Chapter 22 · Admin Key

Ryan's fingers wouldn't let go. The sparks kept eating through Natasha's necklace, chewing the chain link by link. Her pulse hammered under his thumb and he could feel the current building in his palm, that sick buzzing heat crawling up his wrist.

"Key," he said. His voice came out flat. "Now."

Natasha didn't try to pull away. She just stared at him, her face gone pale except for the two red spots high on her cheeks. The screen behind her was still lit, that line of text hanging there like a dare: *Verner admin key required.*

"Ryan." Her voice was steady. Too steady. "You let go right now or we both lose."

"I already lost." The current spiked and her necklace snapped. The broken chain hit the floor with a thin metallic sound. "You made sure of that."

"No." She swallowed and he felt it. "You walk out of here without that upload stopped, you're not losing. You're dead. They'll fry every synapse you've got left and sell the data to the highest bidder."

He wanted to call bullshit. Wanted to squeeze until she stopped talking in riddles and gave him something real.