Page 59 of The Spellreader and the Phoenix

Mr. Jones waved Max’s objection aside, and it was Peter who said, “You can come and study them here, at least until you get them all sorted.”

“The new owner won’t mind?” Max wanted to know.

Rory almost choked on the mouthful of blueberry pie that he’d been eating, and Max realized belatedly that hadn’t been very diplomatic.

“No, they won’t mind,” Mr. Jones wheezed. “You will come here, and the books can remain where it’s safe.”

Rory was making happy noises again, but Max was pretty sure it was more about the food than this agreement.

Max nodded. He didn’t love getting orders, but apart from the fact he had no idea when he’d find the time to get out here, it made a lot of sense to keep the books in a protected location. Max’s back room was quite well protected, but it was a fraction of the space of Mr. Jones’s hidden library. So, effectively, he didn’t have a location for all these spells.

When Rory had finally eaten his fill—his capacity to eat quite so much sugar was impressive—Mr. Jones spoke again.

“There’s something I need you to see now. It’s in the library.”

Max had to admit that everything Mr. Jones had shown them so far was pretty amazing, and he was definitely ready to see the books once more.

Peter wheeled Mr. Jones back to the library, and Max realized that the man’s familiar had been snoozing in his lap all through dinner. She seemed very contentedly curled up, to be honest.

Max managed to discreetly look at his phone on the way, as it had buzzed several times during dinner.

Alex

Everything closed up and locked.

No armed robbers.

Shop still standing.

Nōwē will probably forgive you in the next century.

And I’ll be in tomorrow morning to feed her again.

Max hearted the messages and sent back a quick thank you. They could debrief more thoroughly on Monday.

In the library, they passed back into the secret room, and Peter brought Mr. Jones all the way to the other end of the room, where he leaned over another bookshelf for a moment until there was a barely audible “click” and part of the shelf swung out.

(When Max came back, he was going to very carefully investigate every inch of the place.)

Peter carefully picked up the kitty, who meowed a protest.

Rory rushed forward. “Oh, let me.”

Peter paused, but Mr. Jones waved his hand, so the cat was carefully handed over to Rory.

He cradled her against his chest and murmured, “Oh, who’s the sweetest kitty in the world. Is it you? I think it is.” The cat meowed. Rory laughed and corrected himself, “Sweetest, most lethal kitty in the world. But you’ve definitely earned your time to rest, sweet thing. You’ve done such a good job supporting your witch for so long.”

She started to purr, so loudly that Max could hear it across the room. Peter looked surprised, but Max and Mr. Jones just accepted this as one of Rory’s gifts. He could charm everyone.

Mr. Jones said, “The legal matters will all be taken care of, but you know how lawyers and bureaucracy are. I would like to give you this now, so that you will be able to take possession of it immediately.” He stared up at Max fiercely. “But you must promise not to open it until I’m gone. Do you agree?”

Chapter Twelve

Rory

Max looked like he had so many questions, but after regarding Mr. Jones for a long moment, he said simply, “Yes, I agree.”

It was impossible to know exactly what they were agreeing to. Now that Mr. Jones’s lap wasn’t full of his familiar anymore, Peter drew what looked like a box well-wrapped in cloth out of the secret compartment. It had been securely tied with cord and was about a foot square. Were multiple books inside?