Page 30 of Can you take it?

Time passed slowly when there was nothing to look at. Walter had wisely tasked the girls with searching the floor for clues, which had kept them busy enough to not realize when Walter began scanning the walls behind them. At one point he came back to let me know that our assumption had been correct and the doors lined every inch of the room. As I sat on the floor with my back pressed against various doors, I tried to feel for what could possibly be behind them. I felt a small vibration coming from one and heard what sounded like—now bear with me—a swan honking. I continued to search for other clues that would let me know what door to choose. There had to be some rhyme or reason, something that allowed you to pass that level and move onto the next. So what was it? Was it something I had to do? Was I supposed to kill off the others and then I would be magically moved to the second tier? I cringed at the thought. It didn’t matter how long I stayed here; I wouldn’t turn that evil. I’d stay trapped here in Treachery if that were the case.

“We have another problem,” Walter whispered to the wall a few feet over, not having realized that I’d sat down.

By now, my eyes had adjusted somewhat to the darkness— not as much as they would have if I could shift, but thankfully foxes had excellent night vision and apparently that remained a part of me. Since they are primarily nocturnal animals and are most active at night, our eyes are adapted to low-light con- ditions. Thanks to Cal, I knew that foxes have a layer of tissue in their eyes called the tapetum lucidum, which reflects light and enhances their night vision, making them effective hunters after dusk. “What?” I asked from the floor. Apparently Walter harbored more of his rat while he was not fully shifted, because though wolves had excellent night vision, rats did not. While rats are active at night, they rely more on their whiskers, their excellent sense of smell, and their hearing rather than vision— Cal again.

“Oh, shit.” He shuffled carefully over to where I sat before lowering his voice even further. “I checked the handles on each of the doors except for the one that doesn’t have a knob and they all are locked, every single one of them. They won’t turn even a little.”

Wait, he had tried to open all of the doors? Was he really just checking the knobs or had he been planning on going through the tiers alone and leaving me here with the girls? “You said one doesn’t have a knob. Which one?”

“It’s to the right of where Bexley is lying. Plain door, no designs or carvings on it like some of the others,” he whispered. “Do you think that’s the one?” I asked, already trying to

figure out how I could possibly open a door with no handle. “No,” he responded quickly. “It’s too obvious. That’s the first one everyone would go for. There is probably something super fucked-up behind it. Nah, I bet the door to the next tier is the one we’d least suspect. Probably one of the duplicates over here.”

He returned to the girls to find out if they had noticed anything unusual on the ground. How they hadn’t discovered the doors yet was beyond me.

“Let me help you!” Walter’s voice grew louder from across the room. “I’m just trying to put my overshirt under your knees, so you’re more comfortable.”

“I’m crawling around the floor of tier one, Walter. A shirt isn’t going to make me more comfortable. How about you stop mothering me to death and get us out of here?” Eletha snapped. Bexley sang louder but unfortunately less coherently.

Shame, I really liked this one. It was about a mermaid in the golden sea who fell in love with a clam.

Someone moved in front of me. I tucked my knees up against my chest, so Anna didn’t trip on them. Even had I not been able to see her, I would have known it was her as soon as I smelled the flowery sweetness of her skin, even covered with armor.

“Don’t trip on me. I’m right here,” I grumbled.

She sat down along the wall, several feet from me, scooting closer until she bumped into me and moved back a foot. She was blind as a bat in this darkness. “I can’t stand those two when they’re together. All they do is fight. If I have to sit with them another minute, I’m going to push them both out of one of these doors,” she muttered.

Son of a bitch. Of course she had found the doors already. “Well, good luck with that. Too bad the doors are all locked or I might help you push them,” I mumbled back. I didn’t want to sit and talk to her. I was already confused about everything she had told me on the field and, well, I was confused by her in general. I felt like a fool whenever she was around—a confused, attracted fool. I just wanted her to leave me alone.

“All but one,” she said absently.

My breath stilled momentarily. “Which one? Why didn’t you leave already, then?” I asked skeptically, unsure of whether or not to trust the heathen.

“The same reason I followed you in here. I don’t care about getting out of here. I care about getting my pendant. Once I get the rest of my powers, I’m as good as the Queen of the Underworld and every horror in these tiers will step aside to let me walk out.”

This just kept getting better and better.

I decided to call her bluff. If I got her riled up enough and she told me what door it was, I could at least get a head start on her and the others. “You’re full of shit, you know that? If you cared about Daddy Kaohs as much as you wanted me to believe, there’s no chance you would leave him behind right now with no apprentice and no Shepherd to help. Without Eletha protecting the border, anyone could walk in. I’d bet you have a few rivals who would love to get you both out of the way so they can become the next ruler of the Underworld. If you’re gallivanting down here with me, who’s going to protect him?” I listened carefully to see if she would take the bait.

She let out a loud, bubbly cackle of laughter. “You’re better at this than I thought, but you’re unfortunately quite misinformed.”

I felt my eyebrows wrinkle. Not so much because she hadn’t taken the bait and mentioned which of the doors was unlocked, but that her idiotic compliment and laugh made something in my chest flutter.

“Kaohs doesn’t need me or anyone else; he’s a god—an old tired god, but a god nonetheless. It isn’t like your barbaric monarchy, where anyone can simply barge in, kill the king, and steal their title.”

“That’s not how it—” I began to argue.

She cut me off. “The gods were created for their positions and titles, not the other way around. The only reason I can take his title is because he chooses to give it to me, and he can only give it to me if my full powers rival that of a god’s, which they will. He can easily handle everything on his own, but with me, he doesn’t have to. It’s my turn to take care of him for a change.”

Her words struck me in the chest like a harpoon.

“Hand the pendant to me now, and I’ll show you the door that opens,” she reasoned.

“What? Why would I do that? I’ll just go over and open it myself.”

“Because it only opens for me.” She shuffled closer until her thigh bumped into mine, sending a bit of warmth up my leg. Spitefully and childishly, I moved to slide away from her but stopped when I felt the weight of her hand on my shoulder. She slid it down the armor until she found my palm. I told myself to pull my hand away, to snatch it back from her touch. I didn’t want her touching me. My body responded instead by dropping my mouth open. Her hand was so small and soft resting in mine. My fingers twitched instinctively to close around it, but I stopped myself. When was the last time I’d held someone’s hand like this? I couldn’t remember.

She turned her hand over and splayed her palm open. “Please,” she whispered, “let me have my powers back and I will take everyone back to Eromreven and send you on your way to the second tier with a guarantee that you will make it to the tenth one and pass through to the Elysian Fields.”