Page 59 of Rupture

She shot him a glare, but her heart wasn’t fully in it. The cold doubt that had been growing since she’d seen the swarm crystallized. What if he was right? What if she had Thea all wrong?

Only one way to find out.

“Can I speak to her?”

“Be my guest.” Duke’s eyebrows rose. “She’s been nothing but a pain in the ass. Making demands like this is a five-star hotel.”

Luca grunted. “How thoughtful of her to demand VIP treatment after giving everyone else the deluxe murder-bot experience.”

Rose let his comment slide. She doubted she could win a word war with him.

“Thanks.” She shot Duke a smile and steeled herself. She made her way across the room, painfully aware of the Io’s crew, pallid and vulnerable looking in their beds.

She pulled back the curtain on the furthest bay. Her pulse tripped and faltered as her eyes landed on the empty bed.

She pressed a hand to the mattress. The sheets were rumpled, still warm. Had she mistaken which bed Thea was in?

The sound of running water splashed from across the room.

Thea appeared in a bathroom doorway, drying her hands on a small towel, her expression unreadable.

“Well, look who’s getting the full spa treatment,” Luca commented under his breath.

“Luca.” Rose glared at him, her voice muted. “You’re not helping.”

He took a half pace retreat and made a zipping motion across his lips.

“Rose.” Thea padded toward them trailing the incongruously delicate scent of lavender hand soap. She climbed back into bed with deliberate movements, arranging her pillows as if she had all the time in the world. She appeared untouched by her time unconscious.

She closed the worn paperback open on the bed, and Rose glimpsed the title.The Invincible.

Thea tucked loose hair behind her ears. “Is everything okay? The med bay went dark last night before the emergency generators kicked in.” Her voice held polite interest, nothing more.

“We found your research, Thea.”

Thea regarded her, her face completely smooth, devoid of expression. In the clinical lighting, she could have been a stranger.

“Don’t you have something to say about that?”

Thea sighed heavily. “Like what?”

“You—” Luca surged forward, his restraint finally cracking.

Rose threw a restraining hand across his chest. Anger vibrated through him like a live wire. She understood what drove it—the need to protect his team, his family, from whatever Thea had unleashed. The truth was heartbreaking. The bonds these men shared ran deeper than the blood she shared with her sister.

“There’s a nanobot swarm loose.” Rose studied Thea’s face for any reaction. “Not the ones in the containment column. Another swarm.” She sucked in a deep breath. “We have to contain them.”

“I can’t help you.” Thea leaned backward into her pillows, but a pink flush crept up from the base of her throat.

“Is this why your team sealed themselves off from the rest of the habitat? Because you have an unpredictable rogue swarm of nanobots on the loose?”

“They are not a risk.”

“This is getting us nowhere.” Luca took hold of Rose’s arm. “We should go.”

“We found your hidden lab.” Rose shook him off, recognizing the same stubborn set to Thea’s jaw she’d seen in the mirror countless times. Too much rested on this. “How did they get out, Thea?”

Thea’s lips pinched, and something cold settled in the pit of Rose’s stomach.

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