Page 30 of Xarius


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“But you would still be the most amazing person ever, and I needed you, I just didn’t know it then.” He hugged me close, letting me work through my emotions. Everything had happened so quickly since I’d gotten shunned and I knew that even if our mission somehow failed, I would never regret choosing Xarius. If I only gotto live for a few days with him then I would gladly take it. The fear of someone attacking at any moment was getting to me, and even though I logically knew I was one of the most powerful mages alive now, I still doubted myself. How could I not? I’d been the weak one,the strange one, my entire life. I’d only had magic for a few days, and I was nowhere good enough to protect Xari and myself forever. We needed the other mages and we needed them now. Too bad the rest wouldn’t be here for a few months (if we were lucky).

“I think we should head out and buy some shoes,” Xari said, holding out my clean boxers for me. I stepped into them and smiled when he stroked my cheek. “We got this,” he said, placing a soft kiss on my lips.

I nodded, not really able to speak, too raw and emotional. I knew our magic would take its toll on us, and I still felt it.

“We should wash our clothes and then stock the van before shoe shopping, though,” he said, drying himself with the same towel. “If we need to make a hasty escape, I want the van at the ready.”

I nodded again and went in to collect all our dirty clothes. We should be able to clean and dry them in only a few minutes, and this time we could use the detergent. I got the clothes out in the bathroomand together we cleaned everything and then returned to our van. We had our familiars out, watching over us as we placed our stuff back where it belonged.

“Maybe we should buy some meat, too? And maybe a small portable grill instead of those one-use ones,” I said, speaking for the first time since we had sex. I wasn’t giving him the silent treatment, I was just feeling everything hitting me suddenly. It left me in a sort of depressive state. I felt a warm rush of emotions inside of me, all hitting differently at once so I couldn’t place what they were, before a calm came over me. I felt happy again, hopeful, even.

I shot a look over my shoulder at Xari, raising a brow in question. “Yes, that was me,” he replied, hugging me from behind. “I can help with your emotions when they get out of control. But I’ll stop if you don’t like it.”

“Don’t like it? I didn’t like feeling so down before. I appreciate you clearing my mind for me. These emotions and feelings are natural, I know that, but I need to be ready to protect us, and I can’t do that if I’m too lost in my own head. I couldn’t get out myself, so thank you for bringing me back.”

He hugged me tighter. “Now, let’s go buy you some shoes.”

Chapter 24

Xarius

We got the shoes for Niam and then made a quick stop at a jeweler. I’d made raw gold, stating that I’d found it myself in nature on our travels and we now needed some money for the rest of our adventure. The kind owner was an older woman who loved getting raw gold she could melt and turn into something beautiful. We probably didn’t get the highest amount possible for it, but since I’d literally made it out of magic, I wasn’t too picky about helping her out by not asking for more. She’d been interested in hearing about our adventure and when we told her we lived in the van, she gave us a few tips if we everwanted to add a kitchen in there while still having space enough to sleep in.

I hadn’t told Niam, but I planned on buying a camper once we’d found Silver, knowing we would soon be three on the road, and I wasn’t letting anyone else snuggle up next to my man.

We drove by a larger town next and Niam wanted to see their jewelers, too. I’d quickly made us some more raw gold and we got rejected at the first store, they didn’t make the jewelry themselves so it meant nothing to them, but the next was eager to buy from us. Gold was apparently getting rarer to come by, especially raw gold. The owner had bought everything and thanked us after testing it was all real gold. He was desperate for more, saying married couples wanted to design their own rings but it was hard for him to come by any gold that didn’t have to be remelted, and he hated ruining an already made design. I told him we had more we were saving for the future but I would grab it for him. We’d sat in the van while I made the new gold and sold that, too.

Just more money towards the camper, I thought as we drove away from the jeweler. Our next destination was another campsite. We hadn’t felt watched once and we took that as a good sign. Perhapsthe council of mages wouldn’t send someone after us right away.We could only hope. When the mages we’d killed were determined to be missing or dead, we would be the ones they blamed.

Niam held up the locket which glowed brighter as we kept getting closer to Silver. It was a sign of hope. A sign we were getting closer each day. I hoped Silver was doing okay. He’d been here for around two years according to Niam. Whatever he’d done to survive in this world had worked, the locket wouldn’t glow if he was dead.

“The weather app shows a storm is coming,” Niam said, looking at my phone. We’d decided he didn’t need his own for now. We wouldn’t be apart, so there really wasn’t any use for it. I would happily share mine with him. The phones here were a little different than the ones from our world, but Niam was a quick learner.

“Rain? Thunder?” I asked, bending my head to look further up the sky, which was getting darker, a looming presence over the van as we drove down the dirt road. We were once again on country roads, away from any big towns, and driving further into the wilderness to the campsite.

“Both,” he grimaced. “It should last a day at least.”

I looked at the GPS. It was old, but worked as intended so we kept using it, knowing we could switch to the phone when needed. Estimated arrival time was thirty minutes. “Do you think our familiars will mind sleeping in the rain?” We didn’t have any other choice, but maybe I could park near somewhere sturdy enough that we didn’t have to worry about the storm.

“I have no idea. We haven’t spent enough time with them to truly bond. Maybe once we have a rest, we should bond with them a little?”

I liked that plan. “We could use some rest, too, but we should wait until we reach Silver. It could be a few days before he’ll decide to come with us.”

He sighed. “You’re right, and it seems foolish to stop now that we’re this close.”

“Especially if the mages know where Silver is. He could be in danger now that they know we’ve gotten our magic.”

“I hadn’t even thought about that! What about Wilston then? He could be on the other side of the globe!” I could feel his panic and fear. Placing my hand on his thigh I did my best to calm his emotions,while keeping my eyes firmly on the road ahead. We needed to reach the site before the storm began.

Twenty-two minutes later, and we arrived. I may have broken the speed limit, but if any cop dared stop me when a storm was coming, then that was on them. I parked near the facilities building. It was a small house that held bathrooms and showers. This site wasn’t as primitive as the others were, with options to stay under cover and eat. There was a fire pit surrounded by tables for eating, each table had coverings built out of wood, shielding people from the sun and the rain when they ate. The storm was going to hit any minute now, so we jumped out of the van to make sure our bladders were empty before we headed into the back.

After having peed first, I waited with our familiars for Niam to return. I was right beside the door that led into the building, so I wasn’t worried about him being separated from me. We needed space for some things to keep the romance alive, or that’s what Niam had said when he demanded I leave him alone the last time he had to pee. I knew when I wasn’t wanted, so I kept watch and thought about the empty bottles we had for emergencies inside the van. No way was either of us leaving the van in the middle of a thunderstorm to pee.

I felt Leon and Snowflake at my side, guarding the door protecting me. They were always invisible now, something we would need to change when we left this site. Even with the storm here there were at least seven other cars, all parked around the middle like us, too afraid to be up against the trees.

“Hi, there, handsome,” a female voice said from my left. I looked over and saw a woman with long braided hair. She looked to be in her early thirties and had a friendly smile on her face.

“Good evening,” I greeted, not wanting to appear rude. She was likely looking for supplies to help her through the storm.