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Finn methodically pressed the last primed box of TNT against the rear wall of the jeep, sweat trickling down his temples.

Behind him, copper-colored clouds massed on the horizon, their edges tinged an unnatural purple in the settling dusk. The early evening heat was heavy against his skin as he threaded several loops of rope through the metal frame, securing the explosive in place. His fingers worked the knots twice over—there was no room for error. Two of their three vehicles now stood loaded with enough firepower to collapse a small mountain.

The preparation had consumed precious time they couldn’t afford to waste. Rose’s analysis of the cave system had revealed a labyrinth of intersecting chambers and parallel tunnels, forcing them to adapt their strategy and split up.

He checked the schematic Rose had pulled up on her tablet one last time. Two entrances. Liev, Nik, and Ethan would take the first jeep to the secondary entrance while he and Luca would drive the other vehicle—loaded with explosives and the electromagnetic array—deep into the main chamber. Once the secondary exit was sealed, the magnets would funnel the swarm back toward the first entrance. Finn and Luca would leave the primed jeep in the cave, exit, and then detonate it before making their escape in the remaining jeep.

“We’re good to go,” Ethan called out, jumping down from his position and brushing reddish dirt from his cargo pants. Liev was already behind the wheel, fingers drumming an uneven rhythm on the steering wheel.

“Timeline’s tight.” Liev checked his watch. “Those schematics solid, Rose?”

“The swarm will follow the path of least resistance.” Her voice was steady, but Finn caught the tremor in her hands as she gripped her tablet. “My calculations are exact.”

“Good enough for me.” Nik nodded as he climbed into the jeep’s bed. “Let’s do this clean and fast.”

Finn caught Rose’s eye. She gave him a tight smile that didn’t quite mask her worry.

“Look.” She pointed to the horizon.

Finn shielded his eyes from the setting sun. Something dark and massive stretched across the sky—a shadow where the endless blue should be. “Sandstorm. A big one.”

“Finn—” She showed him the satellite imagery on her tablet. A towering wall of orange-brown dominated the screen.

A hot wind gusted, carrying the metallic tang of the approaching storm.If the nanobots got caught in the storm’s fury…

“How long?” Rose rubbed at the base of her neck.

Finn narrowed his eyes. “Two hours, maybe less. Once it hits, visibility drops to zero. Potential winds over seventy kilometers per hour. ”

Ethan swore under his breath. “We have time. But we need to move now.” The unspoken alternative hung in the air between them—Thea’s nanobots caught in a Kalahari sandstorm, scattered across thousands of square miles.

“Can’t someone cut us some fucking slack for once?” Luca muttered, his face turned to the darkening sky.

“Let’s get this show on the road.” Ethan’s voice was terse. He swung up beside Liev, the vehicle roaring to life beneath them. They pulled away, dust eddying in their wake. In their absence, wind whipped across the exposed terrain, pelting Finn’s bare arms with stinging sand. Static almost crackled in the super-heated air.

A harbinger of the approaching storm.

Time’s running out.

He hurried to the second vehicle, Rose close on his heels.

“Finn.” She tugged his elbow. “What is that?”

He followed her gaze to the cave entrance. A mass sprawled across the ground—not reddish like the desert floor, but an unsettling bluish-gray in the fading light. The storm-charged air seemed to bend around it, distorting the space like a heat mirage.

His hand flicked the safety on his holster.

Luca snugged his pulse rifle against his shoulder, his eyes dark slashes. “We should check that shit out.”

“Stay behind me.” Finn motioned Rose into his shadow as he approached the cave mouth.

He slowed. Combat instincts screamed a warning, every nerve firing.

This was bad.

He stopped abruptly. Rose bumped into his back, steadying herself with a grip on his waist. “Finn, what?”

She stepped around him and, before he could stop her, dropped into a crouch. The evening’s dying light reflected an oily sheen on the jellied mass before them.

Luca circled it, weapon trained. “What in the ever-loving hell is that?”

Finn gripped Rose’s shoulder, instincts screaming to pull her back. “Rose?—”

She took hold of his hand as she boosted to her feet, her skin pale despite the desert sunset. “They’re replicating even faster than I expected.”

“What? Shit?” Luca kicked dirt on the mass.

“You know what this is?” Finn searched her gaze.

She nodded. “An animal…well, was an animal.”

“An animal?” His gaze fell to the ground again. “It looks like a dead jellyfish and we’re in the middle of the goddamn desert.”

Luca prodded the mass with the tip of his pulse rifle. “Are those bones in there?” His face warped in disgust. “Fucking flesh-eating jellybots?—”

“Gray goo.” Her voice became emotionless, clinical. “In the habitat, the nanobots utilized the Ceto bacteria.” Her gaze fixed on the mass. “But here, they are evolving beyond their programming, consuming whatever organic material they find—local wildlife, plants, anything. The assembler units break it down, restructure it, and replicate. Endlessly. Creating an army.”

Finn turned his back on the goo. Hair pricked on his arms. The same way it did on a mission when shit was about to hit the fan.

When he looked up, the sandstorm loomed larger on the horizon, but the breeze had dropped, the air preternaturally still. As if the desert itself had stopped breathing. His boots crunched against loose scree, the sound too loud, slipping him through time—back to the start of the mission .

The same harbinger.

Dried blood under his boots.

No wind. No movement. Wrong.

Finn raised his weapon as he took measured steps toward the cave entrance, scanning for a threat.

Nothing.

Fuck, this place had him spooked.

He scrubbed his shoulder against his chin as he flicked a glance toward the jeep, its bed packed tight with TNT and neodymium magnets under a sky of ribbon-like clouds. His mouth tasted of metal and ozone. Time to ? —

A muted thump shook the landscape, vibration crawling through the soles of his boots.

The comms crackled. “This is Ethan. Alternative exit blocked.”

Finn touched his comms. “Copy that. Exit blocked Ethan. We are a go on delivering the second?—”

What the…

The cave entrance shifted from black to living mercury. A steely-gray shimmer pulsed outward, spilling into the open air. It rose, corrupting the golden evening light, ballooning high above him until it sullied the orange-streaked sky.

It shifted. Moving past him, behind him.

Toward Rose and Luca.

“Rose! Move!” But she froze, staring upward. Didn’t even seem to hear him. Her gaze locked on the haze circling above her. Like a hawk sizing up a sparrow.

No.

Ice flooded his veins.

Did it know who she was? Her connection to Thea?

Luca grabbed her arm, yanking her close, pulling her backwards in stumbling steps.

But the swarm matched their pace. Hunting.

A shadow stretched across the ground, narrowing to an arrowhead—aimed directly at Rose.

He had to pull the swarm off her.

Protect her.

Move. Now.

He sprinted for the armed jeep, vaulted into the driver’s seat.

Handbrake off. Accelerator floored.

He flipped the switch to power the magnets. The air shimmered, a pulse of energy rippling outward as the field intensified a hundredfold. The jeep bucked over rocks, almost ripping the wheel from his grip. He clenched his jaw, grit grinding between his teeth as he wrenched control back. He gunned it into a wide arc, skidding sideways close to Rose and Luca. The jeep’s wheels threw up stones and dust that merged with the storm-heavy air. Lightning flickered in the distance, illuminating the clouds from within.

“Over here, you bastards! Over here!”

“Finn, no!” His action broke her paralysis. Her face twisted in horror, but there was no stopping now.

He risked a glance up. The swarm wavered. The spearhead aimed at Rose had lost its sharp edge, fracturing.

This.

Three years in prison. Fighting back from the edge to build something worth living for. And for what? To die in a cave?

So be it.

He’d spent too long trapped in the past, blind to what was right in front of him. But Rose had changed that.

If this brief, sweet glimpse of her was all he’d ever have, he’d take it. Because if Thea’s swarm wasn’t stopped, there wouldn’t be a world left for Rose to live in .

Rose’s screams faded behind him.

The swarm turned.

Tracking him.

His focus narrowed to a pinpoint. Keep her safe.

One last time.