Page 58 of Witch Queens: Tales from Oz

Apparently, the maid had reported it back to Steele, and he was pissed as hell. I hid in the bathroom with my ear pressed up against the door when he came thundering up the stairs.

“Shit, is that one of my sheets tied to the bedpost? What kind of kinky shit went on in here?”

The incredulity in his tone had me blushing as I remembered just how amazing it had been.

Scarecrow scoffed, “Don’t be ridiculous. A little bondage never hurt anyone. And for the record, it’s a pillowcase.”

“What about the chair?” he continued, “Or the hole in the wall?”

Scarecrow paused, and I could just picture him rolling his eyes.

“I will pay for whatever supposed damages we may have incurred.”

“Supposed damages? Fuck that! And I don’t want your money, Scarecrow. We are too good of friends for that. But shit, what if you screwed things up with the girl? She knows we're friends. This isn’t how you treat a lady. What if she goes running to her sister with some bullshit story about this place or worse—me?”

Scarecrows dark chuckle curled my insides.

“Is that what this is about? El? You are beyond pussy whipped, Steele. Just man up and apologize to the woman.”

Steele was still holding onto something for my sister. The idea intrigued me.

“I couldn’t give a rat’s ass about Elphaba. And besides that, she is the one at fault, so why would I apologize?”

Steele’s words were laced with venom.

Scarecrow laughed, “The two of you are acting like two-year-old’s. What has it been Steele? Two years or more? How long are you going to let the woman you love pass you by on some misguided point of pride?”

“We were on a fucking break!” Steele exploded. “I didn’t know if she would ever attempt to breathe the same air as I did. She implicitly said that she didn’t want to ever see me again. Hell, she spelled me with a limp dick for over two weeks until I was able to find someone who could break it. How was I to know that she would come looking for me that night?”

This was getting better and better. A part of me felt terrible that El had never told me about it. We were twins for heaven’s sake, and I had thought we had very few secrets from one another.

Then again, she didn’t know the full extent of my feelings for Scarecrow either.

“So, you decided to punish her by kissing that bitch from Mombi’s court right in front of her. You brought it on yourself. You know that, right?”

Steele’s frustration was evident, “I was drunk off my ass! And yes, I did want El to know that I had moved on. I also wanted her to know that my dick was no longer under her control.”

Scarecrow laughed, “I have a feeling that El will always have control over your dick. It’s your head that needs to be examined. Because rather than apologize when she was devastated by your betrayal. You start yelling out about how you’re on a break and how it was the best thing that she had ever suggested. Fuck, Steele, you gave her the knife and practically begged her to slice you up with it.”

“We were on a break!” Steele insisted, “And that didn’t mean that she had to go sleep with you!”

There was silence in the room.

I hadn’t realized that I was no longer breathing.

“I never fucked El. First off, we are too old of friends for you to think I would do something like that to you. I knew you liked her as much as she liked you, dumbass. And second, I only kissed her. It didn’t mean anything to either of us. And quite frankly, you deserved it for how you treated her. I have never had feelings for her.”

Steele sounded mulish, “Then how do you explain, Indy?”

“I don’t have to explain shit to you,” Scarecrow bit off. “But because I know my girl is hiding in that bathroom, listening to every damn word we say, and that you have more than likely caused her to get all worked up again by your petty jealousy, I will say it once more.

"El and Indy might share the same beautiful face, but they are as different as night and day. I don’t feel compelled to lock El away for the rest of her life if someone so much as breathes in her direction. I don’t get hard just by smelling her on my pillow or seeing her in my shirt. And I sure as fuck don’t lay awake at night reliving every damn moment we have ever had together. Praying that she doesn’t wake up and realize how wrong we are for each other.”

“Shit,” Steele’s surprised tone cut through the air. “You love her!”

I must have pressed too hard against the handle because suddenly the bathroom door popped open and I came sprawling out into the room dressed in Scarecrow’s t-shirt and panties.

“Right on time,” Scarecrow bent down to where I lay—mortified at being caught. “You alright there, Princess?”

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