Page 88 of Summer L.A.W.

“Think of it as a chill pill,” Sahara replied, already grinding cold-iron essence into a shimmering powder. “Cooling. Stabilizing. Non-fatal despite Rayna’s earlier worry.”

Rayna shrugged. “We’ll see. And by the way, I’m not swallowing it.”

Sebastian stirred in the mint and eucalyptus. “That’s good, actually. We should have a control.”

Somehow, everyone managed to avoid joking about Rayna’s lack of control.

Together, he and Magda guided the mixture until it shimmered a pale, peaceful blue, glowing gently, like bottled calm.

Lioness peered into the cauldron. “Looks like emotional mouthwash.”

Sahara sniffed it. “Smells like mountain air.”

Rayna handed out tiny tasting cups. “Everybody, take a sip. A tiny one. Except me. I’m immune to nonsense.”

No one argued. One by one, they sampled it. For three glorious seconds, nothing happened.

Then Sahara’s breath fogged in front of her face. “Um,” she said calmly, “is anyone else snowing internally?”

A thin curl of frost spiraled out of the cauldron, drifting across the workbench like a bored ghost. Magda’s eyes widened.

“Sebastian,” she whispered. “What did you feel?”

He blinked. “Cold. Very cold. But… peaceful? Peaceful cold? Is that a thing?”

“It is at Yule,” Lioness said.

Wally froze mid-chew, with pastry crumbs stuck to his whiskers. He tapped the cauldron with one tiny paw. The entire greenhouse answered with a shudder.

Then frost exploded outward like it had been waiting for an invitation. A wave of shimmering blue cold surged across the floor, racing up the metal support beams, frosting leaves, jars, and every witch's ankle in its path.

Rayna’s fist hit the table. “Oh, for Goddess' sake.”

Lioness shrieked as ice crystallized up her boots. “What the— This is not a chill pill! This is a cryogenic foot bath!”

Chad grabbed Sebastian by the collar and yanked him backward just before a frozen vine lashed around his ankles. “Magda! Say you can stop this!”

“I can stop this!” Magda yelled, then immediately contradicted herself with, “Maybe! I think! Possibly not!”

The cold hit the ceiling, spread like a glittering storm cloud, and then snow began falling inside the greenhouse. Perfect, delicate flakes.

Sahara tilted her face up. “Okay. This part is lovely.”

Rayna smacked her arm. “Focus! The potion is staging a hostile takeover!”

The cauldron rattled violently, its pale blue glow intensifying until the whole area looked lit from within. A sharp crack echoed as an entire rack of flowerpots froze solid and split down the middle.

“Everybody out!” Joell barked, already trying, and failing, to pry her boots off the ice, sealing her to the floor. “Or someone heat this place up!”

“I can,” Crystal’s voice said faintly from the doorway before she immediately slipped on a frozen fern and went skidding across the room.

Sebastian stumbled forward, arms lifted as if he could reason with the weather. “It’s reacting to emotional imbalance! The molecular charges are misaligned⁠—”

“Fix them!” Rayna shouted.

“I AM TRYING,” he shouted back, his voice puffed out in a cloud of condensation.

Magda slammed both hands onto the cauldron. “Enough!”