Page 23 of Forget Me Not

“Spells are how humans do things, generally. Though not always. And they usually leave traces. But I didn’t find anything. I mean, I found just that—traces.Somethingwas done, but what exactly?“ Cassandra collapsed into the chair Ray had abandoned. “Not enough for me to reverse engineer anything. And it was strong. Perhaps even sophisticated if this was the full intent. Whatever its purpose, it should fade since it has nothing to keep feeding it. Hmm. Though they could always hit him with it again, I suppose. But you know….”

Ray huffed.

“Right.” Cassandra extended an arm in apology. “Sorry. But does itneedto keep going?“ She peered up at each of them as the implications of her words sank in. Then she laid it out plainly anyway. “If it’s not a spell to actively repress his memory, then it was a one-time spell with a specific goal and it has achieved that. But there’s really no way to tell at the moment. We just have to wait. I would be curious to see if Ray’s peculiar exhaustion lingers. That would imply that some sort of activity is ongoing. Like how a body—a human body—fights off an infection. This magic is either very, very good, the kind of thing you hire a professional for, or it’s… something else.” She gestured to Benny. “A mistake, as you said. Someone pronounced a word wrong, or their ingredients were contaminated.”

“Well, that’s helpful,” Penn said at last.

Frustrated or tired, Cassandra rolled her eyes. “It could also be a side effect of something else. An accident that has manifested in a strange way. Maybe thereisa token near him—you might need to burn that suit, Detective. And someone make him shower and scrub very well, just in case. With salt if you have it. Maybe the spell will wear off in time. Maybe there is nothing to wear off, because it might have been intended to do one thing—perhaps kill him—and it backfired because weres areweirdabout magic. They aren’t immune, exactly, but it affects them strangely. Much like dragons, I hear. Most weres won’t even go near the magic humans use.”

“It itches,” Ray complained in a grumble.

“So you say every time you see me, Detective.” Cassandra’s sigh was long and weary. “I am telling you that I don’t have enough to go on, and that we will stick with the basics and go from there while we wait. Did any of you see or hear anything unusual before this happened? Something off during the last few days?” She looked from Penn to Cal to Benny. “Detective Branigan doesn’t seem to remember anything. Not even what he was doing there by himself.”

“So it’s me and whoever did this?” Cal gave a start. “We’remissing?”

Ray spoke up, mostly addressing Penn while covertly watching Cal. “Someone at the station mentioned Ross? An officer we used to work with. I vaguely remember him.”

“Oh,himyou remember!“ Cal nearly shouted it.

His outrage was nothing compared to the strained shiver in his wings, the fear that Ray had heard from him in the garden.

Perhaps for that reason, Ray turned to look at him and answered him in a dry, tired tone, “Vaguely.”

Cal took a deep breath, but his wings kickstarted into a righteously irritated flutter and that was much better than fear.

“Never thought Ross was capable of much magic,” Benny remarked with so much disdain that Cassandra seemed delighted.

“I only recall the trial a little, but I’m inclined to agree.”

“I’ll go have a talk with him anyway–not you, Ray,” Penn added quickly, taking some of Ray’s attention from a furiously glaring half-fairy.

“I can still do my job”.

“You can’t investigate yourself,” Penn reminded him. “Think of the legal issues alone. What would Lex say about his case being thrown out because of you?”

Ray growled, then cut it off with a whuff of breath.

“You rememberLex!“ Cal exclaimed, only to drop his head onto Benny’s shoulder. “Theyexcisedme.“ His face was nearly pressed to Benny’s neck.

Ray was breathing hard. “The bond is still there. This isn’t a werewolf romance novel.” He gestured with both hands, at what, he didn’t know, but Cal looked up to regard him with wide, stunned eyes. “Why were you even reading those?”

“I don’t read the human-written ones,” Cal replied carefully. “I read the ones other weres write. I wanted to understand…I just wanted….” He fell quiet.

He’d wanted to understand and Ray hadn’t helped him.

Ray had failed Callalily many times. Even if Cal didn’t want Ray the way Ray would want him, Ray should have done better.

He put his shoulders back and inhaled the scent of old fires and owl shit and oranges, nothing sweet. “Do you want to Reject me?” He said it clearly despite the strain of the day and the exhaustion pulling him to the floor. He made sure his voice was low, that he was gentle. “I’m not the monster from human stories. I would allow whatever you wanted.”

Cal’s lips parted. He exhaled, but that was all.

“Okay.“ Penn’s tone was final. “That is enough for one day. Emotions are high. Serious decisions will not be made tonight. But Ray,” Ray dragged his attention to her. Penn’s eyes had gone sea-stormy and dark. “Take it from the siren—his greatest desire isnotleaving you.”

“Raymond,” Cal finally spoke, voice wavering but nevertheless pissed off. “If you could stop being glorious for just one second—wait. Ray,” Cal was very still, “do you rememberwhyyou ended your little friends-with-benefits arrangement with Lex?”

Ray cast his thoughts back to Lex, and recalled everything from certain bruises he had left on Lex’s thighs—to Lex’s great pleasure—to the way Lex’s scent reminded Ray of black coffee without actually smelling like coffee. But not that. He wouldn’t even have known it was over if Cal hadn’t asked. He shook his head, then pinched the bridge of his nose as if that would stop his headache from getting worse.

“No,” he said at last. “Did it involve you?” Ray had thought fairies weren’t the sort to get jealous or territorial. Maybe they weren’t. Maybe Ray had been the one to end it with Lex, a moonstruck were choosing faithfulness.

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