Page 69 of Can you take it?

“Can you get into the Elysian Fields?” I asked Bexley. “You might like it better.”

“You won’t like it better,”Anna said. “And you can’t anyway. Not pure enough, but I agree, I don’t think you should stay in Eromreven. Why don’t you go back to the human realm?” she asked.

Eletha and Walter snapped their heads around to look at her, then just as quickly turned to Bexley to see his reaction.

Bexley laughed. “There’s no portal to the human realm,” he said.

“There could be,” Anna said.

Bexley tilted his head, his interest piqued.

“It’s past the Elysian Fields,” Anna continued. “The human realm portal is behind the Elysian Fields. Before the portal to reincarnate, everyone used to be sent to the human realm. I’ve heard this from my father,” she said confidently. “It’s not used anymore, but you could find it.”

“I’m not leaving,” Bexley said with a shrug. “You have to. We all voted on you,” Walter said.

Bexley looked around, taking note of each of our faces. “You all really chose me?” he asked softly, as if just realizing it for the first time. Before he could get too emotional, he shook off the sentiment and put back on his grumpy face.

“What do you want?” Anna said, walking him over to the door.

Bexley opened the door, and I expected to see a glimpse of the fifth tier through it when he stepped through. Little golden glittering sparkles, or the air twisting and popping, but instead, nothing happened.

Bexley and Anna exchanged looks. “There’s nothing there.” “Maybe we need to state who we voted for plainly,” I suggested. “I’ll go first. I vote for Bexley to leave.”

Walter went next. “I also vote for Bexley to leave.” Eletha said, “Me too. I vote for Bexley.”

Everyone looked at Anna. “I vote for Bexley too.”

As soon as Anna finished her words, the platform we were on began to tremble and dust drifted into the air.

“We’re moving!” Eletha shouted. “Anna, get over here!” she called, worried.

She was right. The platform and the same circle we had arrived on shook again and began to sink into the ground once more.

“Anna!” I shouted. “Anna, get over here, quick!” I called, jumping up, ready to grab her. As I stood, I lost my balance and the platform began to move quicker. “Anna!” I shouted, filled with worry. I jumped onto the small ledge, grabbing Anna’s arm and pulling her back quickly.

“Let me go, woman!” shouted Bexley, as Anna gripped his forearm, dragging him with us.

“Go, go, go!” I said, running behind them and pushing them along, shoving them onto the platform and leaping on just as it began to fall farther than would have been safe to jump. “Is everyone on?” Walter called as the area around us had gone as black as a winter’s night, though we continued to move. “I’m on,” I said, following the rest of the group as we called out our attendance. A soft hand found mine in the dark and squeezed it tightly.

Chapter 14

CALY

The shadows stretched to conceal me in the grimy alley as I followed the large fae. It was quite a feat to remain concealed with my stomach protruding as it was. I had to bend my back at an odd angle to keep my stomach from pushing against the wall.

The breeze from ahead blew the stench of rotting meat and hops from the man under my nose, and I almost blew my cover then and there fighting back the vomit that threatened to emerge. Thankfully the piece of shit didn’t hear me gag.

Nerves crawled up my fingers, causing my hands to tingle in anticipation. It felt like forever since I’d done anything dangerous. Mendax had even gone so far as to keep me from the lab—my own lab, on days when we were working with new magic, for fear I would hurt myself or the fetus. It was stifling.

The fetus—what a doting mother I was.

Ralyn, the man I was about to kill, paused, not quite out of the tucked-away alley; his large frame blocked most of the light from the main road, which tried desperately to illuminate the grimy space behind buildings that no one with any self-preservation would dare enter. His size didn’t intimidate me; Mendax was much larger, in muscle structure and ego.

For months I had been a saint, keeping my head down and focusing only on being the person Eli would have wanted me to be as Queen of Seelie, but it was too much. Between Mendax and the rest of the castle scuffling along after me like a fragile doe, I’d had enough. It was hard enough coming to terms with all of the recent changes: new powers, a husband, castles, magic, and fetuses. This man, Ralyn, was a known abuser, taking liberties with women and children alike, and as queen, I’d decided to remove him from my realm. Permanently. When I’d snuck out of the castle tonight, I’d known exactly where I would go. I knew from my people where this filth liked to linger—I knew everything there was to know about him, even his date of expiration. My entire ride to town I’d imagined how good the thrill of the chase would be. Would he run? Fight back? Beg for his life? I secretly wished for all three.

I’d justified it by telling myself it was for the safety of the fetus, but that was a lie; I needed this. It was who I was. I couldn’t take the way everyone babied me, treating me like I would pop like a balloon should I overexert myself.

A tear dribbled down my chin. Yet another unfavorable curse from the fetus: feelings that were unable to be hidden. As soon as the thing was out of me, I planned to stay as far away from it as possible—it would thank me one day, or not; it didn’t matter. What mattered was that it stay away from me. People like me and Mendax didn’t have children. What if I hurt it in a rage? Even now, it resided fully in my stomach and I had no feelings for it, no motherly instinct. I’m certain if I had, I wouldn’t be hunting down a dangerous fae in back alleys mere weeks before the thing is supposed to evacuate the chasm of my loins. No, a good mother didn’t crave violence or lack feelings of nurturing.