Page 2 of Sins of the Fathers

Kerry smiled. “How are things going between the two of you?”

“Good.”

“When are you moving in with him?”

“Not anytime soon. We only started dating a few months ago.”

Kerry shrugged. “If you know, you know. The two of you are meant to be.”

“Because I’m half monster?”

Kerry glared. “Because you love him and he loves you. It’s obvious just by spending a few minutes with the two of you.” She hesitated, then glanced at her brother before looking back at Jasper. “If you’re worried about us, you don’t have to. We’ll be fine paying rent even if you move out. We don’t want you to stay just because you’re worried about us.”

Jasper hooked an arm around Kerry’s shoulder and pulled her close. The hug was quick, but it was tight. “I live with you because I love you too, and I don’t want to leave just yet. As long as you’ll have me, I’m staying.”

“Maybe Archie could move in with us,” Corey suggested. He grimaced. “Or maybe not. I don’t want to have to hear the two of you going at it.”

“You mean like Jasper and I had to hear you and your Tinder date last week?” Kerry asked.

Corey squawked, but he couldn’t deny it. Jasper didn’t often regret spending the night at his apartment rather than with Archie, but he had that night. Corey’s date had been loud.

Jasper wasn’t ready to let it go yet. As much as he loved Archie, he felt safe living with Corey and Kerry, and he didn’t want to let go of that part of his life just yet. He would, eventually.

But not right now.

* * * *

“WHAT CAN I DO FOR YOU?” Archie asked as he leaned back in his chair. He watched the woman sitting in front of him. She seemed nervous, but that wasn’t unusual. A lot of people felt that way when they visited the office. Usually, they weren’t here for happy reasons.

“My partner was murdered,” she said.

That wasn’t what Archie had expected. Usually, he and Braith worked on finding runaway kids, sometimes runaway spouses. They worked on separations and divorces.

But sometimes, they did work on murders. It didn’t happen often, and when it did, there was always a good reason. Archie didn’t know anything about Petra, the monster sitting in front of him, but he was about to find out more.

“Can you give me more details?” he asked when she didn’t continue.

She raised her head, looking at him defiantly. “Daniel was human.”

The fact that her partner had been human explained why she seemed so anxious. She probably expected Archie to judge her. Many monsters would have, but Archie was dating a human.

Well, half human. They hadn’t known that Jasper was half monster when they’d met. Besides, it wasn’t like Archie looked at Jasper thinking human or monster. He looked at him and thought of Jasper, the man he loved. That had nothing to do with what Jasper was.

Archie needed to reassure Petra. He wanted her to know that he wasn’t going to judge her. “My partner is human, too,” he told her with a smile. “So you don’t have to fear anything from me.”

That didn’t make Petra look any less anxious, which was confusing until she continued speaking. “Is your partner also an ex-hunter? One of those people who come after monsters and arrest or kill them? One of those people who sometimes torture them?”

Well, Archie had his explanation. “As a matter of fact, yes, he is,” he told her, hoping he sounded calm. “Trust me, I won’t judge you for any of that. If you want me to find out what happened to your partner, though, you’re going to have to tell me about him, including his past as a hunter. It might be relevant.”

Petra’s mouth dropped open when Archie confirmed that his partner was an ex-hunter. She started to speak now, but her eyes were so wide. “I have questions, but I realize that’s not why we’re here,” she said slowly.

“It’s not. What happened to him, Petra?”

She swallowed and looked away. “I’d been dating Daniel for a few years. He’d already quit the hunters when we met, but as I’m sure you understand, I was wary of him initially. I kept him at arm’s length because of what he was, what he’d done. He was a sweet man, though, and eventually, he broke down my walls. We fell in love. It wasn’t always easy, but we were happy.”

“And now, he’s dead?”

“He was murdered. Look, we were discreet about our relationship because we both knew that we’d be judged for it, by humans and monsters alike. It isn’t a secret like we were hiding it, but it wasn’t something we were spreading around either. I don’t think most people know that Daniel and I were together, so I’m not afraid for myself, but I want you to find out what happened to him.”