Chapter Seven
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JASPER DUCKED, AVOIDING the punch coming for his face. He laughed when Corey swore and tried to punch him again. He danced out of the way, knowing exactly which way Corey would go. They’d trained together for decades, and Jasper could guess how his best friend would move even with his eyes closed.
He grabbed Corey’s arm and twisted it behind Corey’s back. Corey yelped and tried to kick out, but Jasper had expected that, too.
“Surrender,” he told Corey.
“Never.”
“You know this isn’t going to end well for you if you don’t.”
“I’m not surrendering to you.”
“Fine. Suffer, then.” Jasper reached out with his other hand and tickled Corey’s side. Corey screamed and wiggled, but Jasper didn’t let him go.
“Fine,” Corey eventually panted between two bouts of laughter. “I surrender.”
Jasper let him go, still laughing. When he turned to Kerry, it was to find her watching them fondly. She shook her head, her blonde hair dancing around her face. “I train with a bunch of children.”
“Even worse, you’re friends with a bunch of children,” Jasper pointed out.
“She’s not my friend,” Corey said, sticking his tongue out at his sister.
Kerry flipped him off, causing him to rush toward her. She knew how to read him as well as Jasper did, though, so she was ready for him when he slammed into her.
Jasper shook his head and grabbed the towel he’d left on the closest bench. He dried the sweat off his face, then took his water bottle to get a drink. Corey and Kerry were still fighting, so he slumped onto the bench and stretched his legs out in front of him.
He was enjoying himself. He always enjoyed himself when he was training, even though it was a reminder of his life as a hunter, but lately, he felt like he hadn’t had enough time to spend with his best friends.
They lived together, but all three of them had demanding jobs, and now, Jasper also had Archie.
He wasn’t spending all of his nights at home anymore, so he was seeing his best friends less often.
He needed to stay close to them, though.
With what was happening with the hunters, he knew he’d need all the support he could get, and even more than that, they were his friends, and he missed them.
Kerry and Corey eventually stopped fighting, and Corey flopped onto the bench next to Jasper. He shook his head, sending droplets of sweat everywhere, making Jasper grimace.
“Can you not?” Jasper asked.
“Can I not what?” Corey asked with a grin. “I’m not doing anything.”
“You’re disgusting,” Kerry said. “You both are.”
“What did I do?” Jasper asked, offended.
“You’re a man.”
“Yet you love us anyway,” Corey teased her.
“And you’re lucky I do.”
Jasper knew how true that was. He wasn’t sure Corey did, but his relationship with Kerry was different.
They were related by blood. She’d always be in his life, one way or another.
When Jasper had found out that he was a monster, he’d been afraid that he’d lose his best friends.
It had been a real possibility, and he’d been distraught at the thought.
He was glad they’d stuck around and that they didn’t see him differently. It would’ve been easy for them to.
“Are you coming home with us after this?” Corey asked, bumping his shoulder against Jasper’s.
“Archie’s waiting for me.”
“You’re spending the night at his place again?”
“Yeah.”
“Why don’t you just move in with him? You’ve been spending more time there than you have at the apartment.”
Jasper arched a brow. “Are you kicking me out?”
“Well, your bedroom is bigger than mine.”
Jasper laughed. “Hands off my bedroom.” He shrugged.
“I don’t know. We haven’t talked about moving in together, and every time I think we might have that conversation, something happens.
Besides, there’s the mess with my biological family and Leroy, and honestly, I wouldn’t blame Archie for wanting to keep some distance between us. ”
Kerry snorted. “That man doesn’t want to keep some distance between you. He wants you, no matter what and who you are.”
Jasper smiled. “I know.”
“And of course we don’t want you to move out, but it’s the next logical step, isn’t it?”
“Eventually, but we haven’t been together long.”
“You’ll know when the time is right. Even when you do move in with him, though, you’ll always have a home with us.”
Jasper’s eyes burned, but he didn’t want to cry. “Thank you, both of you. It would’ve been easier for you to dump me after we found out that I’m a monster, but you stuck around, and it means a lot to me.”
Corey pushed Jasper so hard he almost toppled off the bench. “Fuck off, Jasper. It’s the three of us against the world, or rather, against the hunters, but you know what I mean. What you are isn’t going to change that. Nothing is going to change that. We’re siblings, and that’s that.”
He made it sound easy, and maybe to him and Kerry, it was.
Jasper would never forget what they were doing for him, though.
How could he? Like Corey had said, they were family, and family stuck together, no matter what happened.
It was something Leroy could stand to learn but never would.
It was something Jasper had trouble believing, but he would eventually.
Corey and Kerry weren’t going anywhere. They’d fight the hunters by his side if they had to.
He wouldn’t even have to ask them to do so.
* * * *
THE KNOCK ON ARCHIE’S door came just past midnight. He’d been expecting it because Jasper had texted an hour ago saying he was on his way, and he smiled as he crossed the apartment to answer it.
Jasper stood in the hallway with a bag slung over his shoulder, looking exhausted.
His training session with Kerry and Corey had run late, and from the tension in his shoulders and the dark circles under his eyes, he hadn’t been sleeping well recently.
Archie had thought that maybe it was only when they spent the night together, but something told him that Jasper seldom got a good night’s rest these days.
“Hey,” Jasper said quietly.
“Hey, yourself.” Archie stepped aside to let him in, taking the bag and setting it by the door. “Long day?”
“You could say that.” Jasper moved into the apartment with growing familiarity and headed straight for the kitchen. “Do you have any tea? Coffee’s just going to make everything worse.”
“Yeah.” Archie followed him, leaning against the counter as Jasper filled the electric kettle. He was too quiet and tense. Something was eating at him. It felt like that was always the case lately. “Want to talk about it?”
Jasper’s hands stilled. “Not yet. Maybe after?” He set the kettle down and turned it on, then finally looked at Archie. “Can we just be normal for a bit? Forget everything?”
“Of course.” Archie closed the distance between them, wrapping his arms around Jasper’s waist. Jasper melted into him immediately, burying his face against Archie’s neck.
They stood like that for a long moment, just breathing together, until Archie felt some of the tension finally drain from Jasper’s body.
“Better?” he murmured.
“Getting there.” Jasper pulled back enough to look at Archie. “Sorry. I know I’ve been—”
“Don’t apologize.” Archie brushed a strand of hair away from Jasper’s forehead. “You’ve got a lot on your mind. I get it.” He wasn’t the only one, but between the hunters, Sanctuary, and the help with the fighting ring, Jasper had more on his plate than Archie.
The kettle beeped. Jasper pulled away to make his tea, and Archie watched him move through the kitchen as if he belonged there. Archie wanted him to, but Jasper had enough to deal with right now without Archie adding to it.
Even though he wanted this to be permanent.
“So,” Jasper said, cradling the mug between his hands. “Normal conversation. How was your day?”
“Paperwork mostly. Braith thinks we need better filing systems. He’s probably right, but I’m not admitting it.”
That earned him a real smile from his boyfriend. “Of course not. That would be too reasonable.”
They settled on the couch, Jasper tucking himself against Archie’s side. For a few minutes, they just sat there, Jasper sipping his tea while Archie ran his fingers through his hair. The silence was comfortable, and Archie wanted Jasper to have this peace for as long as he needed it.
But eventually, Jasper put his mug down on the coffee table and turned to face Archie. The tension was back in his shoulders.
“There’s really nothing to talk about, you know. We’re going to take on the hunters. We’ll put an end to the fights. I’ll hopefully find out more about Sanctuary and my birth family.”
“We will,” Archie confirmed. “But right now, we should go to bed.”
Jasper laughed. “I don’t know if I can turn my brain off.”
Archie watched him. “Maybe if you tell me what’s on your mind, it’ll be easier.”
“I’m fine.”
“Jasper.”
For a long moment, Jasper was silent. “I just don’t know where to start.
The thing with the hunters is easy. They need to be stopped, and that’s that.
But I don’t know who I am. I don’t really care that I’m a monster, but I want to know how I ended up with Leroy.
Why do I look human? Am I actually a monster, or was Kester lying? ”
Archie’s chest tightened. “I don’t think he was. I don’t know what that means for you, but I’m sure you’ll find out.”
“I don’t know what I’m capable of. What if there’s something inside me that’s just waiting to—”
Archie cupped Jasper’s face in both hands, cutting off his spiral of worst-case scenarios. “Stop. Listen to me.” He waited until Jasper’s breathing steadied. “I know what you’re capable of. I’ve seen it.”
“That’s what I’m afraid of.”