Page 8 of The Spellreader and the Phoenix

She jumped down from the window and ran over to the door, then looked back at him like he wasn’t reacting quickly enough. He followed her to the door, and when she screamed at it, he scooped her into his arms and then unlocked it.

Outside was dark and quiet. It was a Sunday evening, and the businesses in the area were closed. Nothing looked out of the ordinary, but Nōwē squawked at him again and squirmed like she was trying to leap out of his arms.

Max had no interest in chasing after her, so he tightened his grip, and then he saw the tiny red form lying in front of his window. He stepped closer, leaning down to see that it was a cardinal. He suddenly remembered the thud against his window. He grimaced. Had the bird hit the glass?

Shit. With the light on in the evening, the window shouldn’t have been reflecting outside, but… he couldn’t really argue that with the bird, now could he?

He also couldn’t leave it out here. He was pretty sure that small birds often broke their necks on impact. If Max was lucky, it was only stunned. But what if something came along and ate it in the meantime? Or someone who didn’t see it stepped on it?

He shuddered. Ugh, no, definitely not okay.

He tugged a handkerchief out of his pocket and carefully scooped the bird up, trying not to touch it. He knew that was important with baby birds, and he figured it couldn’t hurt with adults.

Weirdly, Nōwē was totally calm as he did this. She’d somehow squirmed out of his hold after all, but she’d climbed up to perch on his shoulder like he was her personal cat tree. He’d assumed that she was looking for her next meal. Did she think that he was bringing the bird in for her to eat?

Well, she’d just have to learn to live with disappointment.

He got everyone back inside, closed and locked the door again, and then carried the bird and his cat up to his apartment.

Once they got inside, Nōwē leaped down, but she didn’t even try to trip him as he carried the bird into the kitchen area. He set it down on his kitchen island, leaned closed, and nearly sagged with relief when he saw it was still breathing, its little legs twitching now and again, even if its eyes were closed. A quick internet search had him making it a little nest with a towel in a box.

The internet told him not to try to give it any water—which, why would anyone try to do that when a being was unconscious? He shook his head at humanity’s collective foolishness. Now he just had to wait.

Chapter Three

Rory

Rory woke up slowly with the feeling that his head had hurt quite a bit. Thankfully, his shifter healing was already taking care of it, and it was more the memory of an ache than an actual ache now.

He was… on something soft? He tried to eye his surroundings, but it was dark. He hopped to his feet and began to glow faintly. He was… in a cardboard box? But also on a nice fluffy towel. The lid was on the box, which didn’t seem like a great thing, but there were uneven holes punched around the sides, so it looked like someone wanted him to be able to breathe.

Why was he in a box?

There was a meow outside the box, and Rory cut off his glow. The cat noises grew louder, and a moment later, a voice said, “I’m coming. Hold your horses.”

The lid of the box was lifted off, and Rory blinked up at… oh.

Right! He’d been so shocked by the sight of this man that he’d actually smacked into the window, bird instincts temporarily taking over and not seeing the glass that was between them.

His brain didn’t parse human proportions and attractiveness quite the same way in this form as it did when he was in his human form, but that didn’t really matter to Rory. He’d found his mate! After so very, very long, he’d finally found his mate.

The man had dark hair, brown eyes, a large nose—although, really, all of him looked large right now—and nice lips that were currently stretched into a smile. His life force sparked bright and long, which made Rory happy.

“You’re awake! I hope that means you aren’t hurt,” the man said.

Rory chirped at him, not that the man could understand. But Rory was so excited, it wasn’t like he could not say something. He kept chirping, and then he fluttered out of the box and came to land on the man’s shoulder, cuddling up to his neck. The man’s hand raised instinctively, but then he didn’t seem to know what to do with it.

Rory rubbed against the man’s neck several times, and eventually, the man reached out with a gentle finger and stroked his side. Rory sang his approval.

“I’m still not sure I’m supposed to be touching you,” the man pointed out. “Are other birds going to think you smell human and shun you or something?”

Rory just leaned further into the man’s warm skin, wanting to be as close to him as possible.

A cat suddenly appeared on the counter where the box had been resting.

“Nōwē!” The man sounded exasperated. “You know you’re not supposed to be on the counter. Not in the kitchen.”

The cat paid this scolding no mind, which was very like a cat. They were highly intelligent… and highly uninterested in doing anything other than what they wanted.