Page 24 of Rupture

Rose swam back a few feet to give them space as Harris disappeared from view, hidden between Duke and Finn as they worked to save his life.

Luca hovered nearby, his hands pressed to his helmet. “Fucker just untied himself. He was having trouble breathing and then just untied himself and vanished. Who the fuck does that?”

“Luca. You alright?” Ethan joined the group, placing a placating hand on Luca’s shoulder.

“Ethan? Yes. I’m fine.”

Harris’s moans filled their shared comms, then cut out, prompting Luca to shake his head and mutter something indistinct under his breath.

What if he’s already dead?

Rose pressed her eyes shut against scalding tears. God, they hadn't even made it to the habitat yet and everything was going to shit. She should have known better than to take on a dive like this one. She gripped her elbows, raw pain ripping through her. The situation felt painfully familiar—like it was only yesterday she'd found out her parents died in a car crash. She could still hear her sister Thea screaming at her when there was nothing she could do.

A gentle touch on her elbow brought her back to the here and now. “Rose.”

She opened her eyes. Finn filled her view. If nothing else, the sight of him calmed her heart a little.

“Harris?”

Pain made his brow furrow. “He’s gone. I’m sorry. There was nothing Duke could do. Most likely a heart attack, but we won’t know more until we get him to the habitat.”

Over his shoulder, Ethan and Duke were binding Harris’s arms to his body for the remaining section of the journey. Nausea burned in her throat.

Fuck.

She blew out a breath, her cheeks puffing. “Okay.” She sniffed. A man was dead. “We’re still going on then?” She tried not to sound disappointed, even though she wanted nothing more than to swim back to the surface, back to the light and the air. As far away from this dark place imbued with death as she could get.

“We’re past the point of safe return.” Finn’s tone was firm. “The landslide has delayed us, compromised our air supplies. We don’t have enough to return. From here, we can only go forward.”

13

Dim light waveredon the edge of Finn’s vision. He blinked, unsure if it was a mistake, a glitch brought on by stress. No. This was it. The Io habitat.

The Io materialized out of the inky depths like a mirage, its form slowly taking shape. At first, it was nothing more than a faint glow in the distance, a ghostly shimmer that could have been a trick of the light, an artifact of the bioluminescent creatures inhabiting these depths. But as he drew closer, the azure glow resolved into a series of luminous lines, tracing the contours of the habitat with an otherworldly precision.

He checked his air. Six percent. The land slip and Harris’s death had cost them precious time and air and he was already on his second tank.

Poor fucker. He dug deep, channeling his frustration into each kick of his fins.

He reached out and touched Rose’s wrist. She was at his side on a shortened leash. He was no longer comfortable having her out of his sight. Too much had gone wrong already and Harris’s death was a bitter taste in his mouth.

MARV swam close by, its elongated eyes carving a path through the midnight water. Occasionally, its head turned in his direction, making the hairs on his scalp tingle.

He knew it was only a machine but hell, the damn thing was looking right at him.

“Io habitat in sight.” Luca’s voice crackled on the comms. “Thank fuck. Oxygen at six percent.”

“I see it.” Ethan’s deep voice rumbled through Finn’s earpiece.

Against the backdrop of the water’s midnight depths, the Io habitat looked for all the world like some enormous, unearthly jellyfish. As Finn drew closer, a shiver cramped down his spine, a primal response to the sheer scale of the structure. It was massive, easily the size of a football field, its curved walls looming out of the darkness like the ribcage of some long-dead leviathan. Pressure-resistant windows reflected the beams of their flashlights in the darkness, giving nothing away.

What the hell had gone wrong in there?

Luca swore under his breath. “Not at all fucking creepy looking.”

Finn grimaced, silently agreeing. He glanced over at Rose, checking her safety line once more. His cheeks puffed with relief. Still within reach.

“Taking us low to the access hatches.” Liev folded his body and tilted downward, propelling himself deeper.

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