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<p> He shrugged. “It’s complicated.”</p>
<p> “What, and <i>this</i> isn’t?” I raised an eyebrow at the debate, which was rising in volume. “Spill.”</p>
<p> His eyebrows climbed, too. “Why?”</p>
<p> “It might have escaped you, but what affects the Dji
<p> He glanced around the room, looking i
<p> “No,” I said. “I want to talk about it someplace a lot quieter than this, with a hot tub, but if we leave, things are going to slide downhill without us, and you know it.”</p>
<p> He nodded slowly. “This had to happen, Jo. The Old Ones weren’t going to endure having someone like me as their conduit. I’m not like Jonathan. I can’t…step away from the world and take the long view.”</p>
<p> “Too close to humans,” I said, remembering what Ve
<p> “No,” he said. “And change isn’t destruction. It’s just change. Maybe we’re adapting into two species-the Old Ones as pure Dji
<p> My heart rate picked up a few dozen beats per minute. The debate was slowing down, Lewis was making notes on a big wipe-board with names and procedures, and already there was a sense of purpose in the room. A sense, strangely, of excitement.</p>
<p> It was day one, and we were going to change.</p>
<p> And change wasn’t a bad thing.</p>
<p> “Well,” I said, “when this is over, you’re mine, David. I expect to have your full, undivided attention for at least twenty-four hours. Maybe longer.”</p>
<p> He kissed my hand. There went the heart rate, edging up again.</p>
<p> “You have it,” he said, “for the rest of your life. When this is over, we can go for a drive. I understand the seats recline in the Mustang.”</p>
<p> I closed my eyes and soaked that in, and then I stood up.</p>
<p> I addressed the entire room. “Let’s go save the world.”</p>
<p> Because from this day forward, that was officially our job.</p>
</section>
<section>
<h4 align="center">
<p> SOUND TRACK</p>
</h4>
<p> Once again, music saves my sanity. Enjoy this track list on your iPod…I sure did!</p>
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<p> “Ain’t No Sunshine”-Bill Withers</p>
<p> “Ballroom Blitz”-Sweet</p>
<p> “The Bitter End”-Placebo</p>
<p> “Black Horse and the Cherry Tree”-K. T. Tunstall</p>
<p> “Blockbuster”-Sweet</p>
<p> “Bother”-Stone Sour</p>
<p> “Boulevard of Broken Dreams”-Green Day</p>
<p> “Bridge to Better Days”-Joe Bonamassa</p>
<p> “Calling Card”-Rory Gallagher</p>
<p> “Coming Undone”-Korn</p>
<p> “Crazy”-Gnarls Barkley</p>
<p> “Cry”-James Blunt</p>
<p> “Dani California”-Red Hot Chili Peppers</p>
<p> “The Denial Twist”-The White Stripes</p>
<p> “Face Down”-Red Jumpsuit Apparatus</p>
<p> “Give Me Your Love”-Reef</p>
<p> “God Is a Bullet”-Concrete Blonde</p>
<p> “Going to My Hometown”-Rory Gallagher</p>
<p> “Gone Daddy Gone”-Gnarls Barkley</p>
<p> “I’m Still Awake”-Hybrid</p>
<p> “Inertia Creeps”-Massive Attack</p>
<p> “The Jean Genie”-David Bowie</p>
<p> “Je
<p> “Judith”-A Perfect Circle</p>
<p> “Just Another Day”-Oingo Boingo</p>
<p> “Killing in the Name”-Rage Against the Machine</p>
<p> “Ladyfingers”-Luscious Jackson</p>
<p> “Last Resort”-Papa Roach</p>
<p> “Look After You”-The Fray</p>
<p> “Maybe Tomorrow”-Stereophonics</p>
<p> “Original Fire”-Audioslave</p>
<p> “Private Idaho”-The B-52s</p>
<p> “Pump It Up”-Elvis Costello</p>
<p> “Punish Me with Kisses”-Bird York</p>
<p> “Rock Lobster”-The B-52s</p>
<p> “Steady as She Goes”-The Raconteurs</p>
<p> “Stuck in the Middle with You”-Stealers Wheel</p>
<p> “Take a Number”-Stone Sour</p>
<p> “Tear You Apart”-She Wants Revenge</p>
<p> “Temperature”-Sean Paul</p>
<p> “Through Glass”-Stone Sour</p>
<p> “…To Be Loved”-Papa Roach</p>
<p> “Tubthumping”-Chumbawamba</p>
<p> “Venus”-Bananarama</p>
<p> “Voodoo Light”-Jim Suhler and Monkey Beat</p>
<p> “We Used To be Friends”-The Dandy Warhols</p>
<p> “When I’m Gone”-3 Doors Down</p>
<p> “Wichita Lineman”-Gle
<p> “Worry About You”-Ivy</p>
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<p> HIGHLY RECOMMENDED: Joe Bonamassa’s new album, <i>You amp; Me</i>!</p>
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<p> Want to make track list suggestions? Send them to [email protected] /* */!</p>
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<p> Read on for a sneak peek at the next book in Rachel Caine’s exciting</p>
<p> Weather Warden series!</p>
<p> Available from Roc in August 2008</p>
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<p> “Honey!” I yelled. “Get the phone, would you?” Because it was ringing off the hook, and I was a little busy trying to put out a fire in Florida, right next to Alligator Alley, that had been burning for three days.</p>
<p> Never off duty, that was me. Weather Warden by first choice-if a world-ending storm blew up without notice, I was the go-to girl. Second choice: Fire Warden, which was what was occupying me at the moment. Acting as an Earth Warden-something that I <i>could</i> do, but didn’t <i>want</i> to do-was a distant, cautious, still-weird third.</p>
<p> I was standing on the balcony of my apartment building, staring at the smudge of smoke on the horizon. It didn’t look like I was doing much of anything, and truthfully, I probably could have gone inside, picked up the ringing phone, talked to whatever cold-caller was on the other end…but I was feeling frustrated, and I needed to do something positive. So I was concentrating on rendering the burnable underbrush less burnable, at the cellular level-changes that would have to be undone later, for safety, but made dandy firebreaks in the meantime.</p>