Page 110 of The Blue Moon Café & 24-Hour Occult Emporium

Two, her mother was no longer there. In fact, neither were the goldhorn, the kelpies, Mhairi, or the wildlings.

Three, the floor was covered in a thick carpet of broken glass.

“Were you able to go through the Volta and get everyone out?” Hopeful, Talula sat up straighter in her bed.

Elegba shook his head. “The portal to the hunters’ headquarters closed before you collapsed.”

Talula examined the image. “Then what happened to the mirrors? And the cages?”

“You did.” Elegba glowed with pride, as if he’d personally taught her the art of long-distance magical mirror obliteration. “You took the hunters’ magical mirror-powered cages and obliterated them with the Volta’s magic. Few things could hold up to that kind of raw power.”

Talula’s jaw dropped in disbelief. She shook herself, refocusing. “Did everyone get out okay?”

Elegba nodded. “We saw it happen before you collapsed. The hunters didn’t expect their safeguards to fail so spectacularly, and your magnificent mother reacted quickly. She got the captives out in seconds.”

Relieved tears welled up in Talula’s eyes. “Will they take the ashe road back?”

“Probably not.” Simon nibbled at a bit of plantain. “After that big magical escape, Sara won’t risk capture again. She’ll go completely dark, no magic, no technology, nothing. She’ll guide everyone to the nearest Council safehouse and make contact once she’s there. But there’s no telling how long that’ll take.”

Talula’s chest ached. She thought of her mother seeking safe haven without her magic, desperately trying to protect the vulnerable magical creatures. Then, fury set in.

“She could’ve been killed!” Talula snapped. “Why didn’t the Council use the Volta the second we lost contact with her?”

“Because it’s suicide, you idiotic turnip!” Simon yelled.

Talula’s whole body stilled. Oh.

“You could have been wiped off the face of this earth in a maelstrom of magic and pain.” Elegba’s voice chilled Talula to the core as fear zipped up her spine. “You got off lightly.”

Simon echoed, “I’ve never been so scared in my life.”

“Not even when you tamed the haunted wildebeest of the sacred mung bean fields?” Talula teased weakly.

“A thousand times more scared. A thousand, thousand times.” Simon’s voice shook, his ears cowed back flat against his head. “Promise me you’ll never channel the Volta like that again, please.”

Touched, Talula scooped up the wizard and cuddled him close. “I promise.”

Simon sighed tolerantly, but she noticed the affectionate way he butted his head into the crook of her shoulder.

“Now, that’s the kind of open communication I like to see.” Elegba stood up. “This student is improving you, M.”

Simon made an uncomfortable noise. “I told you to stop calling me that! I’m Simon now, and I like it!”

Talula set Simon down. “What does M stand for?”

Elegba drummed his fingers thoughtfully on his chin, his eyes darting from a glaring Simon to a curious Talula. The orisha laughed deviously. “You know, I think I’ll let this trick play itself out.”

Talula opened her mouth to ask follow-up questions, but Simon had made his preferences clear. She changed the subject. “What now?”

“Now I report back to the Council, and we focus all of our resources on Damien King of Saif Co. Also known as the mastermind of Orion Hunts.” Elegba’s smile was patient and sharp, with all the surety of a guillotine. “Then, we remedy his existence.”

Talula was a big fan of this plan.

“Thank you.” Talula bowed her head in deference to the orisha.

“Yes, you made things only slightly worse,” Simon muttered.

“Interesting, little wizard. I always make things interesting.” With a roguish tip of his hat, Elegba disappeared. Talula gawped.