Aria and Will Read online

  It was Jonas who answered. “It’s the necessary first step to salvaging the Guard and saving Newhaven. Bergsen had started training those two, true, but he never formally appointed them as his replacements. They weren’t ready, and if four years didn’t teach them anything, they never will be.”

  “And you want Will…” She shook her head. “No. If he was interested, he wouldn’t have pulled back when they asked him to after Bergsen died.”

  They looked at each other at that, and Aria had a feeling she was missing something. “What?”

  “They asked him,” Jonas said. “Actually, they asked me to ask him. But he had already been pulling away for a few weeks before that. A lot of us noticed at the time, but it wasn’t our place to say anything. Bergsen talked to him about it, I think, and he came back to some extent—”

  Aria felt completely lost. “Wait. Bergsen talked to him about what?”

  “Aria, don’t you know?” Mary sounded almost sorry for her. “He pulled away after you… were turned.”

  “I fought by this man’s side for decades,” Jonas added as though Mary had not spoken. “Your death was the only time I ever saw him miss a battle.”

  What do you mean, she wanted to ask, but the words refused to come. She knew what he meant. She had known for years, or at least suspected. All she needed to finally know for sure was for Wilhelm to put it into words. She sometimes despaired that he would.

  * * * *

  It was a slow night, one of those nights when the bright full moon hung low in the sky and cast long shadows, making everyone see demons where the wind played over the leaves of the trees. Soldiers grew restless, on such nights, certain that battle was coming but unsure when exactly. There were few things worse than high-strung soldiers. Aria knew that as well as anyone who had ever been in a position of leadership. Alertness was good; jumpiness, not so much. She needed something to distract her troops, and she had found just the solution.

  Her sword clashed against Wilhelm’s as she parried his attack, the sound muffled by the leather strips that covered both blades. A few of the soldiers around them cheered.

  “Not giving up, yet?” Wilhelm asked, a small smile on his lips.

  “Why would I?” she shot back, stepping sideways before feinting to the right and slashing her sword toward his left, where he had let down his guard. “You’re sloppy.”

  Wilhelm stumbled back inelegantly, just in time to avoid her blow. Laughter and heckling rose in the loose circle of observers, but he didn’t seem to be affected by them.

  “You’re right, I am sloppy.”

  She watched, bemused, as he switched the sword to his right hand.

  “This should help,” he said, and launched a new attack on her, faster than any so far.

  Surprised, it was all she could do to block his sword at the last second. She felt her bones rattle at the force of the blow.

  “You were playing with me!” she accused, indignant, as she lashed out at him again.

  “Not playing. Just… leveling the field.”

  She could hear her soldiers laughing and calling out to her, but she paid them no mind, entirely focused on Wilhelm. “I don’t need any help to defeat you.”

  “I didn’t say you did. I just have a little more experience—”

  It was over in a flash, with the unmistakable call to arms sounding over the walls. Demons were approaching. Aria lowered her sword at the same time as Wilhelm did, and both of them pulled the leather strips off their blades. The time for games had passed.

  “Soldiers, to your posts,” Aria called, her eyes running over the circle around her and Wilhelm. “Get ready and be safe, all of you, or I’ll kick your asses all the way to the hospital.”

  They broke away, all of them focused already, but the sour smell of dread and anticipation that had prevailed earlier was gone. She caught Wilhelm’s smile and slight headshake as she turned back to him, and raised an eyebrow at him.

  “What?”

  “Nothing.” He grinned. “I was just admiring your uncanny speech-making abilities.”

  She threw him a mock glare. “Glad you like them, because that order was good for you, too.”

  His smile softened and he saluted her with his sword. “As you say, ma’am.”

  * * * *

  “Anyway, we’re pretty sure if you ask him, and if you tell him the Majors are about to have you thrown out, he’ll take the job.”

  Jonas fell silent. When she looked around the room, Aria could see that they were all waiting for her answer.

  “You all agree on that,” she said slowly. “Which means, you must have discussed it before tonight. Why didn’t you ever tell me?”

  Embarrassed looks were shared all around, but no explanation came. Aria couldn’t help suspecting that some of them might have been ready to let the Majors sacrifice her.

  “What’s important,” Mary said, “is that we all do agree. And it has to happen now, unless you feel like going through that trial tomorrow.”

  Five minutes later, Aria was knocking on Wilhelm’s door.

  * * * *

  She hadn’t come to me since before she had been turned. She had kissed me, that night, and I had realized just how much she meant to me.

  After all these years, I was surprised to see her there, but at the same time, I wasn’t. She had sought me out almost every night for the past two weeks, and on the nights she hadn’t, I had gone to her. After four years of craving her presence, it was heaven to finally talk to her, spar with her, fight by her side. Heaven and hell, all at once, because if I remembered that kiss as though it had happened just the previous night, she had given me no hint that she was open to a repeat.

  I was in bed when she knocked on my door, and still half asleep when I opened it—half asleep, and half naked. I guess I should be thankful that at least I had boxers on. I invited her in, suddenly fully awake and self-conscious. I’m not sure I imagined the way her eyes traced my body.

  “Just give me a minute,” I said. “I’ll throw some clothes on.”

  Rather than sitting in the living room as I expected her to, she followed me to the bedroom, and I could feel her gaze on me as I put on pants and a t-shirt.

  “I’m going to be thrown out of the Guard,” she said when, decent, I turned back to her.

  I stared at her, confused. She was leaning against the doorway, arms crossed, and looking much too calm for someone who had just claimed the only thing they cared about was about to be taken from them.

  “What do you mean, thrown out?”

  “The Majors apparently have built a case against me. And tomorrow, they’re attacking.”

  Every word she added only confused me more. It didn’t help that we were in my bedroom and my mind insisted on reminding me of that one kiss—and of the other things I had dreamed of sharing with her. I gestured toward the hallway, and she took my hint, preceding me to the kitchen. Coffee seemed a necessity, even if I despised the rations of insta-coffee that all members of the Guard received.

  “It’d be ridiculous for them to try to get rid of you. You’re one of their best battle leaders.”

  The microwave beeped, and I retrieved the two cups. She answered while I had my back to her.

  “I thought you’d be happy. You never wanted me to be part of the Guard to begin with.”

  I turned back to her so fast that coffee sloshed over the edge of one cup and burned my fingers. I ground my teeth rather than let myself curse, and glared at her.

  “It’s much too early for mind games, Aria. I didn’t want you in the Guard because I was afraid you’d get yourself killed. I was right, wasn’t I?”

  She took the cup I was offering her and glared back. “I didn’t die. I was turned. You of all people should understand the difference.”

  If I hadn’t been so tired, I might have argued the point and reminded her of everything she had lost when she had become a vampire. The truth, though, is that I didn’t want to argue with her anymore. That had n
ever helped. Instead, I kept quiet and drank a mouthful of coffee.

  “Will… There was nothing you could have done about it. You do realize that, right?”

  It was hard to believe such a thing, especially seeing how I was the one who had placed Lorenzo in the position to become her Sire. And if Lorenzo had still been around, I’d never have voiced what I said next.

  “I miss your heartbeat every time I look at you.”

  She stared at me, eyes wide and bright, the cup raised halfway to her lips.

  “It doesn’t mean I haven’t accepted what you are,” I finished, already regretting the words.

  She found her voice again. “A vampire, like you.”

  “No. A fighter. More than I ever was. I became what I am today because I was forced to. You… you were born for it. It took me a long time to understand that, but you prove it, every night.”

  Again, she stared. She was touched. I could see as much. What I didn’t see coming was the coffee-flavored kiss she pressed to my lips before pulling away as fast as she had leaned in.

  “Thank you,” she murmured. “And if you really think so, I need your help.”

  “With the Majors?” I asked, remembering her first words.

  She nodded. “The other Heads of Squadron approached me tonight. They agree with you that the Majors would be stupid to get rid of me. They… we also think the Guard has been declining ever since Bergsen died, ever since you stepped back and let the Majors do as they pleased. That’s why we want you back in. We want you to take over the Guard. What do you say?”

  If anybody else had given me that speech, I’d have laughed and sent them packing. But it wasn’t just about taking over the Guard. It was about helping her keep the only thing she cared about. And it wasn’t just anybody. It was Aria.

  What could I say other than yes?

  Chapter 14

  Despite the decades-old war against demons, Newhaven’s schools had never closed for more than a few days at a time, something the City Council, Board of Education, and Teachers’ Union were all claiming as their own achievement. How much students learned, however, depended on many factors, including whether they attended school regularly or were pulled out to attend Cadet classes.

  Aria had always been more interested in learning how to fight than about history, and so her memories were sketchy on that subject, but as she watched Wilhelm make his first speech to the Guard, she was rather certain that few military coups throughout the ages had taken place as easily as the one he had performed.

  Hours after she had asked him to make a stand against the Majors, Wilhelm had marched into the office they shared, all the Heads of Squadrons at his back, and offered Carter and Stevenson an alternative. They could leave the city, or they could return to fighting alongside the rest of the Guard beneath one of the Heads of Squadron.

  There had been some incredulous sputtering, some loud demands that Wilhelm be arrested, some outraged calls of mutiny, but in the end, they had needed to admit that their reign over the Guard was over. Both had chosen to leave on a convoy of trucks on its way east. Aria was glad they had, and not only because they had targeted her. Fighting by their sides would have been awkward for everyone, and she, for one, would always have expected them to try to regain control.

  The thought of the Majors didn’t bother her for more than a few seconds, however, not when she was witnessing such an extraordinary event.

  “He’s good, isn’t he?” Mary murmured, leaning in closer to her.

  Aria merely nodded her agreement. After the Majors had been escorted back to their quarters to gather their possessions, Jonas had suggested to Wilhelm that he ought to talk to the Guard to ease the transition. The look on Wilhelm’s face at that thought had been pure distaste. And yet, after some prodding, he had agreed that it was necessary. Before noon, word had been sent out to every soldier in the Guard that an unprecedented assembly would take place in the mess hall at three in the afternoon.

  The place was the largest in the camp, but even so it was packed from wall to wall, and the last to arrive were standing in the hallway, peering over everybody else’s heads to get a glimpse of Wilhelm. Standing on an improvised podium, he had started speaking at three o’clock sharp, and had been doing so for almost twenty minutes now. Aria had never heard him speak like this before; she had never imagined he was capable of holding an audience captive with what seemed like such ease.

  Still, she hadn’t listened to more than the first few sentences he had offered the Guard, when cheers and clapping had made it clear they accepted him as their new leader. Her mind, since then, had been drifting between past and future, reminding her of everything she had shared with Wilhelm up to that day, and of what she hoped to share with him in the future.

  From his demeanor and what he had said, she knew he had accepted command of the Guard more for her, to protect her, than because of a desire to lead. She needed to thank him, she decided. And she knew just the way.

  * * * *

  An hour after the end of Wilhelm’s speech, Aria knocked on his office door. The office assistant had assured her he was in there, but no reply came. She knocked again, with the same lack of result. Frowning slightly, she rested her free hand on the door handle and pushed gently. The door opened easily, revealing a darkened room.

  “Will?” she called in.

  “I asked not to be disturbed.”

  Ignoring him, she stepped inside and found the light switch. Bright light flooded the small room, revealing Wilhelm with his elbows on his desk and his head in his hands. It was almost hard to mesh this image with the one he had given during his speech. The strength he had exuded then, with his impeccable dark uniform and a sword at his side, seemed to have entirely disappeared. The sword was on the floor, as though he had let it fall there, and his shirt was unbuttoned at the wrists and collar, making him seem oddly vulnerable.

  “I said—”

  “I heard you the first time.” She crossed the three steps to his desk and laid six white roses in front of him, before sitting on the only chair facing the desk.

  He looked at the flowers and let out a bark of laughter as he sat back in his chair. He shook his head, clearly amused, and she grinned at him.

  “It’s a good thing I don’t believe in omens,” he said, gesturing at the flowers. “Especially today.”

  “I wouldn’t have brought them if you did.”

  He reached toward the flowers as though to touch the soft petals, but pulled back his hand before he did. When he looked up at her again, his amusement had entirely disappeared.

  “What brings you here, Aria?”

  She closed her fist on her knee, where he couldn’t see it. Why were the words so difficult to summon, suddenly?

  “I came to congratulate you,” she finally said, though it wasn’t what she had meant to say. “It was a great speech.”

  For a few seconds, he stared at her in silence. His expression couldn’t have been grimmer.

  “Bergsen tried to convince me to talk to the Guard for twenty years,” he said at last, very slowly. “I never wanted to, not any more than I want these new responsibilities. I told them today that I would lead Newhaven toward a safer future, and the entire time all I could think was that I didn’t belong on that podium.”

  The revelation left Aria dumbfounded. She hadn’t listened to the entirety of his speech, but she had heard the tone of his voice, had seen his demeanor, and had witnessed the reaction of the crowd. He might not have meant what he’d said, but he had convinced everyone else that he did.

  “You did belong there,” she assured him, putting all her conviction in her words. “You were great. And you will be great as a leader.”

  She stood as she spoke without realizing what she was doing, and went to pick up the sword on the floor with the same mindlessness. He pivoted in his chair to face her as she stood next to him. She presented him with the weapon, holding it in her open palms.

  “You said I was born to fight, but
you… You were born to lead.”

  Long seconds passed before he took the sword. He laid it across the desk, and the scabbard crushed one of the roses.

  “Of course you say so,” he said with a little sigh. “I just saved your neck.”

  She gave him the most serious look she was capable of. “No, I say so because it’s true. I’ve watched you fight for years. I’m not the only one who thought it was a pity you didn’t have any official title to lead us to battle, because that’s what you did. Led us. Inspired us.”

  A slight frown made it clear that he wasn’t convinced. “Don’t be silly. I don’t—”

  Aria didn’t want to hear it. She knew Wilhelm’s special brand of denial all too well; she wasn’t interested in witnessing another round of it. And she knew, also, exactly how to stop him in his tracks.

  Resting her hands on each of the armrests of his chair, she leaned down to him and covered his mouth with hers. She had caught him mid-word with his lips parted. Without hesitating, she took the opportunity to slip her tongue in to meet his. At first, he didn’t respond to her gentle touch, his unnatural stillness and too wide eyes revealing his shock. As she persisted in kissing him, however, as lightly, as sweetly as she had dreamed of doing for so long, his hands came to rest on her hips and pulled her forward. After some shuffling, she found herself on his lap, her knees on either side of him, his arms around her waist and her hands clutching his shoulders.

  The sweetness of the kiss she had initiated was gone, replaced by fire. She had dreamed of this moment, but she had never imagined—she had never dared hope—that Wilhelm would match her passion and need like this. How could she have known, when for years he hadn’t said more than a few words to her?

  She felt herself melt in his arms, felt her fears and insecurities disappear, felt herself become lightheaded and breathless and a little giddy, until she was sure she had to be dreaming. She had to assure herself this was truly happening; she needed to. Pulling away, she tentatively rested her hand on Wilhelm’s cheek. It was as soft, as strong beneath her touch as she had thought it would be. Just an inch from her fingertips, his eyelids batted a couple of times before opening on hazel eyes she had never seen from this close. Golden flecks seemed to light up the brown, making them sparkle. Then he blinked, and the fire was gone.