I sit down hard on the floor, even though I know that logically, I should be grabbing my aunt’s hand and dragging her to the cellar. But would we even make it? Is it too late? Am I going to die in a place I hate, surrounded by people who don’t give a crap whether I live or die?
Toto rises to his full height—several inches taller than Henry’s six-foot form—and makes his way over to my uncle. He moves much like he did as a dog, like he’s made of shadows, like his muscles are liquid, his joints oiled pistons.
This time, he puts his hand around my uncle’s throat.
“I pray the storm takes you,” he says, his voice cutting through the shriek of wind and the frantic, wild warning from the TV. As easily as I might lift one of Aunt Em’s paperback romances, Toto raises Uncle Henry up from the floor, drags him toward the door, and kicks it open. With a shove, he pushes my uncle out into the storm, and yanks the door closed behind him before turning to me.
Somehow, someway, I manage to find my feet, debris swirling all around me. A mug hits me in the side of the head, and the house shakes so hard that I lose my footing, sitting down hard on the floor again.
Then a strange thing happens.
Toto is there, wrapping me in his strong arms, pulling me close. At least … I think it’s still Toto. He’s naked, and male—very, very male—and most definitely not a dog anymore. But those eyes, those eyes are the same.
The house seems to whirl around me, like it’s not just the winds spinning outside, but like we’re spinning, too.
“You’re a very powerful wizard, Ozora. Just like I always knew you would be.”
The deep male voice whispering in my ear makes me shiver, but my head is spinning, blood dripping down my temple and across my lips. I can taste it, as metallic as the ringing in my head, the screaming of the winds.
The house tips, like it’s not quite stable on the ground anymore, and I can tell right away that Toto doesn’t like it. It’s dark, and the sound of the wind is horrible, like it was that night, when the boat sank and everyone I ever loved drowned just a few feet away from me.
Hour after hour passes, and slowly, I find that paralyzing fear in my limbs fading away. Looking up, I find Toto’s face, stoic but strong, as if he’s oblivious to the feeling of floating, of spinning, of the storm that seems like it’ll never stop.
When I move to push away from him, he resists, banding those strong arms around me.
“Come with me,” I whisper, searching for Auntie Em, but finding no sign of her. Instead, I crawl and sway my way over to the steps, with Toto’s right arm around my waist. At last, we get to the bed, collapsing down on top of it with this naked beast of a man behind me.
In spite of the swaying of the house and the wailing of the wind, I soon close my eyes and fall fast asleep.
The last thing I hear before I drift off is Toto’s strong, deep voice rumbling through me.
“It’s a bad storm, Oz, a bad storm, but that’s only because you’re a powerful wizard. A very powerful wizard.”The Council with the Munchkins and a Douchebag WitchI’m awakened by a shock so sudden and severe that if I hadn’t passed out on my bed, I might’ve broken some goddamn bones. Oh, and also, there’s a naked man passed out and pressed tight against me; when he breathes, his warm breath tickles my hair around my face.
I shove him back and fall off the edge of the bed with a curse, ignoring the dismal groaning he’s making in his sleep. There’s blood everywhere, and it’s quite clear that he’s hurt, but I’m too disoriented to make much sense of that.
Instead, I spring to my feet and open the front door—or what’s left of it.
“What in the ever-loving hell?” I breathe, my heart thundering with a mix of shock and excitement. I have no idea where I am, but one thing’s for sure: we are not in fucking Kansas anymore.
Instead of gray muck and cracked, dead earth, there are thick, lush patches of green grass billowing in the wind, shining in the sun. Stately trees tower above us, their limbs locked like skeletal fingers, strange, fat fruits dangling. Bright yellow sunshine sparkles from above, reflecting off the surface of a meandering brook that bubbles and breaks gently across smooth stones that glimmer and sparkle like jewels. Banks of gorgeous flowers color the landscape with vibrant ruby reds, rich-hued purples, and deeply saturated oranges while birds with rare and brilliant plumage sing and flutter in the trees and bushes.
