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Rose’s skin tingled everywhere Finn had touched her, sensation burning her like a brand. Her fingers traced the memory of his kiss on her forehead.

She wanted more.

The kiss they’d shared had awakened something in her. But it wasn’t just the kiss. It was how he’d taken care of her, fed her, put her needs above everything else. No man had ever cared for her like that before.

Like she was irreplaceable. Precious.

God.

She’d never met anyone like him. All packed muscle and lethal skills on the outside, but beneath that warrior exterior lay a gentleness that took her breath away. Only a few short hours ago she would never have thought it possible, but his touch, his scent, all of him threaded through her, stitching a new place in her heart, one that she never imagined existed.

One that could envision a future for the two of them beyond this missio n

They turned a corner and the doors of the Environmental Control Hub became visible, yanking her back to reality.

Her sister. So many secrets. The lives at risk.

She tucked away her feelings about Finn, wrapping them carefully like treasures to examine later. Because hell, she would do whatever it took to ensure there was a later.

Finn entered the hub first, pulse rifle raised, every honed line of his body alert. The warrior was back, but she’d seen beneath the armor now.

“Stay back,” he ordered, his command holding all the protectiveness she’d felt in his touch minutes before.

Rose barely had time to nod before he pushed her behind him with a firm hand on her shoulder. He kept her in place until he was satisfied there was no immediate threat in the room.

The space was vast. Vibration thrummed up through the floor and into her boot soles. Overhead, a maze of pipes and conduits snaked across the ceiling, casting distorted shadows in the sterile light.

Massive air scrubbers rhythmically whooshed on her left. Relief made her a little dizzy. At least something was working properly.

To her right, towering cylindrical tanks reflected a shimmering distortion of the room. Between the tanks, hexagonal chambers housed rows of ultraviolet lamps that radiated sterile blue light. Water purification.

Straight ahead loomed the power distribution center, a hulking array of generators and transformers. It dominated the room like an indifferent sentinel, its surface dark except for a jagged pattern of flickering red lights. The banks of servers and control panels that should have been blinking reassuringly with green and blue were instead an angry wash of crimson. A metallic tang soured the air.

Her eyes darted to the central screen. Data flashed through critical systems at a bewildering pace. She wasn’t an environmental engineer, but she didn’t need to be to know one thing for certain. Flashing red lights were never good.

Ahead, Luca crouched over a tangled mess of fiber optic cables, his face pale and slick with sweat. Sparks flared as he twisted the ends, trying to force a connection.

“Come on, you piece of shit,” he muttered through gritted teeth.

Another spark snapped, and Luca recoiled, throwing the cables down in frustration. “Useless junk!”

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 her voice, 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.”