Page 38 of Escaping Wonderland

“They’re just the beginning—and only seven were by my hand.”

“It’s been less than five days.”

“And?”

“Twelve dead of identical causes in five days, Victor, with more to come?” Doctor Kade sighed heavily and lowered her hand. “You’re going to attract outside attention.”

“Perhaps. But these are the dregs of society, the unwanted. No one cares about them. Andyouare going to work with Operations and Engineering to ensure our explanations of these deaths don’t draw any suspicion.”

“Victor, this is?—”

Victor leaned forward and slammed his hand on the desk, silencing her. “Don’t youdaretell me how to run this facility. We are nearly at full capacity, but we need new patients coming in to boost our revenue stream.Iam solving a problem.”

She pressed her lips into a tight line, and the set of her eyebrows hardened. “You’re indulging yourself.”

“And you,doctor, are already complicit in all this,” Victor snapped. “I expect you’ll handle the situation accordingly.” He terminated the call before she could respond.

The video window closed, returning Alice’s picture to its former place of prominence.

No more games, the shadow had said.

Victor agreed. Too much was on the line now to let the shadow put it all at risk. The time had come to stomp out this problem, to grind it to dust beneath his boots, to make it clear to everyone both within and outside Wonderland—Victor Koenig was the fuckingking.

And Alice had a role to play in this beyond his desire to conquer her, beyond his urge to take her apart piece by piece, beyond the money he stood to gain in silencing her forever. She would be the key to finding the shadow.

Victor leaned back in his chair, drumming the fingers of one hand on the armrest while he resumed scrolling through the patient list with the other. He absently ground his teeth as heperused the faces, unable to shake his irritation and impatience—at least until he stopped on a picture of a patient with unsettling, reptilian eyes.

Victor grinned. The shadow wasn’t the only anomaly in the system—just the only one they’d failed to identify and contain. Perhaps all it would take to erase the glitch was another glitch.

His grin remained in place as he made a call.

CHAPTER 11

For a moment, Shadow fought to regain his balance, extending his tail behind him as he teetered precariously on the edge of a small rise, but he’d already shifted too much weight forward. Clutching Alice against him, he fell, twisting to ensure he hit the ground first.

His shoulder took the brunt of the initial impact, and then he and Alice were tumbling down a steep hill. Shadow stiffened his arms in a desperate attempt to shield her as they crashed over grass and thick vegetation.

Finally, they came to the bottom of the decline. Shadow landed on his back, and Alice came down atop him, straddling his hips with her hair in his face. Her body was light, soft, and warm, and fit perfectly over his. The fires of hatred in his veins suddenly gave way to a different sort of heat.

“Hardly seems an appropriate time,” Shadow said, “but I’m willing if you are.”

Alice lifted her head and met his gaze. She searched his face for a moment before she scooted up his body, caught his cheeks between her hands, and kissed him.

It was a desperate kiss, demanding everything from him whether he was willing or not—and hewas.

Electric tingles spread across his skin, arcing outward from his lips, and the intensifying heat inside him rushed to his cock. Closing his eyes, he slid one of his hands up and twined his fingers in her hair to cradle the back of her head as he enthusiastically returned the kiss. His other hand dropped to her bare thigh, fingers flexing as he warred with his urge to pull her pelvis against his hardening cock. Her mouth was sweet, sweeter than any cake or ambrosial drink, and Shadow gladly gave himself over to the intoxicating haze her taste induced.

When she broke the kiss and rested her forehead against his, she was breathing heavily. Shadow, though tempted to resume the kiss, was content to hold her, to feel her against him, to be engulfed by her heady fragrance.

Something fell upon his cheek, something warm, wet, and smelling of salt. He opened his eyes and looked up to see tears trickling from hers.

The sight didn’t make sense to him; was she crying because the kiss had been so good, or the opposite? Was she crying because of what happened with the king, or because she’d been hurt?

“What is it, Alice?” he asked softly, moving his hand to her cheek to brush away her tears.

“He’s dead. He was only trying to help us, and the king killed him.” She sat up and turned her face away, wiping her eyes with the back of her hand. Her tears continued falling. “And it was s-soawful.”

Shadow didn’t immediately understand who Alice was talking about; it was ultimately the blue blood smeared on her chin that triggered his realization.Jor’calla.

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