Page 106 of The Blue Moon Café & 24-Hour Occult Emporium

Talula croaked. “Talula, she/her.”

“I am Elegba. I go by he/him these days.” Elegba turned to the crowd. “Now, who’s ready to be mystified?”

As the audience whooped, the orisha spoke into Talula’s ear. “I’m so excited you’ve come to play, little sorceress.”

Talula put on her most dazzling customer-service smile. “Bring it on.”

“But first, a costume change!” Elegba proclaimed for the audience.

“Remember, no magical harm. Council rules,” Talula muttered, her heart pounding.

“Pish posh. The Council rules don’t say anything about magical fun.”

With a snap of Elegba’s fingers, a cloud of magical fog enveloped Talula before dissipating a moment later.

“That’s more like it.” Elegba snapped his fingers again. This time, a mirror appeared. He turned it toward Talula and beamed victoriously. “What do you think, good people? Doesn’t my assistant look spectacular?”

The audience applauded, and Talula heard a few wolf whistles. Once she had blinked the light spots out of her eyes, she looked at her reflection and gasped. Elegba had dressed her in a classic magician’s assistant outfit—including fishnet stockings, high heels, flouncy skirt, and a glittery bustier that made her breasts look fantastic. His magic had even done her makeup: her lips a bright red, eyes smoky and shimmery. Frankly, Talula had never seen herself look this hot. She was kind of mad that she wasn’t mad about it.

“See, little sorceress?” the orisha murmured gleefully. “Fun!”

And truly, it was.

Elegba ushered Talula through a series of magical feats so unhinged, so over-the-top and cartoonish, they belonged on an episode of Looney Tunes.

Elegba levitated Talula so high, she bonked her head on the rafters.

Elegba pulled an entire ham hock out of her ear.

Elegba produced a live chicken from his sleeve, and for a moment, Talula swapped heads with it.

Throughout the performance, Talula didn’t worry about whether or not Elegba was blowing their magical cover. This was a magic show, after all. People saw what they wanted to see. Even from the stage, she could hear some guy saying smugly, “They’re doing this with mirrors, it’s so obvious.”

So she went with it, and to her surprise, kind of enjoyed herself.

For his final act, Elegba kept his promise and cut Talula in half. Thankfully, she didn’t feel anything but bemusement as her bottom half hopped off the table and did a cancan. The crowd went ballistic. Elegba took his final bow, then transformed into a cloud of doves. As the applause turned into a standing ovation, a dove dropped a note in Talula’s hands.

Meet me at the Blue Moon.

Still in costume, Talula hopped off stage and slowly made her way through the crowd. She was swamped as attendees praised her performance or shared their compliments about the Magic Box events. Dahlia appeared with Simon in tow.

Dahlia laughed. “That was incredible. You’re incredible.”

“It was all the magician.” Talula blushed. “Did you hire that guy specifically?”

“Nope. The talent agency just said they’d send someone. But man, we got lucky.” Dahlia’s eyes skimmed down Talula’s body, lingering on the swell of Talula’s breasts in the bustier. She jerked her gaze back up to Talula’s face, her cheeks coloring. “Please tell me you’re keeping the costume.”

There was a note of desperation in her voice that warmed Talula in very private places. Simon coughed. Unsubtly.

“I, uh, have to go give Simon his…flea medicine,” Talula lied badly.

“Oh!” Dahlia blinked. “See you tomorrow?”

“Definitely.” It occurred to Talula then, how ridiculous it was that twenty-four hours ago, she had her tongue in Dahlia’s mouth, and now, what? They were just supposed to wave goodbye?

It seemed dishonest. Untrue. Criminal, really.

Fuck it, Talula thought, and gave Dahlia a soft, lingering kiss on the cheek. She whispered a promise against Dahlia’s warm skin. “I’ll keep the costume.”