Page 53

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Rose paced the perimeter of the archeology dig, her steps kicking up red sand that settled on her boots. The afternoon sun beat against her neck, but the physical discomfort barely registered against the crushing pressure in her head.

Twenty yards back, Finn watched with careful distance, his face a study in concern. She was glad of the space he was giving her—she needed to process the incomprehensible. Her own sister had just endangered the entire planet.

Thea was a scientist. One of the best minds in nanotechnology. What could have possessed her to release an untested swarm into?—

Stop.

She rolled her lip between her teeth, welcoming the sting. Recriminations wouldn’t help. They needed a solution. There had to be an answer buried in the data, some way to contain this disaster before it spread beyond the desert.

Think. Science had never failed her before. But science had never had to account for Thea’s recklessness.

A low rumble broke her concentration. Two chunky jeeps materialized on the horizon, heat waves distorting their approach across the desert. Dust billowed in their wake like storm clouds. The vehicles pulled up fifty yards from the dig, tires crunching to a halt on loose stone.

Car doors slammed in quick succession. Ethan emerged first, his tactical vest bulky in the sun. Nik unfolded from the passenger side, already scanning the camp perimeter. From the second jeep, Liev’s bulk cast a shadow across the ground. Luca slid out last, sunglasses hiding his eyes.

Ethan lifted a hand in greeting and headed toward her.

Finn met him halfway. “Ethan.”

“Finn. Sit rep?”

Finn nodded, gesturing for his team leader to follow. The two men peeled away from the group. Their heads bent close, voices dropping too low for Rose to catch.

“Doc.” Luca’s drawl carried its usual edge of amusement as he strolled up. “How’s that genius brain of yours holding up?”

Rose touched the back of her head, startled by the tender spot she’d almost forgotten. “Still functioning. You?”

“Takes more than some mini-robot shit to keep me down.” He rotated his shoulders. “I’m practically indestructible.”

“Like a cockroach?” Liev’s mouth twitched.

“Yeah. But way hotter.” Luca’s smile turned knowing as he glanced toward Finn. “I see some of us are operating at less than peak efficiency. There’s no hope for that one. He’s gone full tragic romance novel.”

Rose’s gaze landed on Finn’s broad shoulders, and something wrenched in her chest.

A few days. She’d known him for only a few days, and already the thought of losing him made her heart hurt. The universe had a cruel sense of timing—dropping him into her life just as everything went to hell. She’d spent years focused on nothing but her research, and now, when she finally found someone who made her want more, her sister had unleashed madness into the world.

“Luca—” Her voice came out more broken than she intended.

“Relax.” His grin widened. “Nice to see Finn all glowy and shit.” He winked, then his expression sharpened. “Your deranged sister’s in the med tent?”

She swallowed hard and forced herself to meet Luca’s eyes. “Thea released a queen nanobot when she got to the surface.”

“Jesus Christ.” Liev’s curse cut through the desert air.

Luca went still. ”Just one?”

“One’s enough.” Her arms tightened around herself despite the heat. “Replication will already have started.”

“Well, shit.” Luca pulled off his sunglasses, his gaze scanning the horizon. “How long ago?”

“Hard to say exactly. We only found out forty minutes ago, but—” Rose stared at the empty desert, its vastness overwhelming. How far could they have spread? Calculations spun in her head.

“Your sister sure likes to complicate things.” Luca’s voice had lost all trace of humor.

“That’s one way to put it.” The magnitude of what Thea had done pressed against her chest. Somewhere out there, invisible in the desert air, the deadliest swarm ever created was loose.

“You caught them before.” Luca snapped his fingers. “That green gloop they couldn’t resist. The tank trap.”

“They don’t need Ceto bacteria anymore. They’ve got a whole desert full of organic material to consume. ”

Liev’s face darkened. “Magnets. The little bastards hated magnets.”

Luca jabbed an agreeing finger at him. “Yes?—”

“If we could find them.” Rose let out a humorless laugh. “They could be anywhere by now. They might not even be in the desert anymore.”

“So we hunt them at night.” Luca’s tone was final.

She frowned. “What?”

“The lights.” He tapped his temple. “Our microscopic friends put on quite the light show in the tube, didn’t they?”

Rose went absolutely still.

Holy crap.

Of course.

Panic had scrambled her brain so badly she’d missed the obvious. She grabbed Luca’s face, kissed him hard, then pulled back.

“Luca, you beautiful genius.”

“Well, I always knew—” He beamed, cocky as ever.

“Those weren’t lights.” Her heart pounded . “That was the radioisotopes. We can track their radiation signature.”