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 THEceiling.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’twantto 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 toknow, 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?
Chapter Six
––––––––
“WE NEED MORE PEOPLE,” Jasper declared.
Archie watched his boyfriend.Jasper seemed fine, which was a relief, but Archie wasn’t sure it wasn’t a lie.Jasper didn’t want to talk about Kester or his biological family anymore.He wanted to focus on the case, which was good because Archie wasn’t sure how long Finn and the other kids had, but he was also worried.It couldn’t be good for Jasper to ignore the massive, monstrous elephant in the room.
But he wanted to, and for now, Archie could go along with it.He wouldn’t let it last forever, just the time to recover the kids.Once that was done, he’d sit Jasper down, and they’d talk.
