Page 94 of Summer L.A.W.

All the witches followed, opened the door, and froze.

A body lay crumpled on the grass, only partially visible behind the hydrangeas. Young. Male.

Crystal swallowed. “Oh… Oh no.”

Magda stepped forward, dread tightening her chest. When she leaned in, the first thing she saw was the bright white lanyard glinting in the early light. She lifted it to read the name tag.

“Derek Hollis… Oh gods! Sebastian told me about his assistant, Derek.” She stood quickly, hands trembling. “We need to text Sebastian. And Chad. Now.”

Rayna didn’t hesitate. “On it.”

Joell peeked closer, trying to keep her voice steady. “Well… it doesn’t look like he tripped over a rake or anything. No blood.”

Crystal frowned. “He looks peaceful. Too peaceful. Like he fell asleep, was having a lovely dream, and never woke up.”

Magda’s gaze caught the beaker still loosely held in Derek’s hand. She didn’t touch it, just lowered her voice. “Was he experimenting? Testing something? Sebastian said he could be… impulsive.”

Joell lowered her face to his and sniffed. “If impulsive is code for ‘drinks mystery liquids in the middle of the night,’ then—yeah.”

Rayna exhaled sharply. “So, what exactly do we tell the police? ‘He broke in using a gate code that the house stupidly honored and then drank something he shouldn’t have’?”

Joell raised a hand. “We should absolutely not say ‘stupidly honored.’”

Crystal nodded. “Or anything about the house. Let’s go with: ‘He accessed the property, entered the conservatory, drank something he shouldn’t have, and collapsed outside.’”

Rayna tilted her head. “Should we mention the beaker?”

“I wouldn’t, unless they ask,” Joell said. “And we make it clear it wasn’t offered and wasn’t ingested with our knowledge.”

Wally crept toward Derek, sniffed, then hopped backward and latched onto Magda’s leg. Magda knelt and scooped him up.

“I didn’t know him,” she murmured, “but this… this is awful.”

Rayna softened. “Yeah. It is.”

Chad’s car rumbled up the drive a minute later. He and Brianna stepped out. Brianna rushed to the group on the grass. Chad was already frowning. “I got your text. What hap⁠—”

He saw the body. Paused. Exhaled. “Okay. All right. Morning chaos. Sure. Of course.”

Rayna crossed her arms. “We need help figuring out what to say without sounding guilty or insane.”

Chad crouched near the scene, staying several inches back. “Well… first rule of talking to police: don’t volunteer information they didn’t ask for. Especially supernatural information.”

Joell nodded. “That’s what I said!”

Magda pointed to the lanyard. “It’s Derek Hollis. Sebastian’s assistant.”

“That tracks,” Chad said grimly. “He always struck me as the type who thought safety labels and manuals were ‘optional reading.’”

Brianna shot him a look.

Chad lifted both hands. “Not saying he deserved it. Just saying he was the kind of guy who would try to impress the coeds with a love potion.”

“More like love poison,” Brianna said.

Rayna blinked. “He tested it on himself?”

“Not the best or brightest,” Chad said. “But I’d bet he ingested something he shouldn’t have.”