Alründ:

Alründ smiled, as if unfazed by Will's arrival. It was a struggle. More of a struggle was keeping his spirit and mind closed to intruders—like Will, for one. He fixed his barriers in place, imagining a soundproof layer of leaves covering his body and mind, shielding him from the world.

"So, you and the little princess..." He leaned back on the car to read his friend. Will's spirit was pure light blue with motes of gold running through it—same as normal. His pheromone levels were high. His dual hearts sped in a more complex pattern that meant either Will was nervous or had been recently, which led Alründ to deduce: "Both still as pure as ever, I see. You do realize that Theo is going to be all over you now, fixing you up with every girl he can find. Can't have an uninitiated Sepheri in our midst."

"Good luck with that," he laughed, slapping Alründ on the shoulder.

Will was so good natured it was sickening. It made the impending task ahead that much harder—erasing Will's night from Ash's head.

"If you tell Theo anything," Will added, "then I will most definitely tell him about your fling in the tree and how you stunned Ash." He tilted his head, smiling in an irritating fashion that Alründ loathed. "Why did you punch that tree, by the way?"

Alründ laughed. "Here's a deal... Say nothing about me losing it with the tree and I'll keep your purity problem a secret."

"It's not what I'd call a problem. I love her."

"I'm aware of that. Ash loves you, too. She just never said it," he said, gripping his shoulder in that brotherly way they'd always done. Will relied on him too heavily, though. By making his friend feel more assured, Alründ was stabbing himself in the chest. "It's time I meet with Ash. You go ahead and drive home." He tossed Will the keys.

"I can wait."

"No. I also need to talk with Jasper, so it appears your work for the night is done."

His work for the night! What am I saying? Will hadn't worked one iota. While I was surveying the perimeters, he had spent his time romancing her!

"Go along now, Will." Alründ waved him away.

"What is with you?"

"Yes, it's all fun and games for you tonight, but now I have to clean up your mess."

"If it's such a problem, I'll clean it up myself."

"You will not."

"Excuse me?"

Something resembling a snarl escaped Alründ's lips. He hated himself for it, but he wouldn't apologize, not when Will had enjoyed a night meant for him. "You think you're capable of cleaning up? Do you recall how well that worked in the past? You befuddled her memory of the two of us, along with her current life. Her mind was scattered into a million incoherent pieces for weeks. Then Lücan had to step in and reconstruct it all. The poor girl hasn't been the same since."

Not exactly true, but he wasn't feeling charitable.

Will clenched his fists.

He wants to hit me, Alründ thought. Let him try.

Will stepped right up into Alründ's face. "For whatever reason, you are in one of your foul moods again."

Alründ smiled. "Am I?"

"You know what?"

"What?"

"I will drive home without you." Will hopped into the driver's seat. His spirit twisted so fast it turned a violent shade of red. Good. Alründ might have supported his friend when he'd said he loved Ash, but having him angry was exactly what Alründ needed. But as he strode back toward the festival his chest tightened. He rolled his shoulders back, holding himself taller, because he really needed to breathe, because he really needed to focus on finding her.

He pictured her in his mind—her curls of gold, auburn, and brown that flowed around her waist; her petite face that often fluctuated between sweetness, confusion, and annoyance, and undid him every time. He thought of her name, called it in his mind, felt her mind twinge as it opened a channel between them and she answered his call. He knew she was unaware of what she'd just done, but some things could never be forgotten completely.

Alründ sighed contentedly as her spirit reached out to him like an invisible path to follow. She felt brighter tonight, her spirit warmer than it had been in years, making her that much easier to follow. He set off down the sidewalk, in the direction Will had appeared earlier. Ash's spirit entered his mind, as if it had flown from her heart and taken the form of a golden orb burning happily.

He was close.

Alründ pulled a mint leaf from his pocket and chewed slowly. In those few minutes he did see her, he didn't want anything marring it. He needed to be near her again, to smell her perfume, to look in her eyes.

Ugh. I am pathetic.

Is it wrong to hope for occasions when she needs her memory adjusted so I can be in her company again?

Debatable.

Of course it's wrong. But she makes me weak.

Keeping his noise to a minimum, he passed one of the gates into the festival, then cut into a shadowy area of the park, weaving between the boundary of wooden sleepers. And there she was, standing beneath a canopy of trees, leaning against a donut stall. Possibly asleep. Silly girl. Standing in the dark, eyes closed, when she should have been looking out for her mother's van. Anyone could have snuck up on her, snatched her away in a heartbeat.

Alründ clenched his jaw as he imagined that very thing happening, and he imagined the one who would love to take her. He, too, was having a birthday today. Seventeen. Alründ's age to the very day. He'd always hated that fact. To share anything with Keenan made him ill, and unfortunately they shared more than a few traits.

Ash hadn't moved since he'd arrived. He was about to say her name, then corrected himself at the last second, "Ashleigh."

Her eyes flashed open, looking him up and down.

He stood there, enjoying the fact that she was taking her time to soak him in. He'd seen this reaction from her before, and it always ended the same. The vegetarian choice had been another sign. The old Ash was repulsed by meat, much like Alründ was. Which meant she was in there, seeping through the cracks of her new life. A few well-placed words on his part and she could remember so much more. But he would refrain. Lücan would exile him to some distant planet, where he would never see a soul again—least of all Ash.

Alründ was about to smile when she ran forward and slammed her fist at his chest. He caught it easily and held it between them.

"How could you, Alründ?" she shouted, yanking her hand from his.

"How could I what?"

"All that talk of blushing and making me want you, and you go off with that girl."

"You had Will, if you recall? You weren't missing me then." The wise move would have been to erase this conversation and walk away, especially when tears welled in her eyes.

Trust me to make her cry on her birthday.

Ash stormed off behind the stall, ducking under some branches. He ran after her and snared her arm. "Ash, wait—"

"No." She looked back over her shoulder and growled at him, twisting her arm and his at the same time. Her tight jeans did nothing to prohibit her from propelling herself into the air and completing a roundhouse kick aimed at his heart. It was still a thing of beauty—she had all the finesse of a ballerina and the speed of lightning—but it never made impact. He caught her foot as it sped towards him and clasped her boot. She met his eyes, appearing surprised by his reflexes, surprised by her own skill. He lowered her leg, resisting the urge to slide his hand along it as he stepped away. She turned from him and snatched leaves from a low branch.

"I want you to leave," Ash said.

"I will. First, tell me why I should."

She turned, flicking at tears. "Because I find you, remember you, and you're with somebody else. I mean nothing to you. Is that right?"

Oh, Fate. What have I done?

But he couldn't help snapping at her, "Don't you see? You and I will always be nothing, because you belong with Will. There's no changing that. Ever."

"That's ridiculous!"

I wish it was ridiculous.

She stepped closer, the inch between them torturous. "Then why do I feel as if I'm supposed to be with you?"

The words he'd always wanted to hear had just come from her lips. Alründ stepped back, no longer trusting himself. He needed to get away from her. Fast. He prepared himself for the memory filtering process by lowering his head to hers. They were so close he could have kissed her. Instead, he focused on her eyes, the honey-brown irises that stared up at him trustingly, longingly, awaiting his response.

"Happy birthday, Ash," he said, at what he'd thought would be his final statement.

"Or should I say happy birthday?" She smiled softly. "Seventeen today, hey?"

"Yes," he said, startled. "I'm getting old."

"The stars are old. Talk to me when you're one-hundred million years of age."

Catching his breath, he sifted through her memories. They were as they should be, which meant she hadn't a clue of what she'd just said. Her subconscious on the other hand...

Alründ laughed, but whether it hid his astonishment he couldn't be sure. It seemed there was more to fix than he'd first thought. And he didn't want to. He wanted to leave her like this, let the memories unfurl and restore themselves. He was about to say, 'Goodbye, Ash,' then remembered the last time he'd said that. It ended with her begging him not to leave. Agonizing.

He cupped her face, his hands appearing larger against her delicate features. She was breathless, like he was. He didn't need to read her thoughts. She wanted him to kiss her, and he was close. But Will was a barrier between them, which meant it was time for this to end.

Leaning down, he softly kissed her cheek. That's when he would begin the filtering, while she was distracted, while she was contemplating shifting her mouth to his. He knew that she was contemplating, because he was deep inside her head. It was a mess in there. Blotches of darkness where memories had been cut. Murky images that had been tampered with, still there in some form, but hardly recognizable to her consciousness.

One of those blurry images called to Alründ, the image becoming clearer the longer he focused. He saw himself through Ash's eyes. His hazy face refined into its usual pointed features. He wasn't hiding his oddities here. He must have been home, because there was no taping down his ears like now. His elongated ears jutted proudly through his hair. His hair was its usual sandy blond, but it was interwoven with vines of ivy here and there—a characteristic of his organic bloodline, one Alründ quite liked. But Lücan had found ways to make the ivy disappear while Alründ was guarding Ash. His skin had a silver sheen to it, an illusion made from the tiny liquid beads of life that run through it. The memory sharpened. They were alone in The Crystalline Forest, and he was having a rare moment of happiness. His smile was carefree, like hers. Tiny red blossoms and white peoré roses grew from her head, each vine winding around brown ringlets. He'd almost forgotten how much he loved admiring them. It had also been years since he'd seen her skin possess a golden sheen, but in the memory the gildé beads in her skin were like blaring sunshine.

He frowned.

Life beads only reacted that luminously when they were in overdrive, when they're speeding around the body with adrenaline, or lust...or love. But even then, she was brighter than any overdrive he'd ever seen.

He noticed they were slightly younger—a couple of years maybe. Although, the rest of the details were blurred in his mind. He suspected that Lücan had played a part in that. Always meddling. Always making Alründ meddle for him. He was sick of it. But he would do as instructed...

Tuning out the cars in the street, Alründ whispered, "Close your eyes."

Ash stared at him.

He admired that defiant streak in her. "Please?"

Reluctantly, she closed her eyes.

Guilt weighing on his mind, he tapped into Ash's most recent recollections, locating her arrival at the festival tonight, her parents dropping her off and telling her to be good. Pointless waste of breath. She was always good.

He skipped to when she was on stage, oblivious to the fact that Jasper, the fool, had asked her to dinner and a movie. Alründ would be having words with Jasper shortly.

Skip to Ash changing her hotdog order to a vegetarian falafel, followed by an encounter with a guy in the black beanie, who she'd labelled...

Warrior Guy?

He grunted a laugh. How does she keep coming up with these names for me?

Alründ wished he was still living that moment with her—the energy between them... He wanted to whisk her away and spend the festival with her—to talk, dance, get to know each other again. But no. Now his editing began. He cut her falafel decision completely, pushing the memory way down into her subconscious, alleviating a sure-fire trigger to bring back the old Ash. He didn't want to, but he cut the two of them meeting, dancing.

Skip to Will dancing with Ash, and Alründ was suddenly queasy. Not only was he jealous, he felt conniving as he slightly blurred Will's face, then chose snippets of conversation that might trigger her memory. Tonight, there were a lot. Ash would now remember her evening with Will as a harmless encounter, but her attraction to him would remain strong. Lücan's instructions.

Alründ's gut twisted.

Skip to Ash's shock when she saw that nameless girl joined to Alründ, followed by the girl running off and Alründ preening himself. Skip to when he'd turned and heard Will's thoughts: No. She is mine. She chose me over him long ago, and there is no turning back from that.

Skip to the part where Alründ had wanted to pound Will senseless, but he took it out on the thing closest to him. That poor tree had blasted into pieces. Such a crazy scene, a little too fantastical now that he was watching it back. It was one of the few moments in his life that he could honestly say he was ashamed of himself, especially when viewing it from Ash's perspective, feeling her disgust turn to confusion and hurt. Even now, he could feel her blood rush through her body as she relived it, her heart speeding, the first inklings of recognition of who he really was. He was still horrified that she'd discovered him with that girl, even though he'd given up hope of being with Ash years ago. The only way to get through the loss was to distract himself. With other girls. Lücan had made it quite clear that Ash and Will would be together in the future and Alründ could not jeopardize that. Ever.

Re-focusing on Ash's thoughts, he kept the story about Will being away in military school overseas, but with the possibility that they might reunite someday. Those were Lücan's instructions. To ask Alründ to do this was cruel.

Skip to the moment when Will had left. Ash's mother had called to say there was a canine emergency and she had to stay back at the clinic. It would be another fifteen minutes before she would arrive. And so Ash had remained hidden under the cover of trees, leaning against the donut stall, in case she was in need of protection.

Surely, the donut team will help, she'd decided.

Strange decision. Shadows were the worst of places to hide where Alründ came from. As for the donut team, they looked a little soft around the middle.

Skip to the moment when Ash startled upon seeing Alründ. In that moment he'd become clearer to her, jolted by another memory of The Crystalline Forest. The crystal leaves sung as she explored the green, pink, and purple leaves that were almost fluorescent in the twilight, their leaves winding to great heights. Wandering along a leaf strewn path, she rounded a corner and found Alründ sitting upon a mossy boulder. As if sensing her presence, his eyes locked on hers. Within seconds she was at that boulder, standing between his legs, kissing him as heatedly as he was kissing her, the beads in their skin so bright they were almost blinding.

Alründ was shocked. More than that, he was aroused.

Why don't I remember this?

Lücan must have stolen it from me.

When I see him next...

He clenched his fist, ready to pound the nearest tree into smithereens.

No. I must focus on Ash.

But why? Why take away her memories? I should return them all, because to be stripped of them is unconscionable. Because it would incense Lücan. The perfect revenge.

But I've started the process...

Feeling ill, he blurred her memory of the two of them in the forest, keeping it as a wash of images, like the strokes and blurs of an Impressionist painting, if he recalled his studies correctly.

He skipped to this moment, memorizing the feel of her soft skin and the curves of her jaw, her perfume that reminded him of peoré flower, blossom, and summer. He erased himself entirely from the scene in her mind. Ash now believed she had been waiting near the donut stall—alone. Very softly, he released her face and moved silently away. Once he'd rounded the back of the stall, he murmured, "Open your eyes."

Peering around the edge of the red and white striped tent, he waited until she had crossed the road and jumped inside her mother's van.

Now that Ash was gone, he traipsed further into the festival, barely giving heed to the crowd as he strode on through, bumping bodies as he went. He was greeted with the odd comment of abuse more than once, the odd threat of confrontation. He kept on walking. If he so much as reacted to any one of them, Lücan would no doubt reprimand him in some painful manner. As he reached the back of the stage, Immortal Kiss were packing up their instruments, and there was Jasper, kneeling on the ground, clipping his guitar case shut. Alründ tapped him on the shoulder.

"Yeah?" Jasper said, glancing back.

One look at Alründ and the singer leaped to his feet, followed by a quick bow of his head that was almost respectful. It didn't please Alründ, but any more formality between them would have looked peculiar to his bandmates. Besides, Jasper would be groveling by the time Alründ was through with him.

Asking Ash out on a date... One of the stupidest things Jasper has ever done.

"A word..." Alründ jerked his head toward a secluded spot at the edge of the parklands. Jasper nodded obediently, but his pulse-rates' skyrocketed. Alründ could hear them both from here. 142 bpm and climbing by the second.

The vindictive part of him smiled, though it wasn't visible.

* * *
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