including five thick ridges on my ribs, exactly in the shape of a man’s—or in the case, a god’s—hand.
“I’ll have to find another pair after I eat. I’ve never been this hungry before.”
My entire body seemed to be one massive ache, but my stomach was the worst. I wasn’t kidding when I said I was starving—I felt like I hadn’t eaten in weeks.
Zeke slid a big, tortilla-wrapped bundle in front of me.
“Tofu scramble?” I asked. Saliva pooled in my mouth as I picked it up.
“Doubled.” Layla smiled. “Lots of protein. Zeke got it from the place around the corner.”
“Wait—the one near my house in Santa Fe?”
Zeke nodded, eyes still on me. I tried not to blush. I failed. I couldn’t quite meet his gaze. Instead, I stared at the dimple in his chin. “Layla said it’s your favorite.”
I think I kept my aww to an internal melt, but I wasn’t sure.
“Thanks.” I tried for nonchalance, but my face still flared with embarrassment. I bit into the burrito. I turned back, tortilla shoved into my mouth, to see Layla standing by the window, her face half in shadow, half illuminated by the midafternoon sun.
My friend, the daughter of the creator goddess. I was hurt she hadn’t told me about her mom—even if it was against my mother’s wishes. Didn’t friendship mean trust?
I dropped my gaze back to my food, aware I was thinking about my mother as much as I was about Layla.
“I can’t just leave her there—wherever there is.”
“You don’t have to,” Layla said, sliding into the chair next to me. She placed her hand over mine. “We’re going to go look for her as soon as we finish eating. We’ve got the tablet to use as a bargaining chip.”
I dipped my head in acknowledgment.
“But I’m not sure she wants us to—especially if she severed the connection between you. She knew what she was sacrificing, E. This was always her Plan B.”
“Suppressing my magic was Plan A?”
“That was the hope. If the gods couldn’t detect your power, they couldn’t find you,” Zeke said, frowning.
“Wouldn’t her power have been stronger here, though? On the ancient holy lands, I mean. We could’ve had a better chance to fight back sooner. I could’ve been trained. I still have no idea what I can do.”
“We think Sotuk’s protection was strongest when she was away from all the other godly power,” Zeke said. “If that’s true, your mom coming back here would’ve been very stupid, especially since we don’t know how or from whom she got her power.”
“So she might’ve lied,” Layla said, “but it was to protect you.”
I didn’t think she’d lied to me. I knew she’d lied. But Layla understood my grief and frustration. She’d lived through the kind of betrayal that would destroy a lesser woman. While I didn’t agree with the way she’d handled the situation with my mother, I couldn’t fault her or my mom for doing what they felt was best.
I popped the last bite of burrito into my mouth even though I wasn’t hungry anymore. My tank top slid across the worst of my bruising, and I hissed in pain, my hand fluttering up to cup the sore place.
“Hurt?” Zeke asked.
Coyote’s hand had marked me—at least for the next few days. In doing so, he’d basically declared war against Sotuk and my family. My frustration built at my father’s lack of response to my mother’s plight, to Coyote’s aggression. To me.
“What are you thinking?” Layla asked.
“Maybe nothing.” I tugged at the ends of my hair then winced as my scalp stung.
“Oh, you’re thinking something.” Layla’s voice was dry.
“That tablet.” Seeing Layla’s blank look, I said, “I started thinking about Hisatsinom history when we were at Oraibi. I don’t remember exactly, but there was a line in one of my mom’s books. It goes something like: The Great Spirit gave each of his Four Peoples stone tables and said don’t cast these on the ground. If you do, humans will struggle and the Earth will die.”
Layla moved back to the small window and stared out. She seemed caged, edgy. Having to relive the worst time in her life for me this morning would’ve keyed
her up.
“What’s this got to do with your mom?” she asked.
“Coyote said he took this tablet from my mom. She was a guardian. There have to be three others. At least two are still out there.”
“If we can find the tablets, they may lead us to the fourth of our Four,” Zeke said slowly.
“How?” Layla asked.
“Would the one we have want to connect with the others? Like, reconnect with all their parts?” I asked.
Zeke tugged at his lip, eyes narrowed. He dipped his head once, a smile lighting up his face. “That’s brilliant.”
I glanced at Layla to see what she thought. Puzzlement slid from her to my new emotion receptors. She was leaning forward, nose nearly pressed to the glass. Her confusion sizzled into something stronger. Fear built in my mouth, metallic and nasty.
“What are you staring at?” I asked.
“Not sure yet,” she mumbled. “Too far away, but it’s strong.”
“Bad?” I asked, racing to the window. I stared at the spot she pointed. “I don’t see anything.”
“I thought it was clouds. They’ve been building for a while out there. There are a lot of them. I can see the glow.”
“What kind of glow?” I asked. The only clouds I’d seen glow had been at my party a few days ago.
Elbowing Layla out of the way, I leaned closer to the glass, wiping the condensation with an impatient hand. It was faint, very faint, but I caught a flash of the same pearlescent sheen glowing from these clouds. “That is like the cloud we saw in Santa Fe. At my party.” I swallowed, my fear building with Layla’s. “Jaguar.”
“Looks like.” Layla agreed. She wrapped her arms around her middle.
“How’s that possible?” I asked. “Coyote stabbed him. I saw his soul.”
“You closed one of the sipapus yesterday. Doesn’t mean more aren’t open. Jaguar knows how to navigate the underworlds to come back up.”
“In a cloud?” Zeke’s face was ashen, his eyes wide as he came to the window.
“Yes, definitely a cloud,” Layla said.
“She promised,” he whispered.
“Shakola?” Layla asked. “You know she doesn’t like Echo. Weren’t you going to talk to her?”
The Spirit Seducer (The Echo Series Book 1) Page 14