Chapter 76: Smoke, no Fire

The smell of smoke in the middle of the night was seldom a good thing. Smoke in the dead of night meant something was burning, and more often than not, that something burning was the very place that you were sleeping in.

But ever since he had started using Ayo's salve, the smell of smoke had come to mean something else.

Smoke to Derek, now meant a chance to rest, to unwind a bit. He had not had to swim in an effort to tire himself out ever since he had begun using the salve. Now his daily routine was quite different.

He went to work, came back to the manor, and if his mother was hosting, then Derek mingled with the guests for a time. Or simply ate his evening meal alone, it all just depended on the night.