Page 46 of Rupture

He looked up, finally noticing Finn and Rose. His brows furrowed as his gaze swept over them. She had wiped her clothes as best she could, but there were still marks.

“What the actual fuck happened to you two?”

Finn didn’t break stride. “You don’t want to know.”

Rose pushed her sleeves up. “Trust us. You don’t.”

The door at their rear whooshed open. Ethan stepped through, his gaze landing on Finn and Rose. “What the hell?—”

“Later,” Finn’s tone was brusque.

Ethan’s brow wrinkled, but he nodded. “Fine.” He turned to Luca. “Sit rep?”

“Environmental systems aren’t responding correctly.” Luca’s lips became a hard line. “EM interference is off the charts, comms are on and off. Don’t tell me this is a fucking coincidence, because it’s not.”

Liev joined Luca at the main control panel. “It’s like something’s rewriting the code faster than we can input commands. We’ve got the essentials—air and water—but we had to sacrifice heating just to keep a handle on it.”

“How is that possible?” Rose asked, her stomach knotting.

Luca shrugged and threw up his hands. “No fucking idea.”

“How long do we have?” Ethan’s voice was calm.

“Around forty-four hours. If the gods are smiling on us.” Luca swiped his brow with an oily rag, the fabric a jarring splash of color in the sterile environment. “But you need to see this.” He beckoned them over to another console and flipped open a protective panel.

Rose followed, Ethan and Finn flanking her.

“It looks ordinary.” She searched for anomalies, cataloging each resistor and capacitor. Everything seemed in place.

Luca grunted and folded his arms. “Just wait.”

Something shifted. A silvery sheen, like liquid mercury, flowed across the circuitry. It moved swiftly, unnervingly alive, before vanishing as if it had never been there.

Rose blinked, her breath erratic.Did I imagine that?

The panel looked solid again, unremarkable, but unease corkscrewed in her chest.

Impossible. Except maybe not.

“What the hell was that?” Finn’s voice cut through the charged silence, his eyes locked on the panel.

Liev’s answer came with a winged eyebrow. ”No fucking idea.”

“This is far more up your street.” Luca’s piercing gaze zeroed in on Rose. “Suggestions?”

Rose swallowed, giving herself time to make sure her voice was level. “I don’t know, but we’re going to find out. There’s no way we’re heading back to the surface without understanding what we’re dealing with.” She lowered hervoice, as if voicing her fears aloud might make them real. “We need more information and we need to find it now.”

Luca snorted. “Great. We need to evac this shithole and we’re wasting time staring at shiny stuff. Let’s get cracking.”

26

Luca’s elbowsjutted at his hips in a stance that set off every warning bell in Finn’s head.

“You tried speaking to your sister and asking her about this shit?” Luca glared at Rose. The fluorescent lights cast harsh shadows across his face, making his expression even more threatening.

“No, I—” Rose’s voice wavered, and something protective and primal surged through Finn’s chest.

Like hell.Finn took a deliberate pace forward. Behind him, Rose’s breathing was quick and shallow. He wanted nothing more than to comfort her. But now was not the time or place. “It’s been a long day, Luca. Why don’t you give it a rest?”

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