“And another thing, you’re going to have to tell him exactly what you’re doing and what is in the potion,” Lizzie said.

“Of course, I wouldn’t just dose him with crushed up dragon shell without telling him,” Charlotte replied. “But why?”

“Well, from what I can tell, it’s all part of the process. People who have been cursed didn’t have a choice in the matter. Choosing something different is a big part of changing it,” Lizzie said.

“Noted,” Charlotte said, digging into her plate of sausage.

“So, do you think you might bring this boy around to meet us sometime?” Lizzie asked, far too casually.

“Let me try to fix it so I can get him out of the state without a catastrophe, and we’ll talk,” Charlotte said.

After the call, Charlotte mulled over this predicament. Before she could even consider raising Leonard’s hopes about the potion, she had to ask Jillian to “borrow a cup of mystical eggshell.”

But how in the hell did you even ask for that?

And as most people did in the Bayou when they had a strange and insurmountable task in front of them, Charlotte went to Sonja.

The trick was that she had to find Sonja at a time when Leonard wasn’t sitting directly outside of Sonja’s office. Charlotte had to wait, watching the League administration building through her window until Leonard left for the post office. She scampered across Main Street to the League office, not even stopping when Jessica Galanis called out to her.

Sonja’s brow lifted as Charlotte shut her office door behind her. Outside, Jessica rattled the handle furiously. Charlotte wedged her back against the door, gritting her teeth. “Damn, that girl is strong.”

“Is everything OK?” Sonja demanded. “Is Jillian in labor? Wait, no, Jillian’s down the hall and would have yelled for me. What’s going on?

Charlotte tried to explain, but her voice was barely audible over the din of Jessica’s pounding on the door. Sonja rolled her eyes and crossed the room, opening the door and nearly getting smacked in the face by Jessica’s fist.

“That woman,” Jessica spat, glaring past Sonja, “just rushed in here without an appointment.”

“She did have an appointment with me, but as you don’t manage my schedule, I didn’t see fit to inform you,” Sonja told Jessica.

“But–”

“Thank you, Jessica.” Sonja shut the door in Jessica’s face, turning to Charlotte. She sighed. “I know I should have more sympathy for her and support her as another administrative professional–but I swear to you, Leonard is the only non-evil assistant we’ve ever had.”

“I do not like her, but I’m biased,” Charlotte admitted. “Jillian’s fine, by the way, to the best of my knowledge. But I have something I need to ask her and I thought I should get your advice first.”