Page 79 of Rupture

“How long have you been awake?”

A smile tugged at the corners of his mouth, lighting his blue eyes with a warmth that went straight to her heart. He reached for her hand and kissed it, stealing away her breath. “Long enough.”

45

The shuttle’sinterior lights cast a lurid blue glow across the cabin, leaching any warmth from the space.

Finn pressed his back against the seat as he tried to ignore the throbbing pain in his arm. His pulse drummed in his skull, each heartbeat a dull hammer against his temples. But he shoved the discomfort aside, focusing his attention outward as his team finalized their preparations before the shuttle transported them back to the surface of the Kalahari desert.

Across from him, Luca sank into a seat, his usual effortless swagger stripped away. A residual stiffness in his movements combined with the shadowed hollows beneath his eyes betrayed the toll of having his body invaded by the nanobots. Luca met his gaze briefly. They’d both been through their own versions of hell down here.

Rose climbed through the shuttle’s doorway, and the rigidity inside Finn’s chest loosened.

Water dripped steadily from a crack in the ceiling. She tilted her head back, studying the fractures of spider-webbing across the metal.

“Is it safe?” The question came out soft, but he read the fear in the creases at the corner of her eyes.

“Safe enough to get us back to the surface.” Finn worked a smile onto his face, despite the throb of pain in his arm. “But I wouldn’t count on a ten-year warranty.”

She gave a small laugh and slid into the seat beside him, close enough that her shoulder brushed his and the chaos in his mind quieted. The fact that this woman, brilliant and fierce, could center him so completely with nothing more than her presence should terrify him. Instead, it felt like finding solid ground in the middle of a storm.

“How are you feeling?” she asked, threading her fingers through his where they rested on the armrest.

“I’ve been better.” He turned his hand over to clasp hers, luxuriating in the warmth of her touch. “But I’m still breathing. So I’ll take it.” He eyed the small dressing on the back of her head. “You?”

Her free hand lifted to it instinctively. “Duke did a good job of patching me up.” She squeezed his fingers. “You scared the hell out of me.” Her voice carried a tremor that made his heart gallop. Damn, he’d fallen hard and far.

She sighed, then nodded toward the shuttle’s storage area. “MARV’s secured in the hold. I transferred Remy into his systems—she’ll ride up with us.” A fleeting smile crossed her face. Finn memorized it, tucking it away with all the other small details he’d collected about her—the way she bit her lip when deep in thought, how her hands never stayed still when she talked about her work.

Duke entered the shuttle, moving methodically between the rescued crew members. Their faces appeared glazed and vacant. As if their minds still wandered in whatever hell Thea had put them through. As Duke checked the finalharness before taking his own seat, his eyes met Finn’s. “Almost ready to go.”

Finn scanned the crew’s empty expressions, knowing what Duke wasn’t saying. Even with specialist help on the surface, there were no guarantees that Thea’s meddling in the order of things could be undone.

Ethan swung into the cabin from the cockpit, gripping the back of Luca’s seat. “Alright, drive’s primed, nav is locked. One-way express to the surface. Let’s hope the restored pressure seals feel like cooperating.”

“Hell, yeah. And if anyone needs a bathroom break, you’re swimming.” Luca let his head drop back against his headrest and closed his eyes. “I’ve had enough of this five-star underwater resort.”

The shuttle’s systems hummed to life, a low rumble thrumming beneath Finn’s feet. Rose checked her harness while Liev and Ethan called out pre-flight checks from the cockpit. Finn fought the urge to reach over and double-check it himself. His arm protested any movement, but he’d endure a thousand bites, a million headaches, if it meant keeping her safe. The thought should have alarmed him—this fierce protectiveness that had taken root without his permission. Instead, it felt as natural as breathing, as inevitable as the crushing cold pressing against the hull.

A sharpclankechoed through the cabin as the docking clamps disengaged. The shuttle rocked violently, metal groaning in protest before it began its ascent, rising through the water’s ink-black expanse before it entered the tunnel to the surface.

Finn kept his gaze locked on the view port, watching as the abyssal blackness gave way to rock and stone. But his awareness remained tied to the woman beside him, herpresence more comforting than any painkillers coursing through his system.

They were going home.

But home, he was beginning to understand, had less to do with a destination—and everything to do with the woman sitting next to him.

46

The ascent hammeredagainst Rose’s ears, metal shrieking against rock, vibration rattling through her bones. The clamor diminished to a steady thrum, and through the small portholes, the absolute darkness ignited.

Blinding white light.

Her pulse kicked. They’d cleared the shuttle tunnel.

The Kalahari stretched out before her, a searing, endless wasteland. After the tight, pressurized corridors of the Io, it felt unreal. Her body still braced for the crushing presence of the water, the bone-deep cold.

Desert sunlight slashed through the portholes, obliterating all shadows. After the artificial twilight of the Io, the glare needled her eyes. She squinted, raising a hand to shield her face. Around her, the crew did the same, faces contorted in discomfort.

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