Chapter 24 #2
“Oxytocin floods the system during bonding. The brain, when truly bonded, fights for survival of both individuals. It overrides the programming.”
He leaned forward slightly, eyes bright with fascination.
“Reaper remembered his humanity. Specter chose protection over programming. And you, Ms. Bolton...”
The smile that crossed his face made my blood run cold.
“You made Blackout want to live.”
The accusation slammed into me.
Because that’s what it was. An accusation.
“His name is Xavier.” Anger cut through fear. “Not Blackout. Xavier.”
“You’re saying I changed him?” The words ripped out before I could stop them.
“I’m saying you freed him. Unintentionally, of course. You had no idea what you were doing. You were simply... being human.”
Dresner straightened.
The way he said it made humanity sound like a design flaw.
My hands fisted against the bindings. “That’s why you took me. Not just for leverage.”
“Precisely. You’re invaluable to my research.”
Research.
The word echoed in my head, bouncing off the walls of my skull with increasing horror.
“I need to understand the mechanism. How does emotional attachment override chemical conditioning? What neural pathways are activated during bonding? Can the effect be replicated? Prevented? Weaponized?”
Dresner pulled up another file on his tablet.
He looked at me again, and the clinical interest made me want to vomit.
“You’re not just bait, Ms. Bolton. You’re the key to the next generation of conditioning. Oblivion 2.0 will account for the human variable.”
No. God, no.
“Your brain chemistry. Your responses. Your bond with Xavier, all data.” He tapped the screen. “And when Xavier arrives...”
His eyes gleamed.
“I’ll have both halves of the equation. The conditioned subject and the catalyst. Imagine what I can learn from observing your reunion. How his neurochemistry responds to your presence. How far he’ll go to protect you. What he’ll sacrifice.”
“He won’t come. Xavier’s smart. He’ll know it’s a trap.”
My voice shook, but I forced the words out.
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.
The threat hung in the air, casual and absolute.
“Let me talk to her. Prove she’s alive.”
Xavier’s voice was tight.
Dresner looked at me. Those cold eyes studied my face with clinical interest, watching for my reaction.
“Go ahead, Ms. Bolton.” He gestured toward the phone. “Tell him you’re alive.”
My mouth opened.
Nothing came out.
Split-second decision, made on pure instinct. If I didn’t speak, maybe Xavier wouldn’t come. Maybe he’d stay safe at the boarding school with Hellhound and Havoc.
Maybe I could protect him the only way I had left.
I clamped my jaw shut.
Dresner’s eyebrow rose. “Fascinating.”
“Clare?” Xavier’s voice cracked through the speaker. “CLARE!”
Panic. Pure, unfiltered panic breaking through that tactical control.
I bit my lip so hard I tasted blood. Tears streamed down my face, hot and unwanted. My hands fisted against the bindings until the cuffs bit into my wrists.
Stay silent. Protect him. Don’t give Dresner what he wants.
“How noble, Ms. Bolton. But ineffective.”
Dresner’s smile widened.
He nodded to the guard standing by the door.
I saw it coming. Braced myself.
The guard stepped forward, just following orders.
I met his eyes. Wouldn’t look away. Wouldn’t give them the satisfaction of seeing me flinch.
The first slap caught me across the cheek.
My head snapped sideways. Pain exploded across my face, white-hot and sharp. The metallic taste of blood flooded my mouth. I’d bitten my cheek. Ringing filled my ears. My vision blurred for a heartbeat.
I clenched my jaw. Wouldn’t cry out. Wouldn’t give them anything.
Through the speaker: “What was that? What are you doing to her?”
Rage and terror wrapped together.
“Ms. Bolton is being uncooperative.”
The second slap was harder. The kind of force that knew exactly how much it could deliver without crossing into permanent injury.
My vision went white at the edges. Pain radiated through my skull like lightning. Tears fell. I couldn’t stop them, my body’s involuntary response to trauma.
But I stayed silent.
Breathing through my nose. Defiant. Refusing to break.
Xavier’s roar came through the speaker. Incoherent rage, nothing tactical about it. Pure fury. “STOP! I’ll do whatever you want! Just stop!”
“Then convince her to cooperate.”
Dresner’s calm didn’t waver.
The third slap was vicious.
Calculated to break me.
I cried out. Couldn’t help it. Sharp, involuntary sound of pain ripped from my throat before I could swallow it back.
Gasping. Trying to breathe through the agony radiating from my cheek, my jaw, my skull.
Xavier’s voice roared through the speaker. Threatening, pleading, utterly helpless.
“There. Now he knows you’re alive. It wasn’t that difficult, was it?”
Dresner’s smile was satisfied.
He looked down at me almost fondly. “As you can hear, she’s quite spirited.”
I found my voice. Hoarse. Desperate.
“Xavier, don’t...”
Another slap cut me off. I tasted blood. Copper and salt flooding my mouth, warm and thick.
But I pushed through. Had to warn him.
“Don’t come! It’s a trap! He wants...”
The guard’s hand clamped over my mouth. Large. Crushing pressure silencing me mid-word.
I struggled against the bindings, trying to wrench free. Muffled sounds escaped around his palm.
“I’m coming for you. I’m coming, Clare. Hold on.”
Xavier’s voice was absolute. Certain.
I managed to wrench my face free for one second. One precious second of freedom.
“NO! Don’t! Please don’t...”
The guard’s arm wrapped around my throat. Not choking. Just controlling. Immobilizing me completely.
I fought anyway. Useless. Desperate.
“It’s not worth it! Stay away!”
My voice was breaking. Tears streaming. Everything in me screaming at him to listen, to stay safe, to not walk into this nightmare for me.
“You’re worth everything.”
Xavier’s response came quiet. Deadly certain.
The words hit me like a physical blow.
No. No, I’m not. I’m not worth dying for.
But I couldn’t say it. The guard’s arm held me silent.
“Enough.”
Dresner’s single word carried absolute authority.
The guard released me. I gasped for air, throat burning, face throbbing with each heartbeat.
“As you can hear, she’s quite determined to protect you.”
Dresner’s attention returned to the phone.
“If you touch her again...” Xavier’s voice went cold. Lethal. Nothing human in it. “I will make you beg for death.”
Dresner was utterly unfazed. “Threats are unproductive. Here are the terms: You come alone, right now. The location will be sent to this device. Perhaps we can discuss her release.”
“I want to talk to her again. Now.”
Dresner looked at me. “Any final words, Ms. Bolton?”
I met his eyes. Then looked at the phone like I could see Xavier through it.
“I love you.” My voice broke. One last try to reach him. “Don’t come. Please. I’m not worth...”
The call ended.
The sudden silence was deafening.
Dresner pocketed the phone, smile satisfied. Like a scientist whose experiment had confirmed his hypothesis.
I stared at where the phone had disappeared. My face was throbbing. Blood dripped from my split lip onto the table. My heart was breaking because Xavier was coming and it was a trap and there was nothing I could do to stop it.
“Fascinating. You genuinely tried to protect him.”
Dresner studied me with clinical interest.
His tone was almost admiring. Like observing an interesting specimen.
“The bond is stronger than I anticipated.”
I glared at him through tears and pain. “He won’t fall for it.”
“He already has.”
Dresner’s smile widened.
He moved closer, hands clasped behind his back.
“He heard you in pain. He heard you beg him not to come.” He paused, letting the words sink in. “That only makes him more determined.”
Horror crawled up my spine because he was right. I knew he was right. I’d just made everything worse.
“Rest, Ms. Bolton. You’ll need your strength.”
Dresner turned toward the door.
“For what?”
He paused, glancing back. “For when he arrives. I need you both functional for the reunion.” His eyes gleamed with anticipation. “And for the tests that follow.”
Then he was gone.
The door closed with a heavy metallic thud.
Silence pressed against my ears.
I was alone.
My face ached. Swelling starting, blood drying on my lip. My wrists were raw from fighting the bindings. The monitor beside me beeped steadily, tracking my elevated heart rate, my spiking blood pressure.
But none of that mattered compared to the crushing weight in my chest.
Xavier was coming.
And it was because of me.
I closed my eyes, fresh tears spilling over.
“I’m sorry,” I whispered to the empty room. “I’m so sorry.”
But sorry wouldn’t save him.
Nothing would.