Chapter 17 · Deep Dive, Dirty Mind

"Don't fight it, Kaelen. If you fight the sync, your brain is going to leak out of your ears like spoiled milk."

Jax’s voice was a low buzz in my ear, too close, his breath warm against the shell of my ear. He had me pinned back against the reclining surgical chair, his fingers dancing over the neural interface ports at the base of my skull. I hated how steady his hands were. I hated that I had to trust him with the only thing I had left—my mind.

"I don't like people digging in my head," I spat, trying to jerk away. The restraints on my wrists clicked, holding me fast. "Especially people who look like they live in a basement."

Jax chuckled, a dry, grating sound. "Basements have better acoustics for hacking. Now shut up and breathe. I'm dropping the firewall. On three."

"Wait—"

"One. Two. Three."

He slammed the sequence home. The world didn't just fade; it shattered.

One second I was in the dim, neon-streaked haze of the clinic, and the next, I was falling through a void of screaming white noise.