"Okay, that was fun," Rider said after they heard Damali's bedroom door slam.
"It's gonna get worse before it gets better." Shabazz sighed, finding a stool again. "We've got two queen bees in this hive."
"Oh, brother," J.L. mumbled on a long breath, going back to his computers.
Marlene wrapped her arms around herself, closed her eyes, and leaned her head back. When two tears slipped down her cheeks, Shabazz stood, went to her, and hugged her.
"Baby, you know our job is almost over, right? She's ready to fly now."
Marlene allowed her forehead to rest against his shoulder. "But she's not ready, Shabazz. Her body is changing - she's going through Neteru physiology spikes, but it's not a stable transition ... hasn't locked in. The girl is a woman by society's standards - but by guardian and vampire huntress standards, she's just a child."
"I know, baby. It's tough on everybody. Like living with a teenager, times ten."
"Mar, exactly what's up with Damali?" J.L. asked, watching them from his station. It was obvious that he had been just sitting there, staring at the screens.
"Her bone structure, while light as a feather, gains flexibility, density - as do her muscles and skin as she matures." Marlene let her breath out in a long, weary sigh. "Can't really tell the difference between a Neteru and a normal kid until one of two things happen - either they are in a life or death situation, or they reach maturity."
J.L. stared at Marlene. "She could've killed another kid, just in a schoolyard brawl..."
Marlene shook her head. "No. It's adrenaline-activated. A normal schoolyard fight wouldn't have kicked this off. But something serious... yeah. She could have hurt somebody. It never got that bad for her, except once."
Shabazz looked at Marlene, then down at the floor as he spoke, remembering how they found Damali after she'd fought and run away from her foster father. "The physical structure is to make her an even match to do battle with a master vampire. If the vamps throw her, she won't sustain a fracture as easily as we would. If they try to bite or scratch her, her skin will give, long enough for her to defend against it. She'll be able to withstand a bite, and once she's fully matured, won't turn. She'll be faster, stronger than all of us - will have everything to match up against a vamp ... telepathy, night vision, silent stealth, the nose to track them, the ears to hear the slightest register of sound ... and lightning quickness. It's all sending her through these ... these bursts. Even her voice is a weapon, it's a frequency that the males draw to, given their heightened hearing capacity. That's why she gravitated to the music industry."
Marlene shook her head. "By instinct she was seeking out experiences to ready her - to strengthen her skills... even if we had never shown up, she would have still been what she is now."
Marlene backed away from Shabazz and walked, glancing at J.L. "She's becoming a walking fighting machine ... but, there's a flaw, or, I should say, a vulnerability."
"What else, Mar? What's the vulnerability?" Rider studied Marlene, and glanced at his teammates. "That female vamp made her crazy."
"Yeah. I know." Marlene went to the window. "She'll make the females attack. The inner core forces around a master vampire are generally females, for some reason. But, for the males, Damali's scent is like a drug; an aphrodisiac ... makes them go nuts."
"Get the f**k outta here." Rider rubbed his hand along his jaw.
Marlene remained calm as she spoke. The time had come; the team needed to know. "The female Neteru can then draw the males out, and this drug she emits will make them hesitate to kill her - making them have to choose to kill her or take her, but it gives a vampire huntress the split-second blade advantage."
Shabazz nodded. "The same scenario holds true for male Neterus - they emit a pheromone that weakens the female vamps that guard a master, and will make them hesitate to attack him, leaving the master vamp they guard vulnerable. The master male vampires go postal at the scent of a male vampire hunter, and "won't hide, will fight with pure emotion without strategy."
Marlene sighed. "Master males are highly sensory creatures -
within the hierarchy of vamps. But, they can ..."
"Mar, tell 'em," Shabazz murmured, as J.L. now stood with Rider.
"Her telepathy is going to lock in on a master very soon to pull him out of the safety of his lair, and ..." Marlene walked in a circle now, wringing her hands. "I've tried to do the best I could ... You all have no idea the worry. She might have already locked in on a master - which could be why she's blocking me as her guardian seer so I won't detect it, because she's so anxious to go after him that she doesn't want to risk having any of us block her hunt. Or, it could be just plain old defiance - her wanting to do this solo."
"You know that's a natural thing, too," Shabazz said quietly. "The most difficult thing for all the Neterus, male or female, is to learn to work within a team. Half of their mind wants to keep the team safe by rushing into battle alone, the other half of their mind isn't totally rational when the blood lust hits them. That's our job as guardians, to teach the slayer how to temper those impulses and refine her strategy."
"Whatever it is, her power is fluctuating from the strain of sensing and blocking before she's ready. There are days when the kid is wide open, and I can read her like a book. Then, other days, I get a blank page. It's so frustrating - you all have no idea what I worry about!" Marlene whipped around and held Rider in her stare. "Rider... what if you had been out there with her, and her power dipped - even for a split second? Do you understand the magnitude of this? Don't you all see why I'm so upset? I'm not the bad guy. The closer she gets to her twenty-first birthday, the more vulnerable she is until she crosses over that line of transition. I only allowed you to give her the sword because I didn't expect that she'd have to use it."
"Marlene, these are significant changes - but what does a couple of days have to do with - "
"Marlene, spit it out." Shabazz held her gaze, but his eyes were gentle.
"She'll go into ... there's no delicate way to put this." Marlene sighed and stared at the wall. "She'll go into heat. She'll want a master to come to her, and she'll be giving off a scent that will bug him out. It's in her DNA. She'll also broadcast erotic telepathic images." Marlene gave a dry laugh. "Funny how she'll use one of a vamp's greatest strengths - seduction - against him. But unless that huntress is seasoned, she'll be dancing on the edge of her own very powerful desires. That's why we, as guardians, are supposed to keep the Neteru in our care away from a central lair until she's ready. That's our code, our rules of the game."
Marlene looked at each guardian, her gaze connecting with each pair of stunned eyes before she spoke again. "Now do you gentlemen hear me? Damali found a nest perimeter too soon, and days can make the difference. It wasn't supposed to happen like this."
"Oh ... shit... ," Rider murmured. "A f**kin' catch-22, if ever I heard one."