Page 35 of Never Sleep with the Enemy

“Well, we don’t,” I say, gripping one side of the seat and waiting for Goldie to get into position before we hoist it up.

“Maybe I could go undercover again and?—”

“No,” I say.

“Logan, we haveno ideawhat’s going to happen!”

“Yes, Priscilla,” I grunt, dropping the loveseat into place with a hard exhale. “That’s exactly the point of a rock battle.”

“But we don’t know if our songs are better!”

“Our songsarebetter,” Tesla says, setting her guitar on its stand.

“Are they?” Priscilla demands, hands perched on her hips. “We don’t know that now. Before, with Monroe’s surveillance, we at least knew aboutStrawberry Daiquiris.They found out about that and released it early, so now we havenothing. We don’t even have the advantage since you insisted on having the battlehereinstead of in New York.”

I glance at Goldie, then Tesla. I see the slip in their expressions, doubt creeping in, laced through Priscilla’s words like poison.

“You’re wrong, Priscilla,” I say before it can seep too deep. “We have each other. We have our music—music that we love and believe in. That’s all the advantage we need. And we are going to win.”

Priscilla shakes her head. “Maybe I should stay here,” she says. “I’ll cancel my meetings in LA and just poke around here a bit and then?—”

“No.”

My voice cuts through the room like a blade. The air stills. Three pairs of eyes lock onto me.

“There will be no poking around,” I say, holding their attention. “No trips undercover. No more cheating of any kind. We areThe Electrics.We’ll win this legitimately or not at all. And if you don’t like that, then you can go find another band to bother. You obviously care more about one-upping your twin sister than actually creating anything of value.”

Priscilla sneers, but when I glance at the others, I see them leering right back at her.

“Fine,” she mutters, sighing. “But our contract with Sugar Sound is riding on this. We don’t perform, they don’t renew.”

“They’ll renew.”

“How do you know?”

“We’re going to win,” I repeat, holding her stare.

“Yeah,” she murmurs, doubt still clinging to her voice.

“No.”I step forward until I’m towering over her, my presence alone pushing her back an inch. “Say it.”

She swallows hard. “We’re going to win.”

“Like you mean it.”

“We’re going to win!”

“All of you,” I command, turning to Tesla and Goldie. “Say it.”

“We’re going to win!”they all echo, voices electric, faces split with excited smiles.

“That’s my girls,” I say, grinning as the room shifts, crackling with a much better energy. “Now, we have a show at the Sin and Sand in three days. Let’s make sure we’re ready. Goldie, set up your kit. Tessie, tune your guitar—your E string was off yesterday. Andyou—”I boop Priscilla’s nose, earning a startled blink. “Watch and listen.”

I turn away to finish setting up my microphone, already in place thanks to Tesla.

Tesla meows. “Love it when he does that,” she says, prompting Goldie to purr right along with her.

Even Priscilla cracks a smile. She smothers it fast, but a little rouge lingers on her cheeks as she steps back, clipboard in hand, taking her seat at the kitchenette table. To watch. To listen.

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