Page 67 of The Spellreader and the Phoenix

It was Rory’s idea.

Most annoying sibling in the entire world

OBVIOUSLY. Rory is the best, and we’re going to become best friends.

Max

You can’t have him.

Most annoying sibling in the entire world

…

Max

Don’t say it.

Most annoying sibling in the entire world

As long as you understand that I am *biting my tongue so hard*

Max

Thank you for your restraint.

We can talk about it later.

Just not right now.

Most annoying sibling in the entire world

I love you.

Max

I love you, too.

Max’s life was brighter than he’d ever expected it to be, honestly. It was pretty amazing.

Almost every night, Max and Rory worked in the back room, both of them reading, just in their own way. Nōwē enjoyed the addition of someone who would play with her, Max liked the quiet company, and since they’d met, Rory had always wanted to spend time with him. Sometimes, even now, Rory would transform into a bird and come cuddle on his shoulder rather than sitting in human form, but that worked, too.

Rory was continuing to play D&D, and the shenanigans had seemed only to magnify. Yesterday, they’d only survived because Edward’s besotted dragon had come to rescue them. It had been a near-run thing, and Max preferred not to rely on a dragon NPC to get them through their troubles.

Max had also introduced Rory to Doctor Who. He’d started with the Eleventh Doctor because—

“Rory!” Rory’s face had been wreathed in smiles. “There’s a cool character called Rory! This is the best!”

Max had known that Rory would be this excited, and watching an episode every few nights meant that they would get to watch it for quite a while. (Was Max making sure they had activities that explained why Rory was still living with him? Well, he wasn’t not doing that.)

This evening, he was on his own for one of the first times since Rory had come to live with him. Alex had left at four, the shop had closed at six, and Max was in the back room on his own because Rory was down the street at the café. He and Gemma, the café owner, were brainstorming something about Halloween and a collaboration. (Max had stopped questioning it and just let them do their thing now.)

Max couldn’t quite reconcile how strange it was to be on his own. That had been the norm for years, but it already felt a bit uncomfortable and not at all desirable. He seemed to have a lot more trouble concentrating without Rory present, too. Nōwē was also irritated because she’d lost her play buddy. She batted a few times at Max’s shoelaces and wasn’t impressed when all she got was scolded.

As much as Max didn’t believe in fate, he did think sometimes about the strange chain of events that had started with Rory crashing into his window and led to Rory living with him, Alex coming to work for him, and Mr. Jones inviting them to visit…

A lot of wonderful things had started happening to Max since Rory had come into his life. He was able to answer more spell requests than ever before, which was helping to support paying both Alex and Rory—though Rory still didn’t want a bank account, so Max continued to set money aside for him.

Max’s desire to make a catalogue that was accessible to everyone was only growing. And yes, that meant that he’d eventually be out of a job, or at least the job would change. There’d be fewer unknown spells, but Max believed it would be worth it. There were still Spellsmiths, and as long as they created spells, there should be someone here to verify them. There’d no doubt be families who hoarded no matter what. But if they could have a major repository? If things were so well labeled that any witch could help their fellow witches find what they needed?