Chapter 23 · Neon Zero - Chapter 23: District Echoes

"Get your hand off the console, Mara." Knox caught my wrist before my fingers reached the access seal. His grip locked hard enough to hurt. "That file is not yours to open."

"Funny. Neither is my spine, but you keep threatening to shut it down."

The black interface between us flashed red. Our linked life bars dropped together—eighty-one to eighty, eighty to seventy-nine—while the sealed archive door behind us clicked through another security lock.

Knox looked at the numbers, then at me. His jaw tightened.

"Step away."

"No."

"Mara."

"You dragged me into this district, chained my identity to yours, and let the purge drones chase us three blocks. You don't get to play officer now."

His thumb pressed against the inside of my wrist. Warm skin. Steady pulse. Mine answered it through the contract, beating one ugly half-second later.

"You have no idea what's behind that file," he said.

"Then stop looking scared."

His eyes sharpened. "I'm not scared."

"Your failure level says otherwise."

That landed.