Page 27 of Sins of the Fathers

His upbringing had been harsh, and he’d always wondered if his father loved him. Now, he was pretty sure that the answer to that question was no. If he had to guess, Leroy had agreed to take him in because his wife had wanted a child, and Jasper just happened to be there. He looked human enough, and leaving him in what remained of the sanctuary hadn’t been an option. Jasper supposed they could’ve killed him, but apparently, even the worst hunters had a conscience.

So here he was, sitting in his car, staring at the front door of the house where he’d grown up. It was close to the hunters’ organization’s headquarters because his father had wanted to be able to get to work in case of an emergency. It meant that Jasper had basically lived at the headquarters rather than in this house, but part of him still considered it home, even though he’d left years ago. Maybe part of him still considered Leroy and Camille his parents, too. He wished it wasn’t the case, but they’d raised him. No matter how much he hated them, he couldn’t erase his memories.

“You don’t have to do this,” Archie said from the passenger seat.

Jasper turned to look at him. Archie couldn’t come inside the house with him. Leroy wouldn’t allow it. Hell, it would be a miracle if Leroy didn’t go looking for his weapons if he caught sight of Archie. He might be able to accept that Jasper was a monster, but that was where he would draw the line. Jasper was sure of it. There would be no nice family dinners for them in the future, not beyond the dinners they had with their friends, and that was okay.

It had to be.

“He could have the answers to many of my questions,” Jasper pointed out.

“He probably does, but he’s not going to give you those answers,” Archie said.

He’d been dealing with Leroy even before meeting Jasper, so he knew what he was talking about. He was right. “I still have to try.”

Archie sighed. “I know. I’ll be here when you’re done, okay? You just have to come out here, and we’ll go home and watch a movie or order pizza or whatever you want. I know this isn’t going to be easy for you, but I want you to know that you’re not doing this alone. You might have to go in there on your own, but I’m not going anywhere, and if I have to, I’m ready to break down the door to get to you.”

“Leroy isn’t going to hurt me. He’s never raised a hand to me. He’s not that kind of person.”

“There are many ways to hurt someone, Jasper. He might never have hit you, but it doesn’t mean he didn’t hurt you. Now go on. If you really want to do this, the sooner you do it, the better.”

He was right, once again. Jasper sucked in a breath, then forced himself to leave the car. He also had to force himself to walk to the front door, then to knock. If it wasn’t for that, he probably would’ve turned around and fled back to the car. Archie would have allowed it, but Jasper would’ve had to try again later, and he was unwilling to do that. This was where it ended, one way or another. Either Leroy showed Jasper that he cared about him as if he were his son, or he showed him that he’d never cared and they’d never see each other again.

The door swung open. Jasper half expected his mother to stand there, but it wasn’t her. It was Leroy, who looked tired but had on his stubborn expression. His jaw was set and his eyes narrow, and he looked Jasper up and down, maybe trying to see the monster in him. If he hadn’t seen the monster in more than twenty years, he probably wouldn’t start now, but Jasper didn’t say anything about that.

“Come in, then,” Leroy said, stepping aside.

Jasper was surprised that his father was allowing him inside, but also relieved. He quickly walked into the house the same way he had so many times over the decades. Once inside, he saw that nothing had changed, not the furniture, not the decorations, not the smell. The place smelled like home, and it made his heart squeeze.

Jasper turned toward Leroy. He knew that his father would want to do this in his office, but Jasper wasn’t going anywhere inside the house. He didn’t trust Leroy. “You were there the night the sanctuary was destroyed,” he accused. “You knew my biological parents. You know what happened to them. Hell, you probably decided to raid the place so you could get your hands on me. I know for a fact that you were seen hanging around the sanctuary, watching the children who lived there. I guess that you chose me because I look human. What about the other children? Were they killed? Were they burned down with the sanctuary like my parents were?” He shook his head. “Why did you even take me in? You knew I was a monster. I’m everything you’ve always hated.”

“You’re half monster,” Leroy said. “Your mother was human.”

“You still hate half of me!” Jasper snapped. “So it doesn’t make sense that you wanted to adopt me. Why did you do it? Why did you choose me out of all the children who lived there? Did you do it for Camille? You could’ve adopted any child, any other human child. Why did it have to be me? Why did you have to destroy my biological family and the life they were building because of your selfishness?”

Jasper waited for Leroy to answer, but he didn’t say anything. Normally, he would be snapping at Jasper and telling him not to talk to him that way, but not this time. This time, he pressed his lips together and waited for Jasper to continue.

Jasper was tired. There was nothing else for him to say. He’d asked his questions, but he wouldn’t get answers, not from Leroy. That meant he’d have to find them somewhere else.

He shook his head. “I don’t know if you ever cared about me or if Camille has, but let me tell you something. If you don’t tell me what happened, this is it. It’s the last time you’ll see me as your son. If we ever meet again, it will be as a hunter and a monster, and I don’t think you want that to happen. You raised me for most of my life. Surely you care at least a little? Do you care enough to tell me what happened to my parents? Why me?”

“I don’t have any answers for you, Jasper. If you came here expecting them, you thought wrong.”

Jasper wanted to slam the man he’d considered his father for most of his life against the wall. He wanted to shake him until he got his answers. He wanted to scream at him.

Instead, he turned around and left.

* * * *

THE ONLY THING ARCHIE wanted to do was to follow Jasper inside the house. He wanted to stand next to him and glare at Leroy and force the hunter to give Jasper the answers he so desperately needed. He suspected that Leroy wouldn’t open his mouth, though. He’d been hiding what happened at the sanctuary for decades. He wouldn’t break now just because Jasper asked. Maybe he cared about Jasper in his own twisted way, but he’d never cared enough to give Jasper a real family or to love him. He’d raised Jasper as a hunter, but not as his child, and Jasper still suffered because of that. He was probably about to lose the only father he’d ever known, and it took everything Archie had not to go in there and strangle Leroy.

But even if Leroy didn’t give Jasper the answers he wanted, Archie would. He didn’t know how he’d do it yet, but he’d find a way. For Jasper, he’d do pretty much anything.

Besides, he was still working on the case. They still had a bunch of documents to go through, and he hoped that they’d find something. What they’d already found was a lot. Archie might have to thank Kester for it if he didn’t hate the monster.

Archie didn’t understand why Kester had done it. Why was he interested in the sanctuary? Had he pointed Archie to the documents on purpose? Had he been looking for something himself? If he had been, what was that something? Had he found it? There was nothing good that could involve Kester, which worried Archie, even though he really had enough things to worry about as it was.

He leaned against the car and watched the door that had closed behind Jasper a few minutes earlier. He could hear voices even from where he was, which told him that whatever was happening in there wasn’t going well. Jasper was going to come back out at any second now, and Archie would be there for him. He didn’t even care if Leroy saw him. Hell, he hoped that Leroy had a heart attack at the sight of his son, the man he’d tried to raise into the perfect hunter, dating a monster. Unfortunately, he didn’t think that would happen. Leroy didn’t have a heart that could break.