He doesn’t know I know, she realized. He must have not seen her the night before. He was still trying to con her with his cocky Mr. Nice Guy act. For all she know, Loki was waiting just out in the hall. They probably thought they had her cornered then and there—off guard and by surprise. But they were very, very wrong.

“Gaia, are you—”

“I know, Josh,” Gaia interrupted him coldly. “I know who you work for, and I know what you’ve been doing to Sam, so you can just drop it.”

Josh’s grin returned. Then he shrugged. “Okay,” he said simply. “Have it your way.” He pulled his right hand from behind his back—revealing a nine-millimeter pistol with a four-inch silencer. “This is easier, anyway. I don’t have to make nice to such a ball-busting bitch. It’s harder than you think.”

Gaia’s leg muscles tensed. Adrenaline shot through, pumping her body with the electric, pre-combat fizz. She welcomed the sensation. It was like a taste of something sweet and long-forgotten. She could kick that gun away from him and snap his neck in two before he even had a chance to exhale a dying breath.

“I wouldn’t try anything,” Josh added calmly.

As if on cue, the suite door came crashing open, and three burly men burst into the common room— all clad in black, all brandishing pistols. Before Gaia could make a move, the three muzzles were aimed at her head.