Free The Dollhouse Asylum by Mary Gray Page B

things take time. They will grow to love him soon enough. And Teo will give them the vaccine. I know he will.
    With these reassurances, I jump to my feet, so eager to meet my Teo I fail for words. So I shoot the girls my best grin before sprinting off to meet our “Director.” After all, I now know everyone’s names.
    And that will make Teo proud.

6
    My dress whips around me like Teo has installed secret fans in Elysian Fields, and when I look up, the sun winks over the horizon, saying goodnight.
    I’m so blessed Teo chose me to share this life. The neighborhood is amazing with its immaculate homes, the couples connecting with literature, and our safety from the Living Rot. I could be subhuman, living on other people’s parts. But Teo saved me—all of us—from becoming that. He didn’t just pick us up and dump us out in some random field; he prepared this place. Like the houses. Cleo’s, for instance, is Egyptian-themed because she’s Cleopatra. Bee’s, or Thisbe’s, home has cracks because that’s how the girl talked to the man she loved. Everything, everything about this world makes sense.
    Stalling on Teo’s porch, I catch my breath. Seven men, seven women. But why would we be the eighth? And what about Jonas? We might spend the evening discussing these names and their stories. I want to understand everything about Teo’s plans.
    Lifting my hand up to his massive, wooden door, I knock. Boldly. Three times. A few seconds later, the door opens and Jonas stands aside to let me in. His chilling fingers scoop up my hand, and when he inspects my fingers, he frowns. “Your fingernails—” His clear gray eyes wind their way into mine.
    I falter. I guess I sort of banged them up when I was digging up that survey stake. “Sorry about that,” I stammer, glancing around for Teo, but Jonas makes it hard to see around the doorway, so I add, “Guess I wasn’t really thinking.” I hope Jonas won’t always be the one to answer Teo’s door.
    Jonas drops my hand, frowning, and says, “You may follow.” I watch the back of his white uniform as he strides away from me down the hall, and I can’t help wondering how Teo knows him at all. Jonas, who seems so uptight, couldn’t be more opposite from him.
    I wipe my sweaty palms on my skirt as I shadow Jonas’s steps, and when my heartbeats sprint inside my chest, I try slowing them with deep, even breaths. This is it. I have finally accomplished Teo’s second task. We can be alone—I glance at Jonas and his stiff strides—at least, I hope we can be.
    Stopping outside a closed door, Jonas knocks twice on what I guess is the door to Teo’s room. Without waiting for Teo to arrive, Jonas spins away from me like a soldier moving out, and I find myself breathing out a huge sigh of relief.
    Teo opens the door, and my knees buckle at the sight. One would think I would be used to facing him like this, but his olive-toned complexion combined with his slender, graceful form makes it hard to breathe—there’s never been anyone more attractive to me in my life.
    “Persephone,” Teo says, holding his hands out for me.
    I feel like frowning because I wish he would call me by my real name. “Miss Laurent,” at the very least. But Teo is here, urging me in, and I can’t think of a better arrangement where it’s just him and me, so I fall into his arms and breathe in his musky scent.
    He slides his gentle fingers down my arms, leaving trails of fire across my goose-bumped skin. Drawing me to his sinewy body, he cups my face, and he looks down at me like we’re going to kiss. My heartbeats hammer, and the room’s spinning around my head. I stare at his mouth and he closes the gap, and just before our lips connect, I let my eyes flutter shut. Tremors of pleasure curl inside my chest—this is our second-ever kiss. I hold myself impeccably still, savoring the sensation of his tender mouth on my own, but it’s hard not to move because electricity crackles where we