Page 66 of The Spellreader and the Phoenix

It turned out their birthday was at the end of November, so it was only a few more weeks until they were sixteen and could work longer hours, as well as more hours on the weekend.

They’d said they were willing to start beforehand, because of course they had, but Max put his foot down and insisted they wait. There was no way he was going to risk some government body getting interested in his shop and fining him or coming to investigate. Plus, although Max did understand Alex’s argument that it was barely a month away and it wasn’t like they were going to change much between now and then, the law had been put in place to protect children. Max didn’t want to overload Alex or take advantage of their kind nature.

Plus, if Max intended to visit Mr. Jones’s collection for the foreseeable future, he probably needed to plan better. Alex had proved themselves to be very capable, but they were still only almost-sixteen. Perhaps someone with more experience was a good idea for a weekend manager.

When Max had raised the idea with Rory, he’d been extremely supportive—and pointed out that Max taking some days off was also a good thing.

“I’d be going away every weekend!” Max pointed out, shocked.

Rory shot him a look. “You’d be going away every weekend to work. What if a part-time manager worked Saturday through Tuesday, and you actually had two days off per week?”

Max just stared at him.

Rory huffed a laugh. “I know time off isn’t something you’re super familiar with, but we could work our way up to it.”

“I’ll think about it,” Max said, shaken.

He hadn’t hired Alex or Rory to get more time off; it had been because they needed him and so that he could work on his spellbooks. Mr. Jones’s spellbooks fell under the same category. But actual days off? Nothing to do with work at all?

Why was that so difficult to contemplate? What would Max do with himself?

And then Max thought about being able to spend the time with Rory, and suddenly, it made a lot more sense.

He’d asked Rory to stay in human form at night since they got back, and he’d slept more soundly than he had in years. Sometimes, they woke pressed up against one another, but that was okay. Rory had never tried to take advantage, and Max had found himself relaxing more and more, certain in the knowledge that Rory was always going to put Max’s needs first.

So… Max would try to do the same in reverse. He wanted to spend time with Rory, and he wanted Rory to know how much he valued him. He’d never imagined wanting to spend so much time with another person, but now there was nothing that he wanted more.

It was unexpected, but also kind of the best thing that had ever happened to Max. He still wasn’t sure that he believed in magic with a capital M or fate, but he could agree that he felt lucky—or maybe blessed—that Rory had found him. However it had come about, it was awesome, if sometimes confusing, like when Rory happily announced one evening as they were coming up from the back room that he was working on their costumes.

“Costumes?” Max asked, staring at Rory, who was gazing at him earnestly.

“Of course,” Rory said, looking at him like he was the weird one. “Halloween is on the 31st. The bookstore is open. We all have to be in costume. I thought we could have a story hour—or more like a story ‘twenty minutes’ or so, because I’m sure parents will need to get their kids on to the next thing. But we’ll give out candy, and I’m looking to see if we can get a good deal on small books that we could give out, too. Something that kids can easily carry and which will outlast the candy.”

Max tried to digest this. Rory’s face was lit up, his enthusiasm obvious. Max had always treated Halloween like… any day of the week. He’d made sure that his shop was shut and the lights off to reduce the chance that the front window was going to get egged.

“Oh!” Rory said, eyes even brighter. “And I talked to the D&D crew, and we’re also going to dress up in costume for the game on the 30th. Obviously. Everyone’s going to come in character.”

“They are?” Max repeated blankly.

Rory grinned. “Yup! It’s going to be so much fun. And if you don’t want to do anything about a costume, I can take care of all of it.”

“How about you show me what you’re thinking?” Max suggested, both in self-preservation but also because he wasn’t categorically opposed to something that made Rory so happy. It was a weird feeling, wanting someone else to be happy like this. He’d felt it for Evie, too, but she’d been his orphaned sister, and it had been all mixed up in responsibility and their parents dying.

With Rory, it was a lot less complicated. Sure, Max was kind of supporting Rory, but in all honesty, Rory had been doing fine before him and would no doubt do fine after him. (Max grimaced. He didn’t like that thought at all.) Max might not think that spending a decade as a bird was a great idea, but it had clearly worked for Rory. He hadn’t seemed to be suffering in any way, and Max was sure that he could go back to that life whenever he needed or wanted to.

Max was providing him with creature comforts in large part because Max wanted to provide them. He wanted Rory to be happy. And Rory seemed to be determined to bring so much into Max’s life.

His life was so rich now that couldn’t quite figure out how he wasn’t totally overwhelmed or how he’d been content before. Somehow, Rory made it work. (And maybe Evie had had more of a point than he was ever willing to admit about how circumscribed his life had become.)

Max

Apparently, we’re doing costumes at the bookshop for Halloween.

Most annoying sibling in the entire world

OMG, who are you, and what have you done with my brother?

Max