Ash:

Dream Ash shivered. Snow was seeping through her dress, and The Boy's arms were failing to bring her warmth. As for the maze and the rosebush they were nestled in, she feared it was a terrible hiding spot. She flinched at the clanking of steel in the distance. A man screamed as if it was his final breath, and—"

A plinking noise struck glass, invading Ash's dream. Present-day Ash stirred in her sleep, wondering where the noise was coming from. Another plink and the hedge-maze and The Boy slipped from her vision.

Breathing hard, Ash lurched up from her pillow. Her pajamas clung to her body, and she wiped at the cold sweat lingering on her forehead. Ready to be sick, she pulled back her curtain. Fresh air breezed through the window, but she barely felt it, because a young man was climbing over her side fence with a rock aimed at her window. It might have been night outside, but his tall strong form was obvious even when concealed under his coat. As he swung his other leg over the fence, his sharp cheekbones and nose were cast half in shadows, and the moonlight gleamed upon his hair. Even with the scowl at the edges of his mouth, he was heartstoppingly beautiful. Untouchable. His gaze snapped to hers, and she didn't know if it was the moonlight again, but his eyes shone with an iridescent silver-grey. He turned away, as if ready to bolt.

"Alründ?" she breathed, sliding the window all the way open.

He swiveled on the fence and sighed. "Ash."

"What are you doing here?"

He placed a finger to his lips, shushing her. It irritated, but then again, her mum was asleep in the next room.

Nerves zipped through her as he leaped from the fence and removed the fly wire from her window. He was so stealthy that he could have stolen her away and nobody would have known. She should have been scared. He'd never clarified his name, but she was in no doubt that he was the same boy from her dream. Eight-year-old Alründ might have worn fancy clothes and a gold circlet upon his head back then, but his disapproving glare hadn't changed one bit.

He hoisted himself up onto the brick window, leaning comfortably against the window frame, his foot resting upon the ledge. "This is the time we say goodbye."

"Goodbye?" She scrambled across her bed and grabbed his arm. "No!"

"No?"

"Why would you leave? You only just got here."

His nostrils flared slightly.

Oh great, I've annoyed him. Doesn't take much. Just like the old Alründ.

He leaned in. "It's not about leaving. It's about making you forget."

Forget?

A memory struck her. She was seven. Her father's face was blurred. She'd felt him inside her head, sifting through her thoughts, eradicating the ones that shouldn't be there. She'd yelled at him to stop, but she couldn't break the connection. Things were missing in her brain. There were too many gaps, patches of emptiness, scenes that jumped randomly from one event to another.

"You're going to erase this moment, aren't you?" she asked Alründ.

"Yes."

"Don't do it," she'd begged, reaching for his hand.

He withdrew his hand and laughed emptily. "That's normally not the way it goes."

She didn't mean to, but she sent him a harsh look. "So, let me get this straight. Other than you wanting to alter my brain, no actual event has taken place here that's worthy of erasing my memory. Right?"

He shrugged and looked up to the sky. "You saw me."

"That's not my fault. Why did you come in the first place?"

Another minute passed and she'd had enough of waiting. As she turned to jump off the bed, he grabbed Ash's hand, pulling her back again. "You," he snapped quietly. "You woke me."

She laughed in disbelief. "That's ridiculous. Don't blame me if you couldn't sle—"

"Not ridiculous. That little brain of yours was interfering with my sleep. That dream you were having... You know, the one you always have—which by the way is getting very tiresome—was on repeat for the third time tonight—"

What...? Impossible.

"I couldn't stand to watch it anymore. You were driving me insane! I seriously thought there was something wrong with me, but judging by the look on your face clearly the problem lies with you."

He did not just say that!

He smiled, pleased with himself. Those perfectly straight teeth of his suddenly seemed less appealing. He needed to wipe that smile off his face, fast.

She turned and looked across the shadows of her crammed bedroom, not really seeing anything. If he knew her days were spent dreading the moment when she fell asleep, he would have thought differently. That dream, as incomplete as it was, hurt her several times a night. For every time she awoke, it brought another wave of panic, another bout of sickness.

She wanted him to leave.

She jumped a little as his hand rested on her shoulder, guiding her around to him.

"If you could erase your dream, would you?" he asked.

"Yes."

"Then tell me your name—your full name."

She frowned. "You know my name."

"Indulge me."

She rolled her eyes. "Ashleigh Shala Rendwick."

He looked unhappy with this, but she wasn't about to change her name just to please him. "Do you remember my name?"

"Now you're just being annoying."

His mouth hitched at the corner. "My name...?"

"Alründ, obviously."

"And the rest?"

Easy. She opened her mouth to answer, but his name was a jumble of letters that slipped away again. She shook her head, meeting his eyes with an apology.  She was surprised when he bowed his forehead to her. She could feel his breath upon her lips. He smelled like mint—not sugary mint but fresh leaves from the garden—and it tugged at an emptiness in her mind. She'd smelled this scent on him before, she was certain.

"Remember me," he murmured. Then she felt him—a presence floating through her thoughts. A memory appeared, one she never knew existed. Alründ was the same age as now, attending an elegant ball. His skin looked different, shimmering with silver, his eyes, too. The circlet upon his head made him look like a pompous prince. Couples might have been dancing around him, but he appeared utterly bored as he danced with a pretty girl. Annoyingly, Ash wished she was the girl dancing, because she would have done everything possible to make him more alive, if only to see if it were possible.

Another memory: Alründ was dressed in jeans and his leather coat. He was standing outside Emmy's house on the night of her party six months ago, and he had his hands wrapped around Trent's throat! Ash was standing back, watching from the side of the road. The strap on her dress was broken, as if it had been ripped.

Ash could still remember when Trent had turned up at school with bruises everywhere. Seeing how they came to be was more brutal than she could have imagined. She was amazed that the person sitting quietly before her had so much rage—she could feel the echo of it as Alründ relived punching Trent in the mouth.

She should have been scared. But she wasn't.

The scene skipped in her mind. She was running away from Trent's house, alone. Alründ caught up and swung her to him. In that moment, she could do nothing to hold back the tears. He made no move to comfort her, but when she threw her arms around his waist, his arms wrapped swiftly around her shoulders, pulling her to him. He peered down at her, nostrils flaring slightly, then pressed a kiss to her temple. He sensed her feeling safe for the first time all night.

"What happened with Trent?" Present-day Ash asked, voice trembling.

"I'd rather not show you that part of the memory. The short version, you wandered off from the barbeque and sat in the garden by the side of the house. You were slightly drunk."

Ash scratched her head, trying to recall Emmy's party. "I was?"

"You had a bottle of vodka and raspberry in your hand. So yes. You were. Anyway, Trent spotted you, and after several minutes of talking he put something in your drink. Fortunately for you, you weren't thirsty. Trent became impatient, and when he started kissing you and you backed away, let's just say it became ugly. I'm proud to say, you kicked him and ran before he broke more than the strap on your dress."

"God," Ash breathed. She would never be able to look at Trent the same way again. "And you were there, watching this? Why?"

Alründ sighed. "A certain someone likes to keep you safe. And quite simply, it is what I'm trained to do, to keep watch over you from the shadows, to stop guys like Trent and other such monsters from doing their worst."

"Am I really that important?" She laughed. "What about all the other teenage girls in the world? Do they each have a guardian angel?"

His smile hitched again. "I'm not an angel, trust me."

"I 'spose I should say thank you," Ash said, but something was troubling about it all, and not just the creepiness of having someone watching her every movement. "Was that really necessary, hurting Trent that much? Seriously?"

"Yes."

Her eyes widened for a second, but she didn't dare push the conversation. "Was that first memory mine?"

"Mine," he admitted. "I lent it to you for the purpose of the exercise."

"Getting to know Alründ day?"

"Yes." He leaned back against the window frame and closed his eyes.

Minutes passed. The wind picked up and she shivered. He had possibly fallen asleep.

Eyes still closed, he asked, "Tell me my name."

She sighed. "Alründ."

"Nothing more?"

Her shoulders drooped. "No."

Opening his eyes, he sat forward. His irises became more iridescent and silver by the second. Her breath caught as a silver bead of light spun around him like a whirlwind, then slowed and fell into his palm.

"What just happened?" asked Ash. "And your eyes..."

He held up his palm, showing the bead of silver emanating light. "This is my life, my complete history, stored in this one crystal."

"Impossible," she said, reaching out to touch it, but Alründ was quick to pull back his hand. As she stared at the crystal, she began to believe him. She could have sworn she'd seen a bead like that spin before, like it was alive, intelligent, possibly another entity entirely.

Alründ leaped through her window and sat on the edge of the bed. "Watch..." he said, flicking the crystal into the center of the room. The crystal glowed in a white hot point, hovering in the middle of the shadows. Splinters of light broke free. It was like having a real life star in her room, one that might explode as it grew brighter and spun like a tornado. She wriggled backwards, but Alründ grabbed her hand and sat her beside him. He tapped his lips, and murmured, "What to show you...?"

"Something with us," she suggested. "Something happy—if there is such a thing."

He nodded thoughtfully, then raised his hand in the crystal's direction. The light condensed into a compact line, like a horizon bisecting her room. The line spread up and down, and she almost had a heart-attack when it washed over her. Silver dust motes shifted through the air, falling onto her face and arms and warming her instantly. Shadows formed within the light and convalesced into shapes, taking on colors. A forest floor in vivid green, purple, and brown appeared. Wind blew across her face, making the trees creak and their crystal leaves tinkle. A large canopy of purplish-green leaves cast the forest in shade, concealing the animals hidden within the boughs. But Ash could hear them, their bird song, and the stranger sounds of creatures she didn't know.

Striding down a dirt track, a young Alründ searched between the trees and shrubs on either side. He was in fighting gear—loose black pants and a wrap-around top, his hair half braided down his back, that circlet on his head again. But he didn't look pompous this time. He looked slightly irritated, disappointed perhaps. He called out, "Ashala!"

Present-day Ash flinched, making the bed bounce.

Ashala? That name...

Her heart palpitated hard.

"My name," she whispered. "My real name."

Alründ frowned. "Yes."

"I don't understand."

"I wouldn't try. Just watch."

Easy for him to say. He knows who he is. It seems that I don't, like I'm living a lie.

"Were you fifteen here?" she sniffed, returning her attention to the young Alründ kicking rocks down the track.

Present Alründ glanced across at her, gaze narrowed. "Yes. And you will be fourteen."

Me at fourteen... Funny, I can't remember turning fourteen, only the months after it.

"Alründ!" a girl's voice hollered in the memory. "Alründ!"

Oh god. That's my voice.

Memory Ash came running through the trees, her hair messily braided, wearing a white version of Alründ's training gear and matching army boots. She was out of breath, but she had a wide grin on her face as she caught sight of him resting on a boulder. More surprising, Alründ's face lit up. Seconds later, she was leaping into his arms, pushing him back against the boulder. He laughed, gripped her around the waist and then kissed her deeply, as if they'd done this countless times before.

Me and Alründ? Alründ and me?

Memory Alründ took off his shirt. Ash's fourteen-year-old face looked perfectly unalarmed, while Present-day Ash was more than a little shocked.

"Don't tell me we do more than kiss! I'm a virgin. At least I think I am..." Ash blurted out.

"You are."

"And how would you know that?! Maybe there were other boys, and I just don't remember like I don't remember this."

He smiled wryly. "You are. Now watch..."

In the scene before them, slits opened on Alründ's shoulder-blades. It should have been repulsive to watch, but it seemed natural on him. White substance bulged from the slits, then pushed out of the skin, fanning out in a trail of pure white feathers. His wings lengthened all the way to his ankles, then fanned out with the sound of a whip. They were beautiful. Angelic. Much like the rest of him. He took her hand as he lifted into the air.

Present-day Ash gaped when Memory Ash lifted off the ground, too. There had been no warning—no wings in sight—but Memory Ash flew more effortlessly than Alründ, flying past him and leading him up through the winding treetops. She sat upon one of the boughs and leaned against the tree trunk, Alründ joining her the next second, his mouth on hers the second after that. Her hands roamed his chest and back, while he gripped her by the hips. The kiss was so intense that Present-day Ash could only glance at it for a moment before looking down at her hands.

The world in front of her disappeared, as if a projection had been switched off at the power point. The life crystal hovered in the shadows of her room and sped at Alründ, its blur of light dimming until it could be seen no more.

I fly? I don't fly. Alründ is scamming me somehow.

"Okay, tell me how you did that," Ash snapped. "Do you have a holographic machine stashed somewhere? Because that there, what I saw, cannot be real."

"No machines." He patted down his body, then began removing his jacket. "I can strip if you don't believe me?"

Ash held up her hand, ordering him to stop. "Your clothes stay on." Having a naked Alründ in her room would be more than she could handle. She'd probably faint, undoubtedly blush, hopefully keep her hands from straying in his direction.

He shrugged the jacket back on. "A shame."

"Yep." She snorted a laugh.

Untucking his hair from the jacket, Alründ smiled to himself. "You didn't seem to mind in the trees."

Ash stopped laughing. "I... I... I don't know how to respond to that."

"Best not to." He laughed.

"How long were we..." Ash gulped. "Together?"

Alründ stared into the shadows. "We spent two weeks together like that. Somebody discovered our secret. You were made to forget."

"How was I made to forget? That's impossible."

"It's not. Seeing as how you just saw proof that we were together and you have no recollection of it."

Ash was so confused she could have burst into tears. "And we've been together other times?

"Just two. They were brief, and stripped from your mind before we could see each other any longer."

"Why do you get to remember and I don't?"

"They were taken from me, too. But memories have a way of coming back sometimes. When I discovered the first time we kissed, I was determined to gain control of my life crystal. I was always told it was impossible, but I succeeded a few weeks ago. And I found us, amongst other things."

"Will you show me more of 'us'?

"I should leave."

Ash grabbed his arm, praying it would be enough to keep him there. "Do I have one of those crystals? My life's history?"

He nodded. "But you would need to learn how to channel it. Crystals only respond to their pairings spirit. Unless you are dead. Then the crystal falls with you, ready and waiting to be viewed by loved ones and stored in the archives."

Absorbing it all, she nodded.

How to stop my crystal...?

"That crystal of yours, it holds all of the answers to your dream," he said. "Figure out how to stop it and you'll have your answer."

"You don't know the answer?"

"I do. But that memory needs to come from you."

"Can you erase nightmares, at least?"

"Yes. But that dream is valuable, and it is the one thing in your mind I am forbidden to touch."

"But you said if I remembered my name you could make me forget it."

"It was a weak moment on my part. A mistake."

"Take it away," she pleaded. "Please!"

He shook his head. "Other memories, like the ones I showed you, they must go."

"No!"

"If it were up to me I'd let you keep these bits of memory, but I can't."

"Why?"

He smiled a fraction. "Because a certain someone will know what I've done, and he'll be no doubt planning my punishment as we speak."

"Not funny, Alründ."

He shrugged. "Seeing as I've begun my death wish, the least you can do is help me make it worth my while."

"And how do I do that?" she breathed.

"There's something I've being wanting to do for a long time."

"What's that?"

He cupped her cheek and bent his head to hers. His eyes took up her entire vision, irises the color of silver with striations of royal blue, which wandered over her face in a way that made her feel more precious than ever before. His lips pressed very delicately against hers, then he broke away to study her reaction.

Lips parted, Ash was utterly breathless.

He smiled a broad smile that seemed to light the shadows of the room. Then she remembered the boy from when she was little. They would play together in a garden of roses and hedge mazes, jump from a waterfall with other children. Ash and Alründ would sit together at tables in a lavish library, whispering between themselves. Sometimes, he would leave her crying. Another memory smashed into her, and she gasped. Alründ was the one she was originally betrothed to marry, an arrangement made at the time of her birth.

"You remember," Alründ breathed, eyes warm.

"How did you know?"

"Because we belong." He leaned forward once more. His hand slid around to the back of her neck, guided her to him. His mouth connected with hers, and as weird as it was to have Alründ kissing her, she parted her lips, meeting his every movement as he deepened the kiss. The most amazing tingles rippled throughout her body, and she swore he could feel it, too. His eyes flashed open and he pulled back, rubbing his forearms as if plagued by an unexpected sensation. Ash also rubbed at the tingles in her arms, but the tingles in her chest were reaching new heights.

"Weird tingles?" she asked, smiling.

"It seems you have quite the effect on me."

"I could say the same about you. That was some kiss. Here I was thinking that tingles were a myth."

He laughed. "They're not that new to you. Remember your dream—the beads of light running through your skin and mine?"

She nodded. "What do they have to do with anything?"

"They are the reason you tingle. If you're excited, they're excited. If you're in danger they'll move faster. The higher the emotion, more tingles."

"Ha. Do you see any beads of light on me?" she asked, showing her arms.

"Just because they're hiding it doesn't mean they're not there."

Ash studied her hands. Absolutely no light under her skin. She glared at Alründ. "Okay. You got me. Very funny."

He rolled his eyes. "One day I will prove this story true. It will be tiring work, no doubt."

"Wouldn't you just have to kiss me?"

"Yes. But the timing would have to be just right..."

Timing? But I want him to prove it now!

He grinned. "Another night. Timing, remember?"

"Annoying," she said, pushing him playfully in the arm.

Ash flopped back onto the mattress, whacking her head on the window sill. She let out a cry as she clutched her head. Alründ was lying beside her the next second, stroking back her hair. He pressed a kiss to her temple. The longer his lips remained the more tingles she felt, as if the sensation was resonating through her entire being. The pain at the back of her head lessened until she could feel no pain at all. His lips slowly moved away and he tilted his forehead against hers. She stared at him, amazed.

What is it with this boy and tingles?

The mood was broken when he closed his eyes. There was something too serious about him, and it left her troubled. Then she felt another sensation, nothing like the tingles from before. Tiny spasms zipped through her head, as if her brain was being poked with needles. Alründ gripped his head.

He can feel what I feel...

I remember now. Alründ is empathic.

Wait.

He's also a telepath. Which means that he could be in my mind at any time. Help! He is causing these spasms, even if he has to endure my pain. He wants to erase this night from my head. He can't!

(Get away from him) her subconscious told her.

"Ash!" he breathed, taking her hand.

She slipped her hand free and jumped to her feet. A step backwards and she was at the window, clinging to its frame before Alründ had moved. One glance back at him, his coat dropped to the bed and he stepped towards her, his wings unfurling.

So this is how it is going to be, Ash thought, ready for the challenge. Hoping she wasn't about to fall out the window, she leaped into the air and aimed for the nearest cloud. Instead, she hovered, felt Alründ's fingers brush her arm. That was enough to send her shooting skyward. She didn't get far; a few meters and she was blocked by none other than Alründ. Ash veered to the right, then up, but Alründ was faster. A quick dart to her left and she went flying alongside the house. She was about to soar upwards when Alründ caught her waist and drew her around the corner, pinning her to the back wall. Ash began plotting avenues for escape, but she could barely breathe—it was the rush of flying, the exertion, having Alründ betray her so suddenly.

"Ash!" he said, catching his breath. "Stop."

"So I can let you steal tonight?" She glared at him. "No."

His wings beat faster. "I don't want to. But the trouble this will cause if we're found out... You don't understand."

"Then tell me!"

He glanced around the shadows of the back garden. It felt like forever before he looked at her again. He shook his head, and she pushed him backwards. The last thing she saw was the hurt in his eyes as she sped towards the clouds. Part of her was surprised he'd given up so easily. It also left an ache inside, but that was beside the point. She was flying. In pajamas. Cool wind was streaming against her skin, and her memory of tonight was still intact, even if it did have a horrible ending.

As she approached the cloud she'd seen from her window, she decided to test out a theory—what it would be like to sit on a cloud. Soaring above the cloud, she lowered herself gently onto its grey wisps. As expected, she fell right through, recovering with a quick flight upwards.

There was laughter below her, handsome laughter.

With a groan, Ash began to hover.

Alründ was beside her in seconds. "You picked the wrong cloud for that."

"Did I?" she asked. "And which cloud would be the right one in your opinion?"

"Out of these clouds?" He waved his hands at the selection of clouds in the sky. "None. But there are others..."

"Where?"

"I can't say," he said, his smile disappearing.

"You can't tell me much."

"No. I can't."

Ash flew up through the cloud and stretched her legs at a ninety-degree angle, just above the misty surface. With nothing supporting her, it was far from comfortable, but she pretended to sit like that anyway. It was the closest she would ever get to sitting on a cloud. More importantly, she couldn't see Alründ.

The wisps of cloud stirred. White wings emerged and rose higher, the cloud parting as Alründ hovered before her. "You're angry. I get it."

"You tried to take my memories. You chased me!"

"Part of my job as your guardian is that you should never remember me. What else was I supposed to do?"

As he flew towards her, Ash flew backwards. "Don't take this night from me, Alründ."

He halted in the air. "We won't be able to keep this a secret. You do understand?

"I don't care."

"Tonight means that much to you?"

"You mean that much to me," she said, holding his gaze.

He drifted towards her, as if it was a sin to do so. "Then I will never touch another thought in your head."

"Thank you."

He bowed. At first she thought he was being noble, maybe he was. But he also seemed tense. Ash had a feeling he was about to slip away into the night. She drifted closer. When they were in reaching distance she lifted his chin, but Alründ barely met her eyes.

"You shouldn't thank me," he said. "I was selfish to make that promise."

"I don't see how."

His gaze shifted over her shoulder and became lost in the distance. Ash wasn't sure if he'd meant for his hands to skim up and down her waist, but she didn't dare ask. She liked the feeling far too much. After a long silence, he said, "How would you feel about making another secret?"

"Depends on the secret."

He turned to her, as if he was about to risk everything. "You and me, like this, for as long as we can?"

"Until we get caught, you mean?"

"Yes."

Ash's spirit spun happily, happier than it ever had before. "I think I can definitely keep this secret."

Alründ tugged her closer, smiling. Not thinking of consequences, Ash flung her arms around his neck and fell into his kiss.