Three Witches #1: Magnus and Magnolia

Chapter 38 (Magnolia): A Good Mood

Copyright © 2024 by GroveltoHEA

***TW for references to drugs, drug use and young lives lost, and death by lightning***

The minute I put the Closed sign in the shop and locked the door, Magnus was strapping on my helmet and waiting for me to get on his bike behind him. I was looking forward to the ride; Magnus was a skilled rider and his love for riding was evident in the relaxed feel of that strong body.

As for me, I enjoyed being wrapped around that hard body of his. It'd been a long time since I'd been on a bike, and I'd missed it. For a brief moment, I pressed my head against his back, giving myself that one moment.

Within minutes, we were on our way to destination unknown. Half an hour later, we were pulling up to a small, nondescript house in the middle of nowhere. Magnus pulled around back where three other bikes were parked, and held my hand as I got off the bike, then he followed.

The second I took two steps toward the house, a bolt of lightning streaked from the sky toward me and without even commanding it, without my willing it, my energy surged and aimed for the lightning bolt.

I didn't know much, but I knew that lightning bolt wasn't natural but magical.

"What the fuck was that, Noli?" Magnus said, stepping in front of me as if he could protect me from something as elemental as lightning. 

"I would say some powerful magic."

He turned back to me. "Not surprised. Butcher has some magic at his disposal, but I didn't think it would be aimed at you."

"I'm not sure it was actually aimed at me so much as called from him in response to another fae-related being near him," I said to him. "I just stopped a lightning bolt from blowing me up with my magic."

He swept my hair off of my shoulders with both hands. "You want out of there at any point, you just tell me, Noli. I'll get you out of there."

"That sounds ominous," I told him.

"Magnolia, nothing good happens in the basement," he said. "Butcher's there, and he doesn't differentiate between bad men and bad women.  If you're bad, and you're bad enough to find yourself in Mayhem's guest quarters, you aren't coming out of there."

"And we already know Lamia's bad."

"That she is. She was dealing drugs, and a lot of them were finding their way into middle schools and high schools. She caused a number of deaths."

"Then she deserves people seeing her as she truly is on the inside."

"Magnolia," Magnus said again, but more gently. "I don't know how long it's going to take, but her looks won't matter in a couple of hours or so. She's going to be dead. And her death isn't going to be pretty."

"I hope he doesn't expect me to do that. I can't use my magic to kill anyone."

"You won't have to hurt her at all. Butcher or I will handle her death."

"Why am I here?"

"No idea. But Butcher asked for you to be here, so you're here."

Two men wearing the Mayhem cuts walked out of the the backdoor of the little house, and their eyes shifted from Magnus to me.

"Hey, Prick, hey, Big," he said to them and one gave Magnus a chin lift and the other gave him a nod. They got on their motorcycles and rode away.

"Ready?" He asked me as we stood before the door.

"Not even close," I assured him.

"Magnolia, I won't let anything bad happen to you."

I knew he would try not to let anything happen to me, but I'd seen Butcher in action during Magnus's second trial, had seen what the man was capable of and knew he had powers even beyond mine. That scared me a bit because I had some pretty amazing powers, but this man commanded lightning that came from his hands.