Page 54 of Can you take it?

“—but that something incredible and amazing is you

handing me the pendant and watching as I fill with power so strong I could put out the sun if I wanted to.”

I narrowed my eyes and scowled at her. “There is no sun in Tartarus to put out.”

Her eyes began to dance again. “Then I’ll create a new one—a sun so bright the weather gods are put to shame.”

I stopped, hearing something off in the distance. “Listen.” I turned to my left, purposely blocking Anna with my body from the strange sound. There it was again. The grating, wet call of—“Is that…a forest bog?”

Anna’s face paled. “My blade is with my armor. I didn’t bring it.”

“It’s okay. Here, take my blade,” I said, immediately handing her the four-inch blade I kept tucked away. “It’s small, but that doesn’t matter if you know how to use it.” Even an impending forest bog wasn’t enough to stop the glimmer of recognition at the unintended innuendo.

“Is it small?” She snorted quietly.

Heathen. “You tell me. You felt it back in the prostitute’s quarters.” I winked.

Her face turned as pink as her hair. Holy suns, was she beautiful all pink and flushed. My cock had already burst to life just thinking about how she had felt rubbing her hands over me. I wanted to see her spread out and panting—to see what else I could make blush pink.

Anna shouted something and I felt the searing sensation of teeth ripping into my forearm.

“Aagh! Fuuuuuhhh!” I yelled. “Stab him!” I called out as I moved the bog to where she could reach it.

She swung twice and missed. “Agh! How do you hit anything with this?”

My eyes widened at her horrible blows, quickly realizing that she wasn’t going to be of any help getting the cretin off me. I whipped it around to the other side, away from her, kicking its fat frog-like body and trying to break off its branch-like arms. “I watched you kill like thirty men while on a horse. What are you doing?” I watched with concern as she swung haphazardly with the small blade, nearly cutting me twice.

“That’s a game that I’ve been playing since I was ten! It’s different on a horse than with tiny stupid blades!” she shouted, still swinging as if it were an enormous iron sword.

“Stop swinging it like that!” I frantically moved to grab the knife from her—and the pointed tip of the blade went into the tip of my pinky.

“Aggh!” I shouted. The bog had started using its arms to stab my stomach.

“Aggh!” Anna shouted realizing she’d stabbed my finger.

Another bog appeared next to Anna. I flipped the blade down from my pinky and lunged at the other bog before it could grab her. For a split second, I watched fear come over her face and apparently that was all it took to make me turn feral. I don’t know what it was. Maybe it was adrenaline, maybe it was something else, but seeing something go for Anna made me turn animalistic.

I had both bogs flayed open on the ground in the span of a moment as I stood panting over their bodies. “You’re okay?” I asked her, suddenly irked that she had been out here all this time and couldn’t defend herself. I had left her in the first tier and she couldn’t even fight. “How is it possible you fight so terribly? It’s not that different on a horse,” I said.

She blushed again, now looking angry. “I don’t have to fight anything. Why would I know how? Half of what I do in the red keys is just choreography with a heavy sword! I just swing it around and knock the other riders down!”

“How do you expect to be the leader of the Underworld if you can’t fight?” I screamed louder. I couldn’t believe she didn’t know how to fight.

“Ugh, heads up, dummy. I don’t have to fight to lead! Anyone that does is bullying, not leading,” she screamed. “And you don’t think you’ll need protection? Among the kinds of people that live in Eromreven?” I tried to reason with her.

She gasped. “The kind of people that live in Eromreven? Sunshine, you live in Eromreven!”

“Ha! I hardly live there. I stayed briefly and shall be exiting entirely in six more tiers!” My pace quickened. I could hear running water, possibly a stream ahead. Perhaps that’s where Bexley went. Perhaps I could submerge my head in it and forget about this infuriating woman.

“What happens when you don’t make it out? Then what? You think it’d be so awful to stay in Eromreven forever?” She ran next to me to keep up with my long strides.

“I’ll make it out,” I said confidently. “And you are coming with me.” Less confidently.

“You must be nursing a head injury if you think I’m leaving Tartarus or Kaohs to come with you to see the gilded pricks of the Elysian Fields. You’re cute, but you’re not ‘leave everything I have’ cute.” She made her eyes even rounder and looked to the side. “There’s a stream and a waterfall up ahead.” She took off running at full speed.

“I hear it too.” I trotted behind her letting my anger ebb. “I can feel—aagh!” she yelled.

Moss and mud slid up the side of my boot as my feet skidded to a halt at the edge of a large stream. My arms shot out to catch Anna, but it was too late, and I wound up accidentally bumping into her and knocking her into the stream with a splash.