Yellow Brick War (Dorothy Must Die, #3)(50)

“But I thought . . . ,” I said, trailing off as I leaned forward. Assistant Principal Strachan looked up, as though he could sense me. And then, impossibly, his eyes met mine.

And they weren’t Assistant Principal Strachan’s angry eyes. They were the silvery-pale eyes of the Nome King. I gasped. He smiled at me and put one hand on my mom’s shoulder and the other on Madison’s as they turned the pages of Dorothy’s journal.

Do not forget, Miss Gumm, how much you have to lose.

His voice slid into my thoughts and I flinched.

Remove our little friend Dorothy or do not; it is no matter to me either way. But I will come for you very soon. And then, Miss Gumm, what you do will matter very much to me indeed.

I gasped aloud as his thoughts pushed into my mind as if he was just trying to show off how easy it would be to control me. No! I thought fiercely. The boots sent a warm pulse of magic through my body and the Nome King’s grip loosened.

Do not think your shoes are enough to keep me at bay for long, Miss Gumm, he hissed. As suddenly as it had come, his hold on my mind was gone. The vision of my mom’s living room burst like a bubble popping and the puddle evaporated with a steaming hiss, knocking me back to the ground.

“Amy?” Nox was shaking me. “What happened? What did you see?” I was groggy and my thoughts were sluggish as if I’d just woken up from a long, bad dream.

“The Nome King,” I said thickly. “He’s with my mom. He said he’s coming for me.”

Nox breathed in sharply. “Coming for you to do what?”

“I don’t know. He doesn’t care if we kill Dorothy. He’s got something else in mind.”

Nox was silent, thinking. “I don’t like this,” he said finally.

I laughed. “You think I do? But we have to kill Dorothy, even if it’s part of the Nome King’s plan.”

“I think you should give me the shoes.”

I shook my head fiercely. “So far they’ve protected me. They helped me fight off the Nome King just now. I don’t want to give them up.”

“Don’t want to? Or can’t?”

We both knew what he meant. Dorothy’s red stilettos, fused to her feet, had transformed her into a monster. I had nothing but my intuition to tell me that my boots wouldn’t do the same thing. It was entirely possible they were transforming me already. That giving me a feeling of protection was just a trick. But I couldn’t use magic and stay myself any other way. And there was no way I was going up against Dorothy without the ability to use my power.

“Promise me something,” I said, not taking my eyes off his. “Just in case.”

“Depends on the promise,” he said. He was standing so close to me I could feel the heat from his skin. I had to bite my lip to keep from kissing him.

“These shoes,” I said, gesturing to my feet. “After tomorrow, if they turn me into . . . you know. Her. If I try to take them off and I can’t. I want you to promise me you’ll do whatever you have to to get them off.”

His eyes widened. “It won’t come to that.”

“Nox, don’t lie to me. It can come to that. So promise me. You’ll get the shoes off no matter what. Even if you”—I took a deep breath—“even if you have to cut off my feet. Even if you have to kill me.”

“Amy, that’s crazy.”

“It’s not crazy, and you know it.”

“I never wanted this for you. I’m so sorry that you—that this—” He made a helpless gesture.

“I know. Promise me, Nox,” I said. He opened his eyes and looked deeply into mine, as if he was trying to drink me in.

“I promise,” he said.

“Whatever it takes.”

“Whatever it takes.”

We looked at each other for a long time. “Good luck tomorrow,” he said gruffly, glancing away. I wanted him to say something else. To find just the right words to tell me everything was going to be okay. To tell me that he’d find a way to be with me. That he’d find a way to help me get home. But instead he turned around and walked away from me, back into the Woodman’s palace. I followed, telling myself the pain in my ribs was just exhaustion and not my heart breaking into a million little pieces inside my chest.





THIRTY


The next morning we assembled in the courtyard. Lulu wanted to come with us, but agreed to stay at the Woodman’s palace with her monkeys in case any of Glinda’s army returned. Ozma was too much of a liability in the Emerald City, and Lulu was only too happy to look after her. We were all trying to make up for our pasts in one way or another, I guess. Except for Ozma, who couldn’t remember hers. Suddenly, having your memory wiped seemed more like a blessing than a curse.

So in the end it was just Nox, Gert, Mombi, Glamora, and me who prepared to teleport to Dorothy’s palace in the Emerald City.

The last I’d seen it, it had been a scary place. The city had been leveled as if it was hit with a bomb and the palace itself had seemed to be growing like a living thing, like it had been possessed by some kind of demonic force.

It had been the Wizard’s doing, and he was gone now. But knowing Oz, and knowing what I knew now, I thought it was unlikely that things had improved much, even without him. If there was one thing Oz had taught me, it was to prepare for the worst.