Page 85 of Something Handsome This Way Comes

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.

“Speaking of guesses, you said you had one. Back by the tracks.”

The Chimera nodded. “I scented something unusual.”

“Unusual how?”

“I cannot tell you what creature it was. Which is the unusual part.”

That… was surprising. Very surprising. Grievance had lived hundreds of lives. He’d worn more forms than Milo could possibly imagine. To encounter a scent he didn’t recognize…

That never happened.

“You’re saying you’ve never been whatever this creature is?”

Grievance slowly shook his head. “I don’t believe so.”

“…Wow.” Milo leaned back against the workbench. “So what can you tell?”

Grievance closed his eyes for a moment, recalling the scent.

“It hatched.”

Milo blinked. “What?”

“I smelled calcified shell.” He tapped his own nose. “And the membrane that surrounds young before they emerge.” He frowned thoughtfully. “It was pretty strong.”

“So…” Milo slowly pieced it together. “It came from an egg.”

“Yes.”

“And…” Grievance smiled softly. “It is very young.”

“How young?”

“A week. Perhaps two.”