"Oh, I can bite without the venom," Miguel assured him. "They're not the biggest problem, anyway. Didn't take long to get used to them, comparatively."

He set one hand on top of the empty bottle to keep it from moving, then wrapped the other hand around its middle and did a quick flick of his wrist. The top of the bottle came off, cleanly cut from the rest. "These were the challenge." He held up his hand and wiggled his fingers.