Jasper had volunteered for this.He’d insisted on it despite everyone’s objections, especially Archie’s.He was tired of looking over his shoulder every time he left his apartment.Hell, he couldn’t even live there right now, and he hated that he’d been forced out of his home.
The car he was working on didn’t actually need an oil change—it was Braith’s, placed here to give Jasper a reason to be outside and vulnerable.The perfect bait.
Jasper wiped his hands on a rag and was reaching for the oil filter when he heard footsteps.Multiple sets, moving with purpose and not trying to hide.
They were here, and they were ready to confront him.
“Working late,” a voice called out.There was an edge to it that made Jasper’s skin crawl.“That’s dedication.”
Jasper straightened slowly, turning to face them.Five hunters, all armed and dressed in black, spreading out to cut off his escape routes.He recognized two of them.The leader from last time stepped forward.
“We’ve been looking for you, Jasper,” he said.“You’re a hard man to catch alone.”
“I’m not alone.”Jasper glanced around pointedly, even though the street appeared empty.“This is a public area.Lots of witnesses.”
“Not at this hour.”The man smiled, but it was ugly.There was no happiness there.“Besides, we’re not here to hurt you.We’re here to talk.”
“Usually, people don’t bring weapons to talk.”
“Usually people don’t talk to abominations.”His tone told Jasper all he needed to know.“But you’re special, aren’t you?”
Jasper’s heart was pounding, but he kept his voice steady.“I don’t know what you’re talking about.”He really didn’t.He’d been involved with Finn’s rescue, but that didn’t fit what the hunter was saying.
“Don’t play dumb.We know what you are.A monster raised by hunters.You’ve been looking into Sanctuary.”The man took another step forward.“We know you’re connected to it.”
Jasper’s breath caught.“What do you know about that?”Even he didn’t know for sure.
“Because we’ve been hunting Sanctuary survivors for years.”The leader’s smile widened.“Ever since we helped destroy that abomination of a place.Monsters and humans, living together, breeding together.We put an end to it years ago, and we’ve been tracking down the survivors ever since.”
Ice flooded Jasper’s veins.These weren’t just random rogue hunters.They were the ones who’d destroyed Sanctuary and had probably killed his parents.
“You murdered those people,” Jasper said.He still wasn’t a hundred percent sure what had happened there, but he knew Sanctuary was gone and that the hunters had been involved.
Thesehunters, apparently.
“We eliminated a threat.”The man shrugged.“Some monsters got away.”
Jasper’s hands clenched into fists.
“You’re going to tell us who else survived,” the leader continued.“Every name you’ve found, every lead you’ve uncovered.We’re going to finish what we started.”
Jasper didn’t have any of that, but this man didn’t know, and Jasper wasn’t about to reveal his hand.“Like hell I am.”
“Then we’ll beat it out of you.”He turned to the others.“Take him alive.We need him talking.”
They moved as one, closing in from all sides.Jasper’s instincts screamed at him to wait for backup, but he was too angry.These men had destroyed Sanctuary.They’d probably murdered his parents and had spent twenty years hunting down survivors—people like him, like Cullen, like those children they’d rescued.
Jasper met the first hunter head-on.The man swung something at his head, but Jasper was faster than he should’ve been, surprising even himself.He caught the thing mid-swing, ripped it from the hunter’s hand, and drove his fist into the man’s stomach with enough force to lift him off his feet.
The hunter went down hard, gasping for air.
“What the—” another hunter started, but Jasper was already moving.
He’d been holding back all his life, and he hadn’t realized it.After he’d found out what he was, he’d been afraid of what the monster part of him could do.He hadn’t known.But now, facing the people who’d destroyed his birth family, he didn’t want to hold back anymore.He didn’t have to.These hunters were the real monsters, and Jasper wanted to make them pay.
He wanted them to hurt.
Jasper grabbed the second hunter by his vest and threw him into the third with strength that he’d never had before.They crashed together, falling to the ground in a tangle of limbs.The fourth hunter pulled out a knife, but Jasper was faster.He caught the man’s wrist, twisted until he heard a crack and a scream.The knife fell to the pavement.
