Chapter 15 · If this goes wrong, you lose the memory too

He pressed his forehead against hers. His breath came rough and fast.

"If this goes wrong, you lose the memory too."

"Then lose it with me."

His eyes held hers.

"You really don't know how to ask for help."

"I'm asking now."

"No. You're ordering me."

"Move, Elias."

The black lines under his skin spread across his throat.

He closed his hand over hers on the lock.

"Fine," he said. "But when I tell you to pull back, you pull back."

"I don't take orders from outlaws."

"Tonight, you do."

The bond snapped open.

Nora fell into the memory.

Finn was twelve, small enough that his old jacket swallowed his hands. He stood in a council office with a broken tablet hidden beneath his shirt while a warden questioned Nora about the missing access key.

"Did your sister steal it?" the warden asked.

Finn stared at the floor. "No."

"Did she give it to the outlaw?"

"No."

"Then why is her mark on the lock?"

Finn lifted his chin. "Because she told me not to tell you."

The memory twisted.

Finn's face became older. His voice cracked through the red light.

"You always take the hit for me," he said.