Tex didn’t fully understand why he’d been chosen.He got the logic of not wanting an assassin to do this because they were trained to kill people rather than spy on them, but the same could be said about him.As long as an assassin’s orders were not to kill someone, they could do surveillance jobs and follow people around.
“Look, they asked me to choose someone, and I chose you,” Gregory said as he leaned forward.“I trust you.I know you better than any of these assassins because I work with you every day.You can say no, and I’ll understand, but I hope you’ll say yes.I need to trust the person I’m sending out there.I need to know they won’t do anything stupid, like following an order that clearly shouldn’t have been given.I also need someone I can trust to have some authority.You might have to make decisions that some of the assassins would struggle with.”
Tex understood that.Some of them were too rigid in how they followed orders.Some of them fully believed that whatever the council ordered, they had to do.It wasn’t how Tex worked, though.It wasn’t how hewantedto work.He didn’t want anyone to get hurt, like Orlando’s mate almost had.
He was also curious about demons.He’d never met one.He wanted to see demons.He never had, but he’d heard about a few of them.He knew they didn’t look human.He also knew they had magic, and that was something else he was interested in.“As long as I can trust that someone will keep an eye on my assassins, I’ll do it,” he said.
Gregory grinned.“You don’t have to worry about that.I’ll do it.”
Somehow, that didn’t reassure Tex as much as it should.
* * * *
NYMON PUSHED SOME OFhis magic into the growing tomato plant.He had to be careful.Too much magic, and the growth would be too fast.He wouldn’t get to enjoy watching the plant grow and give him fruit.It was part of why he liked gardening, so he made sure that he only gave the plant enough to thrive.It was a little more than he would usually give, but that was because it wasn’t tomato season.He couldn’t wait for summer to start.He always loved his garden when the weather was warm.
That was what he had to look forward to.It was his life, and he told himself he was content with it as he listened to his podcast.It was a ridiculous story about someone’s father writing a book, and while he knew it didn’t reflect the way humans really were, like always, it made him wonder.
He’d never met a human.He’d seen plenty of them on TV, but he’d been born in Starhaven, and the town was the only thing he’d ever known.It was the only thing he would ever know for the rest of his life.They weren’t allowed to leave, and if they did, they wouldn’t be welcomed back.
Some days, that felt worth it.
But Nymon had a family.He had a best friend, who was more important to him than his parents or anyone else.He couldn’t leave him behind.Besides, what would he do around humans?He didn’t have any money.He wouldn’t be able to survive in that world, not from what he’d seen on TV and had read on the Internet.Humans knew about demons, but they didn’t see them often, and when they did, they were either fascinated or terrified.Nymon didn’t think he could deal with that.
But part of him wanted to.Part of him yearned to leave Starhaven and see what was out there.He liked this town, but God, it could be boring sometimes.He wanted to meet people.He wanted to talk to them, to know their stories, to make connections.He wanted to see their cities and their gardens.If he could, he’d go to Central Park or one of the national parks he’d read so much about.He was attracted to nature because of the kind of demon he was, and there was so much of it outside of this town.
And he’d probably never see it.
“Nymon?”someone called out from inside the house.
Nymon smiled at the sound of his best friend’s voice.He wasn’t surprised that Kael was here.They spent almost all their time together.“Outside,” he called back.
Kael was rolling his eyes when he appeared at the back door of the house in which Nymon lived.“Of course you’re outside.”
“Where else, right?”Nymon asked as he took out the earbud he had in his right ear and put it back into its box.He could continue listening to this podcast later.
Kael walked in through the greenhouse’s open door and looked around.“This is good,” he said.“You’ve been working hard.”
“It’s not like I have anything else to do.”
Kael cocked his head.“What were you listening to?”
Kael knew that Nymon wanted to explore the outside world.He knew that Nymon took a lot of ideas from podcasts and other places on the Internet.He didn’t understand the fascination, but Nymon didn’t need him to.It wasn’t like he’d do anything with it, anyway.As much as he dreamed of leaving Starhaven and discovering the world outside of it, he knew it was just a dream.“Nothing important.”
Kael shook his head and dropped into the chair in the corner.It was his spot when they spent time together in Nymon’s greenhouse, which was something they did almost every day.There was a pillow on the chair, and on the table next to it, a blanket and a box containing a few snacks.
“I don’t get it,” Kael said as he opened the box.“I mean, I find humans as fascinating as you do, but I don’t want to actually meet them.They’re weird.”
“You don’t know that.You don’t know any humans.”
“They’re not like us, though.I’ve seen enough to know that it probably wouldn’t be a good thing to meet one of them.”
“You shouldn’t believe everything you see on the Internet,” Nymon said, slightly peeved.He knew that Kael was afraid of what was out there, and he understood why.He would never push his best friend to do something he wasn’t comfortable with, like leaving their town to live with humans.It wasn’t like he would do that, either.He just didn’t want Kael to berate him for being interested in the world outside of their little town.He didn’t understand how Kael wasn’t.Didn’t he want to know what was out there?
He didn’t.They’d already talked about this many times, and Kael liked his life here.He thought it was perfect.They were happy, or at least, Kael was.Nymon wasn’t sure he could say the same about himself.
“I don’t,” Kael said, looking offended.“But you can’t deny that some of the stuff I’ve read is awful.”
“It’s not like demons are perfect,” Nymon grumbled as he got to his feet and moved closer to his best friend.There was a second chair there, and even though Nymon didn’t use it often, he was glad it was there.His knees hurt a bit, so he rubbed one of them, picking a pebble out of the fabric of his pants.It had gotten stuck there because Nymon spent so much time on his knees tending the plants.
