Chapter Three #2
“You said people don’t come out here.”
“They don’t, but someone still might. Besides, don’t you want food?”
“I don’t need you to feed me.”
Nymon made a show of looking around. “Are you hiding food with your non-existent clothes? Because I don’t see either of those things anywhere.”
“I’m not hiding food. I’m a shifter.”
It took Nymon a second to understand what Tex was saying, and when he did, he was horrified. He probably shouldn’t be. Like Tex had pointed out, he was a shifter. When he was in his wolf form, it made sense for him to hunt. “Hot food,” Nymon offered. “Maybe even a shower.”
“That’s tempting,” Tex agreed.
“It would also be safer for me. I don’t need to tell you what would happen if someone found us talking.”
“I’m actually curious about that. I didn’t realize that you guys weren’t allowed to leave your towns. I thought it was something demons didn’t want to do.”
Nymon snorted. “Oh, I very much want to leave Starhaven. Trust me, if I could, I’d be on my way out. We shouldn’t talk about it here, though.”
“All right. I’ll follow you home.”
Nymon grinned. He had Tex where he wanted him. “I’d love to show you my home and to let you use my shower, but I think you’re a liar, and I don’t know if I should let you inside.”
Tex looked confused. “What are you talking about?”
“You’re not here because you’re curious about demons.”
They stared at each other. Nymon was pretty sure that he’d let Tex into his home even if Tex never told him why he was actually here.
Something deep inside of him was telling him that he could trust Tex.
He’d never felt this with anyone else before, and he didn’t understand it, but he wanted to believe it.
He also wanted to kiss Tex, but that was an entirely different problem.
He doubted anyone would blame him for that.
Even Kael would have to admit that Tex was hot if he met him.
Not that it would change anything. If anyone found out about this conversation, they’d blame Nymon. They wouldn’t be wrong to. Maybe Nymon was letting his cock take over. Maybe he was an idiot.
Tex rubbed the back of his neck. “How do you know I’m lying?”
“It’s kind of obvious. I’ve wanted to explore the human world for most of my life, but I’m still here. Maybe more than knowing you’re lying, I’m being jealous, but I’m pretty sure there’s more to your story than you’re saying.”
“I don’t want to scare you or make you hate me.”
“Why would I hate you?”
“Because maybe I’m not here for a good reason. Maybe if I tell you, you’ll get scared.”
“I can’t imagine being scared of you.”
“Maybe you should.”
Nymon considered that. “Maybe I should,” he agreed. “I’m not, though. I don’t think you’re here to hurt me.”
Tex looked conflicted. “I’m not,” he confirmed. “You’re too trusting.”
“Probably, but in Starhaven, it doesn’t matter. No one here is going to hurt me. I’ve known these people all my life.”
“It doesn’t mean one of them can’t hurt you, and you haven’t known me all your life.”
“I don’t see what the problem is. I already told you I trust you won’t hurt me.
” Nymon looked around, but they were still alone.
“Look, I really want to take you home and help you be more comfortable, and I want to ask you questions about your world and all that, but I need to know why you’re actually here.
I just told you that I trust you not to hurt me.
Are you going to trust me enough to tell me what’s going on? ”
Tex looked around again. “All right,” he said, his shoulders slumping. “But not here. I can’t risk anyone else hearing what I’m about to tell you.”
“We can sit in my greenhouse while you explain.”
“Isn’t that too close to your home?”
“My greenhouse isn’t my home,” Nymon pointed out. He didn’t tell Tex that he’d let him inside the house even if he didn’t tell him why he was here. He wanted to know.
Tex considered that for a moment before nodding. “All right. Deal.”
Nymon shouldn’t feel like he’d won something, but he did. He was taking Tex home.
Tex was a shifter.
Nymon was taking a shifter home.
He probably shouldn’t be as excited as he was at the thought, but he couldn’t wait to find out the truth.
He couldn’t wait to talk to Tex and find out more about his world.
He wanted to know more about Tex himself.
It had to be cool to turn into an animal, like Tex did just now.
One second, he was standing there in his human form, and the next, a wolf was blinking up at Nymon.
Nymon wanted to reach out and pat Tex’s head, but he liked having all his fingers attached, so he kept his hand to himself and tilted his chin in the direction of his house.
“It’s this way. I guess you might remember since you were there yesterday. ”
Tex nodded, which was weird because right now, he was a wolf. Even though Nymon had known about shifters all of his life, he’d never met one, and it would take him a little while to get used to having Tex around like this.
He might not have to. He doubted Tex would stick around for long.
But while he was here, Nymon would take everything he could. He had a lot of questions he’d been yearning to ask, and he hadn’t had anyone to ask them to until now. He hoped Tex was ready for that, but if he wasn’t, well, he’d have to find a way to deal with it.
* * * *
TEX WAS GOING TO REGRET this. He could already tell, but he was powerless to stop it. How could he refuse anything his mate wanted?
Apparently, what his mate wanted was for Tex to follow him home and shower. Maybe Tex stank? It wouldn’t be a surprise considering he’d spent a few days in the forest, but it hadn’t been that long, and he’d been in his wolf form. Surely it couldn’t be that bad.
The temptation was too strong. Tex wanted to know more about Nymon.
He’d been surprised when Nymon had told him that he knew he’d lied.
Maybe he shouldn’t have been. Nymon couldn’t feel what Tex was feeling yet because their bond wasn’t complete, but he was Tex’s mate.
Even now, he probably knew Tex better than a lot of people in Tex’s life.
Tex followed his mate as Nymon walked away. He kept a careful distance in case anyone saw them, but Nymon didn’t seem to care, or maybe he did but was good at hiding how he was feeling. He walked as if this was any normal day for him, as if he hadn’t just met his mate.
Well, he didn’t know he’d met his mate.
Was Tex going to tell him? Nymon wasn’t the reason Tex was here, but he was the reason Tex was planning on staying for a while.
Maybe he wouldn’t have to if he told Nymon they were mates, and Nymon deserved to know, anyway.
At the same time, it might be a lot to throw into a conversation considering everything else Nymon needed to know.
He knew that Tex had lied about just being interested in demons.
It probably wasn’t a good idea to tell him about the council assassins and all of that, but Tex could tell him that he worked for the council and had been sent to investigate demons selling their magic to humans.
Maybe he knew something, not because he was involved, but because the town was small.
Tex had no idea how to get himself out of this mess.
Gregory would freak out if he found out what was happening and that Nymon had been able to see through Tex the way he had.
Hell, he was probably freaking out already because Tex had told him about Nymon.
He couldn’t drag Tex home because it was against the council laws to keep mates apart, but he also had to think about the reason Tex was here.
This couldn’t be easy for him, but right now, Tex didn’t care much about making Gregory’s life easy.
He trotted behind his mate, keeping his eyes and ears open.
At one point, they got closer to town, and Tex was once again able to hear people.
They weren’t close enough for him to tell what people were saying, and they didn’t go any closer.
Instead, the forest enfolded them again, and Tex recognized the area of the town in which they were.
He would never forget where his mate lived because it would mean forgetting where he could find him.
He could smell Nymon, and not only because he was walking in front of him.
Nymon’s presence was everywhere in this area.
It leached out of his backyard, and Tex was pretty sure that he noticed a few plants moving closer to his mate as he walked past. It shouldn’t be possible, but he knew what he was seeing.
It was kind of freaky. He knew that demons had different powers and abilities depending on what color they were, so he was aware of the fact that Nymon’s magic had to do with plants, but seeing it was different.
It drove home exactly how different they were—as if Nymon’s green hair and swirling green eyes hadn’t.
They reached the gate Nymon had come out of last night.
He opened it as if it was something he did every day, and it probably was.
A long strand of ivy reached out for him, and he raised a hand, stroking one of the leaves.
Tex blinked at the sight, but he didn’t say anything about it or ask how it worked.
He didn’t think it mattered, and he couldn’t right now anyway.
“We’re home,” Nymon said as he gestured for Tex to follow him.
Tex did. He looked around as soon as he stepped into the backyard. He wasn’t surprised to see plants everywhere, both outside and in a greenhouse that had its door closed. It didn’t stay close for long, though. Nymon quickly opened it and gestured at Tex to go in.
“I’ll be right back,” he promised.