Page 64 of There's No Place Like Oz

“What a beautiful name.” She approached, and there was a tension across our party. Eloise’ dress swayed with every shift of her hips. As was always the case, her eyes caught on Dorothy’s red shoes. “To what do I owe the pleasure, Dorothy?”

My mate hesitated, and I couldn’t blame her. The other witches felt innately sinister, but just because she feigned sweetness, that didn’t mean Eloise wasn’t simply a better liar.

Dorothy worked up her courage, then she spoke calmly. “We’ve come on a quest to gather the four enchanted objects of Oz, so I might free my friends of the curses they’ve suffered.” Though the words were a threat when aimed at the others, I could tell by her breathing and heart rate that Dorothy was speaking with the vague hope that Eloise might just hand over the object for the sake of charity and good will.

“What curses have befallen your comrades?” She asked with concern. Genuine or fake, I couldn’t say, but my instincts tilted towards fake.

Her eyes lifted to mine for only a second, and her eyelashes fluttered with in an unspoken flirtation. Another uncomfortably familiar gesture.

“Talos lost his tongue to Sasha of the South. He can no longer speak and his mask is permanently fixed on his face. Leon lost his Pride and his ability to shift into a Lion at the hands of Gwen in the West. Crowe lost his humanity and compassion to Grunhilda in the East…” Dorothy paused, while my nerves were radiating through my chest. I could have used myownemotional support animal right now, even if I couldn’t quite explain why I felt so anxious.

“And him?” Eloise motioned towards me. “What has befallen the dark haired one?” A question that felt distinctly nefarious in nature—not simply because I knew she was my witch, but because there was the slightest hint of a dare to her tone. Pretending not to know who I was either meant she’d cursed so many that she didn’t recall my face, or she was a liar and wanted an excuse to punish someone who spoke out against her.

Either way, this line of questioning was definitely putting Dorothy in danger, and I wouldn’t let her speak for me now.

After all, the longer we lingered in the witch’s presence, the more Iknewshe’d had me before. I could feel her in my bones and on my skin, and I couldtasteher now, lingering on my tongue like a taunt.

“Eloise, my Queen.” I said with a bow. The words came from somewhere deep inside that I couldn’t locate or identify. My lips moved without my control. “Just as I promised, I found my way back to you.”What?I was a puppet, speaking thoughts I couldn’t locate anywhere in my head.Why couldn’t I stop myself?“I have brought you a woman whose soul is kind and true, so you may take it for your own, and live ever after in goodness and purity.”

I jerked back, horrified by my own voice. Wasthatmy task? Is that what I was to Eloise? Some sort of retriever?Who better than a dog to fetch things for her…

Her grin flashed an invisible wickedness—one that could be felt more than it could be seen. Dorothy stared at me with wide eyes, and I stared back with the same degree of confusion. I wanted to tell her this wasn’t me speaking, but my mouth no longer seemed to be my own. No part of my body felt mine anymore. If she’d casted some sort of spell on me in our brief moments of eye contact, I was completely in its clutches now.

“Tobias, my prince, I knew you would come through for me.” Eloise fixated on me, and that gaze wrapped a fist around my heart and my mind. “You’ve always been such a good hunter. It’s incredible to see all of the fruits of your labor gathered together in a single room.” Dorothy stepped back as a defense mechanism. I wanted—neededto step in and protect her, but try as I might, I couldn’t go to her. I had to trust Leon and Crowe and Talos to take care of her for me. Eloise continued. “I adored that my cousins all had their own signatures for their art, but they were also so very closed off and selfish. They never shared their men with me, even as we’d worked so hard to pick them out. So to finally see their puppets in person—it’s delightful. Each of my cousin’s unique personalities are so prominently represented, it truly feels like my family’s souls are going to live on forever through each of you.” Her pleasant waxing sounded far more positive than the dark undertones actually were. “I was worried I might never see them again after this pretty little thing murdered them, after all, so it’s truly such a relief.”

“What is she talking about, Tobias?” Dorothy tried to look at me, but Eloise was quick to grab her face, and pull her attention back towards her.

“Yes, what the fuck is she talking about, Tobias?” Leon, however, had no problem looking my way.

I held up my hands, at a loss for words. “I… I don’t know.” I managed, finally in control of my speech and body again. Her fixation on Dorothy seemed to have set me free for the moment.

“Oh, of course. I’d nearly forgotten. I had to wipe your memory before I sent you to the human world, otherwise, you may not have found someone with a good enough soul.” Eloise snapped her fingers, and my whole body was on fire. “Let me fix that for you, Love. I would hate for you to be trapped in that innocent little puppy mind forever.”

My head pounded like a sledge hammer hitting stone, and I was on my knees, clenching my temples, and screaming despite myself.

I never saw her move, but I was hearing colors and seeing sounds amidst the migraine ripping through my brain, so I couldn’t have identified when she’d come to crouch down beside me. I barely felt when she’d started rubbing my shoulders through it all. “There, there, my prince. Don’t fight it.”

Don’t fight it.I heard those same words in my own voice, as memories came flooding back to me. Memories of teeth, of claws, of hard blows to the stomach. Memories of brawls I’d fought in and blood I’d shed and prisoners I’d captured from their homes.

Memories of the day Eloise had claimed me as her prince and filled me with her magic.

Crowe. I saw his face in the human realm, tanned and full of life. He was a gentle farmer in a distant field, somewhere in Central California. He’d been kind enough to buy me a drink at the local bar. I’d roofied him, I’d taken him back to Oz, and I’d delivered him to Eloise, who’d prepared him for sale to her cousin, Grunhilda.

I watched, stone faced, as Grunhilda brought him home to groom her perfect sex toy. She’d laughed when she’d placed the rope around his neck that she’d later use to strangle him in the act. The man she’d kill and reanimate for her own sick fantasies.

Crowe’s energy radiated through me, and I knew we were sharing that memory.

Talos was a child in a distant mountain tribe, and I’d bolstered the deal to sell him to Sasha. I’d delivered him personally to her bed chamber, where she had her last toy still bleeding and in pieces on the wall. I’d turned my back on the boy, not worried what happened to him. As long as my queen was pleased and her wallet was fat, I’d been good for her.

Talos’ intensity hit me like a gut punch as that shared story flowed through both our minds.

Leon was the king of his Pride. A mighty Alpha, so tough and so dignified.

Exactly the kind of animal Gwen wanted for her collection.

The satisfaction of breaking him radiated through my chest, while I used my witch’s magic to paralyze his entire Pride and capture them for sale. As a lowly dog, I’d gotten off on dominating a lion. I was so pleased with myself when I delivered the beasts to the western she-devil, wrapped in chains and heads hung low. I fucked Eloise senseless after, absolutely buzzing on that adrenaline.

The thrill of the hunt. That same surge that had convinced me to kiss Dorothy for the first time, and that I’d shared with Leon in the jungle. I was sharing it with him again now, through detestable memory.

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