Chester’s face is even paler than usual under the harsh lights. “Hey, JJ.”
JJ swallows hard. Doesn’t answer.
A muscle twitches in Chester’s jaw. Gently, he shuts the door behind him. “Nasir says you won’t talk. Seems to think I might have better luck.”
JJ keeps his eyes fixed on the ceiling. Tries to keep his breathing steady. “Technically, youarethe only interrogator who’s ever gotten a confession out of me.”
“You lasted nine hours.” Slowly, Chester walks over to JJ. Sets a manila folder down next to his tools and leans his hip against the interrogation table. “The Council was really proud of you.”
JJ’s chest hurts. The fact that the Council sent in Chester, hisbest friend,means that they’ve already written him off. They don’t think JJ is going to talk, not at this point.
They just want to punish him as brutally as possible before they burn him alive. “They were really proud of you, too,” JJ says quietly. “You did a really good job. It takes a lot of skill to interrogate a friend, and you—you did really well.”
“I didn’t want to do that.” Chester’s voice is soft. “Any more than I want to do this now. I—I actually tried to refuse this assignment. First time I’ve ever done that. The Council said no, of course, but…”
“I appreciate that,” JJ says evenly. “I’m not really looking forward to it, either.”
“Thengive me something,JJ.” Chester leans into his space, forcing JJ to meet his gaze. “Why are you protecting them?”
JJ clenches his jaw. Looks away.
“Do the demons have something on you? Hm? Did you accidentally kill a bystander during a mission, and now they’re blackmailing you? If they’re threatening you, Jayj, we can fix it. Ipromisewe can.”
Despite himself, JJ almost smiles. “I’ve seen you promise that to other dissidents before. Never seen you deliver.”
Chester’s eyes narrow. “You’re notother dissidents,JJ. You’re my friend. You’re mybrother.I don’t want to hurt you.”
JJ lets out a slow breath. Squeezes his eyes shut. “I believe you.”
“Then help me out here. I can talk down your sentence, okay? I just need a bargaining chip. Tell me about the Chain.”
And JJ knows that he shouldn’t keep talking. He knows that he shouldn’t even engage, knows that interrogators are trained to read between the lines, but?—
But this is Chester, damn it. JJ owes him this much, at least. “I don’t know anything about the Chain. If I did, I’d tell you.”
Chester’s eyes flicker. “It’s personal, then. Something with the kid and Cassius Chin.”
And that’sexactlywhy JJ shouldn’t have opened his stupid mouth in the first place. He fixes his eyes back on the ceiling and doesn’t answer.
“I don’t want to ask about the little girl.” Chester’s voice is gentle. “I get it. She looks like Lucy. If a demon looked like one of my little brothers, I’d probably get attached, too.” His eyes harden. “Tell me about Chin.”
“He’s kind of a dick. Don’t know why you’dwantto talk about him.”
“Because I don’t want to smell the smoke any more than you do,” Chester says, an edge creeping into his voice. “Cassius Chin is one of the most dangerous demons on the East Coast. Give me information about him, and I can use that to appeal to the Council.”
“He has a fondness for churros con chocolate,” JJ says. “Specifically from Churrería—you know, that demon-owned food truck at Lakeside? They’re actually really good.”
“Jackson,”Chester snaps, his eyes flashing. “I’m trying really hard to keep you alive here, okay? I’m trying?—”
And then, abruptly, he cuts himself off. Slowly, his head tilts to one side in a way that makes JJ’s blood run cold.
Somehow, he said more than he should have.
“I told you I didn’t want to take this job,” Chester says eventually, “and that’s true. Doesn’t mean I didn’t do my research, though.” He rifles around in the manila folder, pulls out a photograph, and holds it in JJ’s line of sight. “You recognize the kid?”
JJ squints at the picture. It features a vaguely familiar man spinning a little girl up into the air, a little girl with pale skin and blonde pigtails and a missing front tooth in her delighted smile. “No.”
“You recognize the dad?”
