Chapter Thirteen
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“I DON’T LIKE THIS,” Archie grumbled.
Jasper was aware of that because Archie hadn’t shut up about how little he liked their plan since Jasper had come up with it a few days ago.
In fact, he’d been actively trying to convince Jasper to change his mind.
Jasper wished there was another way because he wasn’t looking forward to playing bait, but he was sure that some of the hunters who wanted him dead worked with Johnson.
He was their kind of man—full of himself, arrogant, and more than willing to use violence.
Those things went hand-in-hand, didn’t they?
Johnson wanted power and to be rich, so people who wanted the same flocked to him.
Johnson had used his hatred of monsters—or at least he acted like he hated monsters, but Jasper wasn’t convinced it wasn’t all just a trick to get more hunters to trust him—to manipulate people into trusting him so much they’d made him a leader in the hunters.
They didn’t know that Johnson was willing to work with monsters to get rich, or maybe they just didn’t care.
Jasper certainly didn’t. He just wanted Johnson and his hunters to be stopped, and he was willing to sacrifice himself to make sure they were, which was what Archie had a problem with.
“You won’t be far,” Jasper reminded his boyfriend.
“It still might not be close enough. What if we can’t get to you in time?”
“You will. Besides, I know a little bit about fighting. I can keep a few hunters away until you reach me.”
“I still don’t like this. These people hate you. What if they realize what you’re up to?”
“They might, but I think that their hatred of me is going to help us. They won’t see further than that and wanting to hurt me because of what I am and the betrayal they feel I’m responsible for.”
“See, it’s the wanting to hurt you part that I don’t like.”
Jasper reached out to take his boyfriend’s hand. “It’s the only way,” he murmured.
They needed the names of all the hunters involved and as many details and proof as they could get.
It wasn’t going to be easy, and frankly, even though Jasper had volunteered to be bait, he still wasn’t quite sure how they were going to do this.
He only had a vague idea, and he knew that Archie wasn’t pleased with that.
To be fair, he wasn’t, either. He wished he knew how to do this, but he also felt like they were running out of time.
There were still kids out there, being forced to fight each other to survive.
There might even be kids still being kidnapped.
Jasper hadn’t heard about any, but it was possible.
After all, only Finn’s parents had come to Archie and Braith.
The others had been too scared or hadn’t had the means.
“We don’t even know if this is going to work,” Archie argued. “Why would hunters who hate you have information about what Johnson is up to? And why would they tell you even if they did?”
“They might not have any information, but I’m convinced that this is all linked.
Johnson is taking advantage of the hatred growing within the hunters.
He’s using the hunters to get rich, and most of them can’t even see it.
I’m sure that once we expose him, a lot of them will move to the right side.
Martinez is just waiting for an excuse to take over. ”
“Maybe he shouldn’t be waiting,” Archie said, crossing his arms over his chest. “Maybe he should be doing the right thing because it’s the right thing to do, not because he’s forced to.”
Jasper raked a hand through his hair. “I agree, but this might be the only way to get most of the hunters to see the truth. I’m sure that a lot of them just want to use their job to hurt monsters, but not all of them.
Most are good people who want to protect others, and when they see that’s not what the people in charge want, it’ll change things. It has to.”
Jasper had to believe that. He knew that Archie didn’t and that he was going to freak out no matter what happened, but Jasper needed to cling to the knowledge that not every hunter was a bad person. Not every hunter was a hunter to hurt people.
Not every hunter hated him for something he had no say in and couldn’t change.
But Jasper knew Archie. No matter how worried he was, he wouldn’t tell Jasper not to do this. It was Jasper’s decision, and Archie would support him, even though he didn’t like it.
Sure enough, Archie nodded curtly, still looking angry, but knowing he didn’t have a choice. “I don’t like this, but fine.”
Someone snorted. Jasper didn’t know who it was, but he could take a good guess, and clearly Archie could, too, because he squinted at Cullen. Cullen paled a little bit and acted as if it hadn’t been him, but they both knew it had been.
Archie looked around at the people gathered around them. “Does anyone else have anything to say?” Maybe he hoped that Corey or Kerry saying something would stop Jasper. Jasper wasn’t sure why his boyfriend would believe that. If Archie himself couldn’t stop him, how could anyone else?
“I didn’t say anything,” Cullen pointed out.
“You didn’t have to.” Archie sounded annoyed. It was more at Jasper than Cullen, though.
“It’s sweet that you’re trying to protect Jasper, but I’ve seen him fight. He’s good,” Cullen said.
“He’s good at fighting one or two hunters, but more than that? Besides, how can I trust anything you say about fighting when you lost your fight against the asphalt?”
Cullen’s cheeks turned red. “Not fair. I thought we agreed not to bring that up.”
“You decided we wouldn’t. I never agreed to it.”
Jasper relaxed. Archie would be behind him, one hundred percent, no matter what happened and what he decided to do.
He might bitch about it the entire time, but he wouldn’t let Jasper down.
That was the main reason Jasper knew he could do this.
The other reason was that, looking around the room, he knew that everyone there with him would do everything in their power to ensure he got out of this mess in one piece.
He clapped his hands. “I don’t know about you, but I’m more than ready for this mess to be over. Let’s go.”
* * * *
ARCHIE WASN’T SURE how he’d ended up with Martinez during this operation, but it probably wasn’t a good idea. He was already on edge. Having to stand around with a hunter wasn’t helping.
At least he wasn’t alone with Martinez. Braith was with them, his expression serious, and Jasper knew that if something happened, his best friend would step in.
Not that he thought that Martinez would do anything to him.
He was here because he wanted to know what was going on within the hunters’ organization.
He wouldn’t put that in jeopardy by picking a fight with Archie.
Archie wouldn’t do it because he needed to focus on Jasper and keep him safe.
They might be hunter and monster, but for now, they were working together.
“Are you planning on taking Johnson’s place?
” Archie asked as he stared ahead at Jasper, who was working on a car just outside the garage where he worked.
Since his boss was an ex-hunter and was aware that something was going on, they’d been able to convince him to help them.
He hadn’t liked it because it was putting Jasper in danger, which had made Archie feel vindicated, but he’d agreed to help, and here they were.
Jasper was making sure everyone in the area knew that he was here on his own, working, and hopefully, someone would take the bait.
“Why are you asking me that?” Martinez asked, still staring at Jasper, too.
“I just feel like you’re too involved in this. Why does a hunter care about what happens to a bunch of monsters?”
“Did you miss the memo that explained that those monsters are kids?”
Archie wasn’t allowed to hurt Martinez, and he had to remember that. “I was there. I was the one hired to find Finn. I know exactly what he is. I’ve been taking care of my people for years, something that can’t be said for hunters.”
Martinez grimaced. “I’m not saying that I was always on the right side of things.
Hell, I definitely wasn’t, especially at the beginning of my career as a hunter.
I went into it wanting to help people, though.
I still do, and I don’t care if they’re monsters or humans.
If they need help, I want to provide that. ”
“And you could do that more easily if you were in Johnson’s place.”
“I can’t deny that. I also can’t deny that the thought of having more power is appealing. Do you know how many things I could make happen if I was in Johnson’s place and had his power over the hunters? How many people I could help?”
“How rich you could become,” Archie murmured.
“I know you don’t believe me when I say I’m not interested in the money, but that’s okay. I don’t need you to believe me. I’ll show you.”
“Well, someone needs to take Johnson’s place, right? We can’t leave the hunters without leaders.”
“We can’t,” Martinez agreed. “It doesn’t mean it has to be me.”
It didn’t, but Archie couldn’t deny that Martinez didn’t seem like a bad idea.
At the very least, Archie knew him and thought he knew what to expect of him.
He could be wrong—he probably was—but only the future would tell.
He supposed that if Martinez ended up not being the right person, they could find someone else.
Hell, maybe they’d even be able to convince Kerry.
From what Archie knew, she shared a past with the guy, and she’d be a good leader, definitely better than Johnson, although that didn’t look like it would be hard.
“Do you two really have to bicker right now?” Braith grumbled.
Archie narrowed his eyes at his best friend. “It’s either that or have me going crazy watching Jasper. Which one would you prefer?”
Braith sighed. “Fine. Be my guest and continue,” he said, waving between Archie and Martinez.