Page 88 of Wonder

And her eyes widen, as I lift a piece of hair. Curl it around my fingers.

I have never instigated touch with Red. Never.

Her pupils dilate as I lean in.

The words burn. Sear the inside of my throat so deeply that I almost expect smoke to appear when I open my mouth.

“I want to make a bargain.”

36 – Alyss

Ipace back and forth. “Where the hellishe?”

It’s beenhours. Hours of waiting around, choking down another round of stale sandwiches and changing into the new clothes.

And he’s still not here.

“He wasn’t here when we woke up.” I stare at Buck wildly. He looks as worried as I feel, but he forces a smile.

“I’m sure he’s fine, trouble. Maybe Red wanted to see him.”

That’s what I’m worried about.

Spinning, I walk over to the door again, brushing Chess off as I bang my fist against it. More than once, as I shout through the crack. “What the fuck have you done with him?”

I don’t get a response. It’s been the same the last fifty times that I tried.

Because Hatter isgone. His bed left unmade and rumpled, as though they came in and took him in the middle of the night while we were all fuckingsleeping.

The twins are sitting on the end of their beds, frowning. Aiden sweeps his eyes over me. “This isn’t a good sign.”

My throat tightens. “I’m trying not to think about it.”

My blue dress from the last two nights is gone. Replaced with something similar, but… sexier. The corset is tighter, pushing my breasts up. The shirt even fucking shorter, the cheeks of my ass on full display, covering with the tiniest pair of blue lace knickers.

Crotchless.

With the white suspenders and my black heels, I feel like a fucking fantasy doll.

The black ribbon lining my neck only finishes the vibe off.

None of the others look much better. They haven’t even been givenshirts, only braces attached to trousers that cling to their ass when they move.

Chess plays with the top hat in his hands. There’s no humor on his face. Nothing at all, except for blind rage as he stares at me.

“If they try anything, I’ll kill them.” He meets my eyes. “I don’t give a fuck what they do to me.”

“Stop.” He’s only winding himself up the more he looks at me. Spinning on my heel, I grab Hatter’s sheet from his bed and wrap it around me. “There, mister red fucking flag. Move those bull eyes elsewhere. We have bigger issues.”

“I agree with Buck,” Kayden interjects. “Red won’t hurt him.”

“Red put him in here in the first place!”

“And now she may have taken him back.” Buck’s face is grave. “This is what she does, trouble. There is no reasoning with her, no understanding the decisions she makes. She has always been this way.”

“And she’s always been obsessed with Hatter.” Aiden doesn’t meet my eyes. As if he doesn’t want to see the pain that ripples across my face at the thought of him not being here.

I push the thought away.