Page 78 of Impractical Magic

“Bloody hell!” exclaimed a woman who was clearly Not-Sporty Spice. “Another one?!”

“Where’d you come from?” demanded Not-Ginger Spice, false eyelashes fluttering.

“Yeah!” Not-Baby Spice added. “And why does this keep happening?”

Not-Scary Spice, the least easily rattled of the group, simply pointed at the door. “Your mate went that-a-way . . .”

“Sorry to interrupt.” Scarlett knew better than to explain how they were in the closet—none of their lives would be long enough for that. “You say you saw a man go that way? With a rabbit?”

“We’re very busy,” Not-Ginger said defensively. “We don’t have time to take down descriptions of every man who appears in our closet.”

Scarlett nodded. “That’s fair.”

“That chap did have a bunny,” Not-Baby cooed. “I noticed because I love bunnies! He just left.”

“Fantastic, thanks for the information.” Scarlett made immediately for the door.

But Delilah paused. “Quick question. You said this keeps happening. It’s not just been tonight, has it?”

“Oh, blimey, no,” said Not-Ginger Spice, whose lousy accent marked her as a native of someplace near New Jersey rather than anywhere near to the original. “Come through here all the time, they do. They stride into our dressing room without so much as a hello, walk into our closet, and poof. Never see ’em again.”

Scarlett glanced at her sister. “At least now we know where all those damn magicians are coming from.”

Not-Posh, who’d ignored them all while she cracked open a window, whirled around with a cigarette between her teeth. “Any of you got a light?”

With the instinctive grace of a life devoted to hospitality, Delilah idly snapped her fingers, and the cigarette was lit.

The performers all applauded. “Nice trick,” said Not-Scary appreciatively.

“Scarlett.” Delilah ignored the Spices and locked eyes with her sister. “I just did a spell . . . and . . . it was fine.”

Scarlett’s face flushed with happiness. “Magic works here!”

“Ohhhh, of course it does,” Delilah exclaimed. “I can’t believe I didn’t think of it before. The grove only powers our town, not all magic. The condition of our trees doesn’t impact anywhere else. Scar, you realize what this means? As long as we’re outside of Oak Haven, we can—”

“Do whatever we want!”

Hand in delighted hand, the sisters moved to exit the dressing room. “I’m starving,” Scarlett announced. “Should we hit the buffet?”

“Where is there a buffet?” asked Del, confused.

Scarlett pointed at the Wannabes posters. “Bellagio Hotel! That means we’re in Vegas, where there’s always a buffet! God, I keep forgetting you’ve never been anywhere . . . C’mon, follow me.”

“But . . . what about catching Max?”

“I know, I know,” Scarlett replied. “Let’s catch Max . . . and find the buffet.”

***

The sisters gingerly made their way down a dark, narrow corridor, which ended with a big black door marked “EXIT TO CASINO.” Scarlett was about to push it open when a thought stopped her cold.

“Wait. I just realized something.”

“Mmhmm?”

“That portal, in the dressing room. Magicians have been using it to reach Oak Haven, right? On a regular basis. Which means it’s stable. The accidental portals, the ones caused by the oak grove issues? Those aren’t stable at all. Nate and I went into the walk-in, ended up in New Orleans, and the portal closed behind us. But this dressing room is apparently just sitting there, open all the time.”

“Okay . . .” said Delilah. “What’s your point?”