Page 8 of Something Handsome This Way Comes

milo

Sleep, apparently, was no longer on the evening’s agenda.

Milo couldn’t say he was particularly disappointed.

The moment they stepped through the front door of the Hollow Antler Apothecary, he knew both of them were way too excited at the prospect of rescuing a mystery creature to sleep.

So began the part of his “save the MythBeast” operation that Milo liked the least.

DIY

He shivered as they dug through the pile of wood, wire, and rusted tools left over from the last time Milo had attempted this, more than a year ago. He could already feel the splinters in his fingers.

Grievance smiled at his very obvious displeasure as they set out the assortment of materials on the study floor.

“You hate this kind of thing, don’t you?”

“To be clear, this kind of thing hates me,” Milo chirped, already getting irritated with the tape measure.

This is going to be a long-ass night.

An hour later, the apothecary floor had disappeared beneath piles of wood shavings, coils of enchanted wire, springs, nails, and enough scattered tools to convince anyone passing by that a tornado had recently paid them a visit.

Thankfully…

Grievance was exceptionally good with his hands.

Something Milo was intimately aware of. And maybe that was why, rather than participating, he spent most of the time just watching his shirtless mate work. Using those large hands, shaping and working the materials into submission.

“See something you like?” Grievance asked through an amused grin.

“No,” Milo huffed, tearing his gaze away from washboard abs and returning to his… well, he didn’t know what he was doing. He had a nail in one hand and a⁠—

What the hell even is this? A level?

Yeah. He was worthless.

Grievance smiled and plucked the—thing—from his hand.

“Let me take that before you hurt yourself.”

Milo was too enchanted to chirp back. He watched as his Chimera handled nearly all the measuring, sawing, and hammering before turning to the more delicate work of installing springs and triggers.

“These should catch whatever it is without hurting it,” Milo said, moving to the part of the project he could actually help with. He brushed a hand over the metal frame, blue runes briefly glowing beneath his fingertips. “I’ve enchanted the hinges, too. If whatever we’re dealing with melts metal—or tries chewing through it—it should hold.”

Grievance slid another plank into place. “Considering it leaves snow wherever it goes…” He drove another nail home with one effortless strike. “…I doubt it is a Fire Salamander.”

“I agree.” Milo enchanted another spring. “But just in case. Things can be melted with acid as well as heat.”

A few more careful adjustments. Another test. Snap.

“I think that’s sensitive enough,” Grievance said with a satisfied nod, wiping a sheen of sweat from his brow.

Milo’s mouth watered, craving the salt on his tongue. Now that they were back at the cottage, Grievance had abandoned the denim vest altogether in favor of what Milo privately referred to as his preferred state of existence.

Namely… shirtless. Milo wasn’t complaining. Not even a little.

Still, they had a job to do, so Milo forced himself to refocus on what Grievance had said earlier.