Chapter 265

(Still from Lord Drakon point of View)

The blood finds me even when I am trying to be a quiet thing.

It is the first lesson of being what I am: scents peel away like skins until the true thing beneath is exposed.

A dog can track footsteps; I can read histories.

The copper tang of a child’s skinned knee, the briny aftertaste of salt from a fisher’s thumb, the metallic note that means fear curled in