Talula had come to prefer hosting her own gatherings rather than visiting anyone else's home, as few other hosts turned out to be amenable to the trail of flora that sprang up from whatever surface she'd just stepped upon. She was gradually training herself to control the appearance and rate of growth of this vegetative trail, but for the moment it was still beyond her ability to stop it completely. She was almost ready to give up on trying to get in touch with Brandy again, the ethereal, flower-crowned woman who'd given her the black ring and tricked her into accepting the power to begin with, but Brandy (who'd so far seemed perfectly willing to offer her assistance, both remotely and in person, yet unwilling to rescind the gift itself) had, for no reason Talula could figure, stopped returning her calls...
