Page 24 of Sins of the Fathers

The only way Jasper would get answers was by talking to Leroy, but Leroy wouldn’t talk to him. Who else was left? Jasper supposed he could call Sarah, but she wouldn’t know about the night the sanctuary had been destroyed. She hadn’t been there.

But she might know other things, things Jasper hadn’t thought to ask her until now.

He pushed away the sheet and got out of bed, careful not to wake up Archie. Archie didn’t even move, and Jasper gave him a fond smile. He was lucky to have found someone like Archie, who hadn’t left his side even after they’d found out what Jasper was. Of course, it would’ve been weird for Archie to leave since he was a monster, but still. Jasper wouldn’t have blamed him or anyone else for not wanting to get involved. His life was a mess, and it didn’t look like it was going to get any better anytime soon.

Jasper grabbed his phone from the nightstand and slipped out of the bedroom. He didn’t turn on any lights, settling on the couch by the light of the lampposts that came from outside the window. He hesitated, knowing it was late and not wanting to bother Sarah while she might be sleeping, but he felt like ants were walking under his skin. He needed to do something to give himself peace.

He decided to start by texting her. If she didn’t answer, he wouldn’t call.

Are you awake?

Part of him hoped that she wasn’t, while part of him hoped that she was. He wanted answers, but it also scared him. There was also the fact that he wasn’t sure that Sarah would have any answers.

I am. What’s going on? she answered, telling Jasper what he needed to know.

He hit the call button. Sarah had to have her phone in her hands because she answered right away. “Jasper? Is everything okay?”

“I don’t know. My boyfriend found a report that someone wrote after finding me. There wasn’t much in it, but I can’t help but wonder if taking me home was an opportunity he saw and decided to take or if he created that opportunity.”

Sarah was quiet for a moment. She had to understand what Jasper was saying. Jasper wanted to push her, but he’d found out over the years that the best way to get someone to talk was to be quiet. People tended to want to fill the silence, and that was when they revealed more than they wanted to.

“I can’t be sure of anything,” Sarah warned.

“I know. You already told me that. I’m looking for answers, though, and any details could help.”

“As you know, I wasn’t at the sanctuary that night, so I don’t know about Leroy being there or how he found you. I do know that I saw him before then, though. He kept coming to the sanctuary and watching us from outside. We all thought it was because he was a hunter and being paranoid, and we even made fun of him. I thought he was spying on us and trying to find a reason to arrest us, but we weren’t doing anything wrong, and he knew it.”

“So he might have seen me before that night?”

“I’m almost a hundred percent sure that he did. You and your mom especially spent a lot of time outside. I also heard that he’d been asking questions about the children who lived at the sanctuary. I assumed it was all related to him being a hunter, but now, I wonder.”

Jasper leaned his weight back into the couch. He didn’t think it had been a coincidence and that Leroy had just taken the opportunity when a child suddenly dropped into his lap. No, from what Sarah was saying, it was clear that Leroy had been watching the sanctuary. He’d been watching the children, maybe choosing the one he wanted for himself and his wife.

Jasper.

Jasper was going to have to talk to Leroy. He didn’t think his father would give him answers, but Jasper had to try. The problem was that Leroy wouldn’t talk in front of Archie. He wouldn’t even be in the same room as Archie. He hated Archie because he was a monster, and there was no ignoring that the way he could ignore it when it came to Jasper. Jasper looked human. Archie didn’t.

“Thank you,” Jasper said.

“I wish I could do more for you,” Sarah said. “I wish I could tell you what happened to your parents. I might not have been there that night, but I know that they died standing up for what they believed in. The sanctuary was their dream. They wanted humans and monsters to live together peacefully just the way they were. In the end, it killed them.”

Had it? Or had Leroy wanted a child so desperately that he’d been willing to kill and destroy the sanctuary for it? It sounded far-fetched, but then, so did Jasper being part monster. Had the sanctuary really been destroyed because of Jasper? Because Leroy wanted him? Jasper wasn’t sure he would ever find out, but that wouldn’t stop him from asking.

Chapter Nine

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ARCHIE SHOULD BE FOCUSING on work, but all of his thoughts had been on Jasper for the past two days. After Archie had told Jasper what he’d found out in the report, Jasper had been quiet. He’d told Archie that he was okay, but Archie suspected that he really wasn’t. Jasper was trying to reassure him, but it wasn’t working because he wasn’t behaving like he was okay. He was pensive and quiet in a way he’d never been, and Archie was torn between wanting to push him to talk and giving him some time to himself. He wanted to comfort his boyfriend, but would it be too much for Jasper? He was already dealing with a lot, and he didn’t need Archie to add to his complications.

That was why, when Jasper had told Archie that he was staying at home tonight, Archie hadn’t pushed. They’d seen each other every evening this week, and it made sense for Jasper to want to spend time with Kerry and Corey. He would be safe with them, and maybe he’d be able to talk to them. Archie didn’t doubt that Jasper loved him, but they’d only been together for a few months, whereas he’d grown up with Corey and Kerry.

They knew things that Archie could never know. They’d been hunters, too, and grown up in the organization, just like Jasper. Even more so, they knew Leroy in a way Archie hoped he never would. He was pretty sure that if he had to spend any length of time with the man, he’d be tempted to strangle him, and that would probably make dating Jasper awkward. No matter how angry Jasper was, Leroy was still the man who’d raised him.

So here Archie was, still at the office even though the sky had grown dark a few hours ago. He didn’t have anything or anyone to go home to, so he’d taken the opportunity to work late. Daniel’s case wasn’t the only one he was working on, although the others were much simpler and easier to deal with. He’d done a good amount of work and had closed two cases, and he’d need Cullen to call the people who’d hired him tomorrow so they could settle everything. All in all, it had been a good evening of work, and Archie was more than ready to go home when his phone vibrated on his desk. He almost didn’t pick it up because there was no one he wanted to talk to except for his friends and Jasper, and the number on the screen wasn’t someone he knew. Still, considering what they were working on, he knew he couldn’t ignore a phone call.

“Hello?” he said, raising the phone to his ear.

“Hey, boss,” a voice drawled.