Page 96 of The Blue Moon Café & 24-Hour Occult Emporium

Without any discussion, the protesters scrambled to pack up and leave. Several audience members chuckled and clapped. Onstage, Dahlia kept going, “For everyone else here tonight, I hope you’ll come back tomorrow, and every night this week. Bring your friends! After all, magic is so much better when it’s shared with the people you love.”

Appreciative, thoughtful murmurs hummed in the crowd, a few claps turning into applause. But Talula didn’t feel victorious. She felt exhausted and empty. Again she wiped at the spot on her cheek where she’d been spat on. She felt hot pinpricks of tears in her eyes.

Suddenly, she was surrounded by fantasy characters.

“Hey there, witchy girl, you did good,” an elven princess murmured kindly.

“That was really intense, but you handled it.” A pirate offered a fist bump.

Emilio gave Talula a solemn nod. “You never forget your first bigot spit.”

“I’m sorry about all of this, but I’m proud of you,” Anna said.

Simon grumbled comfortingly, leaning his furry body against her calf. Talula swallowed, afraid of her voice.

“Hey, let me in!” Dahlia shoved herself into the huddle and pulled Talula into a hug.

“You saved us.” Talula squeezed back tightly. She loosened her grip to give Dahlia a stern look. “Is there really an anonymous donor?”

Dahlia blinked, wide-eyed and innocent. “Of course there is.”

“Is it you?”

“In a manner of speaking.” Dahlia waggled her brows mischievously.

Talula shook her head. The Council had plenty of funds. She wouldn’t let Dahlia spend a dime. “No—”

“Just listen! For every guest who attends, I’ll pay myself my usual marketing consultant fee, because I’m a wonderful, generous philanthropist.” Dahlia’s grin turned conniving. “But because I’m a wonderful, generous consultant, I won’t accept my own money. So Philanthroper Me will try to pay Consultant Me, but Consultant Me will refuse the funds and instead, offer to do this whole project pro bono in an endless vortex of generosity. If anyone asks.”

“So…” Talula cocked her head, trying to follow Dahlia’s mental gymnastics. “You’re lying your pants off.”

“Kind of. Mostly.” Dahlia nodded with glee.

“Strategic. I like that.” Emilio loomed approvingly. “Legally ambiguous, but definitely strategic.”

“Thank you, Batman!” Dahlia turned back to Talula. “I’ve got to check on the dancers. Do you want to get some dinner after? Take your mind off of things? My treat.”

In her periphery, Talula spotted Anna and Emilio sharing a quick glance loaded with married-people telepathy.

“Dahlia—hi, I’m Anna, Batman’s wife, nice to meet you—I think that’s a lovely idea,” Anna answered for Talula. “We’ll drive Talula and Simon home. You can pick her up when you’re ready.”

“Sounds great!” Dahlia jogged over to the Magic Box.

“Babe, that was so smooth,” Emilio said with admiration.

Anna shot him a wolfish grin, then regarded a somewhat dazed Talula. “We’re going to take the long way home, so you can tell us everything.”

Simon gave a very un-doglike groan.

25

After a shower and a wardrobe panic attack, Talula was ready for dinner. She’d opted for simple but comfortable—a pair of jeans and a too-big mossy green sweater. In an effort to not look like an awkward middle school boy out with his gorgeous babysitter, she’d added a pair of gold earrings and a swipe of her trusty lip balm.

Dahlia arrived not long after Talula was ready, texting when she was out front. Talula stepped through the doorway and saw Dahlia’s cherry-red convertible. Talula’s heart revved up. She wasn’t a car person, but there was something undeniably hot about being picked up by a beautiful woman in a bright red convertible. Talula wished she had lipstick that color. A dress that color. Lingerie that color. (Talula pulled the mental emergency brake on that train of thought.)

She slid into the passenger seat, feeling the warm, nerve-spiked giddiness of being alone with Dahlia somewhere completely new and different.

“Hi,” Dahlia said. She cocked her head, taking in Talula slowly. “Wow. I really like you in that color.”