friends.”
“Their parents didn’t ask questions?”
She took a moment to laugh. “The kind of friends I had didn’t have parents. I fell in with a bad crowd right after I turned thirteen. Most of them were already over eighteen.”
He gave her a sharp, disapproving look, which wasn’t difficult due to his hawkish features. “Are they the ones who assisted you in becoming addicted to heroin?”
She arched a brow. Was he trying to bait her? Hopefully he wouldn’t be too disappointed to learn she didn’t give a rat’s ass what he thought of her. “Did they introduce me to drugs? Yes. Did they get me addicted? No. I did that all on my own.”
He didn’t visibly react, he simply fired again. “So you take complete responsibility for where you’re currently at in your life?”
She nodded. If there was one thing she could say, she’d always taken responsibility for the consequences of her actions, good or bad. Although, the number of the second far outweighed the first. “Yes.”
“Do you blame your mother for your situation?”
Every muscle in her body tensed at once. Her mother’s death may have precipitated the change in her father, but she’d never thought to blame her for it. “Why would I blame her? She didn’t ask to have her insides eaten by cancer. What happened between me and my father didn’t really have anything to do with her.”
“Do you blame your father for your situation?”
She relaxed. Her father was a topic she felt absolutely no remorse when discussing. “No.”
“You don’t believe if he hadn’t been an alcoholic and forced you to leave your home, things might have turned out differently for you?”
“He didn’t force me to leave. I could’ve stayed, but I made my choice. And if you took me back to that moment, even knowing then what I know now, I’d still make the same choice. Living anywhere would have been preferable to staying with him.”
Vouclade reached up and adjusted his glasses. “What about the situation you’re in at this moment? You’re being held captive by an Ancient vampire, The Lord of New York. How do you feel about that?”
She slid her gaze over Kerestyan and grinned when he shifted in his chair. Apparently, and without proper notice, a much earlier time in her life had just crashed into her present, because now she did see his handsome face and incredible blue eyes.
She wouldn’t deny he was easy to look at when she’d first met him. But now…right now she couldn’t help but wonder if some invisible, gossamer-winged creature had shot her in the ass with a horny dart.
She smiled at the thought. Hell, if vampires were real, she supposed anything was possible.
She squirmed as Kerestyan’s eyes moved over her lips then down across her neck, an appraisal that made her nipples tighten and pucker again.
Damn it! The man needed to stop looking at her like that.
The insistent sound of Vouclade clearing his throat drew Logan’s attention back to his question. “How do I feel?” She smiled at him. “It could be a lot worse.”
“Are you sure?” Vouclade asked.
She nodded again. One possibility immediately came to mind. “I could be stuck with Odin.”
A chuckle rumbled in Kerestyan’s muscular chest. “I agree.”
“Me, too,” Vouclade added. He adjusted one of the many silver buckles on his bondage-style, black leather shirt. “He takes quite a bit of patience.”
She wouldn’t argue with that. “I bet he does. But to honestly answer your question,” she motioned towards the covered windows, “it was snowing when I looked outside earlier, which means the temperature’s either below or hovering around freezing. It was raining last night, which also means in about six hours all that water is going to ice over. The building I usually stay in leaks and the wind cuts through the walls. Most of the shelters around here know I’m a lifer and usually don’t let me in for anything more than a quick meal.”
She cast a slow
“Their parents didn’t ask questions?”
She took a moment to laugh. “The kind of friends I had didn’t have parents. I fell in with a bad crowd right after I turned thirteen. Most of them were already over eighteen.”
He gave her a sharp, disapproving look, which wasn’t difficult due to his hawkish features. “Are they the ones who assisted you in becoming addicted to heroin?”
She arched a brow. Was he trying to bait her? Hopefully he wouldn’t be too disappointed to learn she didn’t give a rat’s ass what he thought of her. “Did they introduce me to drugs? Yes. Did they get me addicted? No. I did that all on my own.”
He didn’t visibly react, he simply fired again. “So you take complete responsibility for where you’re currently at in your life?”
She nodded. If there was one thing she could say, she’d always taken responsibility for the consequences of her actions, good or bad. Although, the number of the second far outweighed the first. “Yes.”
“Do you blame your mother for your situation?”
Every muscle in her body tensed at once. Her mother’s death may have precipitated the change in her father, but she’d never thought to blame her for it. “Why would I blame her? She didn’t ask to have her insides eaten by cancer. What happened between me and my father didn’t really have anything to do with her.”
“Do you blame your father for your situation?”
She relaxed. Her father was a topic she felt absolutely no remorse when discussing. “No.”
“You don’t believe if he hadn’t been an alcoholic and forced you to leave your home, things might have turned out differently for you?”
“He didn’t force me to leave. I could’ve stayed, but I made my choice. And if you took me back to that moment, even knowing then what I know now, I’d still make the same choice. Living anywhere would have been preferable to staying with him.”
Vouclade reached up and adjusted his glasses. “What about the situation you’re in at this moment? You’re being held captive by an Ancient vampire, The Lord of New York. How do you feel about that?”
She slid her gaze over Kerestyan and grinned when he shifted in his chair. Apparently, and without proper notice, a much earlier time in her life had just crashed into her present, because now she did see his handsome face and incredible blue eyes.
She wouldn’t deny he was easy to look at when she’d first met him. But now…right now she couldn’t help but wonder if some invisible, gossamer-winged creature had shot her in the ass with a horny dart.
She smiled at the thought. Hell, if vampires were real, she supposed anything was possible.
She squirmed as Kerestyan’s eyes moved over her lips then down across her neck, an appraisal that made her nipples tighten and pucker again.
Damn it! The man needed to stop looking at her like that.
The insistent sound of Vouclade clearing his throat drew Logan’s attention back to his question. “How do I feel?” She smiled at him. “It could be a lot worse.”
“Are you sure?” Vouclade asked.
She nodded again. One possibility immediately came to mind. “I could be stuck with Odin.”
A chuckle rumbled in Kerestyan’s muscular chest. “I agree.”
“Me, too,” Vouclade added. He adjusted one of the many silver buckles on his bondage-style, black leather shirt. “He takes quite a bit of patience.”
She wouldn’t argue with that. “I bet he does. But to honestly answer your question,” she motioned towards the covered windows, “it was snowing when I looked outside earlier, which means the temperature’s either below or hovering around freezing. It was raining last night, which also means in about six hours all that water is going to ice over. The building I usually stay in leaks and the wind cuts through the walls. Most of the shelters around here know I’m a lifer and usually don’t let me in for anything more than a quick meal.”
She cast a slow
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