Page 11 of In the Monster's Wake
Archibald sighed.He didn’t think he’d get anything else out of her.The problem was that this Kester guy sounded like a legend or a story parents told their kids at night to make them behave.Did he actually exist?If he did, was he responsible for the string of violent murders in their community?Even if he was, it didn’t mean he’d killed Varken’s daughter.
Archibald supposed it was a place to start.He hoped that Braith had more success than he had, but even if this had all been for nothing, Archibald had other informants.He knew a lot of people and where to go to get answers.
“Thank you,” he told the monster.
She nodded.“I hope you catch him.He’s not a good person.”
He certainly didn’t sound like one.In fact, he sounded terrifying.
That wouldn’t stop Archibald.He regularly dealt with terrifying people.He knew what he was doing, and even if Kester happened to be incredibly strong and fast, Archibald wasn’t working alone.He and Braith would find the monster responsible for the death of Varken’s daughter, and just like Varken had paid them to, they’d kill them, whether they were the Kester Archibald had learned about from his informant or not.Archibald had been paid to take care of the problem, and he would.
He just needed to find out who the problem was.
Chapter Four
“Ithink it’s a greatidea,” Corey said as he bounced in his chair.
Jasper stared at him.“You think that looking for a monster who has enough fangs to make a dentist rich is a good idea?You remember him, right?Yousawthat monster.”
“We just have to find him, not fight him.”
“What do you think will happen if we find him?It’s not like we can go up to him and nicely ask him to hand himself over to the hunters.That monster’s dangerous, Corey.Besides, I said yes when my mom suggested it, but I never planned on following through with it.”
Corey pouted.He was ridiculous, but Jasper had chosen him.It hadn’t been a great idea, clearly, but he’d been a kid when they’d become friends, and Corey was hard to shake even now as an adult.
“I know we're not hunters anymore, but we could use this opportunity to protect people,” Corey said.
“We don’t have to protect people anymore.”
“Look, I understand why you’re not sure you want this, but are you comfortable knowing that monster’s out there killing people?”
Jasper glared at Corey.He knew where to poke to get Jasper to change his mind.“Of course I’m not comfortable with that.There have been too many violent murders recently, and I’m pretty sure that monster was responsible for most, if not all, of them.I want him stopped, but that’s what the hunters are for, isn’t it?”
“Your father said that the hunters are in trouble.How many of them died recently?”
“I don’t know.”But with the way Leroy had complained about not having enough of them, Jasper was ready to bet that the hunters wouldn’t look very deep into this.Yes, humans might be hurt, but mostly, this was monster-on-monster violence, and the hunters didn’t care about that.Jasper knew his father.As far as Leroy was concerned, monsters killing monsters just meant there were fewer of them in the world.It was a good thing.
