“We need to go on the offensive,” Braith said from the front seat.He kept glancing at Cullen instead of the road, and Archie would say something about it if he continued doing that.They needed everyone in the car to make it to the safe house in one piece, and that wouldn’t happen if Braith crashed the car because he was distracted by Cullen.
“What do you mean?”Cullen asked.He looked at Braith, which wasn’t new for him, but he had stars in his eyes when he did it.
It was something Archie would have to tease his best friend for later, once everyone was safe.He wasn’t sure what was going on between the two or if anything was going on at all, but Cullen could do much worse than Braith.At the same time, Archie wouldn’t want Kester as a father-in-law.
“We obviously can’t take down the hunters and their entire organization, but I don’t think we should wait to see what their next move is, either,” Braith explained.“I think we should expose the bad apples hiding in their ranks publicly.You saw the news about what happened at the warehouse.They’ll jump on something like this.”
“Or they’ll find an excuse for the hunters who did that,” Jasper pointed out.“They love hunters.”
“They love being famous more.I think that as long as we’re careful, we can find a way to make it work.Besides, we don’t actually need proof.We want the hunters distracted, and distracting them using the news isn’t a bad idea.It’ll require minimal effort if we stick to anonymous tips.”
“I agree,” Archie said.“We don’t even need to talk to anyone.We just need to gather information and hand it over, maybe email it or something.We can stay anonymous.Once we’re done, we just need to lean back and watch.With the hunters distracted, we’ll be able to focus on finding the hunters involved and getting rid of Kester permanently.”
Cullen snorted.“I don’t think that’s possible.”
“You don’t have to worry about your father,” Braith told him.“We’ll protect you.”
“Yeah, but who will protect you from him?”
That was a good question, and not one Archie had an answer to.
Chapter Eleven
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“YOU WON’T BELIEVE WHATI found,” Kerry blurted out as soon as Jasper answered her phone call.
Jasper blinked at the ceiling.He couldn’t remember the last time he’d heard his best friend so excited.It wasn’t like Kerry, who was usually the calm component of their trio.“What happened?”he asked.
“Wait, first.Are you safe?”she asked instead of answering.
Jasper looked around the bedroom.He and Cullen were stuck in the safe house, as Archie had called it.It was more like a safe apartment, but it was okay.It wasn’t big, but it was big enough for him and Cullen and any visitors they had.Archie had been coming back here every evening instead of going home, and Braith seemed to have set up camp on the couch.Right now, though, they were both busy with work, and without having to do the same, it left Jasper staring at the ceiling.He could probably find something more productive to do, but he didn’t want to.He felt tired down to his soul, and anything that needed more energy than staring at the ceiling felt like too much.
“We’re safe,” he confirmed.“The only thing that might kill me is boredom, but I think I’ll survive a few more days.”
“It’s not funny.Do you know how scared Archie was when he told me what happened?”
“I get that he’s scared.I don’t like having to fight for my life once a week, either.I just think it’s a little much.”
“Just give him this.It helps him feel better, and you’re getting a vacation out of it.”
“I don’t want a vacation.I want people to stop trying to hurt me.”
“And we both know that’s not going to happen anytime soon.It’s good that I have something to distract you.”
Jasper sat up.“Yeah?Have you heard from Martinez?”
“No, but I’ve been looking into Sanctuary and what happened when you were born.”
That wasn’t what Jasper had expected, but he’d take it.“What?”
“So we both know that it was an actual place where monsters and humans worked together,” Kerry explained.“It doesn’t matter what we were taught by the hunters.This is a fact.They weren’t trying to rebel against the authorities or to kill hunters.They were just trying to survive.”
“And the hunters lied about that.Yeah, I’m not surprised.”
“I’m never surprised when they lie.It’s more than that, though.Humans and monsters didn’t just work together.They thrived.Sanctuary wasn’t an association or a church or anything like that.It was a place where mixed couples and families lived.”
Jasper blinked.He hadn’t expected that, but maybe he should have.It sounded like something the hunters wouldn’t want people to know.They wanted everyone to believe that monsters were dangerous because if they weren’t, how useful were hunters?A lot of them stood to lose the only thing they could do to survive if they weren’t.
