Page 9

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Rose’s pulse thundered in her ears.

“Ready?” Finn’s voice was calm. Self assurance radiated from him in waves.

“Yes.” Like hell I am.

“If we fall, I’ll cushion you.”

Her heart plummeted to the base of her stomach. “What?—”

“Only joking.” Finn flexed his legs, his iron-hard thighs caging hers. “You’re safe. I promise.”

God. What the hell am I doing? I’m a robotics engineer, not a rappelling genius with expertise at base jumping to the center of the earth. This is all a big mis ? —

“Do you trust me?” His breath tickled her cheek. She had only known him a few hours, but there was something crazily intimate about being harnessed to him.

“Sure.” Fear made her limbs rigid, but she knew one thing. I trust this man.

Strong arms locked on her waist for the last time and snugged her into the crook of his body. Then before she could protest, the world tilted backwards and Finn pulled her over the rim of the world.

Rose gripped the harness on his shoulder, clinging to the solidity of his body. A scream escaped her as they plunged into darkness, but the plummeting fall to her death, it didn’t happen.

Shit. Shit. Shit.

“Rose. It’s okay to breathe.” The deep rumble of his voice transmitted through her bones, vibrating confidence and security through her body.

She was still alive. She was freaking still alive.

She forced her eyes to open, her skin clammy with fear, and blinked, giving her eyes time to adjust. She had so not signed up for this.

The darkness wasn’t absolute, and faint light filtered from above. Rope hissed and Finn’s body framed hers as they slid in a controlled slide downward. Rock gleamed in the paltry light, slick with lime-green algae. Life forms of a hidden ancient ecology.

“You okay?” His arms worked on either side of her, lifting the rope to descend, pushing it down to brake as they navigated around fierce outcroppings.

“Yes.” She peered between her feet where the life raft was a golden glow, brighter now that they were closer. Luca whooped from below, waving his arms wildly. Rose looked away, looked up. Looking down was making her feel dizzy.

“Not far to go now.”

“Uh, huh.” The rock grew more craggy, the air colder, her breath puffing vapor as she breathed. “I bet you say that to all the girls.”

A deep-throated chuckle. “This might surprise you, but I don’t normally rappel with a hot woman in my arms.”

“Oh.” Hot.

He made an embarrassed noise. “Sorry, that was unprofessional.” He curved around her, adjusting the rope, his scruff scratching her exposed ear lobe under her helmet. Electricity danced across her scalp.

Rose closed her eyes again. She didn’t know what the hell was going on with her but she was just going to ignore all these crazy feelings because they had no place here in this mission. She had a job to do. A half-sister who despised her to rescue.

A fragment of the past stabbed her mind like a splinter. Thea’s face warped by resentment “You’ve always had it so easy, Rose. Everyone looks up to you. Is it too much for me to have the same, to share it out a little?”

God . Margaret was mistaken if she believed Rose would have any influence over Thea. Now more than ever, Rose didn’t understand what she was doing here. Surely, she was more of a hindrance to Finn’s team than a help?

Her boots hit solidity.

“You can open your eyes now.” Amusement tinged Finn’s voice, but she ignored it.

She opened her eyes. They were on a large floating platform and she was alive, and in one piece, even if her heart felt like it was about to crack her ribcage. “We made it.”

“Did you doubt me?” Finn’s voice caressed her ear as he loosened the ropes that bound them together and then unclipped her harness.

“What? No, I just…”

On the far side of the platform, Luca grinned at her from where he was unpacking air tanks from the haul bag. He whistled and spun one finger in a descending circle, mimicking a fall from the skies.

“It’s a big drop. You did really well.” Liev, the dark-eyed one, smiled at her and proffered a hand to steady her as she stepped out of the rappel harness.

From above it had looked like the lights were on a raft, but now that she was here, she saw that the lighting was a ring of submerged lamps. They hung several feet deep around the platform, casting an ethereal light into the aquamarine water and illuminating the cave chamber. She peered over the edge, hoping for the reassuring sight of a rocky lake bed, something to ease her into this. But there was nothing, just the azure color of the water fading into dark nothingness.

Movement on the edges of the light caught her vision. Tapered worms writhing in concentric spirals. There are worms in the water. Okaaaay. She leaned back, pressing her teeth together, sucking in breaths that left a mineral taste in her mouth.

Focus on something else. Anything else.

The walls of the cavern emerged from the gloom as her eyes adjusted. Water dripped from overhead stalactites, jutting from the ceiling like prehistoric shark teeth. Some were as thick as a man’s waist, gray-white with passing time. Others were broken, their ragged edges truncated, or split apart into even more jagged points, their tips sharpened with age.

“Impressive, huh?” Finn coiled rope around his forearm.

“Yes.” She had to admit it was. Ocean diving was one thing, but this was a whole other world.

The platform jolted as Liev pulled a smaller, bright orange inflated raft close to the platform. Her heart leaped at the sight of the object nestled within.

MARV .

Grateful for something familiar, Rose dropped to her knees and ran her hands over her baby, checking for any damage sustained on the descent. She breathed a sigh of relief. MARV was undamaged.

“Fuck me, it’s a fucking snakebot.” Luca squatted beside her.

“This is MARV.” Rose kept her voice level. “Marine Autonomous Robotic Version IV. MARV is a robotic bio-hybrid. Biological DNA combined with nano tech.” She ran a hand along MARV’s metallic body. “I developed MARV to inspect subsea structures. It’s configuration has been augmented to create an autonomous robotic hybrid that can navigate hostile environments without risk to human life.”

Luca’s eyes widened. “This thing is part robot, part living organism?”

Rose bobbed her head and she allowed herself a small smile of pride. “MARV can think and adapt like a living creature, but with the durability and resilience of a machine. The neural network is modeled after the human brain, allowing it to process and analyze data in real-time. It can navigate through even the most treacherous underwater environments, collecting valuable data?—”

Luca let out a low whistle. “No offense, Doc, but our previous experience with any kind of robot or AI has been a total shitstorm.”

“MARV has been rigorously tested and refined over several years.” Rose fought to keep a smile on her face. “I have designed every aspect of MARV’s programming to ensure it operates within strict parameters. It’s a tool, a highly advanced one, but a tool nonetheless and perfectly safe.”

Luca shook his head, a skeptical chuckle escaping his lips as he boosted to his feet. He took a step back. “With all due respect, keep it well away from me.” He shook his head. “And I’ll be keeping my eye on it. One wrong move and I won’t hesitate to take it out.”

Rose rubbed her neck with more force than was necessary. “Of all the?—”

A warm hand settled on her arm. “Don’t let him rile you.” Finn’s tone was even. “But what’s he’s talking about is the truth. We have run into a few problems in the past.”

“There are no problems with my design.”

Something glimmered in Finn’s eyes and then vanished. “Of course not.”

Needing distraction from her rising irritation, Rose reached into her backpack, pulled out the controls and woke MARV. The robot’s systems came online. Its slanted eyes glowed a brilliant white, casting an eerie light across the platform. It never got old seeing what she had created come to life.

“Liev, give me a hand.” Finn’s voice broke through her reverie. He slid into the water with a soft splash and swam behind MARV, his movements careful as he worked with Liev to maneuver the robot off the raft and into the water.

Rose toggled the controls and MARV slithered with fluid grace deeper into the water. She tracked the bio-hybrid’s progress on her screen. MARV would map the descent to the Io Habitat while they finished their preparations and waited for the rest of the team to descend. She rolled her shoulders back, soothed by familiarity. MARV’s presence was a comfort, a reminder of her dedicated work. Work had always been her sanctuary, a place to lose herself away from the unregulated chaos of the world. Free of emotion, work kept her sane, gave her focus.

The platform rocked and Rose turned. Finn was pulling himself back on. Water cascaded from his muscled shoulders, running in rivulets down the chiseled planes of his abdomen as he found his feet. Against her will, Rose drank in the sight of him. The way his wet suit clung to every ripped contour of his body, it should be illegal.

She flashed her tongue over her upper lip.

Focus was easier said than done.