For the Memory of Dragons Read Online Free PDF

car beside her. “I don’t know.” He shook his head
slowly.
    Great. He still doesn’t remember.
    “Why were those men after you?”
    Again, he shook his head slowly. His
shoulders dropped into a depressed slouch.
    “Then can you tell me what you know about
this?” Terra pulled the file out of his bag and handed it to
him.
    The man took it and looked at it. Shock hit
his face. Oh, this triggered some memories!
     
    ***
     
    I know this woman!
    The thought echoed around Alex’s brain as he
stared at the first profile in the folder. His knees weakened as he
slid down the side of the car and sat on the floor, reading the
file. He had memories of visits to her. He would bring her flowers;
she would serve him tea. Everything was bright and sharp, but there
was no sound. Why don’t any of my memories have sound?
    Flipping the page, he saw another person he
knew. A man. This one collected models of classic cars. The next
page contained another person he knew. All of the pages held faces
of people he knew.
    “I know these people.” Alex said softly as
he flipped back to the first page and reread what was there. The
account of the woman’s last sighting made his heart hurt. “I wrote
this.” He pointed to the paragraph at the bottom.
    “So who are they?” Terra asked as she looked
down at him.
    “Friends,” he answered.
    No, that wasn’t right.
    “People I visited.”
    That was better. They were friends,
but he did something for them more than just as a friend. But
what? Now that was the question. Alex looked over the file
again. All of the people were listed as missing, presumed dead.
Each had an account of their last-known sighting. All but one.
    Something important ate at the corner of his
mind, but the more he chased after the thought, the more skittish
it became. Giving up for now, he looked at the pages one more time
before closing the file. The pages triggered some memories, but not
the ones he needed.
    “I don’t know,” he admitted and handed the
folder back to Terra.
    “Then what about this?” She shifted the bag
to show him the symbol on the flap. “You have the same mark on your
shoulder.”
    He raised his hand and rubbed his fingers
over the mark. “It’s special.” He knew he had earned the right to
wear it, but he couldn’t remember what it stood for. “I don’t
know,” he admitted again.
    “There are other things in the bag.” She
pulled it off and handed it down to him. “I’m sorry, but I looked
through it while you were sleeping.”
    Alex nodded and took the satchel. Crossing
his legs, he leaned forwards and dumped the stuff out. Damn. There was nothing in there. He shifted through the trash, trying to
make sense of it. Gum, matches, a necklace, and a few crumpled
dollars. Nothing to help him remember.
    The sting of magic bit his fingers when he
picked up the necklace. “Shit,” he cursed and dropped the thing.
“What the hell is that?” Picking up the pack of gum, he used it to
poke at the charm. It felt… evil.
    Terra squatted next to him and picked up the
necklace. “Some sort of charm.”
    He stared at her, surprised. That thing had
stung him when he’d touched it. How can she hold it like
that?
    “That doesn’t hurt?” he asked,
bewildered.
    Terra looked at the charm. “No.” She flipped
it over to look at the back. “It tingles a little, but it doesn’t
hurt.” She held it out to him.
    “Uh uh.” Alex held out the bag so Terra
could drop the necklace in. “I ain’t touching that thing
again.”
    She gave him an odd look. “It is yours, right?”
    “I guess so.” He looked at the charm. “This
is my bag, right?” The bag had a familiar feel to it, but he had no
way to be sure.
    “I found it with you, so it must be.” She
dropped the necklace into the bottom of the bag.
    Alex looked at the small piece of silver.
“Then it must be mine.” He took the file from her and tucked it
back in the bag, too. Next, he looked at the gum and box of
matches. They