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Trying not to let what the demon and Lin have said bother me. Failing. Iā€™m not homophobic. At least, I donā€™t think I am. Iā€™ve always thought that whatever consenting adults did in the privacy of their own bedrooms was fine. As long as I didnā€™t have to see or hear it. But when itā€™s in my house, in the next bedroom, somehow itā€™s a different story.

The realization that Iā€™d have been a little jealous, but not disgusted, if it had been a woman, doesnā€™t make me feel any better.

The salamander finally wakes up for the last part of the potion. The part where I imbue the magic milk with some of my living energy. It should sap me. Leave me drained. Instead, brewing always makes me feel intensely alive. Like really good sex. I feel like I could build bridges, move mountains, afterwards.

Power flows into me easily when I call it, channel it into the potion. I reach out to the salamander and let some of that energy flow into the little lizard. Not that it actually did anything while I was brewing, but magic is generous. The salamander hisses, laps at the air with its forked tongue. Its spotted crimson and cream body glows. Echoing the glow from the cauldron.

I raise my hands over the potion and call the Elements. Dust, fire and water swirl around me. A rising storm of primal energy. I reach up and the ceiling disappears. Blue sky. The crack of thunder. And then a bolt of lightning sizzles down to explode whitely inside my cauldron.

I lower my hands. The light fades. The ceiling reappears. Only the smell of ozone, and the taste of power, linger.

I smile at the lizard. ā€œNow thatā€™s what I call cooking with gas.ā€

The lizard flicks its black tongue at me and disappears.

ā€œYouā€™re welcome,ā€ I say to the empty air. Then I pick up a ladle and begin scooping the magic milk into containers.

My last appointment of the day is Mrs. Feeney. Sheā€™s been referred by Mass. Generalā€™s Fertility Center. Four successful I.V.F. implantations. Four miscarriages very late in the second trimester. My heart aches each time I read her file. A note from a specialist at Mass. General suggests that Mrs. Feeney may be a pre-symptomatic diabetic. But a special diet and monitoring during the last pregnancy didnā€™t prevent the miscarriage.

I had little hope that Iā€™d be able to help Mrs. Feeney after our first consultation. The magic milkā€™s not a cure-all. But reading through my familyā€™s handbooks, I found a recipe written in my great-grandmother Jetaā€™s spidery hand and marked, ā€˜best for ladies who lose late.ā€™

Itā€™s taken a month to brew. The recipe was very exacting. But it finally finished aging a few days ago, and when I opened the oak cask sitting in my herbarium, it smelled right.

I set out a cup and a gallon container of the potion on my desk. The potionā€™s a deep orange, and it glows like a pumpkin in the late afternoon sunlight slanting through my office windows.

Mrs. Feeney arrives late, breathless and sweating. I let her catch her breath while I explain about the potion.

ā€œAnd you really think this will help, Doctor?ā€

I correct her gently. Linā€™s the doctor, not me. ā€œI think we should give it a try. Say a month. Finish the jug.ā€ I give the gallon container a pat. ā€œAnd then Iā€™d like you to have some blood work done. See if anything has changed.ā€

Iā€™m hoping there will be some clinical change. I canā€™t ask her to go through another pregnancy and risk losing another baby, only to find out if my great-grandmotherā€™s recipe works.

Mrs. Feeney nods tremulously.

ā€œCould I ask you to take the first dose now? Iā€™d just like to observe you for a few minutes afterwards.ā€

ā€œObserve me?ā€ she asks, looking alarmed.

Iā€™d like to smell her, actually. Sheā€™s always smelled a little strange to me. Sickly-sweet. Like overripe bananas. I want her to drink the first dose and see if it makes any change in that funny odor.

ā€œSome women feel light-headed or dizzy afterwards. Iā€™d just like to wait a few minutes after you take theā€”ā€ I catch myself before I say potion. ā€œFormula. And see how you do.ā€

Mrs. Feeney gives in gracefully. She drinks a cupful of the potion with a small grimace. Guess it doesnā€™t taste as good as it smells. I take her into Linā€™s recovery room and let her relax in there with a magazine for fifteen minutes while I clean off my desk and dictate a file note. I hear the front door buzz as Iā€™m going to check on Mrs. Feeney.

ā€œHave a great weekend,ā€ I call to Lin. ā€œBring me back a peck.ā€

She doesnā€™t answer; she must be out the door already. I continue down the hallway into the recovery room.

Mrs. Feeney tells me she feels fine. No light-headedness or dizziness. I nod sagely and pretend to peer at her pupils while Iā€™m really leaning close enough to get a good sniff.

Still that sickly-sweet odor. Strong enough that it wrinkles my nose. But maybe itā€™s just a little less. And now thereā€™s a different scent. Fresher. Slightly starchy. Like just-cut potatoes.

I feel the faint rush of euphoria I always feel when I know my magicā€™s working. Not all magic has to be flashy. Some works quietly. Either way is fine with me, just as long as it works.

ā€œThatā€™s great, Mrs. Feeney. I think itā€™s okay for you to go. Why donā€™t you give me a call in three weeks and tell me how youā€™re feeling? Then Iā€™ll send a referral slip over to Mass. General for that blood work.ā€

She thanks me and shakes my hand and says sheā€™ll show herself out. I tuck away the magazine sheā€™s been reading and head back to my office.

My desk clock reads five-fifty. If I leave now, Iā€™ll be home in time for dinner.

Cold sweat pops out on my forehead, slicks my palms. Another night with the demon in my house. What will I hear through

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