“Good.” I gently wrapped the towel around the bird again and nudged my chin toward Brovish. “Lead the way.”
I followed him halfway down the left hallway, where he opened a door and waved for me to enter. Inside, I found a row of crates, all empty.
“Most of our creatures roam free within the building or live in pens outside,” he said. “We’re very strict on where they can be and follow government-created protocols. Will one of these do?”
“This is perfect. He’ll need proper feed.”
“They’re carnivores.”
I lifted my eyebrows. “Like scavengers. Roadkill and things like that?”
“Yes, though they also hunt mice. Smaller birds. Even grumbletoads.”
“You brought some of them to the surface as well?” From what I’d read, the loaf-shaped creatures were squishy and theywore perpetual frowns. Their skin was velvety. Long ago, orcs would hunt and kill them for meat or leather.
“We’re slowly introducing various species to your world, though we keep them on our property until we’re sure they’ll fit in with human life. We have over a thousand acres here.”
“Impressive.”
“Insurance, too. Traig handles that.”
A wise decision.
After placing the bird in the kennel and ensuring it had sufficient food and water, plus covering the crate with the towel, we left, walking down the hall.
“This was unlike any call I’ve ever taken,” I said after I’d retrieved my bag and we’d returned to the lobby. “Very special. I’m honored I had the chance to meet some of the animals you’re housing here. And you.”
His small, crooked smile changed his entire face.
“Are you looking for a job?” he asked. “We’re hoping to hire a full-time vet. While creatures go through quarantine before they arrive here, some aren’t adoptable and will remain here forever, even as we grow bigger. The league is also the only contact in Maine for orc creatures, so we see drop-ins on a regular basis.”
The question hit me sideways. I’d been offered jobs before at other clinics and emergency hospitals in Portland. Even a zoo position once. I’d turned them all down without much thought. Bramble Creek was home. I still had my share of my father’s partnership at the clinic. My life worked well for me as it was. But standing here in the rain with the phantom weight of Sofia on my shoulder and the visual of the bird’s wing bones, I couldn’t make myself say no.
“I—”
My brain was spinning through logistics. One of our staff vets had gone part-time until her son started preschool, but now shewas asking for more hours. She’d kiss me if I told her those hours might be coming. But…
“I have my own practice.”
Plus Dad’s partner, who was eager to buy me out. She had big plans for the facility to turn it into something more upscale, a place that just wasn’t me. Or Dad, for that matter.
He shifted his weight, and for the first time since I’d arrived, he looked uncertain. “We could match what you make on your own. And the creatures… They’re special. We’ve gotten by with on-call vets, but we need someone permanent. There’s no one else who can do this as well as you just handled the clatterwing. Not anywhere on the surface. You could start whenever you wanted. Tomorrow or three months from now.”
This wasn’t something I’d expected tonight.
But it was surprisingly appealing.
“I’ll think about it,” I said, not willing to commit to more than that.
He nodded and walked with me out to my truck.
The rain had eased to a drizzle, and the air smelled piney. Bertha sat in the muddy lot looking enormous and heroic, her hot pink paint loud under the facility lights.
Brovish looked at the truck with approval.
“She can take a beating and keep going,” I said.
“She?”
