Page 16 of Sins of the Fathers

“Well, I didn’t imagine it would be an easy case. I know that this probably has something to do with Daniel either being a hunter or being with me.”

Archie wasn’t sure where to start. “I believe that it has to do with a case he worked on before leaving the hunters,” he said cautiously. “I’m sure you’ve heard about the sanctuary.” Most monsters in town had. It was a legendary place, so much so that some monsters weren’t sure it had actually existed.

Petra’s eyes narrowed. “Are you telling me that you think Daniel was killed because of something that happened at the sanctuary?”

“I’m saying that it looks like that’s what happened, yes. From what I could find, someone is killing hunters who were there that night. Daniel isn’t the first victim or the last. Other hunters have been killed.”

“Daniel wasn’t a hunter anymore. He hadn’t been in years.”

“You’re right. He left after the sanctuary.”

“Are you insinuating that Daniel killed people?” Petra was getting angry, which wasn’t what Archie wanted, but it was what he’d expected. “I don’t know for sure what Daniel did that night. The reports I was able to get my hands on are very vague. I do know for sure that he was there, along with other hunters. Some of them have since left the organization, while others have stayed. The only thing that links Daniel to the other two murders is that.”

“Daniel might have been a hunter, but he didn’t want to hurt people. That’s why he left.”

“I’m not disagreeing with that, Petra. I’m sure that whatever happened that night, it horrified a lot of people, and I’m glad it gave Daniel the push he needed to leave. As I told you last time, I’m also in a relationship with an ex-hunter. I know something about what they saw and what they had to go through. I’m not accusing Daniel of anything. I just know he was there, and I wanted to ask you if he ever talked about it. Any details you can remember would help.”

Petra shook her head. “He never mentioned the sanctuary to me. Why should he have?”

“Because he was there.” And considering what his job had been, there was a good chance that he’d killed at least some of the people who’d been there. He wouldn’t have had a choice unless he wanted to fight the other hunters.

Archie hadn’t known Daniel. He didn’t know if Daniel had left after what happened at the sanctuary because he’d been afraid or horrified. He would never find out. He didn’t think Petra knew, either, or that anyone did. The only one who’d cared was Petra. It didn’t change anything for Archie, and the killer, well. It was clear they didn’t care whether or not the people they were killing had repented.

Petra truly believed that Daniel had left that life behind, but it hadn’t been enough. What had happened that night had come back to Daniel, and in the end, it had killed him. Jasper might think that he and Daniel were similar, but Archie knew that that wasn’t the case, not as much as his boyfriend believed. Jasper wouldn’t have stayed if he’d been ordered to do something like what happened at the sanctuary. He would’ve either left or died trying.

They still didn’t know exactly what happened that night. They just knew that the sanctuary had been completely destroyed and that most of the people who’d been there had died. Jasper had survived, so maybe there was still a chance he could find another survivor, but it would be complicated. Most of them didn’t advertise that they’d survived that night. As far as Archie knew, only a few people had. Sarah hadn’t been there at all, Jasper had been very young, and the killer, well. There was no way for Archie to know who they were, but he and Jasper suspected that they’d been a child back then. It was what would make the most sense. They’d probably lost their entire family and were finally ready for revenge.

“I’m not surprised he didn’t tell you about the sanctuary, but he might have told you something else. I need your help to find out what’s going on, Petra,” Archie said.

Petra sucked in a breath. “I don’t know if any of this is relevant, but I can tell you some of what he told me about his past.”

Archie leaned back in his chair. “Anything might be relevant. Please, tell me.”

* * * *

JASPER KNEW THAT ARCHIE had met Petra at the office today. That was why he decided to take things easy tonight and picked up pizza before heading to Archie’s apartment. Neither of them would be in the mood for cooking, and maybe it was time for Jasper to take care of Archie for once. Usually, Archie was the one taking care of him, and while Jasper knew that he loved it, this needed to be a two-way relationship.

Jasper had been the one who had to deal with a lot of things since they’d met, so it made sense that Archie was usually the one fussing over him, but he could fuss, too. In fact, he wanted to. He knew that this case was complicated for Archie, but not because of Daniel or Petra. It was because of Jasper and how Archie felt for him. He was worried, but for one night, Jasper hoped they could put that worry to the side and focus on each other.

So of course, Archie started talking about work as soon as Jasper walked in the door.

“Petra didn’t know anything about the sanctuary,” he declared before Jasper had even put down the pizza boxes.

He was wearing loose pants and a t-shirt, and his feet were bare. His hair was still dripping wet from the shower, and he was pacing the living room, which wasn’t much but was apparently enough for him to work himself up into a tizzy. Jasper wasn’t sure why Archie was like this. Usually, he was the calmer one.

“Hello to you too,” he said, depositing the food on the coffee table and taking his shoes off. “We should eat.”

Archie frowned. “I thought you’d want to know about Petra. Well, not about Petra, but about what she had to say about him.”

“I do want to know about Daniel, but we can talk about it later.”

Archie’s shoulders slumped. “You’re right. I just don’t want you to worry the entire evening. Petra didn’t know about the sanctuary. She didn’t know that Daniel was there that night. He never told her, for obvious reasons. There was nothing she could tell me about that or about any survivor.”

Jasper nodded. He’d expected it. He hadn’t told Archie about many of the cases he’d worked as a hunter, and he’d never worked a case that ended up like the sanctuary. He didn’t think that Archie would think less of him, knowing some of the things he’d done, but he didn’t see a reason to bring up the past.

They all had a past, some of it dark, some of it not. Jasper was sure Archie also had things that he wasn’t proud of in his past that he hadn’t told him about. There was very little that would change Jasper’s feelings for Archie, and knowing Archie, Jasper didn’t think that he’d done anything bad. Archie wasn’t the kind of person who killed indiscriminately. He wasn’t the kind of person who would be involved in something like the sanctuary, just like Jasper wasn’t.

But Petra had known Daniel that way. She’d known he was an ex-hunter, and she probably imagined some of the things he’d done, but the sanctuary was different. It was a dark mark on the hunters’ organization. Even some of the hunters were ashamed of what had happened that night, and no one ever talked about it. Jasper had always been interested in it, but he’d also always known that no one would ever tell him about it. He hated that knowledge now, but there was nothing he could do to change it.