Soulless (Maiden of Time Book 2) by Crystal Collier Page A

tried so hard to save her aunt, and still she’d been lost.
    His piercing eyes delved into her, like plunging a sword made of water through her being. “You have made so many sacrifices for me. You have made me what I am.”
    A chilly wind prickled over her arms. She glanced back over her shoulder as the breeze faded, unable to meet his stare. “ You have made you what you are.”
    “Before meeting you, I was a selfish young man who cared only for the family and life he had lost.”
    Alexia laughed. “You? Selfish? That is impossible.”
    He brought her fingers to his lips, grinning. “Would you like to know a secret?”
    She nodded anxiously.
    He leaned in to her ear. “That morning on the roof, that was not the first time I kissed you.”
    “What?”
    Kiren’s cheek dimpled, pulling at his scar. “The night of your sixteenth birthday, you were entrenched in nightmares. It pained me to see you thus, and I...”
    She gasped. “You did not!”
    He smirked.
    She covered her mouth, cheeks threatening to split for her smile. “How did I not wake?”
    “You did.” He waggled his eyebrows. “But I escaped before you discovered me.” The mirth faded. “As you will recall, I had determined you should not know me and feared it would be my only chance to experience your lips.”
    She jerked free of his grasp. “You rogue!”
    “Guilty.” He chuckled.
    She crossed her arms. “How dare you sneak into young girls’ rooms and force yourself upon them!”
    “Only one.” He touched her nose. “And I knew even then I should love her far deeper than I dared.”
    The confession melted through her bones. Twirling her arms around his neck, she pushed up onto her toes, and whispered, “That was not the only time we met, the evening when you stole a kiss?”
    “Hardly. When you were seven, you injured your ankle in the woods. I carried you home. That memory was taken at your father’s request.”
    “What else?”
    “Every winter, when I came to heal your surrogate mother, I’d find you waiting in the hall—always the same place. Sometimes we would talk. Sometimes you would stare. Every time I found it nigh impossible to leave.”
    She squeezed closer and shivered for joy.
    He asked, “Do you remember returning home after Sarah’s wedding?”
    Focusing, she tried to bring the memory back. “When I was eleven?”
    Kiren nodded. “You were so distraught. That night I joined you in the nursery and read to you until the sun rose.”
    It was one of her strongest memories, but she’d never been able to identify the reader. She’d always assumed it was a servant who no longer worked under Father’s employ.
    He kissed her cheek. “Edward only took what was necessary.”
    “That memory is what spurred me into reading for comfort. The words were such a balm. You were such a balm.” Alexia tickled a finger down his neck. “Tell me more,” she whispered.
    “When you were quite young, I often met you and Sarah in the woods. You called me the woodsman , and I thought it adorable. We would play games, and Miles usually joined us. It was the only true play he experienced.” His smile faded.
    “I knew Miles as well?” Alexia teased his collar.
    His head tilted, pain clenched in the wrinkles about his eyes.
    She slipped free from him, guilty and saddened for bringing Miles up and the part she played in his absence. In exchange for her, Miles had given the Soulless access to his mind, to his knowledge of Kiren’s entire infrastructure—along with his gift, his seeing through others’ eyes . He would forever be running from the Soulless, and all because of her.
    She hated herself for coming between them. Miles had been like a son to him, a prodigy gone wrong, a danger and blessing all in one.
    Alexia touched Kiren’s arm.
    He focused on her. “He is strong. He will be happy.”
    She nodded.
    “Come now,” Kiren twirled her about, a teasing smirk twisting his mouth upward. “I believe we have a wedding to