Page 31 of Red Dreams

We stay like this for a long moment, me running my fingers through his hair, him kissing away the pain, drawing strength from each other.

Reluctantly, I tug on his hair, gently pulling him back so I can see his face. “We need to get out of here.Please.After that, we can figure out what to do about Cassie.”

The thought of her return churns every organ inside my body, all of them shriveling with remembered agony. The sound of her laughter still rings in my ears.

Kaden works his jaw, his attention snapping to the wall panel that hides a bank of computer screens. He replies under his breath so surveillance won’t catch his voice. “Ethan. He’s on the outside. He’ll be working to shut down the network and initiate a blackout so we can escape.”

Kaden frowns, as if reluctant to admit the next part. “It was our plan B.”

I blink, surprised, but manage to keep my reply at the same low octave as his. “Ethan’s still involved? With you? You two are working together?”

Guilt twists like a knife at the center of my heart. When I confessed to Ethan about the illegal AI all employees at Pulse Dynamics were inadvertently creating, I didn’t expect him to want to stay by my side when I broke into the building and tried to destroy Project Oracle. Ethan was determined to remain in communication with me, but all of that went away when Dawson found me, drugged and stripped me, and…

I clear my throat, forcing myself away from what happened next, and focus on the loss of the smartwatch Ethan and I used to keep in touch.

So many terrible consequences occurred after Dawson took that watch. Kaden broke in and violently killed Dawson. Then he sought his vengeance on Morelli, killing him next. Cassierevealed herself soon after, shooting Kaden and incapacitating him enough to kidnap me.

During all that, Ethan was cut off—or was he? Could he still hear everything on the watch Dawson tossed aside? Is that how Kaden got out of the server room? Did Ethan…?

Kaden predicts every panicked thought. “The idiot saved me. He pulled me out, hid me in a basement, and patched me up. Did you truly believe that boy would leave you to be kidnapped by the Mafia?”

“Patched you up? The same Ethan who nearly passed out when I accidentally stapled my thumb?”

The memory of Ethan's pale face and shaking hands that day in the office feels like it belongs to another lifetime.

“People adapt.” Kaden's thumb traces the edge of my tattoo.

I lower my eyes in understanding. This unwanted tattoo is now a part of me, whether I survive long enough to remove it or not. I haven’t asked Kaden to describe it to me or take me to a mirror. It doesn’t matter what the design is. It’s a reflection of this place, this torture, and it’s as dark and unwelcome as hell would be.

“He's still out there,” Kaden says, eyes fixed on the wall panel. “And he knows what he's doing.”

“What if she hurts him?” I say, the fear for my friend making my voice rise an octave. “What if she uses him to get to us?”

Kaden cups one side of my face, turning me to look at him. With his features so shadowed, his scars seem deeper, his eyes harder. But something else is there too—a carefully banked fire.

“Right now, just believe in me.” His words carry the weight of every kill, every calculated move that led him to this point. “I will get you out of here, and Ethan will be safe.”

I clutch at his hand holding my face, letting his conviction anchor me. “Ok?—”

A sound pierces through the momentary peace we found in each other’s arms. A scream, high and agonized, bleeds through the walls.

I jolt upright, my heart pounding against my ribs. Kaden tenses, his grip on me tightening reflexively.

“Fuck,” he murmurs.

The scream comes again. It's a sound of pure, unadulterated agony, the kind that can only be wrung from a human throat by the most unspeakable horrors. I've never heard anything like it in all my time here, and the unfamiliarity of it makes my blood run cold.

“What is that?” I whisper.

Kaden’s on his feet in an instant, stalking toward the door. I scramble after him, my legs tangling in my loosened robe and bundled sheets.

“Kaden, wait!” I hiss as he presses his ear to the door.

For all we know, a gun is pointed directly at his temple on the other side.

He pauses and looks back at me.

“I can't just sit here and listen to that,” he says. “Not when I know what she's capable of.”

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