Page 12 of In the Monster’s Wake (Monsters Amongst Us #1)

Thankfully, Jasper didn’t seem to be offended by Archibald’s words. He stared at him for a moment before nodding. Archibald waited, but Jasper just turned toward the window and waited.

They were silent as Archibald drove. He couldn’t help but wonder what was going through Jasper’s mind.

Did he still want to find Kester? Why was it so important to him?

He wasn’t a monster, and he wasn’t a hunter anymore.

He shouldn’t care what happened to either of those people—although Archibald supposed that they weren’t the only ones in danger with Kester in town.

Maybe Jasper just wanted to get his father off his back, but even if that was the case, Archibald was thankful.

It was nice to know that people cared. Usually, the only people who cared about monsters were other monsters, and even that didn’t happen often.

Monsters were wary of humans and of each other, and with good reasons.

Jasper had never shown any kind of disgust or even fear when it came to Archibald.

He seemed to like Braith. He didn’t appear fazed by the way they looked, and he acted normally with them.

It wasn’t something Archibald had expected, but he liked it.

He especially liked the fact that Jasper had kissed him back without hesitation.

Archibald had taken the lead, but Jasper hadn’t pushed him away.

He parked the car as close to the address Camille had given them as he could. The houses on the street were small, but most of them were well-kept. That couldn’t be said of the one where the monster they were looking for lived.

There was trash in the front yard, and the gate squeaked when Archibald opened it. Jasper was visibly tense, and his gaze kept bouncing around, but he didn’t say anything as he followed Archibald. He was Archibald’s shadow.

Archibald knocked on the door. He eyed Jasper, but there was no way to know how he would react to what Archibald was about to do. He knew how to deal with this kind of people and did it routinely, but it might offend Jasper’s human sensibilities.

As soon as the door swung open, Archibald grabbed the throat of the monster who was behind it. He slammed the monster against the wall and kept him there, with his feet dangling, not caring how hard the monster wiggled. Archibald leaned closer to the monster’s face then smiled.

“We know you abused your ex-girlfriend,” he murmured. “As much as I wish I could kill you for that, I need answers, so you’re going to tell me what you know about Cherry’s death.”

The monster in Archibald’s hold was gray. His eyes were black and wide, and his hair was a greasy black mess. He wore a tank top that exposed patches of rough skin on his arms and chest. He didn’t smell great, but Archibald didn’t care about smell.

Not much anyway.

“I didn’t kill Cherry,” the monster said with a squeak.

Archibald tried to remember what Camille had called him. Harold? Archibald didn’t really care. “Are you sure about that?” he asked. “Because Camille is convinced it was you.”

Harold shook his head. “It wasn’t me. Everyone in the neighborhood knows who did it.”

“Well, I’m not from the neighborhood, and I don’t know, so please enlighten me. Who killed her?” Archibald squeezed Harold’s throat harder.

“Kester,” Harold whispered.

Archibald had to resist the urge to give him a good shake to get more out of him. If he was like everyone else, he was probably terrified to say anything about Kester. “How do you know that?”

Harold didn’t answer right away, so Archibald slammed him against the wall again.

He ignored the whimper that came from the monster.

He didn’t care if Harold was in pain or scared.

Even if he hadn’t killed Cherry, he’d been awful to her.

He’d hurt her. Maybe it was time to give him a taste of his own medicine.

Archibald glanced at Jasper, who stood next to him silently. He didn’t seem fazed by what was happening. He had his arms crossed over his chest and was staring down Harold while managing to look bored.

Harold didn’t even seem to have noticed him. His full focus was on Archibald. “There’s a rumor that he’s staying in the area. Everyone knows it.”

“ What does everyone know?”

“That he’s here.”

“Tell me more.”

“I can’t. I don’t know anything else, and if he finds out I talked to you, he’ll kill me like he killed Cherry.” Harold licked his lips. “I was there. I ran when I realized it was him.”

So Harold wasn’t a killer, just a coward who’d abandoned his ex-girlfriend when she needed him the most. Archibald wasn’t surprised, just like he wasn’t surprised that apparently, Harold had been following Cherry and her new boyfriend, possibly stalking them or maybe thinking of attacking them.

Archibald slammed Harold against the wall one last time, then dropped him.

Harold stumbled and fell on his ass. He quickly scrambled back, his eyes wide as he stared at Archibald.

Archibald didn’t look back at him. He turned to Jasper, who was still silent and hadn’t reacted to what Harold had said.

“I don’t think we’ll get anything else from him. ”

Jasper nodded and turned. Archibald made to follow him, but he stopped and leaned down so that Harold would hear him. “If I find out you hurt anyone else, you won’t like what happens to you.”

Harold quickly nodded. “I promise I won’t.”

Archibald patted his head. “Be a good boy, Harold.”

Harold frowned. “Who’s Harold?”

Archibald followed Jasper back to the car. They didn’t have anything new. He wasn’t surprised because he hadn’t really thought that Harold was involved in Cherry’s death, but at least now, they knew for sure.

He slid into his seat and waited for Jasper to close his door. He flexed his hands on the steering wheel, wondering what was next. He also wondered why Jasper hadn’t reacted to anything he’d done. “You didn’t tell me not to hurt him,” he commented.

“Considering what he did to Cherry, I wouldn’t have cared if you’d hurt him. He might not have killed her, but he abused her.”

“I’m surprised. Humans don’t usually feel that way. They don’t like when people get hurt.”

“I was a hunter for years. I met enough monsters and humans to know that some of them don’t deserve anything but violence.

Besides, hunters aren’t good people. We think nothing of hurting monsters, even those who haven’t done anything.

No matter what hunters and my father tell themselves, they’re not any better than monsters. ”

Archibald wasn’t sure what to say. Jasper wasn’t wrong, but it was the first time a hunter admitted that to Archibald.

It made him like Jasper even more, which he definitely hadn’t needed.

* * * *

J ASPER WISHED HE KNEW what Archie was thinking. He was probably wondering what came next for them, or maybe thinking about what had happened with Cherry’s ex.

Jasper truly didn’t care. A lot of hunters thought themselves better than everyone, especially monsters because they weren’t human, but deep inside, hunters were assholes.

They didn’t think anything of hurting people who didn’t deserve it just because they belonged to a different species.

Hunters weren’t better than anyone, not even monsters.

Most of the hunters Jasper had worked with were no better than bullies who took advantage of their power to hurt vulnerable people.

Jasper was surprised at how easy it was to work with Archie. It almost felt like he was back with the hunters and working with Corey and Kerry. He trusted Archie the way he trusted them. It didn’t make sense, but it was true. He knew that Archie wouldn’t hurt him.

Hell, he liked the monster, and he couldn’t stop thinking about kissing him again. Would it be a bad thing? Well, it depended on who he asked. His father would agree that it would be, but Jasper? He couldn’t wait to taste Archie again.

He was sorry when Archie parked the car in front of the office. It meant their time together was almost over. He needed to go home before Corey and Kerry started getting worried. He hadn’t left them a note or texted them, which he usually did when he left the apartment.

He slid out of the car and moved toward his.

He turned to say goodbye and was surprised to see that Archie had followed him closely.

For a moment, they stared at each other.

Jasper wasn’t sure if he would regret it, but he reached for Archie, grabbed his jacket, and pulled him close.

He pressed their lips together, smiling when Archie leaned into him instantly.

This kiss wasn’t like the last one they shared. It was softer, but it felt just as good—if not better. Knowing it was coming meant that Jasper could enjoy it much more.

When Archie’s arms slid around Jasper’s waist, Jasper broke the kiss and took a step back. Archie blinked at him and reached for him, but Jasper didn’t let him touch him. He smiled at him and turned toward his car, waving over his shoulder. “I’ll see you tomorrow.”

“You’re going to leave me like this?” Archie called out.

“Think of me tonight.”

Archie laughed. “Oh, I will.”

That was what Jasper had wanted. He smiled as he slid into his car and drove off. Archie was still there, watching him as he drove by. He didn’t wave, but Jasper could feel his gaze on him.

He had no idea what he was doing with Archie, but did he have to know? Wasn’t it good enough that he liked Archie, and Archie liked him? They weren’t in a rush. Jasper wanted Archie, but he could take his time—not too much time, but enough to enjoy himself.

He was still thinking about Archie and how kissing him felt when he parked in front of his building.

That was the only explanation he had for not realizing right away that someone was watching him.

He was almost at the door when he felt eyes on him.

He paused. He didn’t look around. He was pretty sure that even if he did, he wouldn’t see anything, and it might push his watcher to do something.

Kester was too smart to allow Jasper to see him, anyway.

Because Jasper was sure that if someone was watching him, it could only be Kester.

That meant that he needed to be careful and not do something stupid like confront the monster.

If Kester wanted to talk to him, he wouldn’t be hiding in the shadows.

No, he just wanted Jasper to know that he was there.

He no doubt enjoyed this kind of mental torture.

Jasper didn’t want him to feel like he had won, so he kept his back straight and walked into the building.

Was he afraid? After everything he’d heard about Kester, he definitely was.

He wasn’t a fool, and he knew how dangerous Kester was.

Jasper might have been a hunter once, but that didn’t mean he couldn’t be hurt.

And if there was one monster who could hurt him, it was Kester.