Chapter One #2
Kael couldn’t look away. Sometimes, he still had a hard time believing that Nymon had a shifter mate.
He never would’ve met Tex if Tex hadn’t been sent on a mission in Starhaven.
Kael could’ve gone his whole life without meeting him, because he wouldn’t have left the town, and neither would Nymon.
He’d never thought about leaving. For him, his future had been in Starhaven.
But he had left. Sometimes, he still couldn’t believe it. Sometimes, he also thought that maybe he’d made a mistake, but he couldn’t imagine his life without Nymon, and he wouldn’t have been able to continue being Nymon’s friend if Nymon had left alone. He wouldn’t have been allowed to.
Demons couldn’t go back and forth between their towns and the human world.
They were isolated, protected by shields, and normally, humans couldn’t get in.
Demons also couldn’t get out. Nymon and Kael had been lucky that they’d managed, but Kael couldn’t help but wonder how many other demons wished they could leave their towns.
That made him feel guilty. He’d had the opportunity, even though he hadn’t wanted it.
He’d taken it, and now he was here, not knowing what to do with this new life.
He should be more grateful, shouldn’t he?
He should be finding his way, making friends, finding a job, and building a new life.
Instead, he was clinging to Nymon and probably annoying him and Tex.
Tex waved at someone behind Kael, and Kael tensed. He hadn’t had the time to ask Nymon why all of them were here, and it worried him. He didn’t think anything bad would happen, but he didn’t understand why the council wanted to talk to him.
Maybe they wanted information on Starhaven. After all, those demons who’d killed humans had lived there. They could easily have asked Nymon, though.
Nymon, who was exchanging a glance with his mate right now. They both glanced at Kael, too, but Nymon quickly looked away when he realized that Kael was watching him. Kael had known Nymon all of his life, which meant that he was sure his best friend was hiding something.
He supposed he was about to find out what that something was.
“Sorry to keep you waiting, gentlemen,” the tall man in his mid-forties said as he slid into the last empty chair at the table.
He smiled at Kael. He had a nice smile—comforting, which Kael hadn’t expected. He knew what Tex had trained to do and who he worked with, and for some reason, Kael had expected all those people to look like killers. What did a killer look like, though?
He glanced at Tex. He certainly didn’t look like a killer. He looked like Nymon’s mate, like a man who loved Kael’s best friend. Meeting him, Kael would never have thought he could kill people.
He supposed that Tex didn’t kill people. He hadn’t become a council assassin, which Kael thought was a good thing.
Before he could stop himself, he thought of Ridge. Now, Ridge was definitely a council assassin. Kael was sure of that, and he’d gotten confirmation from Tex. He didn’t know what to think about it, or rather, how to feel about it.
They weren’t anything. They weren’t friends, and they certainly weren’t mates. He didn’t know why Ridge caught his attention and why he couldn’t stop thinking about the man, but as long as he stayed away, he didn’t think it would be a problem.
“I’m Gregory.”
Kael blinked at Gregory. “I know.” He realized it was rude and felt his cheeks flush. “Sorry. Nymon and Tex have been telling me about you, so I know who you are. I’m Kael.”
Gregory held out his hand, and Kael quickly shook it. He needed to stop behaving like an idiot.
“I’ll get straight to the point since I’m sure you want to know what’s going on,” Gregory said.
He laced his fingers together on top of the table and looked at Kael.
“The Council wants to reach out to demons. We already know they won’t take it well if we do so ourselves, and really, I don’t think it would help.
We’ve already reached out to them before, and they’ve refused to open up. ”
“Well, there’s a reason we isolate ourselves in our towns,” Kael explained. “Most demons don’t like outsiders. We’re afraid of them.”
“Are you afraid of outsiders?”
“I’ve had to deal with a lot of them. Hell, I’m the outsider now. I guess I understand both points of view better.”
Gregory pointed his finger at Kael. “And that’s where you come in.
You’re an outsider here. You know what it feels like.
You also know what it feels like to be a demon and to live in a demon town.
As someone who has both perspectives, you can explain better than most people why it would be beneficial to both humans and demons to open up to each other. ”
“I suppose so.”
“Which is why the council would like to hire you. We want you to visit demon towns and try to convince the people in charge there to open up. We don’t expect them to suddenly take down the shields and welcome every human or shifter or paranormal creature who wants to move in, but we would like to have at least a dialogue between the towns and us. ”
It was a good idea. Kael knew demons well enough to be aware of the fact that they wouldn’t be happy with it, though. Most of them would probably refuse without listening to the whole thing, and he couldn’t even blame them for it. He would’ve refused until recently, too.
But now, he knew. He’d seen the human world.
He knew that it truly would be a good thing for a lot of demons to have the capability of visiting.
If anything, they might find out they were someone’s mate.
Who wouldn’t want that to happen? Who wouldn’t want the opportunity to be loved the way Tex loved Nymon?
Kael swallowed. It wasn’t only mates. Demon towns had technology and a lot of things found in the human world, but not everything, and what they did have was complicated to get.
It took a lot of work and effort, and even then, sometimes it just wasn’t possible.
They couldn’t just go to the hospital like anyone in this town would if they were sick or hurt.
They had to find a healer, and those healers had magic, but sometimes, it wasn’t enough.
Sometimes, they needed a hospital, and he didn’t want to think about how many demons had died because they didn’t have access to one.
Even if they had, human doctors wouldn’t know how to treat demons.
They’d never had the opportunity to learn.
“Why me? Why not Nymon?”
“Because I don’t want to go,” Nymon said gently. “Tex and I are still settling in, and personally, I never want to go back to a demon town.”
“You think I do?”
“I know you miss it. I understand why. Sometimes I do, too, but I have Tex and everything else to focus on. You don’t have a lot.
I think this would be a good opportunity for you to mix both worlds.
I know you don’t want to leave the human world and go back to Starhaven, so maybe this is a chance for you to do both. ”
“I don’t know if I’ll be any good at it,” Kael said.
“We don’t need you to be good at it,” Gregory said.
“We need someone who knows both worlds, and who better than you? You’ve been here a very short time, but it was enough to show you what you’re missing in the demon world.
It was also enough for you to know how demons could benefit from a closer relationship with humans. ”
“What if they don’t want to listen to me?”
“Then you leave. And I don’t want you to worry. I’ve already talked to someone who will come with you and protect you. No one will hurt you.”
Kael did want to go back to the demon world, at least for a bit, and it sounded like a good opportunity to do so. He wasn’t sure how much help he could be, but that wasn’t going to stop him from trying. “All right.”
* * * *
WHEN RIDGE SAW GREGORY’S name on his phone, he answered quickly. There was only one reason Gregory would be calling him, and it had to be about the mission. If he had something to say about it, Ridge needed to know.
“Hello?”
“Ridge,” Gregory said, sounding upbeat. “I hope I’m not bothering you?”
“Not at all.”
“Good. I already cleared it with your handler, but you can start packing. You go on the mission in a few days.”
Ridge leaned against his kitchen counter. “That was fast.”
“Well, there’s no need to drag things out when both you and the demon I talked to have agreed to go.”
“Someone’s agreed?”
“Yes. Unfortunately, Nymon declined, which is why I’m not sending Tex.”
“I can do just as good a job.”
“I know. That’s why I’m sending you instead of him. Besides, this will be easier for Kael.”
Ridge blinked. “I’m sorry?”
“Well, he already knows you. I’m sure that’ll make it easier for him to deal with everything.”
Oh, no. “You asked Kael to do this?”
“Yes. I realize he hasn’t been in the human world for long, but I think that might actually help.
He hasn’t fully settled in yet, but he’s been here long enough to see how it would benefit demons to be more open.
I don’t actually expect him to convince them to open up their villages and towns right away, but he can at least talk to them.
He can tell them what he’s encountered and how things would be different if he knew he could go back to his hometown. ”
“And he said yes?”
“He did. He was hesitant, but I think it’s mostly because he’s never done anything like this. From what I gathered, he’s been pretty sheltered.”
Ridge closed his eyes. Of course he was going to be doing this with Kael of all people. The universe was probably laughing at him right now.
He’d taken this job to put some distance between himself and his mate, and instead, they were going to be stuck together for who knew how long.
This might be a sign from the universe, but if it was, Ridge wasn’t sure what the universe was trying to say.
As far as he was concerned, the universe was being a little bitch, and he didn’t appreciate that.