"You really going shopping today?" Liza said as Alex patted down the pockets of his jeans on the way down the stairs, looking for his wallet, and his fingers closed around something heavy that wasn't it.
He nodded while pulling it out, the black ring sat in his palm, serpent head up, the rubies a deep red under the hallway light.
He had forgotten it was in there. It had gone through a whole night and a whole morning without any change.
"Better on a finger than in a pocket." He slid it onto his right hand, and it settled in his finger as if it belonged there.
Liza floated up beside him, glanced at it, pressed her lips together, and said nothing, and he understood that she still hadn't remembered anything new.
Checking his phone on the way out. 12:40. Counting back from six, he had plenty of time, as long as nothing dragged.
