Exposed by Francine Pascal Page A

every indication that Skyler was working against her. She was banking on the fact that she’d seen him hit the subway toward Forty-second Street, where she knew he wanted to catch the train to Queens. She knew he would be out for a while longer running his messed-up
le homme
Nikita head games. So she’d come back to his place to check out his roommate’s room again more thoroughly. There was something hidden in that room, she knew.
    She entered the room and slid open one of the lower desk drawers. Out popped a file cabinet, manila folders crammed tightly in place. Gaia crouched down to read their labels. GENE SPLICING, one read.
Um, okay
. Safe to say that at the very least, Skyler was using his roommate’s cabinets to store his own files. EFFECTS OF, readthe folder just behind it. Barely daring to hold her breath, Gaia had reached her fingers in to pry the folder out when suddenly she stopped dead in her tracks.
    MILITARY USE.
    Military use? Military use of what? Military use of fear? Military use of lack of fear?
    Gaia’s throat felt tight and dosed, and her breath came more sharply now. Her uncle, Oliver/Loki, had once harbored designs of replicating Gaia’s fear-suppressed DNA to create an army of ultimate warriors…. That hadn’t really worked out for him. His fear serum had yielded tragic side effects, from shaking, to blindness, to-in some cases, when left unchecked-death. So Gaia had just assumed that once Loki had been foiled, the idea of removing fear from soldiers in combat had finally been dismissed.
    She knew, now, never to assume again.
    GAIA BREATHLESSLY PUSHED OPEN the door to the Starbucks on Sixth Avenue, doing a quick scan of the room to see if Jake had arrived yet. It was four-fifteen, which was exactly the time they had agreed to meet. Gaia had never been one for punctuality. But with all of the secrecy, distrust, and miscommunication between her and Jake lately, she figured it really couldn’t hurt to be on time.
    Exhibit A
    Clearly, though, Jake didn’t share her opinion.
    Not that he was technically late yet, of course. And he probably wasn’t expecting her to be shockingly prompt. Little did he know that she was supercharged from the findings of her recent recon mission. Supercharged? Scratch that—she was ready to burst out of her skin.
    The coffee shop was humming with a quiet level of energy, about half filled, mainly with spillover NYU students either on their way to or just coming from class. Gaia ordered herself a cup of coffee, milk and sugar—no four-dollar designer drink for her, thank you very much—and collapsed at one of the unoccupied tables toward the front of the coffee shop, near the door.
    She was nervous for Jake to arrive, nervous as to what they were going to say to each other. She wasn’t ready for their relationship to be over—it hardly seemed like it had even had time to get off the ground—but it certainly looked like things were headed that way. And that sucked. There were so few people in her life that Gaia felt she could depend on, she really wanted to be right about Jake.
    â€œSorry I’m late,” she heard from a voice above her,just as someone leaned in close and kissed her on the cheek. “Were you waiting long?”
    And there he was. Gaia couldn’t help but take a moment to check him out. He looked great: fresh from a shower and clean smelling, with his thick hair tumbling down over one eye. He pulled out the chair opposite Gaia and sat down to face her.
    â€œNo, I just got here,” she replied quietly, feeling suddenly shy. “It’s good to see you.”
    â€œIt’s good to see you, too,” Jake said warmly. Dimples erupted in either cheek, and Gaia felt a fresh wave of embarrassment that she had ever blown him off in favor of the seriously disturbed Skyler.
    â€œSo how come you weren’t in school today?” Jake asked.
    â€œWait,” Gaia interrupted.