Three Witches #1: Magnus and Magnolia

Chapter 40 (Magnolia): I Love You, Baby

Copyright © 2024 by GroveltoHEA

"Thanks for bringing me to meet Rosemary and Boone," Magnus said to me as we drove home from their house.

It was late and we were driving on country roads where there weren't any lights. There was something about driving together at night that I found comforting, the darkness broken by the rare flash from oncoming headlights.

"Thank you for going," I said to him. "Did you find out any useful information about being with a witch?"

I saw his grin flash in the low glow from the dashboard. "I did."

We drove a few more minutes, and I could sense that he wanted to say something. I played the waiting game, giving him silence to think about whatever he wanted to talk about.

It was another five minutes before he spoke. "Tell me about...Tahvo."

That? I hadn't expected that particular subject to come up for discussion.

"What do you want to know?" That seemed like a good way to buy myself some time to pull my thoughts back in line.

"Will you tell me how he helped you?"

That was both easy and difficult to answer and had so many layers I wondered if we'd arrive back in town before I answered it thoroughly.

"I'd been training for five months. Rosemary said I wasn't as focused as I could be and called in a conciliator. They're fae who become human for one month and one month only. He helped me to focus and work on mastering my powers."

"What else?"

"He helped me in other ways, too." I looked out my window. "After what I walked in on, I was feeling less than, Magnus. It shook me up, made me question so much about myself. What I was lacking."

"Nothing. Not a damn thing." He bit out the words angrily, but his anger was clearly directed at himself.

"And Tahvo helped me to realize that -- it wasn't something wrong with me. I wasn't at fault for your cheating. That was all you."

"He was one hundred percent right."

"Tahvo also helped me to regain what I thought I'd lost. Feeling good about myself. Confidence. Strength."

"Did you...love him?"

That wasn't as easy to answer. I always sensed that Rosemary had fallen in love with Kessem, but I was never quite sure what the complicated feelings Tahvo engendered in me were. They were hard to define.

"He felt solid and safe to me, and that was important after what happened. That month, he was a refuge for me. He was...comfort when I really, really needed it. And I cared for him, probably loved him, but I wasn't in love with him. I knew he would be in my life for a very limited time and I enjoyed his friendship while I had it."

Magnus drew a deep breath. "It looked like more than friendship, Noli. When I saw you with him...I could tell you cared about him a great deal. I thought you'd fallen in love with him. It would have been no less than I deserved."

"I did care about him. And at night, when he was fully human, it was a great deal more than friendship, which you know, but friendship was always at the basis of what we were to each other for that month. It was beautiful and bittersweet, and our connection, even though it was temporary, was real."

I gave a short laugh. 

"It's the fae sense of balance. You cheated on me eight times with Lamia for a month, so the fae made sure you saw me with Tahvo eight times during my month with him."