Dresner’s amused smile made me want to scream.
“Oh, Ms. Bolton. He’s already planning the rescue.”
“You don’t know him.”
“I know exactly what I made him. And I know what you’ve unmade. That’s why he’ll come. Love makes people predictable.”
His voice went soft, almost gentle.
He pulled a phone from his pocket. Showed me the screen.
A burner phone. Specific number. Contact information for someone called “Anonymous.”
“My men left a communication device at the boarding school. Blackout will find it. I made certain of that. He’ll call.”
My heart pounded so hard I thought it might crack my ribs.
“I’ll give him a choice. The location will be sent. Terms will be clear, him for you. He’ll come alone. He’ll think he can win.”
He pocketed the phone.
“But this isn’t a trade, Ms. Bolton. It’s a reclamation. Xavier belongs to me. The chip may be deactivated, but the conditioning remains. And you...”
His smile turned cold.
“You’re the key to perfecting it.”
The phone was ringing before Dresner reached the door.
He stopped, one hand still resting on the handle, and looked at the device in his pocket. The burner. The one he’d left at the boarding school. A smile ghosted across his face. Small, satisfied.
“Right on schedule.”
He pulled the phone out, studied the screen. Anonymous call. Of course it was. Xavier Hale had found it, as Dresner had ensured he would. The boy was predictable. Desperation made everyone predictable. Love made them blind.
I watched him answer it. Watched him tap the speaker button with flourish.
He wanted me to hear this.
My heart stopped beating. Just... stopped. Because I knew that voice was about to come through, and I knew what hearing it would do to me.
Xavier’s voice exploded from the speaker.
“Where is she?”
Barely controlled rage simmering beneath every syllable.
This wasn’t the Xavier I knew. The gentle man who’d held me through nightmares, who’d touched me like I was something precious. This was Blackout.
But underneath that? Terrified.
Terrified for me.
My chest constricted so hard I couldn’t breathe.
“She’s here. Unharmed. For now.”
Dresner’s response was calm. Professional. Like discussing a business transaction.
