“Still with the ego,” Aunt Glin muttered, clearly shaken.
“Glinda, Zenamulous has done nothing to you. Nothing but fall in love with a witch. A crime I’ve been guilty of as well.”
Suki hissed, stepping toward the man with her claws spread threateningly. “How can you talk about love, A? You betrayed her. You slept with everything that moved, and, what’s worse, you tried to steal her powers.”
Aden sighed, shaking his head. “Suki, you are a true and loyal friend, but you only have one side of the story. And you’re both wrong.”
He snared Glinda’s gaze, his own intense. “I never shared another’s bed without you right beside me. Never made love to anyone but you once you accepted me. But you believed I had. Believed that Glider who whispered in your ear. Believed the jealous gossips who wanted your attention for themselves. You never trusted me. You brought me to life. You owned my heart. But you never trusted in my love.”
While he was speaking, Dorothy felt the forcefield drop around them and ran to Z’s frozen form. She laid her hand on his chest, directly over the now golden ruby necklace. Could he hear what was happening? Her heart ached for him, for her aunt, for all of them. What a mess. It was obvious to her that Aden was telling the truth. It was just as obvious that she and her aunt shared the same fears about their sensual, magnetic beaus. Were they enough for the wizards? Would one witch’s heart be enough for a lifetime?
Glinda crossed her arms defensively, doubt in her eyes. “How can I believe anything you say when I heard you speak of stealing my abilities and claiming them for your own? And Suki saw you looking through my spell books in my private sanctuary when you knew I wasn’t there.”
Aden took a step closer, running his hands through his hair in frustration. “Why didn’t you talk to me, Glinda? Why didn’t you ask me any of this? All these years we’ve lost for nothing.”
He looked behind him and shook his head. “We might have wasted a trip, old friend.”
“Uncle Emerson?”
Dorothy and Kansas shared a shocked gaze before turning back to the slender man who always smiled and always smelled like butterscotch. “Hello, my boy. Dee, sweetheart. Good to see you both again.”
Aunt Glin huffed, but her eyes were wary. “Emerson.”
“Sister,” he acknowledged gravely.
“Sister?” Dorothy repeated, remembering Suki mentioning a half-brother without powers. “You’re…I mean I’m your…”
Emerson laughed. “That’s right. I’m a bit of a black sheep, so they don’t like to acknowledge me, but your mother and Glinda are my sisters. And they’re as hard to live with now as they were to live up to then.”
Kansas moved closer to Dorothy and she reached out with her free hand to grasp his.
“I guess this means we’re cousins?” he said in a voice that sounded lost and confused.
And that both their families had immigrated from Oz. “Good thing I got over my fifth-grade crush on you.”
“What are you doing here, Emerson?”
The older man adjusted his sweater vest and glared at his sister. “I’m a witness. I heard the rumors back then. He had a reputation, and nobody thought he was good enough for you. So I tested him. Told him he would never be your equal, never be accepted by you as long as you were in charge. I said I knew a way to steal your power and make it my own, but I needed his help.”
“You what?”
When Dorothy and Kansas stared at him in shocked silence, he blushed. “I thought I was being a good brother. I didn’t know you were listening in. And he passed the damn thing, by the way. Told me he’d kill me before he let anyone hurt you.”
“He did?”
Aden swore. “No one, not even you, could believe I would want to be tied to a woman more powerful than I. But your heart was all I ever wanted, Glinda, and I never kept my feelings for you a secret. Hiding behind curtains and eavesdropping was your department.”
Glinda winced. “What about the book?”
“After your brother’s test, the king called me to his chambers, telling me he refused to allow me to claim you in the customary way until I discovered whether or not there were any rules against us coming together—creator and created—in your library.”
“And you wanted to find the answer so you could surprise her and propose.” Kansas nodded thoughtfully. “Might have saved us all a lot of trouble if you’d just asked her, man. No judgment or anything.”
Dorothy scowled. “Oh there’s plenty of judgment for all of them.”
She looked at her aunt. “This was why you left without a word to anyone? Why you stayed away for literally generations and gave me nightmares about evil wizards?” Her voice rose is disbelief. “You didn’t even talk to him and give him a chance to explain?”
“Dorothy, don’t anger the GW.” The king’s voice was hushed, but it echoed off the walls.