Chapter Five
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ARCHIE WAS STARTING to dread getting texts from Jasper.
After what had happened with Cullen, his heart jumped every time he saw one on his screen.
He always expected Jasper to be in some kind of trouble, which wasn’t great because he wanted to hear from his boyfriend.
He just wished it was better for his heart.
He read Jasper’s last text and stared at the screen. He had to have read that wrong, right?
“What happened now?” Braith asked from the driver’s seat.
He sounded grim, but then, that was how both he and Archie felt.
They’d wanted to help Finn and the other kids, but it wouldn’t have been possible for them to.
The only thing they’d have managed was to be captured or possibly killed, and while Archie had wanted to call Jasper and his friends so they could help, he knew it wasn’t something they could do without a plan.
They needed to meet and talk about how they’d do it, which meant not attracting more attention than they already had at the warehouse.
They needed the people organizing the fights to continue doing so and not move them, which meant that they had to leave the kids behind.
But not for long. Jasper wanted to be involved, as did his friends. If they were lucky, they’d be back at the warehouse tomorrow to save Finn.
Or maybe not.
“Jasper texted that Kester was at his apartment.”
Braith swore and put his blinker on. Archie didn’t have to ask to know that they were now headed to Jasper’s apartment.
He was relieved. He was panicking, but at the same time, he had no idea how to feel about this.
Of course Kester had been at Jasper’s apartment. That was just how their lives were.
“Jasper texted you. That means he’s okay, right?”
Archie was already finding Jasper’s number and calling. “I sure hope it does.” At the very least, Jasper wasn’t dead. He wouldn’t have texted if he’d been.
“I’m fine,” Jasper said when he answered.
“You need to stop texting me that you’re in danger. Call instead, please.”
Jasper gave a shaky laugh. “Yeah, sorry. I’m overwhelmed and wasn’t thinking clearly.”
“It’s a miracle that’s the only thing you are. What happened?”
“Nothing, really. He was sitting on the couch when I came in. I think he was here to gloat that he knows something about me that I don’t. He seems to find it entertaining.”
“That’s it? He was there to talk about you?”
“Pretty much, yeah. It’s clear he knows something about my past. He mentioned being surprised that my father decided to raise me instead of killing me. He’s not going to tell me anything, though.”
“Of course he’s not. He’s having fun.”
“He likes using this against me. I think it makes him feel powerful.”
Archie wasn’t sure that Kester cared about power, not in the way most people did. To him, it felt more like Kester was having fun playing with Jasper. He was a cruel being, and he knew that this was hurting Jasper.
Archie wanted to hurt him.
“Anyway, he left, and I’m fine. You don’t have to freak out,” Jasper continued.
Archie snorted. “You do realize that telling me not to freak out is going to make me do it even more, right?”
“I promise I’m fine.”
“We’re still coming over.”
“I knew you’d say that.”
Even though he was doing his best to sound annoyed, Archie knew that Jasper was relieved.
If he was in Jasper’s place, he’d be terrified.
Jasper knew how strong Kester was and how easy it would’ve been for Kester to kill him.
Even though Jasper would have fought back, he was only one person.
It would probably take more than that to defeat Kester.
“Just come,” Jasper said in a soft voice.
“We’re almost there,” Archie promised. “And I have something to tell you about our latest case.” He knew that distracting Jasper would be good.
“Oh?”
“You might want to text your friends and tell them to come home. I don’t want to wait to rescue Finn.”
Jasper groaned. “And I have to tell them about Kester. They’re not going to be happy when they find out he was in the apartment.”
“I wouldn’t be happy, either. You need to invest in a security system.”
“I don’t think any security system would keep him out.”
Unfortunately, that was probably true. Kester would get into Jasper’s apartment, no matter how hard Jasper tried to keep him out of it. The only way to stop him would be to kill him, and while Archie was eager to do just that, it wouldn’t be easy.
But it could be done. He was sure of it, and he’d find a way. Kester had just been another monster before, but he’d threatened Archie’s boyfriend, and Archie wasn’t going to let that go.
* * * *
JASPER STARED AT THE ceiling. He was supposed to try to sleep, but every time he closed his eyes, he saw Kester.
The rest of his day had been a mess. Archie and Braith had arrived at the apartment almost at the same time as Cullen, who’d freaked out when Jasper had told him about his father.
Corey and Kerry hadn’t been far behind, and while they’d been calmer, they were angry and scared.
Unfortunately, there was nothing they could do about Kester.
They didn’t know where to find him, and Jasper was sure that wouldn’t change until Kester decided it should.
The man was a monster in more ways than Jasper could think of, but he was also smart.
Right now, he was toying with Jasper and enjoying himself.
He was going to continue doing so until he got bored.
He didn’t care that he was ruining Jasper’s life.
Luckily, Archie and Braith had come with a distraction.
They’d told more about the illegal fighting rings and the kids Jasper and the others, and everyone had had something to say about it.
Jasper hoped it would be a good distraction, but he also wanted to find the kids.
They were being forced to fight, and it would be a miracle if none of them got killed.
“You’re thinking so loudly you woke me up,” Archie grumbled as he wrapped an arm around Jasper’s waist and cuddled closer.
“That’s not a thing.”
“Then why am I awake?”
Jasper smiled into the darkness. He hadn’t even had to ask before Archie was declaring he’d spend the night.
They could have gone to Archie’s apartment—it probably would’ve helped because it felt safer than Jasper’s—but Corey, Kerry, and Cullen were staying, and Jasper hadn’t wanted to leave them behind.
Besides, he knew that Kester wouldn’t come back.
He’d broken in because he’d found it funny, and he’d known it would make Jasper anxious.
He’d gotten what he wanted. He could dedicate his time to whatever else he was up to now.
“Do you want to talk about it?” Archie asked.
Jasper’s first instinct was to say no. Why would he want to talk about Kester? There was nothing he wanted less, actually.
But was there? He wanted to rant about Kester and what he was doing. He wanted to find the monster and kick his ass. He wanted to complain that it wasn’t fair.
God, that made him sound like Cullen.
“What’s there to say?” he asked with a sigh.
“Kester knows something about my past, and he won’t tell me because he finds it fun not to.
Maybe he knew my biological parents. It doesn’t matter, though.
He’s not going to tell me anything unless he wants to, and asking isn’t going to change that.
Besides, I don’t want to ask him. I want him to disappear from my life forever and never come back. ”
“But you also want to find out who you are.”
The gentleness in Archie’s voice almost broke Jasper.
“Wouldn’t you? All my life, I’ve known that my parents didn’t love me.
My father likes the idea of me, but even when I became a hunter, I was never good enough.
I needed to make him prouder, to do more, to show everyone that I could be the best. I didn’t realize that he made me feel that way because of what I am.
How can I ever be good enough for him when I’m a monster? ”
“You don’t have to be good enough for him,” Archie pointed out.
“You only have to be good enough for you, and you are. You have people who love you, people who would do anything for you. We don’t care what you are or who your parents are.
I loved you when I thought that Leroy was your biological father, so do you really think that knowing who your biological parents are is going to change that? ”
“I guess not,” Jasper said with a huff.
“Exactly. No one cares who your father is. I understand that you want to find out, and I’ll support you in your search, but in the end, it doesn’t really matter, not to the people who love you.
I know why it matters to you, though. You want to feel like you belong.
You want to know, and I’m going to help you find out. ”
“I know,” Jasper whispered. “I just don’t understand what Kester’s trying to do. Why’s he taunting me? Wouldn’t it be easier for him to either tell me or leave it alone?”
“I don’t think any of us fully understands how Kester thinks. From what I know of him, he does what he wants, and that’s that. Right now, he wants to toy with you.”
He was. Jasper was letting him win, too.
He should be sleeping, but instead, he was obsessing over Kester and his reasons for being back and clearly wanting to be involved in what was happening to Jasper.
Jasper didn’t think that anything good would come out of that.
He needed to stop obsessing over Kester because doing so was giving Kester the upper hand.
Archie reached over to kiss Jasper’s forehead. “I know that telling you to go to sleep isn’t going to help, but we have more planning to do tomorrow. We need rest.”
Jasper closed his eyes and breathed deeply. Archie was right, and even though Jasper wasn’t sure he’d be able to sleep, he wasn’t going to stop his boyfriend from doing so.
Maybe focusing on Archie’s case and helping those kids would help Jasper. Obsessing over Kester and his past wasn’t doing him any good. Not doing so could only help, right?