She danced like a goddess.

  Moved so lightly and elegantly, so gracefully, that she naturally drew the attention of all the men nearby. They were practically drooling, looking at me resentfully as an obstacle to the beautiful lady.

  I couldn’t help but notice this, so when we’d had enough dancing, I led Lori to a hotel room upstairs…

  Or did she lead me? I don’t remember. I think we ‘led each other,’ stopping in the hallways for heated kisses.

  And in the room we threw ourselves at each other with such hunger that the process of getting rid of clothes took a record-breakingly short amount of time.

  It was an insanely wild, mind-blowing, and ve-e-ery memorable night of my life.

  I was captivated by this Owl. Her boldness and audacity, her body language, her openness, passion and tenderness all at once.

  I’d had many girls in my life, but such a delightful cocktail I’d encountered for the first time. Encountered and was knocked off my feet.

  We got so carried away with each other that we completely forgot that the “anonymity mask” had an expiration time, and the charms only lasted a few hours.

  Actually, Lori forgot.

  I remembered perfectly well and was waiting for the charms to wear off so I could memorize the aura of the girl I liked, so she definitely wouldn’t get away from me. I was captivated and wanted to continue our close acquaintance outside the club.

  And for that I needed to find out who she even was, because the Owl flat-out refused to give even hints about herself. She refused to meet later too, saying “we only have this night, so make sure we remember it.” Her voice was somehow sad when she said it, and I didn’t keep pressing.

  I certainly did my best, but one night simply wasn’t enough for me, even one this crazy and bright.

  I was firmly determined to unmask the Owl, and even if she still wouldn’t tell me her real name, wouldn’t tell me where to find her, I would find her myself — by her aura imprint, by energy signatures. It wouldn’t have been difficult for me at all.

  The anonymity charms wore off at the moment when I was hungrily studying the Owl’s body, her parted lips, so I clearly caught the moment when the spell fell away.

  I fell into a slight stupor, as I was shocked by the realization that this incredible girl was someone I knew. And not just knew, but it was Lori, the very same Lori I’d known since childhood as a quiet, calm, obedient girl…

  My shock was immense.

  And instead of keeping quiet, I called her by her real name, like an idiot.

  Well, not like an idiot, but with a brain melted by passion, because at that moment Lori had just brought me to another peak of pleasure… and I breathed out her name in the heat of the moment.

  That became my fatal mistake.

  And while my brain was completely disoriented for a few seconds, Lori used that time to adjust my memory. I couldn’t do anything…

  I didn’t even have time to grab her, or rather — I simply couldn’t, because my hands were tied to the metal headboard at that point. I could have easily broken free from those bonds if I’d wanted to, of course, but…

  I was completely relaxed and thinking about other things. My body was buzzing with euphoria, my head swimming in a haze of pleasure… That’s why I didn’t resist when Lori blindfolded me with a scarlet ribbon. And that’s why I only had time to be surprised when I sensed the mental intrusion.

  Surprised and — enraged. Because, well, what the hell was even happening?!

  I think she also knocked me out briefly… Because I seemed to black out, and when I came to, Lori was long gone from the room.

  Literally — no magical traces could be detected, Lori had masterfully cleaned everything up. And on the bonds restraining my hands, it seemed Lori had placed a cunning spell that prevented me from freeing myself for some time.

  Ooh, what a furious storm rose in my soul then…

  The di Vern-Rodinger brothers untied me, whom I contacted via artifact bracelet, reaching it with my feet. They laughed at me like hyenas, of course, the bastards, but at least they came quickly when I called, since they happened to be somewhere nearby, so thanks for that. Both of them came, yeah, to have a good laugh at my epic state.

  Stolen from Royal Road, this story should be reported if encountered on Amazon.

  I didn’t even know what burned more inside me: shame, anger, frustration, the euphoria still in my body, indignation, the desire to repeat this crazy night a couple thousand more times… I swore to myself that I would find this Owl at any cost.

  Lori had tried to erase everything from my memory, but she hadn’t accounted for the fact that I’m a budding mind mage, and oblivion charms only work partially on me.

  So she only managed to erase Lori’s identity, the moment when I realized who she really was. And not even erase — it would be more accurate to say block. For the time being. Because completely erasing something from my memory is impossible.

  No wonder I kept getting headaches whenever I was near Lori… That was my reaction to contact with the magic of a person who had influenced me mentally. Now everything finally came together and made sense.

  All that remained in my memory after that night was the image of a seductive brunette, her every gesture, every touch, my responding emotions, and a fierce desire to make it last forever…

  I was delighted and at the same time — furious. Because, well — some girl had played me! Me!! Simply impossible! My complete professional failure.

  I had tried to find her… tried all year and wasn’t about to stop searching. I tried all sorts of methods, but everything kept running into the fact that I didn’t remember the aura imprint, and without it all searches led to dead ends. And I couldn’t remove the blocking charms from myself.

  I also had no doubt that I would recognize the cunning seductress by her kiss, but I couldn’t exactly go around kissing every brunette on the street, right?

  Oh, and of course, there was still hope of recognizing her by her tattoos. Lori had two: one large one, covering almost her entire back, depicting an owl with spread wings, ready to swoop down on its prey. And a small runic tattoo on her foot. Small but memorable.

  But using this for searching was even harder than by the taste of her kiss, because tattoos could easily be hidden with both spells and just clothing.

  Too bad I couldn’t just line up all the black-haired beauties of Forland in a row, undress them in the right places, and quickly find by tattoo the one who had gotten into my head and absolutely refused to leave my poor skull.

  Now my hands were itching to undress Lori right here, right now, and confirm the presence of tattoos. To see them again with my own eyes, to run my fingers along her spine, feeling the trembling in her body.

  I kept sitting on the grass, face hidden in my palms, head bowed low and hiding behind my long hair, trying to wrap my head around this. Because the emotions hitting me now were even stronger than back then, a year ago. Because I was in shock at how cleverly Lori had been hiding from me. And that it was her of all people.

  And also, well… How could Lori possibly be such a vixen, huh?

  I had never even looked at her that way, had never entertained the thought that the girl I was searching for could be none other than Lorelei.

  Around me, she had always been, well… just ordinary, I guess.

  Or was I a blind idiot who hadn’t noticed the truth? Quite possible.

  Or Lori had changed so drastically during the time we hadn’t seen each other, that was also quite likely. Though most likely in our case it was all mixed together. People change, and sometimes very dramatically. And Lori had somehow very quickly transformed from a modest, quiet girl into a femme fatale. And my brain hadn’t caught up.

  I massaged my throbbing temples. Memories continued to ‘unlock,’ and right now I clearly remembered the storm of emotions that had hit me upon realizing that I was embracing none other than Lori.

  Lori, whom I’d known since childhood thanks to our parents’ close friendship. Whom I had never taken seriously (and oh, how wrong I was), and so I had always mentally stuck the ‘just a friend’ label on her and never even considered her as a potential girlfriend. Lori had simply always been in the eternal friend zone for me, and blinders like that don’t come off easy. And perhaps if not for her bold anonymity, those blinders would still be firmly in place in my head.

  I also remembered that on the day of the summer solstice, Lori actually had her birthday. So it turns out she didn’t spend it with family, but was partying at Rauf-Pool, where she then ended up in my arms? And only escaped from me in the early morning.

  You could think she spent the day with family and then hit the wild nightlife… But I also vaguely recalled overhearing a conversation that day between my father and one of our colleagues:

  “Clarkson still hasn’t shown up?”

  “No sir, we’ve been searching since morning!..”

  I hadn’t paid attention to it at the time, because my head was occupied with other things, and I had run off toward the upcoming grand party. But now…

  Now the gears in my head were turning, trying to piece it all together. My head was already buzzing from the strain after the powerful mental attack.

  What happened to you that day, Lori? Why didn’t you celebrate your coming of age with your family, as the Clarksons always do for birthdays? Why did you seek me out yourself, and then try to erase my memory? What were you afraid of?

  She was looking at me fearfully, tensely even now. Studying me, trying to understand what was in my head.

  Well… Relax, Lori.

  You won’t read anything on my face unless I want to show it. And right now I needed to set priorities and focus on the immediate tasks.

  Besides, I still didn’t understand what strange magical contact had occurred between us when Lori touched me… without gloves, no less. This needed to be studied more closely and thought through carefully.

  “Are you okay?” I asked her in the calmest voice I could manage.

  She slowly nodded, still not taking her tense gaze off me.

  “And you?” she asked in a quiet, cracked voice.

  She glanced down at her hands and then shifted her frightened gaze back to me. Yes, Lori, your deadly hands didn’t harm me. I had a suspicion why… But I wanted to discuss that with my father.

  “Completely fine. Just a killer headache, but that’s temporary, too much energy release, and the spellcasting was difficult. We need to hurry out of the forest, we need to get Professor Ditro to the healers, let’s all focus on that now.”

  Lori eagerly nodded and jumped to her feet, heading toward our classmates. She practically skipped ahead of me, so she didn’t see what a slow, wicked grin spread across my face.

  Sweet, naive Lori… Alright, keep floating on that cloud for now while I wait for a more appropriate moment for a frank conversation… and not just a conversation.