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Rose’s eyes burned from staring at the tablet screen, tracking the nanobots through the wild heart of the Kalahari. Each one capable of replicating itself a thousand times over.

Four hours of drone surveillance had led them here, deep into the wild heart of the Kalahari, where the air shimmered with malevolent heat. Her fingers flew across the digital keyboard, recalculating signal strength.

An alert flashed red.

Signal degrading at an exponential rate.

Rose rubbed a tender spot between her eyebrows, her skin gritty with desert dust that smothered her pores.

The numbers have to be wrong. We should have days. Not hours. If we lose them now...

Her fingers flew across the screen.

Run it again.

A blue circle looped slowly as the program processed, each second another chance for the swarm to slip away and multiply beyond their control.

Numbers flashed .

Shit.

Thea’s voice echoed in her mind, mocking her calculations, just like when they were kids. Always so careful, Rose. Always playing it safe.

She pushed the memory aside, her tongue searching for moisture in her mouth so she could speak. “Finn.”

“Yeah?” He looked over from the driver’s seat.

Endless dirt rolled by, red and ancient as a Martian wasteland. “The signal’s weakening.”

“What?”

“We’re running out of time. We should have days to track the radioisotope, but we’ve got hours.” She bounced a curled knuckle against her mouth. She should be able to fix this, but nothing was making sense anymore.

“Fuck.” Finn rolled his hands on the steering wheel, a muscle popping in his jaw.

The jeep lurched as he navigated what barely passed for a track, the vehicle’s frame screeching in protest. Rose braced herself against the dashboard, her heart jumping with each violent jolt that threatened to throw the tablet from her knees. The military-grade tracking software flickered but held steady.

“How much farther?” Finn asked, his knuckles white as he wrestled the vehicle up another steep incline.

Rose forced herself to focus on the coordinates, fighting down a wave of nausea. “Two kilometers.” She grabbed the roll bar as they jolted over another rut. “We’ve got maybe an hour, two at the most, before the trace becomes too weak to follow.”

If that happened, the swarm would disappear into the desert. Free to multiple and evolve.

“Jesus.” Finn snatched a glance at her. “You know why?”

“I wish I did.” She shook her head. They were fighting an enemy that kept changing the rules. “I’m guessing, but they might be shedding the isotopes as they evolve.”

“Hold on.” He pressed his foot to the gas, and the jeep leaped forward, the suspension protesting as they climbed higher. Through the dusty windshield, there was nothing but rocky terrain and stubborn, twisted bushes. In her side-view mirror, she glanced at Ethan and the others following. A grim convoy racing against time.

“Look.” Finn pointed to a plateau ahead. “That matches the drone footage.”

Her tablet emitted a sharp ping.

What—

The swarm’s signal pulsed strongly. Impossibly stronger than her calculations had predicted. Hair lifted along the back of her neck.

The swarm was on the move. Coming this way.

Evolving faster than predicted. Was this what Thea had intended? Creation outpacing creator, breaking free of human constraints.

Her stomach lurched. “Finn, stop here. They’re close.” Data flooded her screen.

He killed the engine. “Rose?”

The two jeeps on their tail pulled up alongside them.

“Hang on.” Diagnostics confirmed her suspicions. “We need to deal with the swarm now before they become untraceable.”

“Fuck.” Finn had his hand poised to open the door. “Give us a minute.”

She turned the tablet facedown in her lap, scanning sweeping vistas of sand and jagged mountains piercing the sky. “Sure.”

Finn vaulted from the jeep and stalked toward the rest of his team, surveying the plateau .

Rose took a deep breath as the men gathered. Finn anchored the center, broad shoulders solid against Liev and Nik’s, while Ethan raised a placating hand toward Luca’s emphatic gestures.

If anyone could stop the swarm, it was Finn’s team. They had already tackled impossible odds.

But even the Wolves looked insignificant against the endless waves of red dunes rolling toward the horizon, ancient riverbeds carved deep into the earth like scars. Behind them, the cave mouth gaped—a perfect black void, smooth-edged as if carved by some ancient force.

A perfect sanctuary for the swarm.

Rose climbed out of the jeep, the chunky tablet tucked under her arm. The tracking program was still running, mapping the swarm’s movements deep within the cave system.

Luca’s voice carried to her on the wind, whetted with frustration. “We are talking about a fucking swarm of flying dust.”

“A swarm that’s multiplying exponentially.” She moved toward the jeep where Finn and Ethan had started carefully unloading equipment. She balanced her tablet in one hand while reaching for a canvas bag with the other.

“Signal’s still degrading fast?” Ethan studied her, his eyes blue flints.

She nodded. “They’re merging in the cave system. Movement patterns suggest they’re advancing.”

As if they sense we are here.

Finn grunted, passing her a lighter bag while taking the heavier one from her grip. His fingers brushed hers, sending a spark through her skin, warmth softening his eyes for just a moment. “The clock is ticking. We work with what we have. ”

Liev climbed in the back of the jeep and passed several canvas bags to Luca, who stalked away, arms full. “And what exactly do we have?”

Ethan took a knee and unzipped a bag. A dull metal box gleamed inside. “TNT. Neodymium magnets.”

Finn dropped from the vehicle. “Not elegant, but we don’t need elegant. We need effective.” With a sharp tug, he unzipped the canvas bag and pulled out one of the dive magnets. He rolled it in his palm. “The strongest rare earth magnets in the world.”

Luca sucked air through his teeth, rubbing his ribs. “Fucking painful when you blasted them out.”

“The neodymium will force convergence. They’re still part machine.” Ethan’s voice hardened. “Slaves to the laws of physics, whether or not they like it.”

Rose pulled up a thermal map on her tablet, squinting against the harsh desert glare. “Density readings peak thirty feet in.” She swiped through data, setting up the grid. “I can track the swarm’s movement. One escaped cluster—” She locked eyes with Finn. “That’s all it takes.”

He rapped his knuckles on the metal case marked with red lettering. “Enough science. Time to blow the bastards up.”