Page 16 of In the Monster’s Wake (Monsters Amongst Us #1)

T hey were in an area that wasn’t great, but then, the areas of the city where monsters lived seldom were. Jasper hated it, but there was nothing he could do about it. Besides, it wasn’t like the area where he lived was much better.

A thick layer of grime coated the windows of the few shops lining the street, making it obvious that they’d closed a while ago.

Old flyers and other trash fluttered in the wind, and graffiti covered every visible wall—and probably most of the walls Jasper couldn’t see, too.

Their colors were faded and peeling, though, so they didn’t do anything to help the grimness of the area.

There were lights on in most of the apartments, but it didn’t help much.

“You should stay in the car,” Archie said as he looked at Jasper.

Jasper didn’t even glare at him. There was no need. “As if I’m going to do that.”

Archie huffed. “I knew that would be your answer, but I figured I’d suggest it anyway.”

“Where you go, I go. We’re a team.”

Archie’s gaze got heated. “We are, aren’t we?”

“No flirting on the job.”

“You’re no fun.”

“You know what would be no fun? If Kester found us before we noticed him. We can’t afford to be distracted.”

Archie rolled his eyes, but he nodded, and his expression turned serious again. “All right. Let’s get started, then.”

They were getting used to working together.

Jasper knew to allow Archie to go ahead and talk to the monsters himself because they wouldn’t talk to Jasper.

Most didn’t seem to have a problem with him standing there, thankfully.

He did his best impression of a statue and allowed Archie to ask questions, but unfortunately, the results were the same tonight as what they’d been every other time they’d done this.

Every monster in the city seemed to know about Kester, but no one knew for sure where he was or why he was here. They wanted him gone, but they couldn’t give Archie any details to help him achieve that.

Jasper kept glancing around since he didn’t have anything else to do. Some of the apartment buildings in the area were occupied, but several seemed empty, including the shops on street level. There were no lights in the dirty and broken windows.

“Do you think Kester might be staying in an abandoned building?” Jasper asked Archie when the monster joined him again after talking to a couple who’d kept glancing at Jasper as if he was about to attack them.

He’d kept his focus on the cracked pavement so he wouldn’t spook them, but he didn’t like the way their reaction made him feel.

Archie frowned. “I assumed he was. I doubt anyone would want him staying in their building, and word would get around if people saw him come and go.”

“You think they’d say something if they noticed him?”

“Mmm, probably not. I wouldn’t be surprised if Kester was on the move constantly, though. I doubt he’s staying in the same place for more than a few nights, which is one of the reasons we’re having such a hard time finding him.”

It made sense. Staying in one place would allow people to find Kester, and he was smarter than that.

Besides, he wouldn’t hesitate to kill monsters or humans to take over their apartments if he felt like it.

That would get people’s attention, though.

As far as Jasper knew, there hadn’t been any kind of attack that would lead him to believe that was what Kester was doing.

“We could poke around these empty buildings,” he suggested.

“I don’t see why not. I doubt we’re going to get any answers, anyway. People are afraid of him, and they don’t know where he is. Even if they do, they’d rather keep their mouth shut because it means they’ll survive.”

That was their main problem. No one wanted Kester here, but they also didn’t want to attract his attention. They might if they told anyone they’d seen him around.

Something needed to break, and Jasper was afraid it would be Kester’s next victim.

Archie had told him everything he and Braith had found out about the poor monster who’d been torn apart the other night, but Jasper wouldn’t be surprised if Kester had even more victims they still didn’t know about.

They didn’t even know why he was in the city.

Until they did, they probably wouldn’t be able to stop him.

The first two buildings were empty except for pigeons and rats. There wasn’t much to see in either beyond trash. Jasper wrinkled his nose as they left the second one. “I’ll be happy if I never have to go into an abandoned building again.”

“I thought hunters were used to that.”

“Maybe I was once, but I haven’t been a hunter in years, remember? Poking around abandoned buildings that smell of piss and mold isn’t one of the things I miss about the job.”

“Is there anything you actually miss about being a hunter?”

Archie gestured at Jasper to step into the third building. Jasper walked in after rolling his eyes. “Why would I miss anything about being a hunter?”

“I don’t know. That’s why I asked.”

“No, there’s nothing I miss about having to spend half of my night outside in the cold, hunting monsters who didn’t do anything. I would’ve said working with Corey and Kerry, but I live with them now.”

“You know, I never thought I’d like a hunter, but you’re all right.”

“Technically, you don’t like a hunter. I’m not one.”

Archie snickered. Jasper opened his mouth to tell him to fuck off, but movement caught his attention. It was probably a rat, but he turned to check as someone threw themselves at him. They pushed him against the wall, and he hit it hard. His head bounced off it, making him cry out.

Archie was already reaching for Jasper, but Jasper waved at him to go after his attacker. “I’ll be fine,” he said, sucking in a breath.

Archie only hesitated for a second. Jasper pointed at the back of whoever was running away, relieved when Archie finally moved.

He understood why Archie wanted to stick around and check on him, but this might be their one chance to find Kester.

The person who’d pushed Archie wasn’t the monster they were looking for, but they might have information.

Or they might just be a homeless person who was terrified and wanted to be left alone. There was only one way to find out, and hopefully, Archie would manage to stop them and talk to them.

Jasper didn’t like feeling vulnerable. He sucked in a breath, then forced himself to get to his feet.

The hit hadn’t been that hard, but it had been enough to knock the breath out of his lungs, and his head ached in the spot where it had hit the wall.

He really was out of shape as a hunter, wasn’t he?

He hadn’t cared before this mess had started, but maybe he should start training a bit harder.

He wouldn’t be able to do anything against Kester if he didn’t.

“He shouldn’t have left you alone.”

Jasper froze. He wasn’t even sure he was breathing.

A shiver ran down his spine, and even though he knew he should be moving, he was afraid to.

He doubted that Kester was like a T-Rex.

He could probably see Jasper even though he wasn’t moving.

The problem was that Jasper’s brain refused to order his body to run.

Would it help? Jasper didn’t think so.

He knew that Kester had been following him on and off.

He could feel it when it happened, and while it gave him the creeps, he hadn’t done anything about it.

If Kester was talking to him now, he had a reason to.

It probably wasn’t a good reason, at least not to Jasper, but Kester didn’t think like anyone Jasper had ever met.

He certainly didn’t think like a human, hunter or not.

Jasper turned slowly. If he wasn’t going to run, he was going to try to take advantage of the situation. He didn’t think Kester wanted to kill him, not yet anyway. He was talking to him, and there had to be a reason for that.

Kester looked worse than he had when they’d met at the park.

His jacket was dirty with dark splotches that could only be blood, and it took everything Jasper had not to throw up.

He wasn’t usually squeamish, but it wasn’t only the sight of blood.

It was knowing how it got there and what Kester had done.

He hadn’t seen pictures, but the news had described the condition of Kester’s most recent victim in gory detail.

“Why?” Jasper asked.

Kester cocked his head. It was creepy. “Why what?”

“Why are you doing all of this?”

Kester was silent for a second before he shrugged. “Because I can.”

“What are you looking for?”

“My son.”

Jasper blinked. He hadn’t actually expected an answer, and he wasn’t sure what to make of it. “Your son?”

“He’s in the city. He’s hiding from me.”

Well, fuck. Jasper would be hiding from Kester if he were his son, too.

* * * *

T HE PERSON RUNNING in front of Archibald was weirdly proportionate in a way that reminded him of Kester. It wasn’t Kester—Archibald was sure of that—but they were running, and that was enough for Archibald to know he needed to catch up with them.

It wasn’t hard. The runner was panicking.

They rushed down hallways until there was nowhere for them to continue.

When they turned into a hallway with no exit at the end, they started opening side doors.

While Archibald couldn’t see what was behind those doors, the fact that this person didn’t dart inside any of the rooms told him what he needed to know.

“I’m not going to hurt you,” he said.

The person’s back stiffened, and they stopped moving. “Everyone hurts me,” they said. Archibald was pretty sure they were a male.

“Well, I won’t.”