BEWITCHED & BOTHERED

33 ✰ Afternoon, October 18th

The last thing I expected to see when my eyelids fluttered open was a disconcerting pair of large, lilac eyes boring down on me. 

I let out a startled yelp while my whole body jerked in reaction, sinking deeper into the pillowy mattress beneath me. It took me a couple seconds to realise that it was Lucy, her usually pristine ponytail extremely dishevelled, with red tendrils sticking out in all the wrong places.

"Lena!" Lucy wailed, crushing my lungs as she pulled me into a bear hug.

For someone as petite as Lucy, she sure had the strength of a pro-wrestler.

It broke my heart to see how worried Lucy was, and before I knew it, there were tears in my eyes as I squeezed her back.

"How—ow!" I flinched the moment I got a sharp jolt on the side of my neck. Lucy released me almost immediately, her features contorted in apology. 

A heavy presence beside me stirred in alarm, and I knew who it was before even looking, just by how wonderful he smelt.

"Lena." The sound of Magnus' voice alone made my stomach flip.

When our eyes met, it was like time froze for a millisecond.

Magnus' dark brows were furrowed, the muscles in his jaw tightly clenched, like he was desperately trying to keep from saying what was truly on his mind. Just like my sister, Magnus looked worse for wear.

No grey suit this time, he was wearing a plain tee and those faded jeans I've seen before. The skin under his grey eyes were slightly discoloured, as if he could use a good night's rest or two. There was a certain vulnerability embedded in his normally hard features.

Magnus looked...almost human.

Aware that I was likely the reason why he was so affected, my heart blossomed with a feeling I never thought I'd feel in my life—protected.

My fingers darted up to the sore part of my throat, where Sonny had cut me. The skin was raised, but there was no trace of a fresh wound. The healed scar throbbed lightly under my touch, and I knew that Lucy had healed me just in time. Thankfully, my chin seemed to work perfectly even after that asshole tried to rearrange it.

"How long was I out?" I managed to ask, my voice unattractively groggy.

A flash of fury danced in his pools of grey.

"It's been two days since you were...abducted," Magnus said gravely and shook his head. I could tell what he was thinking then. He was blaming himself for what happened to me.

"Damn," I cursed under my breath and turned to Lucy. "October eighteenth?"

Lucy's face turned somber as she grasped the gravity of my question. "Yeah," she said softly, in a pitying tone that made me want to scream.

Thirteen more days.

My mouth dried at the thought. If I needed a reminder of what a privilege it was to be a witch, getting kidnapped was definitely it.

"Lucinda," Magnus' voice broke through my troubled mind. "I think you better get Elder Lyrina."

To my surprise, Lucy agreed without a word of protest. She nodded at Magnus in a cordial sort of way, like they'd somehow become acquainted while I was indisposed. I sighed disappointedly. I would've paid good money to see them becoming friends. I wondered if it was the same with Callum.

Now that, I would've given up a limb to see.

Lucy gave me a reassuring stroke on the top of my head before she left, automatically dropping a veil of silence over the sizeable room. I crossed my arms tightly over my chest awkwardly, and then noticed I was wearing an oversized knitted sweater.