Page 57 of Something Handsome This Way Comes

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.

Pip was just… a very large, very moody jumping spider that Milo had selectively bred for a past experiment.

“Pip...” Milo groaned. This silent treatment had gone on for three days now, and he was over it.

“The Glaceryn is very rowdy,” Grievance said, more to himself, as he inspected one of Milo’s MythBeast encyclopedias, something he enjoyed doing often.

“Exactly! She is very wild. Nothing like you, Pip,” Milo tried.

“No, I mean she will need training,” Grievance said, looking up at Milo. “Familiar training.”

Grievance glanced quickly from Milo to the ceiling and back, eyebrows raised.

What do you—OH!

“You’re right, Grievance,” Milo said stiffly. “She will. She’s way too rambunctious to be a proper familiar. If only we knew someone with experience who could teach her.”

Grievance rolled his eyes and returned to his encyclopedia.

“She will need to learn the basics first. How to be still during spells. Offer helpful suggestions when I’m about to mess up a potion. Definitely how to protect the apothecary; that is a must. Grievance, do you know anyone like that?”

His mate ignored him, but the bundle of silk in the corner wiggled for the first time in days.

“How can she suggest potion when she not talk?” Pip muttered.