Page 61 of Summer L.A.W.

“Your methodology is unconventional,” he admitted.

“Translation: you like it.”

“I didn’t say that.”

“Your eyebrows did.”

“My eyebrows are neutral.”

She laughed softly. “Nothing about you is neutral, Dr. Voss.”

Wally hopped between them again, carrying a petri dish like a peace offering. He set it on the table, then pointed to the cauldron and chirped twice. Magda swore it sounded like he said, “Kiss Cam.”

She wagged a finger at him. “Don’t you start.”

Sebastian cleared his throat again, suddenly fascinated by his notes. “So… Tomorrow, we repeat the trial?”

“Tomorrow, we perfect it.”

They packed up in silence, the faint perfume of the potion clinging to the air. It smelled like rosehips and something else. Musk, maybe? As Magda capped the last flask, she caught his reflection in the glass: serious face, mussed hair, faint shimmer of fern glitter still clinging to his collar. The kind of man who didn’t believe in magic but might, if she gave him reason enough.

She smiled. “Hybrid experiment, then?”

He glanced up. “What?”

“Just wondering what happens when science and sorcery share a lab bench.”

Sebastian hesitated, then allowed himself a small, crooked grin. “Explosions, probably.”

“Then we’re doing it right.”

Wally hopped onto the bench again, triumphant, the laser pointer now blinking from inside his pouch. Red dots danced across his abdomen as the greenhouse lights dimmed.

“Um, tomorrow I teach classes until 3. I can meet you back here at 4 or after dinner, if you prefer.

Magda reached over, brushing a speck of fern glitter from Sebastian’s cheek. “Careful, Professor. Magic’s contagious.”

He didn’t flinch this time. “So is curiosity.”

Sebastian showed up at four sharp, still wearing his university ID badge and the faint look of a man who’d spent all day explaining spirochetes.

Magda met him in the greenhouse with a smile and a cup of coffee. “Rough day, Professor?”

He glanced around the shimmering space where the last of their sample vials sat in labeled rows—Hope, Passion, and the rest. “You could say that. My students have learned that bacteria is not optional.”

“Then you’ll fit right in.” She handed him the tea and gestured toward the cauldron. “I was thinking we’d try something different this time. Not another love potion. Something honest.”

“Honest?” He adjusted his glasses. “You mean chemically verifiable?”

“I mean ethically sound.” She twirled her spoon through the steaming mixture. “No more manipulating hearts. I simply want to make sure any feelings that come out of these experiments are real.”

Sebastian tilted his head, genuinely intrigued. “An integrity brew?”

She grinned. “Potion Number Three: the Honesty Enhancement. Harmless. Just encourages openness and truth. You know, so no one falls in love with people they don’t even like.”

He chuckled. “A noble cause. And I agree.” Partly because I don’t expect it to work.

They rolled up their sleeves. Sebastian placed a row of glass vials in the wooden holder while Magda added drops of clear liquid that shimmered like melted silver. He noted temperatures; she whispered incantations. Steam curled from the cauldron, golden flecks swirling upward.