Page 36

ELI

TIER FOUR: GREED

The platform continued to drop, causing the pit of my stomach to rise into my throat as my hair whipped in the air.

As a group, we pushed back on the ledge into each other for stability.

“Everybody okay?” I shouted as we continued plummeting into darkness.

No one had time to answer, for as soon as we entered the darkest of the drop, we suddenly popped out into the light.

With a large shift, the platform stationed itself in a completely new environment and what we could only assume was the fourth tier.

The ground we had been on sunk directly into the land.

Sunshine pelted down on my skin. It felt like I was dreaming.

I was drunk on the feeling of it, enough to have missed that the others had moved from the platform, which was now a dirt circle of land amid yet another forest. This one was filled with lush green trees, full grasses, glistening flowers, and the sounds of birds chirping.

What threw me more than anything was that the feeling of the sun was not fake. This sun felt real.

“What tier is this?” I asked Anna, realizing she was watching me .

“Greed,” she said.

I joined the others where they stood in the lush grass and lifted my face up to the sun. “Can you guys feel this?” I asked. I turned to see Walter and Eletha hugging one another as if they hadn’t seen each other for years. I guess, in some ways, they hadn’t.

I stepped away to where Anna stood talking to Bexley. “Well, that’s sure different to see,” I said.

“Yeah, it’s really nice to see, actually,” Anna said. “Maybe some good will come out of this.”

“So, Bexley, what should we expect in this tier?” I asked, and Bexley’s eyes widened.

“Don’t ask me. It’s different for everybody,” he replied. “Well, you knew what to do back there,” I said.

He shrugged. “I knew that those two would be the ones that kept us in Violence. Something similar happened to me a long time ago. My thought was if I tied them up, they would calm down and stop the violence. That’s all,” he said modestly.

“Well, it worked,” Anna said.

“Yep,” he said with a small nod. “I’m going to wander around. I won’t go far.” He walked off.

“So, are you going to give it to me yet?” Anna said. “No,” I answered.

She smiled. “Figured you’d say that.”

The truth was, watching Anna handle Bexley with nothing but kindness and patience had rattled me. There was only so far faking it could get you. It seemed like, deep down, she was a good person.

We started to walk around, looking at a field of pink and red flowers.

“I’m going to be honest with you,” I said. “I expected to find pots of money or something, some type of test in Greed, not this beautiful landscape. It’s sort of lovely here.”

She shook her head. “No, that’s too obvious. Besides, none of us ever lacked money. At least, that I know of. What can I do to convince you to hand me the pendant?” she asked .

I sat down on a log covered in moss and Anna sat on the ground next to a patch of yellow flowers. It looked like a picture, like she was meant to be in a place like this.

“I know you love Kaohs and that he’s your father, but… you’re Artemi,” I said.

“And?” she asked.

“And Artemi don’t belong in Tartarus. Artemi are filled with goodness. They care and they’re genuine. And as much as I couldn’t see it to begin with, I see that in you now. You’re not the evil sister. You’re gentle and kind and everything the most powerful Artemi should be.”

Her cheeks flushed. “How do you know I’m not tricking you?”

“You are tricking me,” I said. “But occasionally the real you peeks through. And I can see it. The Fates need you. They need someone good and wholesome and helpful and kind. They need you in Moirai. Think of all the good you could do,” I said, trying to reason with her.

“You could be safe. You could sit in fields of flowers. They’re literally everywhere in Moirai.

” Then something dawned on me. “Is this the first time you’ve seen the sun? Real sun?”

She was quiet for a moment. “The last time I saw the sun, I was in a car. That’s not my fondest memory.”

“I’m sorry,” I said.

“I know you are,” she responded.

“Don’t you miss it, though? Flowers and happiness and goodness? All Tartarus is evil, lying, and trickery. I just don’t understand why you’d want to stay there.”

She smiled at me. “A mud flower doesn’t get uncomfortable because it grows in the mud. It’s grateful for the mud. It uses the mud to flourish and turn pink. It’s home. I should be asking you why you don’t want to stay,” she said.

I scowled so hard that I almost fell off the log.

“You’re supposed to stay, aren’t you?” she asked. “Technically, you would be in Tartarus forever. And you will be if I get that pendant,” she said with a grin .

“If I had to stay here with no sunshine, I would go mad,” I said. “There’s no sun. I have no powers. My family’s not here. I hate everything about it.” Well, maybe not everything about it, but she didn’t need to know that.

She nodded. “But when you leave here and you go to the Elysian Fields, you will not have your powers there either, and though there is a sun, there are as many liars, cheats, and thieves,” she said.

Something inside me sank. I hadn’t thought about it, but the realization that I wouldn’t get my powers as soon as I left Tartarus hit me like a ton of bricks. “It’s about more than missing my powers. I can go without my powers. And I get your point. But it’s still better than Tartarus.”

“Why?” she said. “You’ve never been to the Elysian Fields.

For all you know, there’s no sun there and it’s in a pit.”

“It’s not a pit. It’s glorious and heavenly. And my sister will be going there. I didn’t get to say goodbye to her.”

She nodded again. “See, that makes sense.”

I watched a snail crawl across the moss next to me. His little antennae moved slowly. I wished I could be like the snail. No one needing anything from me. Just existing happily. “It’s about more than just seeing my sister. It’s the Elysian Fields. It’s where the good go.”

“Ah,” she said. “You feel you’re too good for Tartarus.” “Yes,” I said flatly. “I am too good for Tartarus. I’ve done nothing but be a good person and fight against evil. I’m not going to live here amongst the people I’ve fought.”

“Well, you should know it’s not anything that you think it is. And it’s not as bad as you’re thinking. Besides, why would you want to go to the Elysian Fields and be around a ton of people that never really appreciated you for you?” she said.

“Stop doing that,” I said, standing up from the log. “Please stop getting in my head and thinking things for me.”

“Am I wrong?” she said.

“No, you’re not wrong,” I snapped. “You’re not wrong at all. Out of all the people, why is it that you can understand ho w

I might be feeling? Why is it that you ask questions that no one else asks? Why?” I asked, moving closer to her.

She shrugged. “Beats me, because I’m not asking anything absurd.

You should be asking yourself why you have people in your life who don’t ask those questions, or maybe you present yourself as the happy, helpful, reliable guy so no one knows you are a real person with real emotions and vulnerabilities.

You use it as a shield. No one is happy all the time, Seelie or not.

What a boring life it would be if we never reevaluated what we wanted and grew or faced challenges.

What a sad existence it would be to never let anyone see the real you. ”

I glared at her, both angry and upset by how easily she read things about me that I myself wasn’t even sure how to explain. I felt cheated that she understood these layers so easily when I myself didn’t.

“We wear a different kind of mask in Tartarus. Once you’ve died, everything gets stripped away.

It no longer matters what might happen in the future, because the future ceased to exist as soon as you died.

You don’t know if you’re really the hero type anymore, because what does it matter now that you’re dead in Tartarus?

Right? Who are you going to save? No one here needs any type of saving that you can offer.

If you ask me, I think Tartarus is the perfect place for you to be a little selfish.

” “I’m plenty selfish…” I mumbled. I pulled off my heavy armor and stretched out in the sun.

The warmth penetrat- ing through the fabric of my pants and undershirt felt like a daydream after having gone as long as I had without it.

“And you’re wrong; Tartarus is the worst place for me.

How could I ever stay in a place where there was no sun?

It’s no wonder everyone down here is in a foul mood all the time.

They probably all have a vitamin D deficiency. ” I grinned.

“Should we go back and check on the two lovebirds?” she asked with a matching grin.

“Let them have some time after what they just went through. Besides, it’s incredible here.

Bexley had the right idea, let’s look around.

” Feeling happy with the sun on my face, I stood up with more gusto than I’d had since dying.

I scooped up a couple flowers on my hop and skip over to Anna and reached out my hand to help her up.

Her blue eyes seemed brighter in the sunlight.

I was able to see all the parts of her face that had been shadowed before.

She still wore her armor and something about seeing her delicate face full of feminine beauty against the harsh black metal was mesmerizing.

My eyes caught on her bottom lip and the way a small dent between her bottom lip and chin seemed to call for my touch, but no—I wouldn’t touch her.

Though to my astonishment, she seemed equally distracted by something on my face.

A dormant beast inside me hoped she was looking at my lips too.

“On second thought, maybe it wouldn’t hurt to check on the others,” I muttered before stepping away. What the fuck was I doing?