The Witch Keeps Time
That phrasing made him still.
I rinsed my hands again, then gently took his arm. He didn’t pull away. His skin was warm beneath my fingers, solid, indisputably present. I focused on that sensation, grounding myself in it the way Mercy had taught me to ground in breath or touch or repetition.
The blood came away easily.
Too easily.
I cleaned the wound carefully, aware of Mercy watching from a distance. She didn’t interfere. She never did when it mattered most. Witchcraft, I was beginning to understand, was largely about knowing when not to act.