Page 115 of Dose

I nod once.

“There’s something about Ezra.”

His expression changes.

“Nikolai sent the abort,” I continue. “Gamma was designed around independent verification. The contact is bait. They plan to take him on the return.”

Theon’s hand finds mine.

“Then Dominic gets there first.”

It is not reassurance. It is the next objective.

31

THEON

She’s sitting on the edge of our bed when I walk in, still wearing tactical trousers and the black base layer from Seattle. Her vest and boots lie where she dropped them.

Raphael cleared us both at staging. Nikolai kept the return debrief short because Marcus was coordinating Ezra’s abort and Dominic’s recovery team was already moving.

Isla stares at a point beyond the wall.

I know the look. I’ve worn it in front of mirrors, wondering which version of me the files described.

“Did you eat?”

She shakes her head.

“Do you want to talk?”

Another shake.

“Do you want me to leave?”

Her eyes snap to mine. “No.”

I crouch in front of her and rest my hands on her knees. “Tell me what you need.”

“I need to belong to someone who chose me.” Her voice is steady because she is forcing it to be. “Not someone who acquired me.”

I wait.

“I want you to own me tonight,” she says. “Because I’m giving myself to you. No file. No transfer order. Me.”

The words hit every dark place in me built to answer them.

I do not move yet.

“Look at me.”

She does.

“Are you asking because you want this, or because you need to punish the girl in that photograph?”

Pain crosses her face. It does not make her look away.

“I want it. I want the word to mean something I chose.”