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Owen
It was unnerving how unfamiliar Lohengrin Boulevard was.
This neighborhood was a well-known enclave for fae and other magic users, and I’d been in the area before, but not on this particular street. It was four blocks off Baker Avenue, running between apartment buildings with esoteric shops on the ground floors selling everything from herbs to books to crystals. There were fortune tellers and tarot readers set up in the more heavily trafficked areas, but there were others tucked back here along with the people who sold hexes and questionable potions.
As Matteo drove, I scanned the scenery in search of something, anything, that jogged my memory. It was futile and I knew it—if learning the truth about my split from Matteo hadn’t broken the dam, nothing would—but I couldn’t help it.
And goddamn, the more I took in my surroundings, the more unsettled I was, because this was the kind of place people didn’t forget. There was no wandering through here and leaving without something sticking out in the mind and maybe popping up years later. A streetlight painted to look like a grinning—and startlingly accurate—skull. The letters on the alchemist’s window that glowed in a way that didn’t sit right with me for reasons I couldn’t articulate. A palm reader whose logo eerily resembled a monkey’s paw.
That was to say nothing about the acrid, faintly sweet odor on the air. As if someone had just smoked something, or they’d left their window open after burning dinner, but whatever they’d been smoking or cooking didn’t register as even remotely familiar.
This just wasn’t the kind of unremarkable neighborhood a person passed through and immediately forgot.
According to the receipt in my pocket, I’d been here at least once, but according to my mind, this was the first I was hearing of it.
I shivered as my neck prickled.
“You okay?” Matteo asked.
“Yeah. I’m, uh… I’m good.”
He had to know that was a lie, but to his credit, he didn’t press.
At the address we’d found on the receipt, he parked on the curb. It didn’t take much to find a parking spot, either—while the main road was jam-packed with cars this time of day, there wasn’t a lot of traffic back here. In fact, there wasn’t a lot of activity at all. No bicycles. No pedestrians. Very few cars.
Getting out of the car, I couldn’t help but feel everything we’d done before we’d left my bed. Deep in the pit of my stomach was the certainty that the pleasant aches were all that was left of our love life. Once they faded away, that would be it—I’d never feel him or the amazing sex we had again.
I shook that thought away. I knew what he’d done. We’d talked things through. Getting my memory back wouldn’t ruin that because I wouldn’t be learning anything I didn’t already know.
Except I’d remember how I’d felt. I’d remember how goddamned miserable I’d been for the last year.
I glanced at Matteo as he paid the parking meter with his phone.Am I going to hate you soon?
I shrugged away a chill. I wanted to believe I wasn’t about to lose him again. It would be up to me, wouldn’t it? I’d be the one getting bombarded with all the memories of the last year. Could that really fuck with my head enough to make me send Matteo packing again?
The fact that I’d apparently done something to erase that year didn’t leave me with a ton of confidence. How badhadit been?
Guess I’d find out. And then…
Well, I’d see where we went from there.
As I joined him on the curb, Matteo pocketed his phone and looked around. Chafing his arms, he said, “There isn’t a single animal out here.”
I hadn’t noticed, but now that he pointed it out, I couldn’t ignore it. No dogs or any other leashed creatures. No squirrels or feral kerit. There weren’t even any birds chirping. No crows cawing. No rarógi squawking. Nothing.
It was my turn to chafe my arms.
On the way here, I’d seen people walking all kinds of critters, and Matteo had huffed with annoyance at the sight of someone strolling down the sidewalk with a centicore.
“Who the fuck keeps one of those in the city?” he’d ranted. “They needpasturesto run in! And Jesus fuck, if it spooks, that lead rope isnotgoing to hold. What’re you going to do then, idiot? Chase it down on foot? Ha!” Tsking, he’d shaken his head and muttered, “I’m going to flag Animal Control.”
I hadn’t been able to help but smile. His rants could be hilarious, but at their core was deep concern for the animals. He didn’t care if it pissed people off—if they weren’t taking proper care of their pets, he’d turn them in without a second thought. The animals camefirst.
And he was in tune to wildlife more than anyone I’d ever known. No surprise that he’d immediately zeroed in on the absence of non-human creatures in a matter of seconds.
For that matter, there weren’t any people around either. There were lights on in windows and most of the shops were open, but the whole street felt desolate and empty. As if there’d been people here a moment ago, but they’d suddenly vanished just like my memories of the past year.
I shivered. “Let’s go get this over with.”
