The Magic Show

Zenith stared suspiciously at the drink in his hand. They had already walked almost a block away from the boba place and he had yet to take a single sip.

A fact that Sam did not miss. "Come on, Zenith!" she somehow managed to chirp through a mouthful of jelly and popping boba. "It's not poisoned!"

"Indeed. I'm drinking it, so you can see it's safe," Darian said after taking a long sip of her taro milk tea.

"I...I suppose." Zenith still looked rather doubtful. "I just don't understand...why there are things in it."

He gave Theo a questioning glance, as if hoping Theo might save him from having to sample the suspicious drink, but Theo had already downed almost half of his matcha red bean slush. Darian hadn't lied; this place really was good.

Swallowing the succession of pearls he'd sucked up with his latest slurp, he gave Zenith an encouraging nod. Zenith sighed and gazed back at the drink.

"I can make it an order, if you like," Darian said with a haughty toss of her head.

"By your will, my liege," Zenith said stiffly, and with the air of a soldier handling a live grenade, he lifted the cup, put the straw to his mouth, and took a tentative sip.

Theo recognized the exact moment when he swallowed a pearl because his eyes went wider than Theo had thought possible. Sputtering a little, he yanked the straw away from his lips and stared at the cup with even greater suspicion than before.

It took all the self-control Theo could muster to keep from breaking down into hysterical giggles. Judging by the grins on Sam's and Darian's faces, he was far from alone.

"You don't like it?" he managed to ask, feeling absurdly proud of how steady his voice came out.

"It isn't about...like or dislike." Zenith contemplated the cup. "It's just...strange."

"Well, if you don't want it give it to me," Darian said with a casual wave of her hand, which made Zenith jolt like he'd stepped on an electric carpet.

"I would not presume, my liege – "

Okay, Theo figured it was time for an intervention. "Don't worry about it," he said quickly, touching Zenith's arm. "It's okay if you don't like it. Boba's not for everyone."

"But...my liege...with her own money...it wouldn't be right to....." Zenith's entire face had flooded crimson.

"I think Darian would understand. I don't think she wants to force you into anything, right?" In confirmation, Darian nodded. "What's important is you gave it a try."

Some of the red color drained out of Zenith's cheeks. He glanced at the cup again, the pearls bobbing merrily in the black tea, before lifting it again and taking another sip.

This time, he swallowed the pearl a lot more confidently. When he was done, he gave Theo a brisk nod. "It isn't...bad. I think I will get used to it."

His affection for Zenith, always present, swelled to painful proportions. Suddenly Theo longed to throw his arms around Zenith and pull him into a hug, but not in public – let alone in front of Darian and Sam.

"See?" Darian said, smirking. "Earth has got all sorts of amazing things to offer, doesn't it?"

"Yes, my liege."

As they spoke, Theo noticed that Sam wasn't with them anymore. A cold trickle ran down his spine and his heart pounded harder – only for a familiar shriek to pierce his eardrums.

"Wow, a magic show!"

Theo spun around so fast his neck cracked. Sure enough, he saw Sam running into a nearby plaza with a small crowd gathered in the center.

A few heads in the crowd turned upon her shout, but most remained focused on the street performers they were watching. As Theo shuffled into the crowd alongside Sam, he got a clearer view of them. A boy and a girl, not much older than him, both with neon green hair gelled into stiff spikes and dressed like punks, all artful rips and safety pins and UK flags.

Which kind of didn't fit their whole street magician act. As Theo watched, the boy pulled colorful scarves out of his sleeve, the girl made a quarter disappear, and both correctly guessed an audience member's card.

"Is this really that interesting?" he mumbled to Sam. "Seems like pretty basic stuff."

"Aww, they're trying," Sam whispered back.

The rest of the audience wasn't quite as charitable. Bit by bit, they started drifting away. Undeterred, the pair kept up the cavalcade of stupid tricks. By the time they were reduced to showing off waterfall card flourishes, Theo and his friends were about the only audience left, and hopefully not for much longer.

"C'mon." Theo nudged Sam, trying to be surreptitious. "We gotta go...."

"Hey, hey! Wait, kid!" Shit, they'd noticed him. The girl was grinning, gesturing at him. "How'd you like the show? That was just the smallest taste of what our duo can do!"

Theo had to admire these punks' dedication, but that didn't mean he wanted to see more of their act. "Uh, that's great and all – "

"Here you go!" Before he could back away, the boy slapped a flyer into his hand. "We're putting on a special evening performance tonight. Check us out, if you'd be so kind!"

He and the girl swept into elaborate bows before trotting away and melting into the crowd. For their outlandish appearances, they vanished so quickly Theo would've thought he'd dreamed up the whole thing if it wasn't for the flyer in his hand.

He looked down at it. The flyer looked as tacky and low-rent as he'd expected from these magicians, all big fancy fonts and generic clip art printed in black ink on purple paper. THE GHOST & PHANTOM MAGIC EXTRAVAGANZA! EXCLUSIVELY AT MASTER MADD'S, 8 PM!

"Master Madd's? Isn't that the haunted house in the abandoned fairground up north?" Sam asked, peeking over his shoulder. "Why're they holding their show there?"

Probably because no self-respecting venue would take them, Theo thought. "Don't tell me you actually wanna go. Come on, let's find a recycling bin…."

But before he could go anywhere, Darian snatched the flyer from him. She squinted at it, examining the swirling cursive letters and haunted house clip art like they held the secrets to the universe itself.

"Let's go," she announced.

This had been just about the last thing Theo expected to hear. "What? Did – did you actually like their act?"

"Not at all," Darian said, "but this is bound to be a great opportunity. We shouldn't waste it."

"Uh…." Theo felt like Darian was having an entirely different conversation from him. "What do you mean?"

Darian arched an eyebrow. "Don't you think this has got 'trap' written all over it? Rather obvious, too. Clearly Michel Rose doesn't think much of my intelligence."

Michel Rose? What did he have to – and then it hit Theo.

"Are you saying they were from the Infernal Legion?"

"It makes sense," Darian said, still oddly cheerful. "After I showed up at the gala, there's no way he wouldn't try to make a move. It's what I would do if I were in his shoes."

"In that case, my liege, is it really a good idea to walk into their trap?" Zenith said, turning toward her.

"No, let's take the fight to them. Better than sitting around waiting to be attacked." When Darian cast him a sidelong smirk, Theo started. "Besides, they don't know how much stronger we've become."

Theo's cheeks warmed, but he couldn't deny she had a point. After all, the Theo who'd spoken to Victor at the gala hadn't even known about the existence of elemental spells. He might have imagined using them against the rogue nephilim, but he couldn't forget about the very real, very present threat the Infernal Legion posed.

"The one who strikes first wins!" Sam declared, slamming her fist into her palm.

"Then it's decided." Darian grinned, her eyes sparkling. "Let's go see us a magic show, shall we?"