Tuesday at 3:00 a.m.

*

Quig and Grew-Ella drove to Dot's florist shop to have breakfast with Dot's mother, stepfather, Ruby, and Snake Boy.

The main room contained every known plant-themed toy, book, or plastic collector plate produced on three planets.

Daisies and a small painting of Jesus covered Dot's home altar.

Bedroom doors were marked by floral signs.

A seven-year-old wolf boy swung from rope ladders to the loft.

"You're supposed to be at the table, young man." Dot handed him a juice box.

He ran to Quig and showed him his pet snakes. "Ida said hi. She is not a ghost."

"There are no ghosts. Elemental spirits, I'd believe," Dot's stepfather said.

"She isn't dead, but spirits are still ghosts." Snake Boy broke into giggles.

"On The Planets Earth and Joy, they're called elemental spirits, saints, angels, or martyrs. Once this life is over, there is work to do," Dot's stepfather said. "Your father is working in the next life, but I wish he came back as a reborn elemental."

"Grandpa, I wished Ida came back as a snake or ghost instead, but she looks cool and gray like a zombie," Snake Boy said.

"When evil people try to use magic to kill, it destroys them instead, and their victims go through a rebirth," Snake Boy's grandfather said.

Quig pointed at the pink daisy-shaped clock on the wall. "Grew-Ella and I need to leave for work, and then we plan to attend Karen's potluck. Maybe she will allow us to take a nap afterward."

"I forgot. We most likely won't show up. Workhouse board members are attending, and neither Ruby nor I intend to deal with them," Dot said.

The Brownstone at 5:00 p.m.

*

Grew-Ella welcomed Quig inside.

The Eliots' home was once two brownstones, but Karen and Paul had updated by hand, patched and painted murals on the walls, and they polished old wood floors to fake a comfortable grandeur.

Karen painted sprites and pixies over the spots Quig smashed into during his unfinished wedding.

Ceiling fans were removed when Grew-Ella was a toddler, so her father wouldn't hit his head, and he crouched to hug his daughter.

Paul stood two feet taller than her, but his wings, brown hair, straight but long nose, and face resembled hers. She chatted with her father, and Quig lost sight of her.

Madd-Ox waved at Quig as a gorgeous woman who resembled Yoleta approached them. "Just one date."

"I'm on duty." Madd-Ox attempted to back up, but he failed.

Yoleta's daughter's fingers brushed his arm. "Your muscles feel tempting."

"Oh, I'm busy." Madd-Ox ran off.

"I know plenty of single...men here," Quig stammered.

She rolled her eyes. "But they don't have Madd-Ox's muscles, wavy red hair, and aren't grand elites. He's a delectable ginger snap. I was born royal and beautiful and deserve an elite."

"He has a girlfriend," Quig said.

"Yes, but Trent's daughter, Delia Orchid, dumped him before, and she is unacceptable." Yoleta's daughter pouted and stomped off.

Workhouse board members wore black and gold uniforms and blazers or cloaks to signify they were the noble elite, the most beautiful and perfect.

Avery-Joy ran toward Quig.

"I'm thrilled you made it," he said.

She scrunched her mouth. "Ida wasn't wrong when she called me the former queen of a festering, pus-filled sore. The Kingdom gets poorer each year."

He frowned and picked over appetizers. "Don't say that at this party, but I agree."

Avery-Joy's date kissed his reflection on a metal tray.

Professor Avery-Joy adjusted her pink dress. "I'm never using another dating app," she said loudly.

Her date attempted to smack her butt, but he slipped and fell. "My queen, with a housing shortage, you'll be begging to live with me and my wife." Avery-Joy's date attempted to slobber all over her neck. His breath smelled of rot and urine mead.

"Don't touch her. She can toss you like a toy ball," Quig said.

Avery-Joy pushed her date away. "I rent a luxury apartment provided by the university, and you're not visiting."

The man spotted Rodrick rushing toward him. "Fine, I'm leaving." Her date stormed toward the door.

Rodrick almost bumped into Quig and Avery-Joy. "Just meant to scare him," he said. "Avery-Joy, I talked Karen into renting her house for an emergency workhouse board meeting this week. You are on my guest list. I'm hiring writers and editors to create a pamphlet of my proposed government rules."

Grew-Ella waved at them. "A fake plastic surgeon backed me into a corner. Real doctors don't perform surgeries at parties. Dad threw him out."

"Your friend Quig won't care. I mean, he didn't shed a tear when his sister, Ida, croaked," an older board member said.

Quig's legs buckled underneath him, and he grabbed at the air to steady himself.

Grew-Ella wrapped wings around Quig's waist and held him up.

"I didn't realize you and Quig were an item, but maybe he'd care after all," the man said.

She opened her mouth to say they weren't dating, but Stanton leered at her behind a planter. She said to Quig softly, "Flirting might keep that creep's hands off me." Grew-Ella lowered her voice further, and she spoke so low that even Quig couldn't hear. "I wish I could love you, but they'll find out, and I'd never forgive myself if they destroyed you. Even this is too risky."

Yoleta grabbed Quig by the head and gave him a nuggie. "I won't fight Grew-Ella for his attention. Not that I'm allowed to marry him because of his broken elite status." She spotted Avery-Joy's ex lurking behind a planter. "Stanton is a worm. I already have plans to talk with him."

Quig broke away from her grip and walked towards Stanton.

Stanton's makeup flaked off, revealing a bruise. He staggered toward Grew-Ella and reached for her thigh. "You're not as tasty as my ex or your sister, but I adore you."

Quig swatted the man's hand away. "Don't touch her like that! Besides, she is offering me snuggles, not you."

The creep shrugged. "I understand, and I need to chat with my former queen. We're still friends." He ran to Avery-Joy. "Distract Quig by flirting with him."

Avery-Joy spoke calmly, though her eyes were furious. "Leave her alone. You're Vex's minion and a creeper. I suspect he forced Trent to kill my boyfriend because he knew the political ramifications if he murdered Cutter himself. Vex slaughtered more male contestants in the history of the contests and was still crowned most beautiful. They shouldn't allow him to host the shows and run the workhouses because it's a conflict of interest."

"He never violated the rules. Didn't you kill anyone?" Stanton asked.

Avery-Joy stepped away from him. "No, I didn't, and I gave up the crown to punish Vex. He is the reason that contestants can't kill outside their outside status levels."

"I wondered why you didn't endorse him. He'd be higher in the polls if you did. I'd be willing to pay. Junior received a fifteen-point bump because of you." Stanton said, to her, while he stared at Grew-Ella.

Avery-Joy turned to Quig. "Thank you for protecting Grew-Ella from Stanton. The media says you are crushing on Zill or Yoleta, but it's obviously not true."

"I think you should date my stepdaughter, Zill, even though I don't know her well. She was an adult when I married her father. Yoleta has been telling me it'd save her from Chase's influence, but I'm not sure if I can trust her after the lies she spread about Trent's daughter," Karen said.

"Don't say that." Yoleta glared at her. "I'll still provide you with protection, and I'm sorry, but I no longer have control over your son's relationship. Happily, I still have some control over Quig's."

"No, you don't. I don't like Zill, and she ruined Chase, not the other way around. She is poisonous. Vex is the father of her children, and she married him willingly."

"How did you know that?" Yoleta asked.

He didn't speak, and his mind wandered.

The Past:

*

Quig sat at a lunch table in the crowded cafeteria. Vases of black and peach carnations propped up signs on each table. Meet and Greet. Find a Date or a Mate.

Dean Frog Burton and his younger sister squeezed next to Quig.

Frog Burton was a lion of a man. He tied his gray and balding mane into a man bun. He shifted into a smaller but more muscular dragon. "I'd receive reject status if it wasn't for my wealth because I entered the royal beauty contest. Made out like a bandit, and sold my fourth-place win to small advertising companies. Don't try to win; try to survive. Yoleta and I hid when everyone strangled each other with their contestant sashes. Being a balding duke is better than being a dead king."

"You'll always be elite because women love you." Quig winked at his friend.

"I'll only ever love Yoleta." Dean Frog played with a carnation, and he hovered above the table.

Zill ran over and poured her frosty ginger ale on Quig's head. "You ignored me all day for this busty and cheap tramp."

Quig shook ice chunks out of his hair, and it fell over his deformed wing.

Dean Frog's sister stood up. Her black uniform clung tightly to her body. "I'm a Priestess of the Flame, and the only man I'm interested in is our Lord and Savior."

"No, you're a loose woman," Zill said.

Dean Frog shifted back into a lion. "Don't call my sister that. She and Quig came to give me moral support after my life fell apart."

Zill frowned and didn't speak to Dean Frog. She touched Quig's hand. "I didn't mean the joke about the hot tub, but this isn't the first time I flirted with you."

"I don't hang out with your family because I'm attracted to you," Quig said bluntly.

She pulled him from the table, and no one at the event could hear them. "I'm still friends with my ex-husband, Vex, and he'll force Trent to give you reject status if you cross me. Do you honestly think a coward like my second husband is in control?"

"I thought he changed."

"No, Trent is still the same worm. He's terrified of my first husband, and he'll do whatever Vex and Daddy Sean-Mack ask, including murder. Why are you doing this to yourself? Grew-Ella isn't good enough, and neither are you with that busted wing. If I ask you to fake date me, you do it."

Quig walked away from her.

"You'll no longer be a grand elite if you leave."

He didn't answer and kept walking.