Chapter One #4
To be fair, Kael hadn’t expected much when he decided to move.
He’d made the decision in a hurry, mostly because Nymon was leaving and Kael hadn’t felt he had a choice.
He couldn’t try to convince his friend to stay.
Nymon had a good reason to leave, and Kael understood that.
He understood that Nymon had more reasons to leave than to stay.
Fear of being alone and losing his best friend had pushed him to follow Nymon.
He didn’t regret it. This new life of his might not be easy, but it also wasn’t unbearable.
He knew that if he gave himself time, he would find his place here.
He would find friends, community, and a job.
He would become one of the people who lived there, and they would stop staring at him.
He just needed to give it some time, but it was harder than he’d expected—maybe because he was alone.
At the end of the day, when Nymon went home to Tex, Kael went home to an empty apartment.
“You miss Starhaven,” Nymon said.
“I don’t think I miss Starhaven as much as I miss feeling like I belong. I always knew what my place was in Starhaven. I was born there, and I expected to die there.”
Nymon wrinkled his nose. “No one’s dying.”
“I’m certainly not planning to. But I never imagined I would leave Starhaven. I never imagined anyone would.”
“But you did leave.”
“And I’m here, and I don’t quite know what to do with myself.”
“That’s why it’s a good idea for you to go,” Nymon pointed out as he sat back and took a sip of wine.
“You’ll be able to talk with demons. You can tell them how hard you found adapting to the human world but also how rewarding it is.
You’ve seen both sides of it, but I haven’t.
I’m very much focused on Tex and our bond, and that’s not something most demons will be able to rely on.
You can’t either, but you’re doing very well anyway. ”
Kael wouldn’t say he was doing very well, but it was certainly better than a lot of people.
“And that way, you’ll be spending time with demons, and you won’t feel so out of place. You can have your fill of it, and when you come back, you’ll finally be able to settle down.”
Kael snorted and took another sip of wine. “You sound like you want me to get married and start having children.”
“If you wanted them, why not?”
Did Kael want children? He didn’t know, and it was a moot point because he didn’t have anyone to have children with. “I’m going to miss you.”
“You’ll be distracted. You’ll probably not even notice I’m not with you.”
“That’s not possible.”
“You’ll be too distracted, trust me.”
Kael squinted at his best friend. “What are you hiding?”
Nymon was suddenly very interested in his glass. “Nothing.”
“Even you don’t believe yourself. What’s going on?”
Nymon nibbled on his lower lip before sucking in a breath. “You know that Gregory told you that you wouldn’t be going alone?”
“I sure hope not, because if I am, I’m not going anywhere.”
“You’re not going on your own. He’s already assigned one of the council assassins to you.”
“I don’t need an assassin. I just need someone who can protect me if I have to be protected. Please tell me they’re not planning on killing everyone who looks sideways at me?”
“I can’t promise that.”
“I want a bodyguard even though I don’t think I’ll need one. What does Gregory expect demons to do? Attack me as soon as I cross their shield?”
“Of course he doesn’t think that, but your companion might. He’s going to be on edge.”
“Because he has to protect me?”
“In part. I mean, I know more, but I’m not sure I should say.”
“What are you talking about?”
“Gregory is sending Ridge with you.”
Kael snapped his mouth shut. He wished he could say he’d heard that wrong, but he knew he hadn’t.
He licked his lips and looked away. “And Ridge agreed?”
“From what I know, he did.”
“And you didn’t think you should’ve told me this before I agreed?”
“Should I have? As far as I know, there’s nothing going on between you and Ridge.”
That was a lie, and they both knew it. They hadn’t talked about it, though. Kael had refused, even though Nymon had wanted to. Nymon still wanted to. Kael could see him almost vibrating with the need.
But he wouldn’t push if Kael refused. He wouldn’t talk about it unless Kael wanted to.
Kael didn’t know if he wanted to talk about it. He wasn’t even sure there was anything to talk about. Ridge had been there when that mess in Starhaven had happened. He’d been nice to Kael, and it was easy to read into that.
But he suspected. He was pretty sure there was more to it, even though Ridge had never told him. He wasn’t about to ask. He was terrified because he didn’t know what would happen if he did. He also didn’t want to make a fool of himself if he was wrong.
He wished he could back out. He wanted to call Gregory and tell him he’d changed his mind.
He was pretty sure that Gregory would be okay with it.
Kael didn’t want to back down, though. He wanted to visit demons, to talk to them and be in a familiar place for a little bit.
He wanted people to stop staring at him like he came from another planet.
He would never regret following Nymon, but he needed a little space from all these humans.
Apparently, that came with less space from Ridge.