Chapter 10
Jericho had broken rules in the past; for his friends, he'd do anything. But not for humans. He didn't break rules for humans, so when he watched Snow interrogate Stephanie, he tried to remain unaffected. He saw her fear, and when she had cried out in a small, scared voice, he had reacted without thinking.
"Do not speak to me, human," Jericho ground out, "stay where you are and do not move."
She took a short shuddering breath, and rubbed her face on her shoulder before nodding.
Jericho could still hear her words, echoing in his mind, "I hate New Species."
It didn't ring with truth, but why would a human surrounded by New Species, make such a comment unless it was true? She hated him. Not because he was an asshole, or rude, but because he was New Species, something for which he had say.
"Jericho!" the door opened and Field stuck his head in the room, "You are relieved."
Jericho nodded, sparing one last glance at Stephanie, and went out the door.
Stephanie didn't look at him as he left, and he couldn't help slamming the door behind him. Of all the ungrateful…
"Jericho?" it was Snow.
Jericho stopped, waiting for him to continue. Snow sighed and linked his hands about his head, "Can we talk?"
Jericho nodded, following him into the room attached to Stephanie's. He saw that Snow was continuing to monitor them, a file was open on the table along with a yellow pad of paper with handwritten notes.
Jericho crossed his arms and raised an eyebrow, "Proceed."
Snow sighed, "I wasn't going to force mount her," he began.
"I know that," Jericho said, "but you were threatening it. And you were aroused. I could see that."
Snow's face flushed, "I have been training with Darkness," Snow explained, "to take over his job as human interrogator, specifically, interrogating female humans."
Jericho waited.
"She is a threat," Snow said bluntly, "I will use whatever measures are at my disposal to keep us safe. She is lying. I know she is lying, but I don't know to what extent she lies. I had my hand on her pulse, she was lying the entire time she talked about the banquet. What is she hiding Jericho?"
Jericho relaxed his posture. He hadn't understood what Snow was doing, though he had been part of interrogations before. He remembered Brass's interrogation of Lauren, before she had mated with Wrath. He had lifted her off the ground and slammed her into a table, but she'd never been injured, only scared.
He could smell Stephanie's blood, but he hadn't see any bruises or cuts.
As if he could follow his train of thoughts, "She bit her tongue," Snow explained, "It was not my intention to hurt her."
"She was terrified," Jericho said, sitting down in a chair, "but she also seems without emotion at times. I do not understand what is happening. She seems very young to be involved with such dangerous people."
"Stephanie Taylor is thirty years old," Snow said, and then turned around a folder to show to Jericho.
A picture of a beautiful blonde woman was clipped to the inside page with a list of biographical information along the other side: birthday, weight, height, criminal record, bank statements.
"Who is this?" Jericho asked, looking up in confusion to Snow.
"That," Snow told him, "is Stephanie Taylor."