Page 11 of In the Monster’s Wake (Monsters Amongst Us #1)

J asper enjoyed working as a mechanic. He liked that he didn’t have to talk with customers because his boss took care of that. He liked that cars were usually easy to figure out. They weren’t messy like human beings.

But he couldn’t deny that the thought of working with Archie excited him. He wasn’t looking forward to having to deal with Kester, but Archie? That was an entirely different thing.

Jasper was intrigued by the monster. His father’s head would explode if he ever found out about this, but Jasper didn’t care. He didn’t answer to his father. He wasn’t even afraid of him anymore. He was a grown man, and if he wanted to sleep with Archie, he would.

Although it would probably be better if they focused on finding Kester first.

That was why Jasper was back at Archie’s office. They’d agreed to work together, and they were planning on talking to people today. Braith had to focus on other cases, which was a pity because Jasper liked him but also good because he wanted to spend more time alone with Archie.

It was strange. Jasper believed that a lot of monsters were good people, but considering what he’d done when he was a hunter, he usually kept his distance from them.

He wouldn’t have been welcomed if he’d tried talking to them, but Archie hadn’t hesitated to welcome him into his office, and Braith had welcomed him with open arms. He didn’t even seem to mind that Jasper wanted Archie.

He’d teased them, but it had been clear it came from friendship.

Why were the two of them so ready to forgive Jasper’s previous life?

Jasper didn’t know, but in the end, it didn’t really matter.

He just had to be careful because he didn’t know the two very well, but from what he’d found on them in the hunters’ archives, they weren’t hiding anything.

They’d opened their agency several years ago and had kept a low profile.

They only worked with monsters, probably because no human would hire them.

The hunters were convinced that Jasper and Braith both killed monsters when they were hired to, but they’d never investigated.

As far as they were concerned, it was fewer monsters they had to deal with.

They might not like Archie and Braith and how strong they were, but as long as the two PIs didn’t give the hunters problems, the hunters would continue ignoring them.

That was a good thing. Jasper didn’t want his father to get involved, which he would definitely do if he found out that Jasper was working with two monsters, especially monsters as dangerous as Archie and Braith.

Jasper really hoped they were the good guys.

He wasn’t sure he’d make it out in one piece if they weren’t.

“What are you doing standing there?” Braith asked as he came out of the building.

“I’m meeting Archie.”

Braith’s eyes lit up. “He lets you call him Archie?”

Jasper frowned. “I don’t think I ever called him that in his presence. Why?”

“Oh, I need to be there when you do, please. Actually, can we go inside and have you do it now? He’s in the office.”

Jasper didn’t understand why it was such a big deal, but he was pretty sure he’d be in trouble with Archie if he called him that to his face.

He shrugged. He didn’t really care. He wasn’t about to use Archie’s full name because it was ridiculous.

He walked into the waiting room, knocked on the open door of the office, and peeked in. Archie was behind his desk, but he got up as soon as he saw Jasper.

“I’m ready to go when you are,” he said as he walked around the desk.

Jasper smiled at him. “Good to see you again, Archie.”

He heard Braith make a strangled sound behind him, but he ignored him. For a moment, he and Archie just stared at each other. Jasper expected Archie to tell him off for using that nickname, but instead, the monster shook his head.

“As you know, we were hired to investigate the death of someone I suspect was one of Kester’s victims. She was killed with her boyfriend,” he explained. “I contacted one of their friends. She’s waiting for us.”

“Let’s go, then.”

Braith was gone when they walked out of the office. Jasper was kind of relieved. He didn’t want to get on Archie’s bad side because even though he hadn’t wanted to get involved initially, he’d changed his mind. He needed to take down Kester, if anything so he could sleep better at night.

Jasper let Archie take the lead. It wasn’t only that he was human while Archie was a monster like most of the victims they were looking into.

It was also because this was Archie’s job.

Jasper had been a good hunter, but he’d never investigated, even when they were hunting.

If they were convinced that a monster had killed or hurt people, they went after them, and that was that.

They didn’t need to find proof that the monster had done any of the things they thought they had.

Jasper had always despised that way of doing things, and he’d been happy to leave it behind. That wasn’t how Jasper and Archie would work.

He was glad to let Archie take the lead when he saw the way the monster they were here to talk to watched him. She clearly didn’t trust him, but she didn’t say anything about him, no doubt because of Archie’s presence. Jasper just nodded at her and stayed silent.

This wasn’t something he’d be able to do if he was investigating on his own.

Even if he’d found out about this monster, she wouldn’t have been willing to talk to him.

She probably still wasn’t. She kept her attention on Archie, but Jasper could tell that she was watching him from the corner of her eye.

Maybe she expected him to attack her or something.

“Thank you for agreeing to talk to us,” Archie said as he settled on the edge of the couch.

The apartment was cute. There were plants everywhere, and the sun streaming in through the windows made it cheery, even though the person it belonged to had clearly been crying.

“I want you to find out what happened to Lucas and Cherry,” the monster said.

“We’ll do our best.”

She glanced at Jasper. “You work with a human.”

Jasper leaned forward. “I’m Jasper, and I can see that you’re uncomfortable with me, but I promise that Archie is in charge here. I’m just going to sit and listen.” Maybe that would help her relax.

She stared at him, still not trusting him. “I’m Camille,” she eventually said.

Jasper nodded at her again and kept his mouth shut. He wanted her to forget that he was there.

“Why don’t you tell us about your friends?” Archie asked.

Along with information on most monsters in the city, the hunters had info on the people who’d been killed by monsters or were suspected to have been killed by them.

He’d looked into the most recent crimes and reading about Lucas and Cherry in more detail than he’d get on the news. Their deaths had been horrifying.

Thankfully, they weren’t here to talk about that, at least not in specifics. Archie asked questions about the evening the two of them had been killed and when Camille had last seen them. He asked her about them and what they’d been like. Camille was eager to answer.

“I’m sure it was Cherry’s ex,” she eventually said.

Jasper frowned. They were almost a hundred percent sure that Kester had killed Lucas and Cherry, but there was a chance he had nothing to do with it. They had no proof it had been him. That was why they were investigating and trying to find him.

“Why do you think that?” Archie asked.

“He was jealous. She dumped him a few months ago, and he started stalking her. He always popped up where she was, and it became worse when she started dating Lucas.” Camille smiled softly.

“They were friends for the longest time before they started dating, you know? We all knew they were in love, but she was with that dickhead. I cheered when I found out that she’d dumped him. I didn’t think he was that dangerous.”

Archie and Jasper glanced at each other. They suspected Kester was responsible for these two deaths, but they could be wrong. Archie had been hired to find out what had happened to Cherry, and that went beyond Kester.

“Why don’t you tell me how to find Cherry’s ex?” Archie asked, leaning closer to Cherry.

Jasper suspected that Cherry’s ex was about to regret everything he’d ever done to her.

* * * *

“D O YOU THINK THE EX had anything to do with this?” Jasper asked once they were back in the car.

He’d been silent while they talked to Camille, which hadn’t been a surprise. She’d been visibly wary of him, and he’d noticed it. It had been wise of him because Archibald didn’t think they’d have gotten as much as they had out of her if she’d felt obligated to tell a human about her friends.

Archibald took a moment to think about the conversation they’d had with Camille.

She was sure that Cherry’s ex was involved in her death, and maybe she was right.

They had no proof that Kester had killed Cherry, but considering how brutal her death had been, Archibald would bet everything he owned on it.

There was no way Kester wasn’t involved in at least some of the murders Archibald suspected him of being involved in.

“I think it’s possible. I want to talk to him either way. ”

Jasper nodded. “Should I stay out of it like earlier?”

Camille had told Archibald where they could find Cherry’s ex. Archibald was tempted to ask Jasper to go home or stay in the car, but he already knew what Jasper’s answer would be. “He lives in a monster neighborhood.”

Jasper nodded. “I’ll stay out of it, then.”

“You could stay in the car.”

Jasper arched a brow. That was all he had to say.

Archibald sighed. “Fine. You can come with me, but be careful. Some monsters don’t take it well when they see humans in the place they call home.”

“You seem to forget that I’m used to dealing with monsters.”

“I didn’t forget it. No matter how many times you had to fight monsters, you’re still weaker than most of us.”