Alice and the Witches of Oz

Prologue The Spark & The Lie

PROLOGUE

The Spark some were necessary. At least, that’s what Molloy had told herself.

But Alice was eighteen now. Telling her the truth had been put off long enough.

And yet—Molloy had no intention of doing so now.

She had told the other girls, the girls she’d brought to Oz already, that Alice would one day join them in Palace North, but she knew that, too, was a lie.

Alice could never leave Pastoria House. She could never leave London.

Not if she was to survive.

But Molloy couldn’t keep her here at Pastoria House forever, now that there were only two young women left here. Even though they were housed in separate, locked, wings, the risk of Alice and Wendy meeting was far too great. Under no circumstances could Molloy allow it to happen.

“Have you set me down?” Marielle’s voice was muffled inside Molloy’s blouse.

“Oh—blast it all, Marielle!” Molloy declared, flipping the compact over again. “I detest this contraption.”

“You’ve made that clear. Shall we begin with the outstanding settlement territories, or do you want to hear Queen Gayelette’s latest grievances about the ruby road still on pause?”

“Realms be damned,” Molloy muttered, slamming the office door shut.

“Marielle, dear, I’m afraid I’m having trouble seeing you.

” Molloy snapped the compact shut. “Must be a storm coming. I’ll see you in a day,” Molloy said over the faint muffling of Marielle’s attempt to get Molloy to open the compact back up.

Molloy plopped into her chair, the wooden thing creaking loudly under her weight.

She opened the bottom drawer of her desk and tossed the compact in.

“My apologies, Marielle,” she said and shoved the packed drawer shut.

Molloy drew in a sharp breath and slowly exhaled.

Things had become far too complicated. All she need do was keep Alice from the truth of her identity.

Keep her well away from Wendy, sealed off in Pastoria House’s other wing.

Keep Oz’s most dangerous forces from sniffing Alice out, as she’d been using all her powers for so many years now to do.

And maybe—just maybe—shuffle the girl into a marriage with some harmless, oblivious man who’d play the perfect cover for the rest of her life.

Simple enough, right?

Ha.

Just a task that demanded every shred of magic Molloy had left in her body.

But, if it cost her everything, so be it.

Alice wasn’t just another girl with the spark—she was Molloy’s last chance to make something right.

And if keeping the truth from her was the only way to protect her, then Molloy would lie through her teeth.

Because if Alice ever found her way to Oz, then Oz itself could fall, destroyed by the very darkness she was born to stop.