Page 115 of Forget Me Not

It did seem to be magic that used vocalized words. Earplugs were probably a practical, if short-term, solution.

Now, Cal was gone. Benny was with him. Penn was at home, cleaning up and bothering more people in the online magic-using community. And Ray was in a chair that barely fit him, with a children’s book in his lap.

The center had basket of children’s toys to entertain any kids waiting with their parents or guardians. Several copies of each of Calvin’s books were in the basket, each one covered in smudgy fingerprints and child-smells, like applesauce and ketchup and no-tears shampoo. Calvin must donate them.

“The kids are welcome to keep them if they like them,” Truman had volunteered when he’d first noticed Ray picking up the one with a watercolor half-fairy in a crooked circlet on the cover.

The half-fairy was holding hands with a tiny watercolor version of Benny, only one wearing purple and silver wizard robes and a tall, pointy hat. The second book, if Ray remembered correctly:Callalily Makes a Friend.

He skimmed through it, hoping that it wouldn’t matter to read them out of order, then stopped just short of the ending at the sound of purposeful movement outside the door and then the door being opened.

A human walked in. To all intents and purposes, a human, anyway. A human woman, likely, but aside from the event organizers outside, no one was wearing any sort of tags to make that clear and Ray would have to wait to be corrected.

She seemed young, youngish, Cal might say, which meant nearly anything to a fairy. Ray would have said, in her mid-twenties but possibly older or younger. She looked tired, which Ray understood as he never had before, with a drag in her step. Her mostly black hair might have once been in a neat arrangment but some dyed blue and purple strands had fallen out. She was taller than Truman even if Truman had been standing, although she would be shorter than Benny, and she was wearing jeans tight enough that no weapon could have been concealed in them, except maybe a very flat, very small blade. Her blouse was nice, but frayed, and she had beads around her wrist that Cal would have played with constantly if he’d been wearing them. Worry beads, Ray thought they were called, in a glowing amber color that was lighter than the skin of her wrist, but which almost matched her eyes.

Her purse had a thin strap and didn’t look large enough to hold pop gun. The only other thing in her hands was a paper folder.

Ray took his eyes off her, although he waited through a few more moments of her hushed conversation with Truman before he went back to his book.

“I’m sorry. There are no appointments today because of…” Truman probably waved toward the mess outside, which now included the sound of hammering and yelling.

“But I need to see someone.” The human was either trying to be quiet or had a naturally low, sweet voice.

“They’re all busy, hon.” Truman stopped to answer the phone again, snippily told someone to figure it out, then hung up. “The people who are here today are dealing withthat, or working on stuff that couldn’t wait. We’re open tomorrow, our Saturday hours, but you know you’re supposed to contact us in advance if you can, right?”

“I didn’t have time.” The human was close to pleading. “Please. I can wait. I’d rather do that than go home anyway.”

There was a tremor in her voice. Ray flipped past the last page in Cal and Benny’s origin story—set in a fantasy kingdom, but he suspected the story itself was real enough—and put the book back in the basket. He grabbed another one so the human wouldn’t think he was eavesdropping. He would’ve tried not to, but Cal and Benny were apparently reading over something, and Benny’s comments were calm, which meant Ray had nothing else to help him tune out the noise outside.

The cover of the book now his hands made him flinch.

The Loneliest Knight in the Kingdom.

Clearly, Penn had read this one.

Really, everyone in the department should have read it and teased Ray mercilessly for months on end. That’s what they would have done for anyone else. Even if Ray hadn’t told them about it, eventually, someone would have noticed and the jokes would have gone on from there. Especially among the older officers and higher ups, who would know Calvin’s name even if they had never worked with Calvin personally.

Instead, more silence.

“Okay,” Truman was understanding, “maybe wait around, and I’ll see what I can do. But any meeting is not going to be more than a few minutes,” he warned her. “That’s really not enough time to do anything.”

“It’s fine. I’ll take it.” The human said it with the sort of desperation that made Ray glance up again. Sometimes, someone could be squeezed in at places like a county clerk’s office despite no appointment and it being a very busy day, because they had connections or friends. Sometimes, people did not have either of those things, so they waited around agencies or police stations and begged for attention and ended up parked on a bench for hours on the faint chance that someone might listen.

As the minutes ticked by, the situation outside seemed to grow tenser and louder. Ray suspected the human would find no help today, and probably not for a few more days afterward, until everything had settled back down.

He opened the book and stared down at the image of a little knight in dark armor, the faceguard open to reveal yellow wolf’s eyes. Ray’s eyes were blue. At least there was that.

Below the drawing were words.

…one of the bravest of Cal’s knights, but the only one of his kind in the kingdom.

Ray’s neck was hot. His stomach flipped and it didn’t feel like hunger. For a moment, he thought his symptoms were changing. Then he realized this was embarrassment.

He closed the book.

In the act of choosing a seat and sitting down, the human woman looked over to Ray several times, eyebrows raised. It could have been for the child’s book in his lap but was more likely for his size and, if she knew beings, because he was were. It was also possible she knew who he was. She chose the seat on the couch that was farthest from Ray, the spot closest to the door. She put her paper folder on the coffee table in the middle of the waiting area.

The folder had notes written in pencil on it and a water stain on one side. Ray tried to look away. He put the children’s book into the basket, then picked up a magazine. Someone had done the crossword and done it incorrectly. He exhaled through his nose.

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