AXIUM

CHAPTER 9

What seemed like an eternity later she felt him open a rift. They shot through it and splashed out onto one of the piers.

XRenia immediately dispel the shield rolled away from Verin and stretched out on the wooden walkway. That had been a unique violating, slightly pleasant, horrific experience. And definitely not one she'd ever wanted to repeat.

"While I won't say it wasn't nice to be so close to beautiful girl I can't say it will be one of my favorite memories either," Verin said crawling to his knees.

She laid there contemplating saying something derogatory about herself only being beautiful to him because she had changed her looks, but just ended up saying "That's the last time I ever go swimming."

Verin sat on his legs. "Swimming? You're not even wet."

She rolled over and gazed up at the sky. "Wet or not a thousand leagues under the sea is enough swimming for me for a lifetime."

He stood up and offered her hand.

XRenia sighed and let him help her up.

As she got to her feet he said, "For the record you don't look all that different you just look like you shaved your chin bone and put on a little healthy weight though I have to say the green eyes is a nice touch."

She glared at him. "You know you're reading my thoughts, is very violating."

He shrugged and gave her a big toothy grin. "It's not like I have a choice everything you think practically screams its way into my mind."

She turned away from him and marched down the pier. "Don't you have somewhere else you want to be?"

"No not really." He answered as he followed after.

"I thought you're going to try and pay back my grandfather. Or did you already forget about the two thousand five hundred and two gold coins you owe him."

Verin steps faltered but he quickly caught back up. "Yeah I'm sorry about that. I shouldn't have said the things I said. The truth is, while I was mad at you I was also mad at myself because a part of me really did want to kill the bloated Duke."

Ah ya that makes me feel better, she thought sarcastically

He frowned then laughed, "You know you really are self-absorbed."

The corner of her mouth twitched and she clenched her fist in aggravation. He was supposed to be nothing but a staunch protector and a servant but every time she turned around he was shoving in her face how bad a person she was.

"You're right I probably shouldn't be doing that I'm sorry." He dropped the mental shield he had placed between them and let her fill that he was genuinely sorry and that he cared for her.

His feelings hit her like a ton of bricks and she stops stunned in her tracks. "You care for me? What? Why?"

Immediately his presence disappeared from her mind again. "Well. . . Well of course I care for you, you open my magic," he answered lamely.

XRenia just stood there staring at him as he continued to walk.

"Which reminds me." He pulled a leather pouch from his cargo pocket and tossed it into her dimensional inventory.

She opened it to find that it was full of copper and silver coins. "Hey where did you get all this money?" She said chasing after him. "You didn't steal it did you?"

"I just open the few people's magic and they insisted on paying me a little here and there."

Her eyes widen. "You can't do that. You have to have a license to open people's magic!"