Page 104 of The Blue Moon Café & 24-Hour Occult Emporium

Talula stood up. She silenced her phone. She cranked up the volume on her spooky lo-fi playlist and turned back to her translation work.

Simon smiled approvingly. “Very nice.”

“Thanks.” Talula smiled back. “You’re an excellent mentor.”

Simon hrmphed and waddled back over to the sunlit square of carpet. He turned in a circle three times, then tucked himself into a tidy ball. Talula almost missed the quiet words that he repeated to himself before drifting off.

“I’m an excellent mentor.”

By the time Talula had to leave for the Magic Box’s third show, she’d finished a rough translation of the recipe—Cake as You Like It. Even so, she grimaced at the page.

“What is it?” Simon asked, hopping on the counter stool in front of Talula’s work.

“Baking.”

“Isn’t that the same thing as cooking?” Simon tilted his head to get a better look at Talula’s scribbles.

“Not really. With cooking, there’s more room for a little bit of this, a little bit of that.” Talula shrugged. “Baking…if you use the wrong temperature of butter, it could completely ruin the whole thing.”

Which might be why the quiche crust turned out so crumbly, come to think of it…

“Just follow the recipe.” Simon nosed the book closer to Talula.

“I wish I could. But this recipe doesn’t have measurements. Or instructions. Just ingredients and a clue.”

Talula turned her notebook paper to where she’d translated the only instruction she could find: Make it what you want, how you want it.

“Does that mean anything to you?” Simon asked, eyebrows raised.

Grimly, Talula shook her head.

“I’m going to murder that jinn,” Simon grumbled.

“Have a little faith,” Talula said with a wry smile. “Come on, we better get going to the Magic Box.”

When they arrived at the town square, Talula saw Dahlia before Dahlia saw her. And when she did, Talula stopped in her tracks. Moments from the night before came flooding back, her face heating like a skillet on a high flame. And when Dahlia turned, spotted her, and gave a big, perfect Dahlia smile, Talula lost her balance and nearly stepped on Simon. They walked over to Dahlia, who had been chatting with Emilio and Anna by the designated protest area. Emilio was dressed as Green Lantern this time. Anna wore black velvet cat ears.

“Hey, hon!” Anna slung an arm around Talula’s shoulders. “How was your dinner last night?”

Talula answered, never tearing her gaze away from Dahlia, “It was amazing.”

“That good, huh?” Emilio asked, elbowing Anna, who was clapping her hands with delight.

“Outstanding, really.” Dahlia smiled a devious, knowing smile and ran her tongue over her bottom lip.

Blushing furiously, Talula broke away from the trio. “We should get to work!”

The QAFD&D group, Dahlia, Talula, and even Simon went about preparing the town square for action. All the while, Dahlia found reasons to be near Talula, brushing by her with sparkling, sultry smiles and sending electricity coursing through Talula’s veins. It was a little bit torture.

(But Talula was not unhappy with this torture, to be honest.)

As the sun dipped closer to the horizon, attendees began to arrive. Thankfully, only a few protesters showed up, and headed straight for the donuts. After gobbling a glazed or two, they read the sign that Dahlia had set out informing the protesters of their “contribution” to the cause. Then they turned around and left. Dahlia templed her fingers and cackled like a cinematic villain.

Soon, the town square overflowed with citizens of Pine Hollow. Talula watched the crowd from her post across the street. Just like last night, Simon was draped over her shoulder so he could share the view.

“Now, this is a turnout,” Simon muttered into her ear.

“Hopefully they’ll turn out for the town hall meeting, too.” Talula watched Dahlia hand out flyers that detailed the plight of Samhain. Worry tugged at her. Out of habit, she checked her phone.