Chapter 149 A Friend

• I hesitated, still staring at her like she might disappear in another puff of shadows. My heart hadn't quite slowed, and even though she was smiling and her tone had turned playful again, something about her, the way she moved, spoke, appeared and reappeared like a phantom, still left my instincts bristling.
• But she was watching me with an expression I couldn't quite decode. Curiosity, maybe. A strange kind of warmth that didn't feel entirely safe, but not hostile either.
• "I don't know what you want to hear," I said cautiously, settling onto the bed, but not too close. "It wasn't really... anything that interesting."