Page 30 of Wonderland Asylum (Wonderland Killers #1)

TWENTY-EIGHT

Don't Touch Me Again

What did I ever see in Leo? It's like trying to find a Louis Vuitton at the Dollar Store.

-Presley

According to the whispers of the staff, they still have no leads on who killed Sierra Rose, or the others.

From the crime scene, they have figured out that the other girls were killed at another location and brought here to the Asylum. The self proclaimed Queen of Wonderland's heart was taken while she was still alive though.

It's been a wild 72 hours, the killer has escalated. Two more bodies have been found, and my stepbrothers have barely let me out of their sight.

Bathroom time is my only form of “me time” now, and thankfully it’s my current situation. I needed a tiny break from their intensity today. They don’t play around when it comes to protecting me.

Thank God Kai has at least given me this little bit of privacy. He takes his title as head guard dog very seriously.

If I wasn't so tired, I'd be scared of what I see in the mirror. I've worked late with the guys every night and I've had to study for midterms in between. I'm exhausted, and it shows.

There’s movement out of the corner of my eye, but his hand covers my mouth before I see his reflection. "Shhh. I won't hurt you. Please hear me out."

Shaking my head, I elbow him in the ribs.

"How the hell did you get in here, Leo? This is a locked facility."

While I don't whisper, I do keep my voice to a minimum. Kai is outside the door, and he will flip his shit if he finds out Leo is in here.

"There's always a way, Presley Kate. All you have to do is look." He answers smugly.

I don't have time for this bullshit. Kai could walk in here at any moment. "Leo, I'm dating Kai and Gunner now, and nothing you say will change that. You need to leave."

He squints his eyes in anger, and for the first time I notice he looks like hell. Like an addict that's in the need of a fix, his pupils are so dilated I can't see the beautiful color of his eyes. He is baked out of his mind.

Sweat beads at his temple, while his skin lacks its usual healthy glow. "Come with me. Let me take you away from here before it's too late."

Panic seizes inside of my chest, because his gaze leans toward madness. What does he mean too late? "Is that a threat?"

He shrugs. "No, not from me. I'm promising you a better life.

He is going to kill you Presley, if you don't listen to me, and bow before him.

He wants you to be his Queen. I fell hard for you, but I didn't see the bigger picture.

You were meant for him, and only him. Please, don't wait too long to bow. Will you come with me?"

The alarm bells start ringing in my brain, because he's insane. I'm surprised I didn't see it until now. He’s giving me cult vibes, and we run the hell away from those.

When he extends his hand, I move out of the way, but he's able to grab a hold of my shirt anyway. When I pull away from him again, the fabric rips in the process. "Don't touch me again!"

With wild fury he doesn’t listen, there's no reasoning with a madman who's one snort away from a drug induced coma. I have to get help, I have to get to Kai.

"Kai! Kai! Please!!" Running toward the door, I scream, but I can't get the door unlocked. The lock is broken. But how?

Leo presses a button hidden underneath the

window sill that is placed high above my head. Then he quickly disappears behind the wall.

In seconds Kai burst through the locked door ready to kill anything or anyone in his path to get to me. Blood flows from two cuts on his bicep, but he doesn't care. I'm his first priority.

Rushing to him, I fall into his comforting arms. "There's a secret passageway, below the window."

The bravado I felt when facing Leo was just a facade, now my limbs have turned into jello. I barely get the words out to explain.

I've got to tell them about TKOH. They're not going to be happy about my silence, but at least no real damage has been done. There could be though, evidently he’s got a type, and it’s me. That is NOT okay.

What's even more scary is that Leo knows who TKOH is, and I'm the woman doomed to become his bride or he'll kill me for rejecting him.

Do they expect me to become the mother of their cult or something weird like that? Online dating is seriously overrated.

Relief washes over me when Gunner runs in, I need them both to survive. He places a sweet kiss on my forehead, and I almost lose it.

However, I won't cry over what happened today. I'll also no longer trying to protect Leo. Whatever they do to him, I'll support it. He's made his bed.

"It was Leo, there's a button under there." Even though I don't see it, I point in the direction of where his finger pushed the button.

It doesn’t take Kai long to find it, he presses the button, and the wall opens just as swiftly as it did before. There's no use in going down that rabbit hole though, he's long gone by now.

Taking a deep breath, I lower my head as I stand before them. "There's something I need to tell you. I've been receiving anonymous letters from a secret admirer. I was flattered at first, but then I got scared. I'm sorry, I didn’t tell you."

With his thumb, Gunner directs my gaze up to his. "Little Lamb, why didn't you tell us?"

My eyes fill with tears. "Because I didn't know how you'd take it. I didn't want you to try and take away even more of my freedom."

"I'm sorry," he whispers against my cheek. "Had we not kept our feelings from you then you wouldn't be in this situation right now."

Kai takes my hand. "We will protect you, and handle Leo."

"Let me show you the letters, and I’ll tell you what Leo told me. Brace yourselves though, because it's bat shit cult level crazy." I admit.

"Do you have them here?" Kai asks.

I nod. "In my purse. I'll meet you back at Gunner's office."

Kai bristles. "Fuck that, Babe. We're not leaving you alone."

I smile up at his handsome face. "I should have guessed that."

And for once, their protectiveness doesn't feel like it's choking me.

My hands visibly shake as I give them the letters. “I’ve kept them in the exact order that I received them.”

Their faces grow taut with every turn of the page. I'm waiting for their heads to explode off of their shoulders, because it's coming.

Taking off my shoes, I pace back and forth on the fluffy rug. I love how the material feels between my toes, and right now I could use some comforting.

When they are done talking amongst themselves, Kai calls out to me. "Princess, come sit down with us. We need to talk."

Turning slowly, I go sit on the coffee table in front of them. Their faces are impassive. Gunner didn’t even throw anything either, which is surprising. "How are y'all so calm?"

"Little Lamb, this is just the calm before the storm. We're going to find Leo first, and make him wish he were never born." Gunner growls.

My body shivers from the sheer force of his deep voice. It promises violence, but I don't care anymore. Leo has reached the point of no return in my eyes.

"Unfortunately, there's more," I slide into Kai's lap, and place my feet into Gunners. "I think Leo is a part of some weird cult. He said that he was no longer interested in me because I belonged to TKOH, and if I rejected him, in the end I'd wind up dead."

Kai wraps me up in a warm embrace. "Don't you worry, we won't let anything happen to you. We will kill them all. Leo is the key to finding TKOH. Gunner’s right, we need to find him first.”

"I trust both of you, but I'm still scared. Do you even know how to murder someone?"

They share a look, and Gunner chuckles. "Don't be ashamed about what you're feeling, it doesn't make you any less strong. It's a normal reaction to the trauma you faced today."

"So, you do know how to get away with killing somebody?" Do they? Have they? And why does that make my libido shoot to the roof?

Kai redirects the conversation. "Have you studied for your Behavioral Psychology test yet? I heard the professor’s a real dick."

Gunner glowers, and I laugh. It's not lost on me that they didn't answer my question. Do they have an even darker side than I ever imagined?