Chapter 5
The girl was invisible, but her recent work wasn’t. Rumpled blankets. A pillow on the floor. A trail of blood spots leading toward another closed door behind which I noted the roar of running water.
“Nosebleed,” the girl informed me. “He gets them sometimes.”
I jumped. The girl—face young and eyes old—was closer than I’d expected. She’d brought the cigarette in with her, as if she didn’t care whether the real owner of what was clearly the house’s master suite knew she’d been inside.
“Might be a while,” she added, tugging at her top so it covered half an inch more of her bare midriff. Then, changing the subject: “Nice fur.”
Before I could take evasive action, her fingers slid into my pelt. Unlike Luke’s, her touch was neutral. Neither good nor bad. Just—there. Unfamiliar. Lik
