Page 133 of Something Handsome This Way Comes

The sounds were high and desperate. A baby calling to an adult for help.

Milo’s heart cracked.

“Oh, sweetheart.”

Grievance answered with a low rumble, the scales along his throat visibly vibrating with the sound. It was so deep Milo felt it through the soles of his boots.

The baby’s response was immediate. She scrambled across the hay and dove for him as though he were a lifeline, pressing her tiny body against one of his enormous front legs.

She trembled and buried her face in his fur.

Chirp. Chirp. Chirp.

Grievance turned his massive, draconic head and looked at Milo. And even in this form, Milo could see the pleading in his eyes.

Milo looked down at Marigold, still perfectly content in his arms.

“Did you know our next family member was out here?”

“Baaa.”

“Yeah. Of course you did.”

Milo looked at the sick baby ice dragon curled against his mate, and his heart melted into a useless puddle.

Well. At least they wouldn’t have to attend Hobbs’s awful festival meeting.

How does this keep happening to me?

Grievance nuzzled the baby, rubbing their noses together, both of them purring in unison.

Milo sighed.

“Welcome to the family, little one.”

CHAPTER SEVEN

milo

Turns out, bringing a new family member home wasn’t easy.

Well, more specifically…

Bringing a new family member who just so happened to be a baby Glaceryn with the flu was not easy.

But nobody took the transition as hard as⁠—

“Pip, will you come down? She’s sleeping now.”

The bundle of spider silk in the high ceiling corner did not stir. Ever since they brought the Glaceryn home, Pip had barely spoken, only occasionally mumbling things like,

“Replacing me.”

“Dragon better familiar.”

“Don’t need Pip anymore.”

Each muttered comment tore at Milo’s heart. Though part of that was because Pip wasn’t entirely wrong. This Glaceryn, a powerful MythBeast with innate magical abilities, could become a familiar if they bonded. If the little ice dragon warmed up to him (pun intended), they could theoretically combine their magics to perform incredibly powerful spells.