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ELI

TIERS FIVE AND SIX: ENVY AND FRAUD

I couldn’t feel the platform moving anymore. Inhaling deeply, I tried to place the scent of the space. It smelled luxurious and fresh with slightly musky notes of saffron.

Bexley called out, asking if we were all okay.

“I’m okay,” I said, clearing my throat when my voice came out sounding oddly high-pitched.

I stood up, feeling strange. There was a warm, glowing light off in the corner, which I eagerly walked toward to get out of the pitch-black space.

“This way!” I heard Walter call out.

The floor was black-and-white-checkered marble, and the walls were completely black. Anna and I exchanged looks, unsure of where we were going.

The sound of elegant instrumental music echoed softly down the hall. My body tensed as I remembered that the last time I had heard this type of music, I had been in Moirai with the three Fates. That hadn’t exactly ended well for me.

Anna appeared at my side, lacing her arm around my waist. I stared at her, wondering if she realized what she had just done .

“Come here,” she said, as we walked behind the others toward the light.

I frowned, unsure of what was happening, but I wasn’t about to turn Anna down. I didn’t think I was capable of turning her down.

Her hands slid down to my butt, and she gripped both cheeks firmly in each hand causing me to jump a bit.

“Oh yeah,” she said. “This is mine. Do you understand that? This is my fucking ass,” she whispered so that only I could hear.

“I’m sorry?” I said, clearing my throat again with a cough.

Was I so horny that I was imagining this?

Anna moved her hand up and gently closed her fingers around my throat, pushing against me so hard that I had to stop and push back a little or I would be shoved into the wall.

“This is my fucking body, you understand? I’ve waited so long to do this.

Do you know what I’m going to do to you when we get back to Eromreven?

Do you? I’m going to have to carry you everywhere because you’re going to be too sore to walk.

” “What?” I shouted, jumping back and swatting her hand away.

As I did, I noticed a small dark-skinned arm with purple nails moving in place of my own.

“What the fuck?” I said, bending down to look at myself, blinking when I saw a very curvy female body in place of mine.

“Oh shit,” Walter called out. I turned to see the rest of the group looking at their own appendages.

That’s when I realized I was in Eletha’s body. I burst out laughing, unable to keep myself upright.

“What’s so funny?” Anna asked.

“Anna?” I asked through laughter, knowing exactly who had taken Anna’s beautiful body.

“I’m Walter!” Anna called out.

Walter shouted in a high-pitched voice, “I’m Anna! Oh my God, I’m in Walter’s body!” She lifted her hands as if to avoid touching anything.

Eletha made a petulant whine, as if she were about to throw herself down on the ground. “That means I’m Eli. Don’t you dare touch my body!” Walter—who was really Anna—and my body—who was really Eletha—shouted, pointing at me.

“Bexley, who are you?” I asked. The man sat pouting, deep in thought.

“I didn’t change.”

“Why wouldn’t you change?” I asked, confused, resting my hand on my hip. This body gave me a lot of attitude.

“Hey, don’t touch that!” Anna’s body, who was Walter, shouted.

“Anna,” I corrected myself. Anna and Walter had switched places and Eletha and I had switched. “This is going to get really confusing,” I said.

We all turned to Bexley, puzzled as to why he hadn’t changed. I had a feeling it was about more than just uneven numbers.

“How many times do I have to tell you? I’m not fae. This place was built for fae. That’s why I’ve been able to get through here,” Bexley said with a shrug. “Don’t worry, I don’t feel left out.” He smirked before going back to playing with a loose string on his raggedy pants.

A high-pitched bell chimed at the end of the hallway, signaling that something awaited us.

We all exchanged wary looks before walking into a room where an ornate table was covered with elegant dishes, overflowing with succulent, delicious- looking food.

Fae food, laced with magic, was always next- level, but this looked unlike anything imaginable.

My mouth watered. When was the last time we had eaten?

“Whoa, whoa, whoa!” Walter, who was Anna, said. “This tier is Envy. We shouldn’t eat anything. This is obviously the trap. We eat the food, we can’t stop, and then we get stuck here,” Anna warned. Then tilted Walter’s head in thought. “Are we sure this isn’t Gluttony?”

“I don’t think that’s the trap,” I said. “That’s too easy. And none of us are big foodies, at least as far as I know.” My head spun as I tried to get ahead of the tier and figure out what could tempt or trap us all in here.

“Speak for yourself!” my voice said from across the room, which was technically Eletha. “I love food!”

“I mean, I love food too,” I corrected, “but I don’t think this is the trap. It seems like all the tiers are more intricate, more personal. None of us are going to stuff ourselves until we get stuck.”

“Maybe if you eat the food, you can’t leave?” Anna, a.k.a. Walter, suggested.

“The food is fine,” we heard from the end of the table. When we turned to look, Bexley was slapping food onto his plate and stuffing it into his mouth, taking a big bite of what looked like a turkey leg.

“Bexley!” Walter—who was really Anna—shouted. “It could be poison!”

“Well, that would save me a lot of trouble then,” Bexley said sarcastically, continuing to eat. “The food is fine. Eat.”

The room resembled a typical castle dining room, with intricate details and large paintings—though the paintings were just blurry oil landscapes. To my surprise, the others sat down quickly and began eating while I remained standing.

“You guys, this is obviously the trick. We just don’t know what it is. If they lay food out, you don’t eat it!” I said, raising my hands to my hair and getting stuck when my fingers tangled in it.

“Ow,” I muttered, trying to free my ring-covered fingers from the long black strands.

“Here, let me help you,” Eletha—who was in my body—offered.

I smiled at myself, which was incredibly odd. “Not bad on the eyes, am I?” I joked, admiring my sharp jawline and tan skin.

“A regular ladies’ man,” she said, rolling her eyes and taking in my appearance. “I’d better put my hair up before you rip it all out. ”

“Ow!” I winced as she raked her large, man-sized hands through my hair, catching tangles and yanking my head back. “You should shave your head. How can you possibly function with hair this long? It’s almost in your butt crack,” I mumbled.

She stopped immediately, glaring. It was funny to see the expressions I had begun to elicit from her on my own face.

“Don’t talk about my hair like that,” she snapped. “Sit still.” I moved to a chair, letting her tug at my hair, pulling and twisting at it, though it felt more like she was making knots.

“Ow, you’re pulling my head,” I complained. “Beauty is pain,” she said.

“Is that what they tell you? That’s awful,” I grumbled. Walter and Anna chuckled in the background.

“There,” Eletha said after a few minutes, finally satisfied with the result.

“I want to see it,” I said.

“Why?” she asked, taken aback. “It’s not even your hair.” “I know, but you worked really hard on it, and it feels intricate. I want to see myself.”

“That’s not you,” she said, shaking her head.

“There’s a mirror down here,” Walter, in Anna’s body, pointed out. Two small candle sconces flanked a landscape painting. The mirror behind them reflected the flames. “It looks beautiful,” Walter in Anna’s body said as they moved next to Eletha in my body.

“Huh, that’s odd,” I said as I looked at mine and Anna’s bodies leaning on one another. Seeing us next to each other so happy did something to my insides that I wish it wouldn’t have.

“What is?” Anna asked in Walter’s body.

“Nothing,” I said and she went back to eating as soon as everyone sat down again. Everyone but me. I was too anxious.

A small place card with intricate gold details sat in the middle, raised on a tiny stand.

Tier Five: ENVY

I pointed, then nodded. “We are in Envy. ”

Anna continued to eat, though I could tell she was chewing cautiously, still not feeling quite right about it.

I walked around the room, guarding the others.

They had hardly eaten at all when another chime sounded.

Walter, in Anna’s body, jumped and moved toward me before remembering that Eletha was in my body.

“Fuck…” Walter muttered.

“I’m hangry,” Eletha grumbled in my body. I was too, but I wasn’t about to eat this food.

Anna, in Walter’s body screamed as a headless skeleton walked into the room, startling us. Several more headless skeletons walked in behind it. In unison, like synchronized swimmers, the bodies held an arm out, gesturing us to go through the doorway we had just walked in through only moments ago.

When no one moved, one of the skeletons, apparently frustrated with Bexley’s lack of at least standing from the table, like the rest of us, stood behind him. When Bexley waved it off, the skeleton reached out a bony hand and gripped the back of Bexley’s neck, lifting him up. We all gasped.

That was all we needed to know: these were not friendly servant skeletons, though were there ever?