Chapter 14 · The Price of a Memory

"Don't touch it, Nora. You're shaking."

Elias didn't let go. His grip tightened on her wrist, pinning her against the cold metal of the console. His voice was low, grating, and far too close.

Nora glared at him, her chest heaving. "I can handle it. Get off me."

"You can't even hold the tablet straight," he countered.

He stepped in. Closer. Now his chest was nearly brushing her shoulder, radiating a heat that sliced through the sterile chill of the medical wing. "The biometric lock is keyed to your DNA. You trigger a system crash because your nerves are fried, and we both go dark. Permanently."

Nora yanked her arm back. The neural bond hummed a sharp warning in the back of her skull. On the screen, the tablet flickered—a jagged, encrypted file. The only thing her mother had left behind.

"It's her voice, Elias. I'm opening it,"\ she snapped.

"Read the warning first." He nodded toward the red text scrolling across the screen.

Nora barely glanced at it. *WARNING: Biometric decryption will initiate neural synchronization. Estimated cognitive load: 85%. Warning: Prolonged exposure may accelerate synaptic decay in bonded pairs.*

"Synaptic decay," Nora whispered.