Chapter 11 · Neon Zero - Chapter 11: Glitchy Bond

“Get off me, Arden.”

Knox had one hand locked around my wrist and the other braced beside my head. His body blocked the service hatch, his shoulder brushing mine every time the sealed district shook.

The shared warning still burned across both our vision fields.

SYNC: 83%. IDENTITY COLLISION: ACTIVE. PURGE WINDOW: 04:12.

“Stop fighting the link,” he said.

“Stop holding me down.”

“You’re trying to rip the core out through your spine.”

“Maybe I like pain.”

His eyes dropped to my mouth for half a second. Then they snapped back up.

“Don’t flirt while we’re dying.”

“I’m not flirting.” I twisted hard. “I’m threatening you.”

“Your pulse just jumped.”

“So did yours.”

That shut him up.

I could feel his heartbeat under my own ribs. Not hear it. Feel it. A hard, steady thump that wasn’t mine, knocking against my chest every time his heart moved.

Mine answered from inside him.

Knox’s fingers tightened around my wrist. His skin was hot. The metal seal behind him was cold enough to bite through my jacket, and somehow the link carried both sensations through my body at once.

“Tell me you feel that,” I said.

“I feel everything you do.