Ruler (Wolves of Royal Paynes #2) - Kiki Burrelli Page 0,29

contrasted brightly against her shiny black hair. "Hi, Storri. I'm Dr. Tiff. Jazz has told me some things about how you came to the hotel, and I was hoping to ask you some questions."

Questions weren't so bad. Unless there were too many. Or if they were asked in a rapid-fire way that didn't give you a chance to breathe. Dr. Tiff waited silently, and I realized she was waiting for my response. I kept forgetting. "Okay, that's fine."

"First, I'd like to get a baseline of the basics. Height, weight, blood pressure."

I pushed back, pressing my chin to my chest. Possibly the only good thing about living isolated in a tower was not having to worry about the judgment of others. I'd always had a few extra pounds. My mother called it my cushion, but that was just a nice way to say fat.

What's wrong, pup?

I couldn't answer Dog without everyone in the room hearing, and the longer I sat silently, the hotter my face burned.

"How about we move on, and I'll get you the basic info after," Faust suggested.

"Sounds good," Dr. Tiff chirped, making a note on a piece of paper in front of her. "Let's move on to family history."

I told her as much as I knew about my mom and her cancer. I didn't know any of my other relatives, not even enough to say for sure if any of them were still alive. My mother had a sister. I wasn't sure what else I knew about her, though. Apparently, she'd failed to tell me a lot. Like how she'd gotten close with an archangel.

"And then you were in a close quarters situation with limited access to resources, correct?"

That was one way of putting it. "Yes."

I'd spent so long within those four walls, I'd convinced myself they were inescapable. But Dog and Faust had managed in seconds.

"I'd like to take some samples, blood and urine, but it isn't so pressing that it needs to be done right away. I do need to ask about your sexual history, if that is all right with you."

Those questions wouldn't be difficult. "I've never had sex." I was so relieved to have a question with an easy answer that I didn't consider the many reasons to be embarrassed about that as well. I was twenty-three, well old enough to have had my first sexual experience, but in my defense, I'd spent the last five years with mice and birds as my only friends.

"Would you be able to tell me about the conditions where you were kept? Your schedule and diet?"

"It was an old forestry guard tower. Mr. Grouse made it so I couldn't get down using the stairs, though the guys didn't have trouble with them when they rescued me." I dropped my gaze to the tabletop.

"If you mean Dog and me, we had trouble. We're also trained and have more strength and agility than a human."

It was nice of him to try to make me sound less stupid, but I knew the truth. "For a while there was running water, but when that broke, Mr. Grouse brought me bottled water along with my food that I had to ration until he came back again."

"Did he come on a regular schedule?" Dr. Tiff asked, managing to sound like she was asking me what I wanted for dinner.

"No, never regular. Sometimes he'd stay in the camp, but he never attempted to get back into the room with me. He thought…thinks I'm dangerous. A menace to myself and others." My mouth tasted bitter, and I swallowed rapidly. I couldn't speak about Mr. Grouse in the past tense. I had no reason to believe he was dead other than the length of time it had been since his last drop-off. He could've arrived at the tower right after I left and be looking for me right now. I shuddered, like I could feel him watching me.

I hadn't really done anything to assist my rescuers. They'd handled everything. What was stopping Mr. Grouse from coming and taking me again? These people couldn't always look after me. I wouldn't always be surrounded—no matter how much I wanted to be.

There was a creaking sound coming from behind me, and I whipped my head around, sure I'd see Mr. Grouse lurking in the corner with a net like he was a mustache-twirling villain. Maybe if he'd looked like a villain, I would've had an easier time spotting the signs. He'd been so kind. Too kind. Anyone else would've known