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ELI

TIER THREE: VIOLENCE

My eyes opened, but it was hard to see anything through the mess of legs, arms, feet, and shadowy figures around me.

“The third tier,” I grumbled to myself, struggling to remember which one three was, but I decided to get up and out of the way first. It was easier to think without being trampled on. It felt as if I had landed on a battlefield and no one had noticed I was there yet.

Looking up, I saw dark figures that appeared almost see-through as they fought each other. Well, I wasn’t sure what they were fighting. It seemed like they were fighting everything. There was so much going on that I could hardly focus. I needed to get away from them before I broke a rib.

I backed away, continuing to get stepped on and kicked, though no one seemed to notice me for some reason.

Eventually, I found the edge of the commotion and stood, watching what was happening.

It was a scene from a nightmare. It looked as though we were in some sort of village, possibly a ghost town.

Nothing looked inhabited, and the few houses and shops I could see appeared old and run-down.

It struck me as odd that there would even be shops here, and even though they matched the worn aesthetic of the town, something about them stood out.

We were in the Tiers of Tartarus. Why would there be shops?

Upon further assessment, I realized that each and every store was stacked with weapons and blacksmiths were selling their goods, many of which looked like they were being used in the war around me.

The atmosphere here felt completely different from the creepy forest. The air was hot and dry, and I saw few trees, no bushes. It felt like I was in some sort of desert with sandy, gritty soil. The trees I did see were covered in spikes and thorns.

I looked for a reason why the battle seemed to be ongoing, but I couldn’t find any.

It was the tier of Violence, of course there wouldn’t be any reason for this war.

I hated being in the midst of more fighting.

This wasn’t my war; it wasn’t my place to fix anything.

The opposite of violence was peace. Did that mean I was supposed to end this war?

I’d been in war; it didn’t end very easily.

What shocked me more than anything was that no one came to attack me where I stood in plain sight. The tall, shadowy figures reminded me of the ghosts I’d seen in the human realm, except these all wielded long black scythes and blades, several with spiky maces.

Within the mix of the shadowy, ghostlike figures, I saw something that made my blood run cold—Eletha.

In a surge of panic, I ran to see if I could help her, forgetting momentarily that we were sort of at odds.

But then I stopped, getting a better look at her.

She looked ecstatic. I’m not sure I’d ever seen her look happier.

She was wielding some type of blade with metal thorns cut into the end, absolutely annihilating everything in front of her.

With every shadowy body that evaporated, she seemed to glow brighter.

I backed off. It was actually quite scary to see her enjoying the fight so much. I enjoyed a good sparring match as much as anyone, but I had never liked violence, and this was intense .

Eletha, on the other hand, seemed to be having the time of her life.

But wait—if Eletha was here, that meant Anna was here too. My pulse quickened, and I was ashamed to say my breath caught at the thought of her being in this violent mix. As much as I hated to admit it, I was finding it harder and harder to hate her the more time I spent with her.

When I looked around for Anna, my eyes fell on a figure next to Eletha—Walter. I stared at the look on his face as he too seemed completely euphoric in his element, slaughtering everything around him.

“Holy shit.” It still caught me off guard to see him so full of hate. He and Eletha moved in sync, like a pair dancing.

Back to back, they moved, smiling—I could have sworn they were laughing.

I couldn’t take my eyes off them. I didn’t even bother to worry whether I should go help them.

In fact, I thought they’d get mad if I did.

I moved around the edge of the battle to see if I could find Anna in the mix and began to worry when I couldn’t find her or Bexley. Surely they were here.

Eventually, my eyes landed on a petite figure in the distance, and I instantly knew it was her from the curvy silhouette that had been burned into my mind.

I saw the glint of black armor, the same as what I wore, and the small pieces of pink hair that framed her face.

I didn’t go to her immediately, as she remained on the edge of the battle, sitting next to what looked like a black cactus with a pink blossom on top.

In a weird way, these two reminded me of each other.

I stood for a moment and just watched her.

It was nice to observe her without her knowing, without anyone watching me.

She stood looking around, her arms crossed, bored almost, and I chuckled.

She would be bored with violence, though to be honest, I was surprised she wasn’t out there enjoying it next to Eletha.

It seemed no matter how much I thought I knew her, I didn’t.

And that made me question everything she had told me.

She was the daughter of Kaohs. She wanted to take over Tartarus; she couldn’t do those things and not be evil, right?

Cal’s words flew through my mind as I watched Anna.

I didn’t really know why I was so upset with Calypso.

It was her sister. I’d have done the same for Tarani, and I knew it.

I found myself in front of Anna without even realizing I’d walked over. The air smelled hot and dry with the scents of burning earth. Her blue eyes landed on me. “Shouldn’t you be in the middle enjoying all of this?” she asked.

“I was thinking the same thing about you.”

She rolled her eyes and shifted her body away from me.

My first response was disappointment, and I silently cursed myself.

Of course I would be this attracted to Cal’s sister.

It’s like the Fates wanted to ruin me as much as possible.

They could have caused me less trouble had they gone inside my brain and started rearranging everything they touched.

The second I saw her, I was pulled to her.

It was honestly fitting that I would be so attracted to a person like her—a person I couldn’t have.

“They’re going to be out there for a while,” she said, looking casually out at Eletha and Walter.

From this angle, it seemed that every time a shadowy figure was killed, in the far back, a different type of creature would form—something with different skills and weapons.

“I’m not much of a fighter,” she said after a few minutes had passed, and I realized I was staring at her.

I dissected her face, from her brown eyebrows to the little flecks of gold in her blue eyes.

I tried to find something normal or less than attractive to focus on but found nothing.

I turned in the opposite direction. There was also nothing in the landscape to look at but a dirty blue sky and boring land that seemingly went on forever.

Out of prideful embarrassment, I remained with my back to the battle and her.

“No,” I stated, “during the red keys, you certainly seemed to be well-versed in fighting.” There was a bite in my voice, and I wasn’t sure why.

Lies—yes, I did. I was supposed to hate her.

I did hate her. Okay, I didn’t hate her, but I didn’t like her.

Fuck, more lies. I didn’t like what she stood for.

She was gorgeous, and there was just something about her that made me feel like a moth to a pyre, but that was just looks, I reminded myself.

Her personality was evil. Literally. There were lots of gorgeous girls out there who were not the spawn of Kaohs and not the evil sibling of my best friend.

“That’s a game,” she said, “and your life depends on it. That’s much different. And I never said I enjoyed it. Just because you’re good at doing something doesn’t mean you like it. You of all people should know that, golden boy.”

Every shameless, horny part of me yearned to hear her call me that name again.

I wouldn’t be stupid though. I knew if she were to ever show me any kindness again, it was only to get the pendant from me.

Either way though, she was right. The inner turmoil I was having with myself was apparently embarrassingly obvious.

“I enjoy being considered a hero,” I said, continuing to stare into the distance at what looked like more thorny black bushes being blown in a breeze I didn’t feel.

“Do you?” Her silky alto voice held a note of accusation. I turned around to face her. “I do. It’s just my personality.

Why would I act a certain way if I didn’t like it?” I snapped.

She put her hands up in surrender, but the corners of her pink lips lifted in a gloating fashion. “Tell me about my sister,” she said, catching me off guard.

“I don’t want to talk about your sister. Besides, someone just told me that’s all I talk about.” My jaw clenched so tightly that my teeth ground together. There were many reasons why I didn’t want to talk about Cal with her; our recent fight was just one of them.

“Ah, I see,” she said, pursing her mouth. I caught the undertone of her words.

“That’s not why I don’t want to talk about her with you. I’m not in love with her,” I snapped.

She chuckled as she tucked her hair behind her ear. “Do whatever you want.” Something in her defense wasn’t quite strong enough to hide the soft disappointment on her face, and after a minute, I caved .