The midday sun had baked the rainwater out of the dirt. Puente Antiguo was back to its usual dusty days.

  I was leaning against the brick wall of a closed antique shop, watching the group across the street.

  Erik Selvig was rubbing his temples. Jane Foster was talking with Thor, who was wearing a borrowed pid shirt. Thor looked different today. His shoulders were rexed. He was actually listening to Jane, not just waiting for his turn to speak. The conversation in the cell had worked.

  Then, a loud voice broke the peace.

  "Found you!"

  Four figures walked down the center of the road in full Asgardian armor. The locals stopped on the sidewalks, staring openly at what they assumed was a bizarre renaissance fair group.

  Thor turned, his face lighting up. He jogged toward them, embracing Volstagg. The others crowded in, ughing and cpping him on the back. It was a loud, happy reunion.

  Watching them brought up an old, forgotten nostalgia. For a second, I didn't see Asgardians. I saw my own friends from a past life. It was a dull ache. I exhaled, and without meaning to, I let my guard down.

  A fraction of my presence leaked out.

  To Jane and Darcy, it was just a sudden chill. A trick of the wind.

  But for the Asgardians, it was different.

  Their ughter died.

  Sif froze. Her hand reached to her sword, but her fingers locked, paralyzed. Volstagg stumbled mid-sentence, the color draining from his face. Fandral and Hogun went completely rigid. They didn't draw their weapons.

  They didn't sense an enemy. They sensed a predator. It was a biological response, a crushing pressure warning their DNA that they were at the bottom of the food chain.

  Jane and Darcy stopped walking. "Uh.....what's wrong?" Darcy asked loudly.

  Thor recognized the feeling instantly. He turned his head toward the antique shop and saw me.

  I frowned and pulled the aura back behind my mental walls. The pressure vanished.

  Sif took a ragged breath, her knuckles white on her hilt. Volstagg used his axe to push himself upright.

  "Who are you?" Sif asked, stepping in front of Thor.

  Thor pced a hand on Sif's shoulder, easing her back. "Peace, Sif," he said quietly. "He is not an enemy. He is... a good partner." Thor looked at me, giving a slow nod. "We are in his territory."

  I stepped off the wall and into the sunlight.

  "You are drawing a crowd," I said, pointing to the locals whispering with their cell phones out. "I suggest you take your reunion indoors. Mortal streets are not the pce to be standing around in armor."

  Fandral swallowed hard. "Aye. Indoors seems prudent."

  Thor turned to Jane. "Jane, we must speak. My friends have come to take me home."

  But I had stopped listening.

  A new sensation pricked the back of my neck. Someone was watching from very far away, filled with anxious malice. I looked up at the blue sky.

  The Bifrost had left the door open.

  Loki was watching. He had seen his brother's friends commit treason, and he had seen them freeze before a stranger in a suit. He was afraid, and a frightened god with the throne of Asgard was a dangerous thing.

  I met the invisible gaze in the sky. Send your machine, I thought.

  "Thor," I said, interrupting them.

  He looked back at me.

  "Say your goodbyes," I advised, walking down the street toward my car. "The weather is about to turn."

  I didn't wait for a response.