Page 30 of Sins of the Fathers

But Archie wasn’t planning on doing that.

The killer looked at Archie. “You’re his boyfriend.”

Archie wasn’t surprised that the killer knew about Jasper. He was alarmed, though. “I’m Archibald, and I’m assuming you know about Jasper.”

The killer’s expression twisted. “I do. We actually know each other, although he probably doesn’t remember.”

“What’s your name?” It wouldn’t help Jasper remember, but it would help with the case.

The killer hesitated, his gaze flickering to Kevin. “Emric.”

Archie didn’t remember the name, but then, there wasn’t a list of sanctuary survivors. It was a miracle some of them had survived. The hunters hadn’t wanted anyone to be able to talk about what the organization had done that night. Archie was sure that even if everyone had died during the attack or the fire, they would’ve been killed later.

But not Emric. He was standing there, in Kevin’s kitchen.

Kevin rushed toward the back door. Archie didn’t move to stop him, nor did Emric. Archie was pretty sure that Emric would find Kevin again. It wouldn’t be hard. Kevin was no doubt going to rush to the hunters’ headquarters. He’d probably hole up in there for a few weeks, and if everything was quiet, they’d eventually let him go back to his house. That was when Emric could strike again. He’d planned all of this in detail. Archie was sure he had a plan B.

They let Kevin run away. Emric even smiled a little when they heard Kevin yelp, then the sound of him falling down. Archie wasn’t quite sure what to say.

“Well, it’s time for me to go,” Emric said.

“Are you going to continue killing?”

“I’m not done.”

“I realize that you’re not, but the hunters are coming after you. If they’re the ones who catch you instead of me, they’re not going to let you go.”

“I’m not planning on letting them catch me.”

“But you’re planning on letting me catch you?”

Emric hesitated. “I was curious. I know Jasper’s been looking into this, and it’s good to see that he has someone who cares about him.” Emric shrugged a little. “You know, I always felt sorry for him. I was also angry, at least until I realized that he didn’t know. They never told him who he was, did they?”

“He didn’t even know he wasn’t fully human until recently. Emric, I understand why you’re killing these people. I really do, and if it was up to me, I would let you kill everyone involved. I really do think you need to be careful about the hunters, though, and Jasper desperately wants to talk to you.”

“He wants to know about his past.”

“Wouldn’t you in his place? You’re probably the only person who’s willing to tell him about it.”

Emric arched a brow. “Who said I was willing?”

* * * *

JASPER LOVED SPENDING time with his two best friends. They understood him in a way even Archie couldn’t. They’d been raised hunters, just like Jasper, and while they weren’t half monsters, they knew what he’d gone through because they’d been going through it, too. They also knew Jasper’s father, and neither of them had been surprised when Jasper had told them what happened when he’d gone to the house where he’d grown up. They’d gathered around him, and all three of them had agreed to spend an evening at the apartment, watching bad movies and forgetting about everything else.

Jasper wasn’t sure he could forget about anything else. He was watching the screen and listening to Corey and Kerry bicker over who would die next in the movie, but he couldn’t stop thinking about the case.

It wasn’t his case. In fact, initially, he hadn’t wanted to be involved. He hadn’t seen a reason to be, even though he’d known Daniel, if only in passing. He hadn’t thought that all of this would be connected to him the way it was, and he wasn’t quite sure what to do about it.

He couldn’t say he cared about Daniel. Hunters usually died young, but Daniel had survived longer than a lot of them. He’d also apparently tried to redeem himself over whatever he’d done at the sanctuary, but Jasper wasn’t sure it was enough. Many would say Daniel had only been doing his job, and maybe he had been. Jasper knew very well what would have happened to Daniel if he’d said no to whatever orders he’d been given.

It wouldn’t have been as bad as what had happened to the people who lived at the sanctuary, though. Daniel wouldn’t have been killed. Hell, he would probably be alive right now. Instead, he’d helped destroy the sanctuary, and he’d paid for it with his life. Jasper couldn’t find it in himself to be sorry for the guy. How could he? Daniel was one of the people who’d destroyed his life.

Jasper would never know what kind of life he would’ve had if the sanctuary hadn’t been attacked. He still wasn’t sure what kind of role Leroy had had in all of that, and he didn’t know if he would ever find out. He didn’t know if he wanted to find out. He probably should, but part of him was afraid. Even though he wanted nothing to do with Leroy, the man had still raised him—badly, but he’d raised him. He was Jasper’s father, whether Jasper liked it or not.

All in all, Jasper had conflicting feelings, and he didn’t know what to do about them. Watching a bad horror movie wasn’t helping as much as it normally would. He was almost relieved when his phone vibrated on the coffee table. He snatched it up, ignoring Kerry’s glare, and smiled when he saw that Archie was calling him. Archie had decided he would stay at work a little longer since they weren’t seeing each other tonight, so he was probably just finishing up and getting ready to go home. Hell, maybe they would see each other today, after all. Jasper still wasn’t feeling great about everything that was happening, but clearly being away from Archie wasn’t helping.

“Hey,” he said as he answered, ignoring Kerry when she tried to kick his leg as he got up from the couch. She waved the remote control around, but he shook his head. He didn’t need them to press pause. He’d already seen this movie, and he knew who died next. He didn’t need to get in on the bet.