Page 7 of Rupture

“Perfect timing, as always.” The easygoing expression was gone from Nik’s face, as the special forces operative that ran deep in his blood came to the fore.

“Isn’t that the truth?” Finn stroked the curve of the cockpit after re-latching it.Next time, baby.

He rolled his shoulders, locking everything down.

Nik punched him playfully between the shoulder blades, glancing at his own phone. “Time to get to work. You got sunscreen in that backpack?”

4

Rose woke with a jolt.Her harness was taut against her body as the helicopter shook violently.

What the?—

“Ladies and gentlemen.” The pilot’s voice crackled in her headset. “We are coming in to land. Bit bumpy out there.”

The craft dropped momentarily, and metal rattled, leaving her stomach somewhere in midair. Rose squeezed her eyes shut and took a deep breath, clutching the straps that crossed her chest with clammy hands. The last twenty-four hours had been a blur of packing and travel. Cars, three airplanes and now a helicopter, transporting her to the extremes of the Kalahari desert.

She released her harness with rigid fingers and forced herself to spread her fingers across the text of the guidebook in her lap. She focused on the print as distraction from the unnerving whine as the surging engine made the pages ripple.

Kalahari is derived from the Tswana word Kgala, meaning “the great thirst”, or Kgalagadi, meaning “a waterless place”; theKalahari has vast areas covered by red sand without any permanent surface water.

She released a hissing breath.Nope. Not working.Instead, she squinted out the window against the relentless sun as the helicopter circled a flattened bowl of parched red earth. Skeletal trees strained toward the sky as if frozen in a rain dance for water that would never come.

The guidebook description was spot on. It was hard to believe that under this desolate landscape was the largest non sub-glacial lake in the world.

She pressed her forehead to the glass, searching the ground below for signs of the team who would escort her to the Io habitat. Margaret had been economical on details. Rose chewed on her lower lip, her stomach twisting. She’d been forced on a mission with a team of mercenaries. Professional soldiers with no doubt questionable ethics.

A throaty cough drew her attention back to the helicopter’s interior. On the other side of the cabin was her companion, Professor Jeff Harris. As the engineer who’d designed the Io, he’d described the design process in excruciating detail earlier in the flight.

His bald head gleamed in the afternoon sun as he took photographs of their descent. At least when he was taking photographs, he wasn’t talking. The reprieve was welcome.

The landscape was relentlessly bleak. What on earth had possessed them to build a research station out here? For the millionth time, she wondered what was so important or dangerous that it needed to be so far from humanity? The people who’d arranged her transport had remained tight-lipped. Either they didn’t know or they’d been forbidden to tell her. Neither was an appealing option.

“Crazy to think there’s a lake under all of this.” Harris swiped through the photographs he’d taken. “It’s said thatthe waters of Dragon’s Breath Lake hold mystical properties, imbuing those who dare to brave its depths with strength, wisdom, and untold secrets.”

“I prefer science to old wives’ tales.” Rose kept her expression and voice neutral, free of the increasing uneasiness in her gut.

Harris flashed her a toothy grin. “Come on, Dr. Wyndham, don’t tell me you’re not at least a little curious about Dragon’s Breath?” Excitement gleamed in his eyes. “Who knows what mysteries might wait for us down there?”

“Hopefully none. This is a rescue mission.”

The smile faded from his face. “Of course, yes, but still—” He glanced out the window once more. “This place…” His voice dropped to a whisper, as if talking to himself. “There’s more to it than meets the eye.”

Her sister, Thea, was down there somewhere. Maybe hurt. Rose honestly didn’t know how she felt about that. Her feelings were all mixed up inside. Maybe it didn’t matter. She just needed to focus on doing her job well.

They were almost on the ground now, the rotors scouring dirt in all directions, making a central command tent surrounded by chunky black four by fours billow.

It looked like a military base camp.

Rose’s fingers dug dents in the arm rests at her side as she braced for touch down. She hissed air through clenched teeth as the cabin juddered and the skids hit compacted earth with a bump.

Back on solid ground, thank God. The sooner she got this over with, the sooner she could go home and back to her solitary life in the lab, just the way she liked it.

“Ladies and gents, we have arrived at your destination.” The pilot glanced over his shoulder to fire her a ‘mission completed’ grin. He flicked switches over his head withmeaty fingers. “Right on time. Team leader Ethan Carter will brief you.”

Rose unpeeled damp fingers from the leather and gave him a small wave of thanks, relief making her giddy. She unclipped her seatbelt and swiped the hair stuck to her cheek.

She leaned forward to collect her backpack from where it was stowed under her seat, glimpsing a group of well-built men clad head to toe in black through the narrow window. Rising dust obscured their faces, but they were motionless, having stopped what they were doing to watch the arrival. Her pulse ramped up several gears. The men were powerful looking.Mercenaries.She blew out a breath.Hell.Even from a distance, they looked intimidating.

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