Page 44 of In the Monster's Wake
Chapter Twelve
Jasper’s phone rattledon the coffee table.He hadn’t been answering his father’s phone calls, mostly because he didn’t want to have to explain why he wasn’t at the apartment, but Leroy had never taken no for an answer, and he wasn’t in this case, either.
Corey had warned Jasper that Leroy had been visiting and demanding to see Jasper.Corey and Kerry both knew why Jasper wasn’t staying with them at the moment, but Jasper had asked them not to mention it to Leroy.He didn’t want his father to know where he was.He didn’t think that Leroy would come all the way here and possibly have to deal with Archie, but he might do something stupid.
He bit his lower lip.Eventually, he was going to have to tell his father that he was dating a monster.He wasn’t sure what Leroy’s reaction would be.He would be pissed and would try to get Jasper to change his mind, but would he push his way into Jasper’s life, or would he decide that it wasn’t worth it?Jasper wasn’t sure which one he’d prefer.Some days, he wished Leroy would stop talking to him entirely, but if his father did, he wasn’t sure what would happen with his mother, and he didn’t want to lose her.
He glanced at Archie, who was sitting next to him on the couch.He was listening to something Braith was saying and nodding, but Jasper couldn’t focus.His full attention was on his vibrating phone.
The problem was that this might get him killed.He couldn’t afford for Leroy to distract him.He needed to be careful because when Kester was involved, any tiny mistake could lead to an awful ending.
He wanted all of this to be over.It wasn’t like he desperately wanted to go back to his apartment, even though he missed Corey and Kerry.He liked living with them, but the place where they lived wasn’t all that.Archie’s apartment was nicer.It was cozy, and they didn’t have to share it with anyone.The neighbors weren’t noisy, and the building didn’t smell of mildew like the one where Jasper lived.
It was just that Jasper felt that he and Archie had been pushed together more quickly than they would have normally.They’d gone from meeting in a club to living together.They were together now, but it still felt like a lot in not a lot of time, and adding the stress of Kester to it wasn’t helping.Jasper yearned for a hint of normalcy, and he wouldn’t get that until Kester was out of his life.
The problem was that no one knew where Kester was.He hadn’t come after Cullen or Jasper again.He might be looking for them, but so far, it didn’t look like he knew where they were.They’d gotten news of another murder, but the news had come out a few days later, that for once, Kester had nothing to do with it.They weren’t even sure if Kester was still in town.
Jasper tapped his fingertips on his thigh and glanced at his phone again.It had stopped vibrating, but he suspected that his father would try calling again soon.Unfortunately, there was nothing for Jasper to tell him.He didn’t have news of any kind.He still didn’t know where Kester was, and he definitely hadn’t gotten rid of the monster.
They needed to do something.Maybe if they couldn’t find Kester, they should get him to come out and reveal himself.Archie wouldn’t be happy with that plan, but Jasper had been thinking about it, and he didn’t believe they had another choice.
“He’s doing as well as can be expected,” Braith told Archie.“He still has no idea why his father’s looking for him, and I don’t think he’s lying.To be fair, I would be running from my father, too, if he was anything like Kester.”
Archie nodded.“I can’t say that you’re wrong.Any news about where Kester might be staying?”
Archie had been sticking to Jasper as if he was afraid that Jasper would vanish if he couldn’t see him for five seconds.That meant that he hadn’t been going to work and that Braith was left doing everything at the office, as well as babysitting Cullen.Braith had told Jasper that he didn’t mind and that Archie had done the same for him a few years ago when he’d been in trouble, but they both had to want to go back to their normal life, right?Jasper did—in part.He’d miss spending so much time with Archie and investigating.He didn’t mind his job as a mechanic, but he liked all of this, too.
Minus the being hunted by a deranged monster bit.
“I think I should be bait,” he blurted out.
Braith snapped his mouth shut while Archie slowly turned to look at Jasper.Jasper wondered if he could make it to the bedroom before Archie started yelling at him.He wasn’t going to try because he didn’t have a reason to.He squared his shoulders and straightened his back.He understood why Archie wanted to protect him, but he could protect himself.
“It makes sense,” he explained.“We know he’s intrigued by me.I have no idea what happened when he licked my blood, but I suspect that he wants to talk to me even more than he did before.He’s not going to attack or kill me right away.He wants something from me, and he’ll try to get it before he decides I’m useless.It’s the only way I can think that we can draw him out.”
“There’s no reason for us to draw him out,” Archie said.
“There is.He’s still killing people.”
