Page 1 of Wonderland Asylum (Wonderland Killers #1)

If you would’ve told me two years ago that my stepbrothers would be my undoing, or that I would be theirs, I would’ve called you a liar.

-Presley Kate James

Theodora James, my mother, collects husbands like most people change their underwear. Her latest divorce, which was just made final two weeks ago, had taken over the last year of our lives.

Unlike her previous marriages, she wasn't the only one that was grieving because of the separation this time.

Like a knife to my gut, she'd pushed my stepdad away even though I'd begged her not to. Selfishly, I wanted them to stay together, but he deserves so much better than my mother.

Since the beginning of their relationship, Richard and I have had a special bond. Although he'd only been around for six years, I knew without a shadow of a doubt that I could trust him. He was for all intents and purposes, my dad.

He's the best man that I've ever met, and for the first time in my life, I’ve been able to count on someone that wasn't me.

She isn't a terrible person by any means. She's good when she's good. However, when things don't go precisely in the way that she thinks they should, she is rotten to her core.

Her need to be the center of everyone's universe is at the heart of all of her problems. She needs the limelight like the farmers need the rain.

I blame most of her shortcomings on her being a former Hollywood elite.

She quit acting when she met my business tycoon of a father.

They wed, and she gave up her big city dreams to live in a small town in South Georgia.

Their wedded bliss only lasted two whole years.

Yet, after I was born shit hit the proverbial fan.

Sometimes I wonder if I'm really her kid, the only similarity between us is our honey-brown hair. She's model thin with a kickass body. While I'm curvy, like brick house thick. Her hazel eyes sparkle when she laughs, where mine are just plain old green.

While I'm not the ugliest girl at the party, no one would ever mistake me for being a beauty queen either. My mother, on the other hand, is so beautiful it almost hurts to look at her.

This last divorce has shaken her confidence up a bit, she truly loved Richard, but sadly, she loved herself more.

Instead of him begging her to let him stay when she asked him to leave, he left. I was at school, but I wouldn't be surprised if he'd already had a couple of bags packed beforehand.

He begged me to forgive him for running away, I could never in a million years fault him for putting up with her bullshit though. My mom can be a little cray-cray when the mood hits her just right.

Thinking of Richard makes my heart sad. Even though we talk every day, I miss him. He's happily dating a woman that is okay with our relationship. I'd like to think that he wouldn't be with her if she wasn’t, but in all reality I'm not his real kid. Sometimes, I worry he's going to forget about me.

On the pretense that my mom needed to find herself after such a heart-wrenching breakup, she'd pleaded with my bio dad to let me stay with him and his new family for the entirety of June.

God forbid, either of them let me, the most responsible teenager you will ever meet, stay by herself. She was leaving to go on a month-long sabbatical to the French Polynesian islands, and apparently, I couldn't be trusted.

Don't get me wrong I love my dad, and my half-sister and brother, it's just that I prefer to be alone. In both households, I could be set on fire and I'd still be nonexistent.

I'm a wallflower. Pushed into the shadows, only to be taken out when someone needs something from me. My mom needs my level headedness and the comfort I give her. My dad needs a near perfect daughter.

He's running for state senate, and my half-sister is wild but beautiful. She is the one he shows off, I'm the one he brags to his colleagues about.

My parents are exhausting, and I'm counting down the days until my first day of college. Last week, I got my acceptance letter for Pixie Hollow University. Which is the most prestigious Ivy League in the South. I'll be staying on campus, but it's only a two hour drive from home, if my mom needs me.

Guilt thick and raw begins to work its way in. If I'm not careful my acid reflux will be at an all time high tonight.

As much shit as I talk about my Mom, it's going to be hard leaving her. It's not so far fetched to think that she won't be able to survive without me.

Who's going to take her wine glass away when she's had too much? Who will hold her in their arms when she's lying on the bathroom floor sobbing and screaming after another breakup?

There does appear to be a silver lining this time though. Every conversation I've had with her since she's been at the retreat has been promising.

For the first time in my life, I have a glimmer of hope that she'll be okay. Even as early as yesterday, she sounded like a brand new woman.

Mr. Doug Donovan, the head psychiatrist for the retreat has allowed me to be a part of some of her sessions via FaceTime. Before him, she would have never admitted to any wrongdoing where I'm concerned. I cried myself to sleep the night she apologized for always putting me on the back burner.

On the day after my 18th birthday, I was finally allowed to come home from my dad's. She'd promised me a party with just us two.

I should have known better than to believe any of the things she'd promised. There was no new kitten nor any homemade lasagna waiting for me. However, I was given a new stepfather, and two very attractive stepbrothers instead.

Mr. Donovan, the world renowned psychiatrist from the retreat was handsome albeit ruggedly so. When I talked to him he seemed nice, which made me almost feel sorry for him at that moment.

My mother has caught another man in her web, and it probably won't end well for him. I can say that this marriage did mark a first for her. She'd never married someone with children before, and by children, I mean two full grown ass men.

Kai and Gunner Donovan are so smoking hot that it's not even a turn-off that they know how hot they are. I'm surprised my panties didn't combust the moment our gazes met.

Desire pooled low in my belly, as I shook their hands. The brothers aren't twins but only thirteen months separate them in age. Kai's built like a Rugby player, while Gunner's body has more of a swimmer's build.

Gunner Donovan, the oldest of my new stepbrothers, has raven black hair that is tied back in a man bun at the nape of his neck. His dark blue eyes promise pleasure for those he deems worthy enough to receive it. Which sadly will never include me.

His brother Kai's black hair glistens in the soft dining room light.

His bright blue eyes darkened when we were introduced.

I stuttered my way through the introductions with them both.

Which was a first for me, because my face and reserve are usually made of steel.

Nothing has ever rattled me until the brothers came into my life.

I was floored by my reaction to them. Hot guys are a dime a dozen, even in my small town of Douglas, Georgia.

As a rule, I don't date, because my biggest fear is that one day, I'll turn into my mother. The fact that karma is playing a cruel trick on me is not cool.

Apparently, the apple doesn't fall far from the tree and I'm as fucked up as she is. How can I be normal when the first two guys to make me wet in a long time are my new stepbrothers?

My mother informed me that Doug has taken a new job at Wonderland Asylum. Which is located on the same island as Pixie Hollow University. The Asylum has a record-breaking success rate for their patients eventually being able to integrate back into society.

My dad and I watched a whole documentary on it just last week. He's going to be elated with the fact that he now has an in when it comes to getting the Asylum's support.

He won't like it when he finds out that I kept her new marriage a secret but my lips are sealed. When he finds out about stepdad number seven, it won't have been by me.

I was told that Gunner has followed in his father's footsteps by getting his Psychology degree.

Both of my new stepbrothers will be attending PHU with me.

Gunner, being somewhat of a prodigy, graduated high school and now college early.

He will be working on his masters though, and Kai will be a sophomore.

Both fiercely promise to protect me while we are there. Which is a little weird, but okay hot stepbrothers, don't tempt me with a good time. Little did I know that their plans for me exceeded far more than that.

They’ll be my darkness, like I'll be their rising sun.