Kara moved so quickly that he hardly saw it. Suddenly she’d jumped at Willow and grabbed her from behind – one arm tight around Willow’s throat, the other holding a gun to her head. Willow gave a choked cry.

Alex’s pulse jumped and he started forward; in a blur, he was aware of Seb lunging too – of Sam throwing himself at Seb in a flying tackle. The two of them crashed to the floor with a heavy thud, struggling.

Kara flicked the safety off her gun, stopping Alex in his tracks.

“Think again,” she said. The muscles of her forearm were rigid against Willow’s neck. “I am not letting you compromise this mission, Alex. Drop your gun. Now.”

“Alex, don’t,” gasped Willow, clutching Kara’s arm. “I’m only one person; it doesn’t matter about me—”

“You don’t even know what she said!” burst out Alex at the same time. “Kara, listen to me! It’s true; the attack can’t go ahead—”

“Did you hear me?” she snapped. “Because I’ll blow her brains out right now if you don’t drop your gun.”

Out of the corner of his vision, Alex saw that Seb was making a decent showing for himself as he and Sam scuffled, but the Texan outweighed him by at least fifty pounds. There was the sharp crack of fist against skin – and then the next second Sam had him down, as Seb let spew with a string of Spanish that it was lucky Sam didn’t understand.

Alex kept his eyes on Kara’s, not letting his glance flicker to the weapons cabinet on the wall behind her. They’d packed most of the guns away into the truck, but a couple of small pistols were still in there – cheap .25s that none of them liked using. If he played along with Kara for now, he might be able to get to one.

Slowly, he reached for his gun and tossed it onto the floor.

Kara didn’t stop watching him for a second. Her forearm still mercilessly tight around Willow’s neck, she transferred her gun to the other hand, shoving the muzzle up under Willow’s jaw. In a single motion, she bent and scooped up Alex’s gun, tucking it away into her waistband.

“Good,” she said as she rose again; Willow was gasping for breath. “Now your VIP pass and the keys for the truck.”

Alex’s muscles were clenched, watching. The cabinet was about ten feet away. If Kara’s attention left him for even a heartbeat, he’d go for it. He dug into his pocket. His fingers hesitated as he touched what was in there; then keys and card followed with a clatter.

“You’re making a mistake, Kara,” he said. “Raziel wants the Council dead – and if they’re killed, millions of people could die.”