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

I stripped out of my torn and dirty clothes. Being naked in someone else’s house was bizarre, almost prurient.
    Now or never, I decided, reaching for the lever. As soon as I touched it, the strip of metal moved and a gurgle filled the pipes.
    Water cascaded over me. Water barely warmer than the polar ice caps. My mouth opened and I gulped in a gallon of the iciness before I slammed my lips shut. Holy mother . . . That was so cold.
    I would’ve jumped out of the direct line of water flow, but my legs were locked against the shivers racing up my limbs. As another gallon of icy water poured over my head and shoulders, my pendant burned, and the area around me hazed. I would’ve laughed if my lungs worked. The spirits thought the water was a threat. Maybe because I was fast approaching hypothermia.
    The spirits twirled up the water like a reverse whirlpool. Luscious heat drifted over me and my body revved to life.
    My shivering eased. Oh. Now this was so much better.
    “Thank you,” I groaned.
    I wasn’t sure about the necklace, really, but the spirits locked inside seemed to be useful. I covered my breasts with my hands as I sought one’s face. “Do you mind helping me?”
    I felt their amusement. It is our purpose. Worry not .
    Okay, well, that was good.
    “Can you make all the water the same temperature?”
    Of course. Then you won’t have such pebbled skin .
    My cheeks flamed hotter than the water. Being naked in front of anyone—even dead people—was very uncomfortable.
    “Maybe you could, um, leave me alone?”
    I was pretty sure the spirits laughed at me—probably for my prim views—but they slipped back into my necklace. I sighed, leaning back into the water. I enjoyed the cascade of hot water over my filthy hair. I turned toward the drain, lathering my body, careful of my hip and the other cuts on my arms and thighs.
    Once the thick sand brought in by Coyote and his warriors no longer dripped from my head, I pushed the grit toward the drain. Leaving Zeke’s bathroom dirty didn’t seem like an appropriate return for his hospitality.
    I massaged the soap into my tender scalp, unsure how long the water in the tank would last.
    I could no longer reach the lever, which I’d pushed upward earlier to start the shower. Being short sucked major culo .
    I gritted my teeth. Bathing was a much simpler task at home, thanks in part to intelligent design decisions like taps in the wall.
    I stood up on tiptoe, but still couldn’t manage to grasp the metal bar. Stymied, water continued to cascade over my head and body.
    Great. Zeke was going to kill me.
    The heat leached from me, and I wrapped my arms around my chest. I pressed both my palms to the gray stone, sliding my wet fingers across the tiles. I shivered again.
    “Enough,” I yelled.
    The spout gurgled and the nozzle stopped dripping.
    I glared up at it. Why hadn’t anyone bothered to tell me the shower was voice activated? I didn’t understand how that was possible. I mean, this place didn’t have electricity.
    I stomped out of the shower and wrapped myself in one of Zeke’s towels. I paused at the door. The lever for the shower was still up. Standing on my tiptoes again, I managed to close the lever. A sneaking suspicion had me shove it back up.
    No water dripped from the faucet. I pressed my lips together and nodded once, a grim acceptance.
    The shower wasn’t voice activated. I’d used up all the water. Just perfect.
    I grappled with the lever, ensuring it closed the valve in the off chance the water magically reappeared. What was the point of having magic if it didn’t make my life easier? My necklace made my life easier, so maybe it had magic in it. Unfortunately, I wasn’t sure how to call out the spirits on my own volition. So far, they’d just appeared.
    I’d read once that moving to a foreign country felt like revisiting your early childhood years. Expatriates had to relearn language and even some simple tasks, like driving. This magic