Toto lunged for me, snarling, and knocked the knife out of my claws. I threw myself at him and sank my fangs into his scaly throat, tearing it open. His hot blood coursed over me and I lapped it up as I clung to his throat. The monkeys swept in for the kill, hacking away at his remaining head. I darted away just in time as Toto crashed to the ground, his eyes already fixing in death. I landed next to his corpse. The monkeys backed away from me, raising their weapons. I could see myself reflected in their eyes, twisted and monstrous. And I loved it. Being a monster felt incredible. I could do anything, kill anyone. I could destroy them all. Oz would be mine. . . . And then something flared to life deep inside me. Something silvery and cool like a mountain stream. Silver strands of light wrapped around me, holding me tightly. Come back, Amy. It was as if Dorothy’s shoes were speaking to me somehow. Preventing Oz’s magic from taking over my body completely.

“Amy!” Nox’s voice brought me back to myself. He was running across the battlefield, screaming my name. Amy. I was Amy. I felt the dark magic churning within me, unwilling to let go. Release me, I thought. Please, release me.

Dorothy’s shoes flashed silver. I screamed in agony as my bones cracked and twisted, Lulu’s body separating from mine. This time, the transformation wasn’t easy. It was so painful I thought I was going to die right next to Toto. I sobbed in pain and fear as my claws retracted and my fangs sank back into my gums. A moment later, Nox’s arms were around me. I clung to him like a life raft in an ocean of pain.

“You’re okay,” he whispered into my hair, rocking me back and forth. “You’re okay.” Slowly, the agony ebbed away, leaving exhaustion in its wake. “Never do that again,” Nox said. “Ever. I thought I lost you.” The emotion was thick in his voice.

“What the hell was that!” Lulu was yelling. “What the hell did you just do, you little witch?”

“Dorothy,” I gasped as Nox helped me to my feet. “Find Dorothy.”

Dorothy was lying in the grass next to Toto’s body, one leg twisted under his massive carcass. She struggled to sit up, trying feebly to push Toto’s body off her as I limped toward her. It felt as though the magic in the diamond-studded boots was the only thing keeping me upright.

“You,” she said, her voice more exhausted than angry. “It always comes back to you, doesn’t it.” She closed her eyes, almost as if she was so tired she couldn’t even keep them open. I knew how she felt. She’d given in to the same magic that had almost destroyed me just now. She’d given everything she was to Oz. Even returning to Kansas hadn’t undone the damage Oz’s magic had caused. I realized that whether or not I was the one to end her, Dorothy was doomed.

“You can’t kill me,” she said. “And you’re not going to win.” Her red heels flashed with a pulse of ruby light, and I flung up one hand to protect my eyes from their radiance. “Don’t forget about me, Amy,” she said with a ghost of a smile, and then she was gone.

“Is it too much to ask that you just kill the bitch?” Lulu grumbled. All around us, the monkeys were still fighting off Dorothy’s army, but with Dorothy gone and Toto dead her soldiers began to mill around in confusion. Some of them sat down where they’d been fighting, staring off into the distance like machines whose switches had been flipped off. Others threw down their weapons, or joined the monkeys in battling Glinda’s army. Most of Glinda’s soldiers seemed dazed and disoriented, no longer sure who they were even supposed to be fighting.

“What just happened to you?” Nox asked in a low voice. I shook my head.

“I don’t know. The shoes saved me, I think. I don’t know how or why. But listen—something is different. This time, I could have killed Dorothy, unlike before. I knew it somehow.” I looked down at my sparkling boots. “I think everything is different now, with these.”

Before he could respond, the witches suddenly crashed to the ground behind us.

“Glinda,” Nox said. “We have to help Glamora fight her.” They were so covered in blood it was impossible to tell which witch was which. I knew Glamora wanted this fight to be hers alone, but I couldn’t let her die. I gathered my wits, knocking aside Glinda’s soldiers and the occasional rogue creation of the Tin Woodman’s as I raced toward the two of them.

When I got closer, I saw that Glinda was on her back. Glamora straddled her, her hands wrapped around Glinda’s throat. I should have felt elated, but it was like watching a horror movie. There was something about the expression on Glamora’s face that gave me chills. She wasn’t even using magic anymore, just her fists. “This is for everything—you took—from me,” Glamora snarled, punctuating her words by slamming Glinda’s head into the ground. She wasn’t trying to kill her—she just wanted Glinda to suffer. <