Page 22 of In the Monster’s Wake (Monsters Amongst Us #1)

For some reason, the screaming got louder. Kester was focused on Jasper, which meant he wasn’t hurting any of the people around them. It was terrifying to have Kester’s attention, but at the same time, it meant he wasn’t hurting innocent people.

Jasper didn’t understand why Kester was saying that. What good would it do for him to lie? Maybe he was trying to hurt Jasper, but he didn’t strike Jasper as someone who would use words to do that. No, Kester used his fangs and hands to hurt people.

“Don’t listen to him,” Leroy snapped.

Jasper frowned as he turned to his father. “What the hell are you doing here?”

“We got calls about a monster killing someone in this club.” Leroy was dressed in his hunter’s gear. He was pale in a way Jasper couldn’t remember ever seeing him. He was staring at Kester as if he’d seen a ghost. “You shouldn’t listen to him. He’s a monster.”

“I’m aware of that.” But why would Kester lie?

Jasper knew when Kester had realized. He’d licked Jasper’s blood. Jasper had heard about some monsters who could taste different things in people’s blood, including illnesses. It wasn’t a stretch to believe that some of them might be able to taste the fact that he wasn’t fully human.

What did that mean? Jasper had never wondered if he’d been adopted. He’d never wondered if his parents were really his parents. He hadn’t had a reason to, not even when he and Leroy had been fighting over him leaving the hunters.

“But he should listen to you ?” Kester asked. He sounded annoyed, which couldn’t be a good thing. “Hunters can’t be trusted.”

Jasper snorted. He couldn’t even say that he disagreed with Kester. “Why should I believe you?”

“Because clearly, I’m the only one willing to tell you the truth.

“I look human.” Jasper felt human, too. That wouldn’t be the case if he was part monster, right? His body was completely normal, with no hints of fangs, claws, or different textures. He didn’t have horns or antlers. His skin was pink.

Kester shrugged. “So?”

It didn’t look like he was going to explain anything. He’d said what he wanted to say, and now, he was ready for the results, even though he was surrounded by hunters.

This was a shit show that needed to end.

“Did you get everyone out?” Jasper asked his father.

“We did,” Leroy confirmed. “Corey and Kerry are outside, too. You don’t have to worry about them.”

Jasper was surprised that Leroy knew he’d be worried. “Is he right?”

“Of course not. Don’t listen to his lies.”

“He tasted my blood.”

Leroy turned even paler—if that was even possible.

He briefly reached out to hold himself up against a table, and Jasper knew that Kester was right.

He wasn’t lying. He’d truly tasted that Jasper wasn’t fully human when he’d licked his blood, and from the way he was smiling, he was enjoying the revelation.

Maybe he did like hurting people with words, after all.

Kester did things because they pleased him.

Maybe he’d wanted to hurt Jasper, or maybe he’d wanted to be right about it.

Either way, he’d gotten what he wanted—Jasper knew that he wasn’t fully human and that the man he’d thought was his father all his life wasn’t related to him.

* * * *

A RCHIBALD HADN’T TASTED Jasper’s blood, but he suspected that what Kester was saying was correct. If anything, the reaction Jasper’s father had to what Kester was saying was a dead giveaway. The man was clearly panicking and didn’t want Jasper to listen to anything Kester had to say.

Jasper would be a fool not to.

Kester might be a cruel monster, and he definitely had his own agenda when it came to why he was telling Jasper all of this, but did it really matter when he was telling the truth? Why would he lie? There wasn’t a reason for him to, but there was a long list of reasons why Jasper’s father would.

No matter the lies or the truth, now wasn’t the right moment to do this. When Archibald, Jasper, and Braith had planned this, they hadn’t thought they’d have to deal with hunters, too.

They definitely hadn’t thought they’d have to deal with family drama.

Archibald should have known the hunters would be called. This was a situation that would call for it if the hunters were any help. Right now, their presence was making things more complicated, and while Archibald understood why the caller had contacted them, he wished they hadn’t.

Archibald couldn’t kill Kester. If he did so in front of the hunters, they would kill him, too.

They’d use it as proof that he was a violent monster and that he was dangerous.

He wasn’t willing to risk it, especially if there was another way to get rid of Kester.

The hunters might be hassles, and they were definitely human, but they were trained.

They dealt with monsters every day. Some of them might die attacking Kester, but they had numbers on their side.

There was only one Kester, but dozens of hunters crowded the room.

Every single one of them was staring at Jasper.

Jasper might not be a hunter anymore, but he knew these people.

Even if they weren’t friends, they were people he’d worked with and had trusted with his life.

Archibald couldn’t imagine how it felt for Jasper’s secret to be exposed to people like this.

Knowing what the hunters thought of monsters, they would no doubt reject Jasper.

They wouldn’t want him anywhere close since he was part monster.

He’d gone from being one of them to being on the outside looking in, and even though he wasn’t interested in the hunters’ life anymore, it couldn’t be easy.

“He’s right, isn’t he?” Jasper asked his father.

Leroy crossed his arms over his chest. “You’d believe a monster over your father?”

“ Are you my father? I’m pretty sure you’d kill yourself if you ever found out you were part monster, so I don’t think it comes from you. You wouldn’t be with Mom if she had a child with a monster, though, which means I was probably adopted.”

“What does it matter? I raised you.”

“You raised me to be a hunter. You raised me to kill people like me.”

“You are not a monster!” Leroy yelled. “You are my son, and where you come from doesn’t matter.”

“It might not matter to you, but it does to me. Tell me. Did you find me? Or did you take me from my real parents? Do you have any idea of who they were?”

Jasper moved toward Leroy. Archibald reached for him, then thought better of it.

He wasn’t afraid that Leroy would hurt Jasper.

If anything, Jasper might hurt Leroy. The problem was the hunters scattered around them.

They wouldn’t hesitate to hurt Jasper, especially now that they knew he was a monster.

“You don’t need to know any of that,” Leroy snapped.

Jasper jerked forward. Someone yelled, and chaos exploded.

Several hunters went for Jasper, but Archibald wouldn’t allow them to hurt his boyfriend.

He grabbed one of them by the arm and threw her against the wall, then tripped a second one.

He didn’t do anything else. He was watching Jasper’s back, but that didn’t mean he wanted Jasper to get into even more trouble with the hunters.

“Enough!” Leroy yelled.

Everyone froze. The hunters stared at Leroy for a moment, but thankfully, they took a step back. That was when Archibald realized that Kester was gone.

“Where did he go?” he asked, turning to Braith.

Braith had moved with him to defend Jasper, and he was standing in front of a hunter who was threatening him with a knife. He didn’t look worried until he heard Archibald’s words.

“Dammit,” he swore. “He left.”

Jasper’s laughter was dark. “I hope you’re happy,” he told his father. “You wanted me to stop Kester, but you distracted me before I could. You’re on your own now.”

“You said you would take care of him,” Leroy argued.

“That was before I found out that I was a monster. All monsters are evil, aren’t they, Dad ? They only care about themselves. Why should I care about stopping Kester?”

That was nothing like the Jasper Archibald knew. He didn’t think Jasper was being honest, though. Jasper was hurt and probably scared, and he was lashing out. Archibald was sure that as soon as they left the building, they’d be looking for Kester again.

He grabbed Jasper’s arm. Jasper looked at him and nodded, stepping away from his father. He slid his hand into Archibald’s and pulled him toward the exit, but of course, Leroy couldn’t leave it alone.

“What are you doing?” he asked. “Why are you holding hands with that monster?”

“I didn’t tell you? Well, Dad, this is Archie, my boyfriend.”

“You can’t.”

“Why not? He’s a monster like me.”

Jasper was smiling as he pulled Archibald away, but there was no humor in his expression, and his smile slipped as soon as he stepped out of the club.

Braith was behind them, and all of them were unscathed.

As far as Archibald was concerned, that was a small miracle, and he wasn’t sure how it had happened.

He’d been in a room full of hunters and Kester and he didn’t even have a scratch.

“I’m impressed,” a voice drawled from the darkness of the alley by the entrance of the club.

Archibald pushed Jasper behind his back. He would protect his boyfriend, be it the last thing he did—no matter what Jasper thought of it.

Kester stepped forward. “I really thought the hunters would kill you after they found out you’re a monster. Your father has to care about you more than I expected.”

“Leroy only cares about himself.”

“I suppose I can understand that. I thought my son would be interesting, but I’m getting bored. It’s time for me to move on.”

Jasper pushed past Archibald. “You’re not going anywhere. You killed people. You need to pay for that.”

Kester arched a brow. “And who would make me pay for it? You and your friends? The hunters inside that club? We both know you have to leave quickly before the hunters change their minds and come after you. Do you want to risk getting hurt? Do you want to risk your monster getting hurt? Of course, that would happen if you attacked me, too. You can’t expect me not to defend myself, and you know how strong I am. ”

Jasper stepped forward anyway. Archibald caught his arm and pulled him back. Jasper fought it, but Archibald wouldn’t allow him to put himself in more danger than they already were in.

“Let me go,” he snapped at Archibald.

“He’s taunting you.”

“You were fun for a while, little hunter,” Kester drawled. “But I’m done playing with you. You’re lucky I don’t feel like getting dirty tonight.”

He turned and stepped back into the darkness. Jasper surged forward, but Archibald didn’t let him go. He didn’t stop Braith when he moved, though.

“I was supposed to stop him,” Jasper hissed.

“You wouldn’t have. He wanted you to attack him. He wanted to hurt you.”

“If he wanted that, he would have done it without needing an excuse. We fought twice, and I’m still in one piece.”

“Probably. He was playing with you, though.”

Jasper’s shoulders slumped. “I know.”

“He’s gone,” Braith said as he returned to them. “And I don’t think he’ll be back.”

“His son is still here,” Jasper pointed out.

“But he doesn’t care about his son. He doesn’t even care about you,” Archibald gently said. “He just cares about himself, and you heard him. He doesn’t want to deal with this anymore.”

They could only hope that Kester truly was gone.

Even if he was, Archibald couldn’t help but wonder if he’d ever come back.

He might not be interested in Cullen right now, but who was to say he wouldn’t change his mind about the kid eventually?

And who could say for sure that he wouldn’t want to come back to poke at Jasper some more?

Archibald was starting to regret allowing the hunters to interrupt him before he could kill Kester, dammit.