Page 73 of Can you take it?

“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.