“Really?” Annika hesitated. “Would you mind getting a whiteboard from Staples, then? It’s been on my to-do list forever. I feel like I need to write stuff down where we can see it every day and be inspired. Like, for instance, we need to get ready for EPIC next month. Let’s get some ideas flowing about that.” EPIC—the Entrepreneurs Pitching Investors Conference—was their one big chance to turn things around.

“Yes! I have a really good feeling about EPIC.” June clapped her hands and made for the handbag hanging on the back of her chair. “I’ll go get the whiteboard, and meanwhile, you just keep thinking.”

“I will.” Annika hopped up again and paced faster than before. June was right; the anger helped her think. God, she should have embraced her dark—uh, hotheaded—side a long time ago.

“None of that yogi crap!” June called over her shoulder as she headed into the elevator. “Stay mad!”

chapter two

“Stay mad. Right.” Annika took a breath. “Stupid Hudson Craft with his patronizing smile and his—”

BONNNNGGGG!

Annika stopped mid-stride, invectives trailing off. “What the hell?”

She waited a minute, then took another step.

BONNNNGGGGGG!

Either there was a gong sounding in this trendy high-rise office building, or those nightly self-hypnosis videos had finally scrambled her brain. Either was possible; after all, this was LA.

She walked out of the office and followed the direction of the sound.

Weird. Muffled cheering and whooping came from down the hall, where the empty office space was. Maybe the new company had moved in? But that didn’t make sense. The only reasonable explanation for the noises she was hearing was a party for demon children hopped up on sugar.

Annika picked up her pace until she found herself in front of the glass doors that led to the office next door. For a long minute, she just stood there, watching the mayhem—until an orange Nerf dart hit the glass door, pinged off in a frenzied pirouette, and shook her loose of her shock.

Her brain still refused to fully accept it, but she was definitely witnessing a Nerf gun battle between adults. Well, they were mostly hidden in their cardboard box forts, but they looked like adults.

Two people bolted from the opposing forts—one a pale, redheaded man and the other a woman of maybe East Asian descent. Both barefoot and in jeans and blue T-shirts, they raced around, squealing and yelling at each other like they were in an arcade. Annika watched in alarm as a Nerf dart hit a vase and it crashed to the floor. Neither of them seemed to notice. The redhead jumped on the couch, bellowing like a rhinoceros in pain. He looked happy, though.

BONNNNGGGG!

The sound of the gong forced Annika’s eyes to the front of the room. Suddenly, her senses snapped to attention. The hairs on her arms stood up. Her vision tunneled.