Page 21 of Witch Queens: Tales from Oz

I had never heard him speak of his family.

“Scarecrow, don’t make me come in there!” Jake’s annoyance was laced in every word.

“Keep your damn shirt on. I am coming!” Scarecrow yelled back. And then he turned to face me, “You may want to put something on.”

Considering he had torn my t-shirt last night I would most likely be stealing something of his. Or using my magic, which even I knew wasn’t the best idea.

Scarecrow walked out of the bedroom, and he and Jake’s voices faded as they walked down the stairs.

I was curious as to what was going on, so I jumped out of bed and threw underwear and bra on. Then I grabbed my jeans and went over to Scarecrow’s closet.

It was huge and smelled just like him. For the briefest moment, I just took it in, but then I saw some t-shirts and pulled one on. It wasn’t hard to choose a color considering they were all black.

Pulling on my shoes, I raced to the door and down the steps to find them. But I hadn’t gotten more than ten steps into the bar when Jake pulled me into him. It shocked me at first because we were barely acquaintances. But he quickly let me go as soon as I was behind him.

“Why don’t you wait for Scarecrow upstairs?” he asked as his eyes darted back and forth.

“Why would I do that? What is going on?”

He rubbed the back of his neck, “I just think that it would be best if you did.”

Feathers ruffled, I shot back, “I don’t give a flying rat’s ass what you think, Jake.”

The left side of his mouth kicked up, “You sounded just like him there. Have you been spending too much time together?”

I flushed wondering if he could hear what we had been doing upstairs. “That’s none of your fucking business.”

A smile broke across his face, “A match made in heaven, or at least a match made somewhere.”

“What the hell, Jake?” I shoved his hard chest, trying to push past him. It was like shoving a brick wall.

“It’s okay, Jake,” Scarecrow said from somewhere behind him. “You can let her through now.”

It dawned on me that he was just wasting time so that I wouldn’t see whatever had pulled Scarecrow out of bed. Were they hiding a woman?

“What’s going on, Scarecrow?” I demanded.

He looked down into my eyes. There was no humor in them. If I had to pin it down to something, I would say that he looked troubled.

“Indy, there has been another attack,” he said gently.

“Where? How many were involved?” I felt sick.

Scarecrow bit his lower lip, “Two Munchkins, but that isn’t the worst of it. Whoever this was, left a message for you.”

“What kind of message?” my voice sounded weak to my ears.

Scarecrow walked over to me and took me in his arms, “We are going to catch the bastard. I promise you that.”

I nodded against his broad chest, my arms tight around his narrow waist.

“I want to see the message,” my voice was muffled by his shirt.

He pulled away but kept an arm around me.

“Indy, this is pretty gruesome. I have some fairies that are in the middle of cleaning the scene up.”

I nodded, “I need to know who they are, it is my responsibility to notify the next of kin.”

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