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Being unconquerable lies within yourself; being conquerable lies within the enemy

- Sun-tzu, The Art of War

Nighttime, summer

Philadelphia

damali richardscould still feel the electricity of the crowd and the adrenaline rush of her spoken-word perfore dressing roo so hard it see from the extensive speaker system was like an insistent heartbeat that she could feel vibrating through the floor and sh the soles of her feet Dirty aqua-colored paint peeled at the corners of the cra scene

She glanced around at the ugly, stained brown sofa, and the sparse collection of wooden andto stand rather than flop on any of the seating choices How many performers' body funk had been permanently tattooed on that sorry excuse for a couch, she wondered? Even the one rilamorous life? She, Mar-lene, and a five-man squad crammed into a dump Pullease

Sweat, icy yet burning, a queen warrior headdress had suddenly becohly re it onto a chair, and she held her shoulder-length locks up off her neck to give her overheated body a much-needed waft of air The semiprecious stone and lion's teeth adornently clinked as she rimaced at the sound that was now too close to her skull All five feet seven inches of her felt on fire Being an artist was great, but this was no way to live

"Lot of activity on radar tonight," Marlene said in a near whisper, as though talking to herself "Most ti many"

"Yeah," Damali croaked Her vocal chords still ached from the intense performance, so she kept her response short Besides, what else was there to say to her roup?

Dalance They both knehat had to be done Things were heating up Before, one vaht follow them, at most two But ever since they'd turned the tables and went on the offensive a couple of ti for it to co had been the saular phenomenon Valuable junior team members had been lost because if it Irritation coiled within Dao down like that once they started hunting Shoulda let sleeping dogs lie

Marlene shot her a look that said don't start Screw Marlene and her pious yang Not tonight Sure, she loved Mar like a ht now Yeah, they only went after va up But that wasn't the point

"You didn't hear me, did you?"

Dalance, then looked away "No What did you say?"

Marlene waited until the toht it, and you didn't hear me in your head But I'm able to read you loud and clear That concerns me"

Total annoyance wrapped itself around Dalare to make her back off She felt invaded "I'm just tired, that's all The past is the past It's done now, anyway Drop it"

"You need to tell us when you're having sensory blackouts They're beco more frequent, aren't they? You could have sent that to me without a word"

The other ave Daet in thedispute More than likely they'd let the bullshit pass, because she and Marlene were always at it Whatever

Instead of answering Marlene, Damali forced her attention toward the Native Ae conga druaze scanned the sharp, titanium-based, silver-plated anchors that held the drumhead skins in place She refused to answer Marlene's question She didn't feel like dealing with that crap right now There was so the hair stand up on the back of her neck

Tonight, the druear was Jose's, aka Wizard He was da bouised weapons as well as she did out in the streets Suth, Daive Marlene a ure out how to better arm herself

The creas so quiet it was eerie Nobody said a •word, and all were siear That was not her tea The walls of the tiny roo her crehole Damali studied her weapons options

Maybe a few silver-plated chi on crossbow, his favorite weapon anyway A sister could back soes off the druot crazy out there -sah she reminded herself that when a cyh to slice paper without hearing it rip, that fact didn't ht Why not?

Her gaze instantly went to the Fender- - Jake Rider's electric guitar, and to Shabazz's bass, and then to Marlene's electric violin Marlene's line of vision followed Da the others with equipment breakdown

As Marlene moved to ith Shabazz, renewed tension wound its way up Da the instruments and put in the steel cables across the reinforced ht, and the string instruet Wizard to hook up the light poles through the phony strap loops to lock and load additional crossbows But Marlene needed to give up the walking stick as her only protection Sistah better recognize, and deal with her violin like it had been designed -put the steel-based bow across the bridge and be ready to rock

It felt like they'd need the light cannons out there, too, although at the moment, she couldn't exactly say why Nahthis was no way to live

She walked over to the drunored the look Marlene cast in her direction The dense scent of frankincense, sage, and e Da salt on therance, but felt herself almost retch

Usually the aroe space - a required opening before a purple haze of dry-ice smoke was released as she'd enter a perfor of holy water which had been poured around her in libation to bring forth the ancestors to channel-speak through her, and to encircle her while she spat out the truth of injustice, did not infuse her ht Heavy bass still throbbed in her skull, now cranking the growing headache to a new decibel level with the ongoing cluba vampire huntress was no way to live

"You all right?"

Marlene's question hung in the air as the other crew members paused in their tasks for a h waiting for the green light to continue their equipment breakdown

Da at her froet back to the compound, where they stowed off the hook weapons The equiph new airport security screenings, which meant it wasn't the real heavy artillery And, yeah, it would be enough to stop a few predators But if her senses were right, they were in for sho 'nuff action tonight

The probleht was fine, but inside her head, everything was blurry Her third-eye was down Had been that way for a couple of weeks, like static on a television Intermittent static Sometimes her ht, it was all snow She hated this bull

"We need to hurry up," Damali said out of the blue Her crew stared at her One by one they nodded, but nobody said a word Damn, it was hot in there

For some reason, the air-conditioned confines didn't cool her off either Her skin-tight, thigh-slit leather pants felt like they were suffocating her, while the ropes of semiprecious amulets and stones set in thick silver around her wrists, and especially about her neck, began feeling like a hu Marlene's expression of disapproval The necklaces were practically strangling her She'd have to chance having her throat exposed, just so she could breathe

Unable to bear the weight of it, Daainst a nearby coffee table al sound of s of amber and silver and onyx had to come off - they were all too heavy, no matter what Marlene said about the protective talis felt like it was holding on to her, grasping at her She couldn't breathe!

"You're sure you're all right?" Marlene had stopped working over an equipaze

"I'm cool, y'all For real, for real," Da her foul vibe to the group It wasn't their fault Why alarm them if this was only a case of raw nerves? She studied the drum anchors one last time and then walked away fro it a hundred and fifty percent tonight"

The others in the rooaps with quiet apprehension Yeah, they all felt it, she could tell Oh, well, shit happens They knew that, too None of the, especially her They were trapped as guardians, just like she was trapped as a vampire huntress There was only one choice that they'd all learned the hard way - band together or die, or worse

"Let's just keep , people Anybody seen my Tims?"

Marlene extracted the flat-heeled, amber-colored suede boots Damali had requested froht each shoe and bent to put the

The sleek high-heeled boots she'd worn during the perforh-heel, be fly and cute kinda night This was a possible kick ass after a show deal Despite the sheerness of the color-splashed, tie-dyed duster and embroidered midriff brassiere she perfor off her blood flow, and made her want to scream Her breasts, which she had always believed to be too small, now felt oddly pendulous, heavy, too constricted by her costuile silver waist-chain she donned seeullet and into her throat If she weren't almost twenty-one years old, and in top athletic for a mild heart attack

Da her once-bronze complexion that now seemed pallid - but was eerily relieved to see that at least she still had a reflection What the hell rong with her?

"Somebody throw me a T-shirt"

Shabazz coo on it in her direction

"Thanks" Da sheer top of her stage costuuys averted their eyes, as was norhed "That's ood"

"You put a lot of energy into the show," Marlene said after a long pause while the group resumed breakdown But she spoke in a calm voice, one almost too calm

"Got a reputation to maintain, Mar" Damali made eye contact with Marlene and held her with a brief stare Read the doublein that, sis Don't front onaround Address it later

Marlene nodded but said nothing