Page 11 of Sins of the Fathers

Archie didn’t like it when Jasper frowned. He didn’t like it when Jasper was worried. Unfortunately for both of them, Jasper had been worried basically the entire time they’d been together because their lives were a mess.

Well, Jasper’s mostly was. So far, Archie’s life was a mess because he was with Jasper, but he wouldn’t change that for anything in the world. Jasper was the one, as far as he was concerned. He was it for Archie, which meant that his messes, hunters and sanctuary included, were Archie’s, too. That made Sarah Archie’s mess, and if Jasper was worried about her, so was Archie.

“What did she say exactly?” he asked as he settled on the couch next to his boyfriend. He’d gotten up to get a second helping of pasta that Jasper had cooked, but Jasper had barely touched his plate. Archie wasn’t overly worried for now.

“That she wanted to talk to me before something happened to her, too. I was understandably worried, so I asked her what was going on and offered to help. She said she was just being overly dramatic and that I shouldn’t worry about her. When I pushed a little, she mentioned the hunters.”

Archie blinked. “Which hunters?”

“The ones who were killed recently. Daniel and the other one.”

“Well, they were involved with the sanctuary.”

“They were, but they were hunters at the time. That’s how they were involved with the sanctuary. Sarah’s never been a hunter. She was part of the sanctuary as a monster.”

Archie understood why Jasper was looking at it that way, but he was also worried. They didn’t know exactly why the killer was killing these people. It was probably linked to the sanctuary, and so far, the killer had only killed two ex-hunters who’d apparently been there the night it was destroyed, but no one knew exactly what happened, or rather, none of the people who knew were willing to talk about it. That meant that they didn’t know if Sarah had been involved in whatever had happened back then, one way or another. They also couldn’t be sure that the killer was targeting ex-hunters. Maybe they were after people involved with the sanctuary. Maybe Sarah was in danger.

Jasper groaned. “I can hear you thinking. Trust me, I’ve had all the same thoughts as you once I hung up with her. I didn’t want to scare her, but she might get targeted.”

“Even if she is, there’s nothing we can do about it. Unless she gave you her address?”

“She didn’t. She says that she believes I’m my parents’ son after she looked up a picture of me because I look like my mother, but she was still wary. I could hear it, and she refused my offer to help.”

Archie had looked into Sarah after she’d first appeared in Jasper’s life. He’d wanted to know more about her, and he hadn’t found anything alarming in the information he’d gathered. Unfortunately, it wasn’t much, and while he knew she’d been involved in the sanctuary, he had no idea how. The sanctuary had been a place where monsters and humans were welcome, where relationships between the two species were accepted rather than scorned and called out with disgust. Had Sarah been with a human back then? Maybe a hunter? Was she still with them?

Those were all questions Archie didn’t have answers for. As much as he wanted to give Jasper the world, or at least answers to the questions about his past, he couldn’t.

For now, all he knew was that Daniel was at the sanctuary the night it was destroyed. The other hunter who’d been killed had been there, too, although that was all Archie had been able to find. The reports from that night had obviously been redacted. There was no information in any of them about what happened at the sanctuary, and there was definitely no information about Jasper and how he’d ended up with Leroy. It was clearly a cover-up, but knowing it unfortunately didn’t help Archie find out the truth.

Then, there was the symbol. It was connected to Jasper’s parents, or rather, to Jasper’s father. His mother had been the human in their relationship. She’d been at the sanctuary, though, too.

Everywhere Archie looked, it felt like he was just slamming against more walls. He couldn’t be sure that something would change eventually and that he’d find more information. He wanted to solve this case, not only because Petra was paying him to but also because it would bring Jasper peace, and that was everything Archie wanted for his boyfriend.

He eyed Jasper, who was chewing on a mouthful of pasta and looking mournful. This mess was complicated for him. It was personal in a way Archie couldn’t understand.

Archie put down his plate on the coffee table and reached for Jasper. Jasper blinked at him, clearly surprised, but he didn’t argue when Archie took his plate, too, before pulling him into his arms. He settled against Archie’s chest, and Archie felt his entire body relax. He kissed the top of Jasper’s head, wishing there was more he could do for him. There wasn’t, so this would have to be enough, at least for now. “I can’t promise that everything will be all right, but I can promise I’ll do everything I can to protect you and to get you what you need.”

Jasper snorted. “And my past?”

“Not much I can do about that, but we could leave. We could ignore the whole mess with the sanctuary and Leroy and move to another city.”

Jasper was silent for a moment. Archie didn’t know if he was thinking about his offer. Archie hadn’t been planning on making it. In fact, he’d never thought about leaving this place. He would for Jasper, though.

“If I do that, I’ll always wonder what happened to my parents. I’ll always wonder how I ended up with Leroy and Camille. Besides, I don’t want to leave Corey, Kerry, and everyone else behind. They’re my family, much more than Leroy ever was.”

“I’m sure I could convince all of them to move, too.”

Jasper chuckled. “Probably. But I think that if I do that, I’ll always wonder about my parents. I’ll always wonder if I could’ve done more.”

“It’s not your job to do more.”

“It’s not. I do want to know who I am, though. I want to know what happened and why. That means there’s no running away from it.”

Archie sighed. “Well, I tried.”

Jasper moved so he could look up at him. “You didn’t really mean that. You’re not one to run from your problems.”

“Not usually, but I would for you.”