“I can’t say I disagree,” Kerry said.“And having someone like him on our side might come in handy.”
Jasper wasn’t sure about that, but again, Cullen’s heart was in the right place.He hadn’t done anything to deserve what had happened to him.He couldn’t help who he was and who his father was, and he didn’t deserve to be homeless and hunted just because of that.There wasn’t much that Jasper could do about Kester, but hecouldgive Cullen a safe place to stay for a few days until he talked to Braith.Besides, he felt like someone needed to keep an eye on Cullen.It would be too easy for him to hurt himself again.
“Is there anything we should do about the hunters?”Corey asked as Jasper turned to go back to the living room.
Jasper paused.As much as he wanted to say that they should ignore the hunters and focus on their lives, it wouldn’t be the best idea.The hunters wouldn’t ignore them, or rather, they wouldn’t ignorehim.They couldn’t.He was a monster, one of the beings they’d been raised and trained to deal with.At the same time, he’d been one of them for decades, first as a trainee and then as a hunter.He’d given hunters orders, had led them during raids and attacks.Knowing some of them, he understood why they were unhappy.They probably couldn’t believe that they’d taken orders from a monster.
Part of Jasper felt smug at the thought that he’d bothered them that way, but another part was worried.He wouldn’t be surprised if some of them decided to take things into their own hands and look for him, which was the last thing he needed while he was trying to find out more about his birth parents.He couldn’t hide in his apartment, though.He had to go to work, and he hadn’t given up on finding out more about his biological family.
He was going to have to deal with whatever happened, no matter if it came from monsters or hunters.Luckily for him, he wouldn’t have to deal with all of that on his own.He had Corey and Kerry, and of course, Archie.He was sure that Braith would step in in a heartbeat if he had to.It wasn’t much, but these were the people Jasper loved and who loved him.As bad as the situation was, it could have been much worse.
Chapter Four
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ARCHIE DIDN’T THINKanything of it when he answered a phone call from a number he didn’t have saved on his phone.He owned a PI agency.Lots of people he didn’t know call him every day.
Not all of them had info on a missing kid he was looking for.
“You’re the owner of the PI agency?”a voice asked when he answered the phone.
Archie wasn’t sure if it was male or female.He didn’t think it mattered.“I do,” he confirmed.“Who am I talking to?”
“I saw one of those missing kids.”
Archie didn’t think he’d get a name, but hecouldget information.“My associate and I are looking into it.Can you give me more information?”
“There’s this place where they have fights.”
Archie’s stomach churned.“Fights?”
“You know, between monsters.I go there sometimes to earn a bit of money.Anyway, I saw one of the kids there.”
“How do you know I’m looking for a kid?”
“I know the parents of one of them.”The person sucked in a breath.“It’s not right, what they’re doing to those kids.”
Archie wanted to push for more information, but getting a location was more important.“Where?”
The person on the other side of the phone rattled out an address.It was right smack in a monster neighborhood, and not a good one like the one where the Hendersons were raising Finn.No, this was a place where no one wanted to live.Unfortunately, it was also a place where a lot of people had to live because it was affordable.
Archie had heard about these fights.The people organizing them preyed on desperate monsters who needed a bit of money to feed their families or themselves.They took advantage of the desperation, and while it was disgusting, there was nothing Archie could do about it.Those people were adults, and even though they were making a mistake, it was their mistake to make.
But the person on the phone was saying that these assholes had the kids.That wasn’t something Archie could allow.
“Just get them out of here before one of them gets killed,” the person said.
“Please, can you give me your name or a way to contact you?”
“They’ll kill me if they find out I called you.The only reason I’m doing this is that I have a kid, too, and I wouldn’t want her to be involved in any of this.Just save the kids, please.”
The person hung up before Archie could say anything else.For a second, he stared at his phone, his heart racing at the thought that he might have found Finn.
That didn’t mean that Finn would be okay or that Archie and Braith would be able to get him out of whatever mess he was in, but they had an address.It was more than they’d had ten minutes ago, and if Finn really was there, Archie would do everything he could to get the kid out.
He was out of his chair and around his desk in seconds.Braith had gone out to get coffee, but luckily, he was walking in as Archie rushed out of the office.He almost dropped their coffees when Archie grabbed him and tugged him toward the door.
“What the fuck is going on now?”he asked.
