Page 62 of The Spellreader and the Phoenix

That was definitely a future Rory was hoping for.

“Imagine how insufferable Mr. Jones would be if that were the case,” Max grumbled, pulling Rory back to the present and making him laugh.

“I don’t think he’d enjoy it that much,” Rory pointed out mildly.

Not at this point in his life, at least. He was old and tired and ready to lay down his burden. Mortals weren’t built for that much time. For those who became mates of mythical shifters, they took on some of those shifter characteristics, at least when it came to hibernating with them. Rory didn’t know if that meant Max would burn with him, or if maybe he’d hibernate when Rory was reborn?

Oh, he wished he had someone he could ask about this!

“I suppose not,” Max conceded. “Perhaps he’s past that now. Thanks for coming with me, by the way. I don’t think I could have done this on my own.”

“Of course you could have,” Rory said with perfect faith.

Max’s lip curled. “We would have insulted one another a lot more.”

With a grin, Rory conceded, “Well, that’s probably true.” If Rory was right, then Mr. Jones had somehow been waiting for both of them. “I’m really glad I was here, too. It’s been fun.”

He could hear Max’s grin, even if he couldn’t see it in the darkened room. “Yeah, it has.” He yawned. “Goodnight, Rory.”

“Goodnight, Max.”

It didn’t take too much longer for Max’s breathing to even out, and Rory followed him into sleep.

Sunday morning was pretty much a repeat of Saturday, with the knowledge that their time was drawing to a close. (Also, Rory was certain he would be willing to wake up like this for the rest of his life. He wouldn’t mind adding in cuddles, if Max ever became comfortable with that, but just waking up next to the man was awesome.) Max had set the alarm for six so that they could be in the kitchen for six-thirty and the very beginning of breakfast. That way, they could get to the library as quickly as possible.

Rory restrained himself to two helpings, though he couldn’t help his lavish praise for all the food and another one of the pumpkin spice steamers. Max inhaled coffee, shoveled down breakfast, and was practically dancing in his pants to get to his beloved books.

In the secret room, Rory allowed himself to be directed however Max wanted, and they spent the whole morning making notes in their phones about the quantity of books and bundles of paper in each section. Where possible, Rory noted the type of book, but it wasn’t an exact science. He also texted back and forth with Alex a few times. They confirmed that Nōwē was alive, fed, and had deigned to play with them a little.

When Max’s alarm went off for lunch, he looked both sad but also pretty well satisfied.

“Good morning’s work?” Rory asked.

Max nodded with a small smile. “Yes. I’d love to get this into some sort of digital archive where it could all be identified by length and origin and spells, but that’s a pipe dream at the moment. This is still an excellent start, and I have a better idea now of what I want to begin when we come back.”

Rory liked that we very much.

They made sure the room looked the same as it had before they’d entered, and then they slipped out and closed the door carefully behind them. Max sighed.

“We’ll be back,” Rory reminded him.

Max nodded, straightening his shoulders and standing taller. “Yes, we will.”

He sounded like he mostly believed it. Rory was sure that Mr. Jones had meant what he said, but if there were legal hoops that needed to be leaped through, it might take a while to sort out. Despite the fact that humans lived very short lives, they’d come up with a lot of ways for things to take a very long time.

They were funny like that.

A staff member appeared to take them to lunch, so they didn’t even need to try to find their way, and they were treated to one more delicious meal.

Peter appeared soon after they started eating. “May I join you?”

Rory gestured him to a seat, and he served himself.

“Is Mr. Jones alright?” Rory asked.

Nodding, though his expression was a bit grave, Peter said, “As right as can be expected under the circumstances. He’s very glad to have met you at last, but he’s exhausted. He will need some time to rest and recover.”

Rory didn’t think there would be a lot of recovery at this point, but he didn’t say that. Instead, he thanked the man. “We appreciate his hospitality and generosity.”