Magnificent Magnus Mace

Give Me One Reason Not to Kill You

The doors of the armored SUV clicked shut. The sounds of the busy city street vanished instantly. The cabin was a fortress of leather and steel. Magnus sank into the plush seat and let out a quiet breath.

Kennedy sat beside him. She did not relax. Her posture remained rigid. She stared blankly at the privacy partition separating them from the driver.

"Are you alright, Councilwoman?" Magnus asked.

"I am angry," Kennedy replied. Her voice trembled slightly. "I am incredibly angry."

"Your mother is safe," Magnus reminded her. "The bleeding stopped. She will recover fully."

"I know," Kennedy turned her head to look at him. "And I owe you my life for that. But I cannot stop thinking about Steven. I cannot stop thinking about his face when he stood in front of those doors."

"He was acting out of self preservation," Magnus stated calmly. "He saw a liability."

"He saw a political scandal," Kennedy corrected him sharply. "He calculated my mother's life against his own pension. He weighed her survival against his public reputation. He decided her death was more convenient for his career."

Magnus nodded slowly. He understood that kind of greed perfectly.

"I hate it," Kennedy muttered. She rubbed her temples in frustration. "I truly hate when people play politics with human lives."

"Then why participate?" Magnus asked. "You are a wealthy woman. You own successful businesses. You could live a quiet life without the stress of the city council."

"Because a quiet life allows the wolves to roam free," Kennedy said. Her eyes hardened with determination. "Politics is a dangerous game, Magnus. It is a vile, dirty arena. It requires shaking hands with men I despise. It requires making cold calculations."

"And you do not like playing the game," Magnus observed.

"I loathe it," Kennedy admitted. "But if I step down, the bad people win. If I surrender my seat, men like Steven get to write the laws. Corporate vultures get to strip the public clinics of their funding. They will pave over the poor to build another luxury plaza."

Magnus listened closely. He heard the genuine exhaustion in her voice. He had spent his entire life surrounded by elite families who hoarded power for vanity. Kennedy hoarded power to act as a shield.

"I became a politician because someone has to hold the line," Kennedy finished. She let out a long sigh. "Someone has to fight back."

"That is a heavy burden to carry alone," Magnus commended her devotion. "It is rare to find someone in high society who actually fights for the people below them."

"Thank you, Magnus," Kennedy offered a small, weary smile. "But holding the line is very dangerous. I make powerful enemies every single week. Cartel bosses. Rival politicians. Corrupt union leaders. A lot of people want me dead."

"Do they often try to kill you?" Magnus asked lightly.

"More often than the press reports," Kennedy chuckled darkly.

"Ma'am." The driver spoke up through the intercom. His voice cracked with sudden, sharp tension.

"What is it, David?" Kennedy sat up straight. The weariness vanished from her face.

"We have company," David gripped the steering wheel tightly. "Do not look back. Two black vans are trailing us."

Magnus glanced at the side mirror. Two utility vans swerved aggressively through the afternoon traffic. They did not have license plates.

"Are you sure they are hostile?" Kennedy asked.

"They just ran a red light and blew past a city bus to keep our pace," David confirmed. "They are maintaining a pincer formation. They are trying to box us in."

"Evasive maneuvers," Kennedy ordered. Her political calmness was replaced by military precision. "Lose them in the industrial district. Do not let them pit our vehicle."

David stomped on the gas pedal. The armored SUV surged forward. The powerful engine roared loudly. David whipped the steering wheel to the right, taking a sharp, violent turn down a narrow avenue.

Tires squealed against the pavement. The smell of burning rubber filled the air vents.

"Hold on!" David yelled.

He dodged a delivery truck and accelerated down a long alleyway. Trash cans went flying. The two black vans matched their speed perfectly. They did not care about subtlety or collateral damage.

"They are organized," Magnus noted calmly. He did not grab the safety handle.

"They are closing in," David reported. He checked his mirrors frantically. Sweat poured down his neck. "My driving skills are not enough to shake them. They have modified engines."

"Take the next exit toward the police precinct," Kennedy commanded. "Get us to a secure zone."

"I cannot!" David shouted in panic. "There is another van blocking the intersection ahead!"

Magnus braced himself against the leather seat.

A massive cargo truck suddenly pulled out from a side street. It slammed its brakes, blocking the road entirely. A wall of steel cut off their escape route.

"Brace for impact!" David screamed.

David slammed his foot hard on the brake pedal. The armored SUV skidded violently across the asphalt. It crashed into the side of the blocking truck with a deafening crunch.

The airbags deployed with a loud pop. Metal crumpled inward. The bulletproof glass cracked into a spiderweb pattern but held firm.

Magnus blinked away the smoke. He pushed the deflated airbag aside. He felt perfectly fine. His internal energy naturally braced his body against the kinetic shock.

"Kennedy," Magnus asked quietly. "Are you injured?"

"Just bruised," Kennedy groaned. She rubbed her shoulder and coughed from the dust. "David. Are you okay?"

David did not answer. He was slumped over the steering wheel. A trail of blood leaked from his forehead. He was completely unconscious.

Heavy boots hit the pavement outside. Men in dark tactical gear surrounded the wrecked SUV. They wore black ski masks and carried heavy assault rifles.

"Open the doors!" A muffled voice shouted from outside. A rifle butt slammed against the cracked window.

"Do not move, Magnus," Kennedy whispered fearfully. "The magnetic locks are engaged. The glass is bulletproof."

The lead mercenary stepped up to the window. He did not bother knocking again. He pulled a small, square explosive charge from his vest. He slapped it directly onto the weakened glass.

"Get down!" Magnus yelled.

He grabbed Kennedy by the shoulder and pulled her down to the floorboard.

A deafening explosion rocked the vehicle. The bulletproof glass shattered inward into a million tiny pieces. Thick smoke and gray dust filled the cabin.

Rough, gloved hands reached through the broken window. They grabbed the interior door handle and pulled it open violently.

"Get out of the car!" A mercenary barked.

Two large men reached in and dragged Magnus out of the vehicle by his white coat. They threw him harshly onto the rough pavement.

Another mercenary dragged Kennedy out. She kicked and fought against their grip.

"Take your hands off me!" Kennedy yelled. She struggled wildly. "I am a city councilwoman. You will spend the rest of your lives in a federal prison."

"We know exactly who you are, Councilwoman," The lead mercenary laughed. He pulled a thick plastic zip tie from his belt. "That is the only reason we are here."

The mercenaries bound Magnus's hands tightly behind his back. The plastic dug sharply into his wrists. They did the exact same to Kennedy, ignoring her threats of political ruin.

"Move them," The leader ordered.

The men shoved Magnus and Kennedy into the back of one of the unmarked vans.

The heavy metal doors slammed shut. The back of the van was plunged into semi darkness. The engine revved aggressively. The vehicle sped away from the crash site, taking a completely different route out of the city limits.

Three mercenaries sat in the back with their prisoners. They held their rifles loosely. They felt entirely confident in their victory.

"You are making a fatal mistake," Kennedy warned them. Her voice remained remarkably steady despite the chaos. "The city police will track this van. My security team already triggered the silent emergency alarms."

The lead mercenary scoffed loudly. He reached up and pulled off his black ski mask. He revealed a scarred, cruel face with dead eyes.

"Your security team is bleeding out in the street," The mercenary mocked her. "You politicians think you are untouchable. You think your money and your fancy laws protect you from reality."

"My people will hunt you down," Kennedy promised coldly.

"By the time they find you, the stray dogs will have eaten your face," The man chuckled darkly. "You are just meat like everyone else in this city."

"Who hired you?" Kennedy demanded. "Was it the union bosses? Was it Steven?"

"A dead woman does not need to know the client's name," The mercenary smiled a rotten smile.

Magnus sat quietly on the metal floor of the van. He looked at the scarred mercenary. A slow, chilling smile spread across Magnus's face.

"What are you smiling at, doctor?" The mercenary noticed the expression immediately. He sneered in absolute disgust. "You think this is some kind of joke?"

"I think you are incredibly foolish," Magnus laughed softly. The sound was calm and terrifyingly steady.

"Is that so," The mercenary leaned forward.

"You hijack an armored vehicle in broad daylight," Magnus observed lightly. "You wear expensive tactical gear and use military explosives. Yet you tie my hands with cheap plastic."

"It will hold a weak clinic doctor just fine," The mercenary spat on the floor.

"You do not know who is sitting in this van," Magnus tilted his head. His smile grew wider, exposing his teeth. "You think you captured a politician and a helpless bystander. You actually locked yourselves in a metal box with a monster."

The mercenary's face flushed bright red with sudden anger. He did not like being mocked by a prisoner. He hated the absolute lack of fear in Magnus's eyes.

"You talk way too much," The mercenary growled.

He reached to his waist and pulled a heavy pistol from his holster. He racked the slide violently. The metallic click echoed loudly in the cramped, dark space.

The mercenary lunged forward. He pressed the cold steel barrel directly against the center of Magnus's forehead.

"Keep smiling, doctor," The mercenary threatened. His finger tightened slowly on the trigger. "Give me one single reason not to blow your brains out right now."