Sins of the Stolen Fathers

Chapter One

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JASPER WAS JUST A GUY.

Or at least, that was what he told himself as he ducked the punch coming his way. He was just a guy, and there was nothing weird about him. There was nothing different from what he’d been before.

Even though he’d found out that he was part monster a few months ago.

“It’s not fair,” Corey whined. “I swear you’re faster than before.”

“Or maybe you suck at fighting,” his sister yelled from the other side of the gym.

Jasper laughed as he jumped out of the way of a kick aimed at his knee.

He resisted the urge to stick his tongue out at Corey, although it was tempting because he knew what kind of reaction he would get out of his friend.

Corey would get agitated and start making even more mistakes, and it would be easy for Jasper to win the fight.

To be fair, it would be easy for him to win the fight even if he didn’t do that.

Corey wasn’t lying when he’d said that Jasper was faster.

Jasper wasn’t sure how he’d never realized it, but now that he knew what he was, he kept noticing little things that had nothing to do with him being human, even though one of his parents had been.

He was only half monster, but that half was enough to give him unfair advantages, which could explain why he’d been such a good hunter.

The thought made his stomach churn. As Leroy’s son, adopted or not, he’d had a certain position in the hunters’ organization.

He’d been able to refuse some of the cases handed his way, which meant that he’d been careful to go against monsters who needed to be stopped, like Kester.

It still hadn’t been enough to keep him with the hunters, though.

He’d left years ago, and he didn’t regret it, especially now that he knew what he was.

He was pretty sure that most of the hunters knew, too, by now.

He didn’t care.

Corey feinted left, then moved right. Jasper blocked his punch and stepped to the side, moving his fingers to Corey’s wrist. He twisted Corey’s arm behind his back, grinning when Corey yelled and tried to get free. He couldn’t.

“It’s not fair,” Corey complained.

“You were never able to beat him,” Kerry reminded him after putting down her weight. “Remember? Has nothing to do with him being a monster.”

“It has everything to do with him being a monster. I was never able to beat him because he was always one,” Corey pointed out.

He was panting, but also grinning, and Jasper wasn’t offended by his words.

His friends didn’t care that he was a monster or that he’d always been one, even when he hadn’t known he was.

They loved him, and that was never going to change.

They showed him that every day by still treating him the way they had before the truth about his biological parents came out.

“Should I let go?” Jasper asked. He was slightly out of breath, too. It was nice, though. It was nice to be able to be like this with his friends without having to think about his past, what his adoptive parents had done, and his future.

The only future he was interested in was the one he had with his boyfriend.

He wanted nothing to do with the hunters, and he kind of wished he could move and never hear about them again.

Unfortunately, he doubted that would happen.

Besides, why would he have to move? This was his home, and he had a right to be here as much as all the hunters, maybe even more so.

He’d been born in the city. It was where his parents had been killed.

It was where he’d spilled blood, his own and others.

“Yeah,” Corey said with a groan. “We both know I’m not going to be able to get out of this hold.”

Jasper let go and patted Corey on the shoulder. “You did well.”

“Please don’t. I don’t need you to pat my ego. Kerry’s right. You were always better than me, and that hasn’t changed.”

Jasper grabbed his towel and dried his face from sweat.

He also drank some water, watching as Corey and Kerry bickered.

His heart squeezed with affection. Even though the three of them weren’t related, they felt like his siblings, and he didn’t know what he would do without them.

Luckily for him, he’d never have to find out.

They hadn’t dropped him when he’d started dating a monster, and they’d still been there after he’d found out that he was one himself.

They were family, much more than Jasper had ever been with Leroy, who’d raised him.

Corey bumped his shoulder against Jasper’s. Jasper grimaced because they were both sticky and sweaty, and he took a step back, eager to put some space between them. As much as he loved Corey, he didn’t love him to the point of touching him while he was sweating.

“What’s got you so pensive?” Corey asked, chugging his own bottle of water. It was one of those refillable bottles that was almost bigger than his head. Kerry and Jasper always teased him for it, but he didn’t care.

“I was just thinking,” he said.

Corey sucked in a breath and pressed his free hand to his heart. “Oh my God. Alert the press. Jasper was thinking.”

Jasper snapped his towel at Corey, who screeched and jumped back. He looked like he might want to jump Jasper, but clearly, he thought better of it because instead, he drank more water.

“Were you thinking about your boyfriend?” Kerry asked as she neared them. She was just as sweaty as they were, but somehow, she still managed to look beautiful.

“He’s always thinking about his boyfriend,” Corey said.

“You would be, too, if you had one,” Kerry pointed out.

Corey huffed, and Jasper decided to stop the bickering before it could get worse. Sometimes, these two gave him a headache. “Yes, I was thinking about Archie.”

Kerry smiled. “How are things going between the two of you?”

“Good.”

“When are you moving in with him?”

“Not anytime soon. We only started dating a few months ago.”

Kerry shrugged. “If you know, you know. The two of you are meant to be.”

“Because I’m half monster?”

Kerry glared. “Because you love him and he loves you. It’s obvious just by spending a few minutes with the two of you.

” She hesitated, then glanced at her brother before looking back at Jasper.

“If you’re worried about us, you don’t have to.

We’ll be fine paying rent even if you move out.

We don’t want you to stay just because you’re worried about us. ”

Jasper hooked an arm around Kerry’s shoulder and pulled her close. The hug was quick, but it was tight. “I live with you because I love you too, and I don’t want to leave just yet. As long as you’ll have me, I’m staying.”

“Maybe Archie could move in with us,” Corey suggested. He grimaced. “Or maybe not. I don’t want to have to hear the two of you going at it.”

“You mean like Jasper and I had to hear you and your Tinder date last week?” Kerry asked.

Corey squawked, but he couldn’t deny it. Jasper didn’t often regret spending the night at his apartment rather than with Archie, but he had that night. Corey’s date had been loud.

Jasper wasn’t ready to let it go yet. As much as he loved Archie, he felt safe living with Corey and Kerry, and he didn’t want to let go of that part of his life just yet. He would, eventually.

But not right now.

* * * *

“WHAT CAN I DO FOR YOU?” Archie asked as he leaned back in his chair. He watched the woman sitting in front of him. She seemed nervous, but that wasn’t unusual. A lot of people felt that way when they visited the office. Usually, they weren’t here for happy reasons.

“My partner was murdered,” she said.

That wasn’t what Archie had expected. Usually, he and Braith worked on finding runaway kids, sometimes runaway spouses. They worked on separations and divorces.

But sometimes, they did work on murders. It didn’t happen often, and when it did, there was always a good reason. Archie didn’t know anything about Petra, the monster sitting in front of him, but he was about to find out more.

“Can you give me more details?” he asked when she didn’t continue.

She raised her head, looking at him defiantly. “Daniel was human.”

The fact that her partner had been human explained why she seemed so anxious. She probably expected Archie to judge her. Many monsters would have, but Archie was dating a human.

Well, half human. They hadn’t known that Jasper was half monster when they’d met. Besides, it wasn’t like Archie looked at Jasper thinking human or monster. He looked at him and thought of Jasper, the man he loved. That had nothing to do with what Jasper was.

Archie needed to reassure Petra. He wanted her to know that he wasn’t going to judge her. “My partner is human, too,” he told her with a smile. “So you don’t have to fear anything from me.”

That didn’t make Petra look any less anxious, which was confusing until she continued speaking. “Is your partner also an ex-hunter? One of those people who come after monsters and arrest or kill them? One of those people who sometimes torture them?”

Well, Archie had his explanation. “As a matter of fact, yes, he is,” he told her, hoping he sounded calm.

“Trust me, I won’t judge you for any of that.

If you want me to find out what happened to your partner, though, you’re going to have to tell me about him, including his past as a hunter. It might be relevant.”

Petra’s mouth dropped open when Archie confirmed that his partner was an ex-hunter. She started to speak now, but her eyes were so wide. “I have questions, but I realize that’s not why we’re here,” she said slowly.

“It’s not. What happened to him, Petra?”

She swallowed and looked away. “I’d been dating Daniel for a few years.

He’d already quit the hunters when we met, but as I’m sure you understand, I was wary of him initially.

I kept him at arm’s length because of what he was, what he’d done.

He was a sweet man, though, and eventually, he broke down my walls.

We fell in love. It wasn’t always easy, but we were happy. ”

“And now, he’s dead?”