Free The Soul's Mark: CHANGED by Ashley Stoyanoff Page A

do this.  He’d seen how much she was struggling, even when she hadn’t noticed it herself.  And he believed that she could handle the bond.  But not just that she could handle it, he’ d known all along that she needed it.  How did he always know what was good for her?  He may not have always voiced his thoughts in the healthiest manner, but in the end, he always seemed to know what was for the best and what she needed.  Not that Amelia would ever say it to him, but he was always right when it came to her.
    “ You do not need strength, my girl.  You have an abundance of it all around you,” a deep voice said.  The voice was whisper quiet, but it seemed to come from everywhere and nowhere all at once.
    Amelia shrieked, a choked and high-pitched kind of sound, and she jumped.  “Who’s there?” she asked, peering through the frosted glass.  She hadn’t heard anyone come in, and that freaked her out—just a little.
    She heard an airy chuckle that sounded too close, as if it was coming from right behind her, and then the voice said, “I’m the spirit of water.”
    Amelia felt all the blood rush f rom her cheeks, and her stomach did a little nervous hop and flip.  One of the spirits was here.  One of the spirits was speaking to her.  One of the spirits was …
    “ Get the hell out of here!” Amelia yelped, as realization dawned on her.  She quickly turned off the taps, stopping the flow of water, before whipping open the glass doors and rushing out of the shower.  She snagged a plush white towel and cinched it around her.
    Amelia was sure she was a bright cherry red as she peered into the shower stall.  In theory, she knew that the spirits were everywhere, but having one take a shower with her was … well, it was not cool.
    “Amelia, I am in everything.  I am water,” the voice said.  The bellowing steam began to shift in the air, and water beads floated, rising from the tiles in the shower stall.  They swirled around in what resembled a mini tornado, the steam mixing with the droplets, glimmering under the pot lights.
    Slowly, the mix of water shifted, taking on a translucent, watery looking form of a man.  He was about her height, with glassy and vacant looking eyes.  His hair looked as if he was wearing a bad toupee, plopped on top of his head like a blob of brown goo.  He had arms and legs, but his frame jiggled as if at any second the water would burst like a balloon filled with Jell-O.
    He smiled, or a t least that’s what Amelia thought it looked like.  “It’s nice to finally meet you, Amelia.”
    Amelia’s jaw dropped—literally.  She could feel it hanging, bobbing up and down as if she was a fish out of water, gasping for breath.  It was his airy chuckle that snapped her out of her stupor and she took a step back, and snapped, “You can’t just show up on a girl in the shower!”
    He leaned against the far wall of the shower stall , his body seemingly sinking into it, and folded his floppy looking arms over his chest, smirking at her.  “You called.  I came.  If you did not want me in the shower, you should not have called while you were there.”
    “I did not call you!” she said, putting her hands on her hips, trying not to think about how weird it was to be speaking to a blob of gooey looking water.  She felt the soft burn in her eyes as they began to wash red, and her magic flared, coating her body in a swirling crimson light.
    “ Do not take that tone with me,” he said, although it sounded more like a growl.  His body began to thicken and harden, taking on more of a human looking form, except, no matter how hard Amelia tried to take him in, she couldn’t really focus on him.  It was as if every time she thought she got a glimpse of what he looked like it was erased from her mind.  He had brown hair and he was her height, but other than that, nothing stood out.  It was as if, even though he seemed to have a body, it wasn’t actually there.  “You