Aria and Will Page 13

  “I need you to go lead the evacuation!”

  She froze and lowered her weapon, frowning. “You’re not taking me out of this fight,” she shouted back. “Don’t even think—”

  “Aria! Behind you!”

  Reacting on pure instinct, she raised her sword again and whirled back. A demon’s ax came crashing against the blade, rattling her down to her bones. She took a step back then attacked.

  “Are you trying to get yourself killed?”

  She gritted her teeth and didn’t respond to Will’s rebuke. If he hadn’t distracted her in the first place, she wouldn’t have made such a stupid mistake. She kept fighting, and after a few moments Will joined her.

  “I’ll finish this one,” he told her, giving her a quick glance from head to toe, no doubt checking if she was hurt. “Go back inside the walls and tell them I want the first five blocks evacuated.”

  Annoyed by the way he had jumped in, she tried to take over the fight again. What did he think he was doing?

  “Why don’t you call—”

  “I lost my com. I need someone who knows what they’re doing. You have led evacuations before. Go!”

  He punctuated his last word with a stab of his sword straight up the demon’s jaw and through its brain. When he turned toward her, Aria was scowling.

  “If you think you can keep me away from the battle like you did—”

  “Aria!”

  Flames burned bright in his eyes. She swallowed hard. She didn’t think she had ever seen him so angry.

  “This isn’t about you and me, right now! It’s about doing your job and following orders from your Commander! Go evacuate the first five blocks.”

  His free hand rose and for a brief moment she was sure he would push her away. Instead, he cupped her cheek and leaned in for a brief but searing kiss.

  “Go,” he repeated more gently. “Then come back to me.”

  Reassured that he wasn’t just trying to keep her off the battlefield, Aria turned away and ran off toward the walls. Will had better be careful until she came back.

  * * * *

  When Aria lay down in Will’s arms on a little cot just beyond the walls, the entire world disappeared.

  Gone were the fear of the human families she had helped evacuate and the memories of being evacuated, just like this, when she had been a child.

  Faded was her pride at how well she and Will fought together, guarding each other’s back without the need to speak, merely exchanging glances every now and then.

  Forgotten was her anger at how many soldiers had died already, and how many more would die before this was over.

  Despite the rain beating on the roof and walls of the tent, despite the not quite dry clothes she had changed into, despite the noises of battle in the distance, despite her knowledge that in a couple of hours they would need to return to the front, all she felt was summed up in one word. Safe.

  Curled against Will, with a battle raging just yards away, she slept better than she ever had.

  * * * *

  Aria had lost track of time. She didn’t know anymore how many days and nights had passed. She didn’t know how many times demons had pushed inside the walls before being pushed back. She didn’t know how many demons she had killed. She didn’t know how many times she had bent toward a throat she had just sliced to take a few mouthful of thick, rich blood. It tasted foul, but it helped her and the other vampires on the field keep their strength better than two or three hours of sleep here and there.

  She knew one thing, though. The entire time, the rain and wind hadn’t slowed down. It occurred to her, as she pulled her sword from yet another demon’s body and watched the rain wash off its blood from the blade in seconds, that such a long, unabated storm couldn’t be natural. Without taking a second to think about her hunch, she turned toward Will. He was fighting just a few feet away, as he had been during the entire battle, it seemed. She gathered her strength and moved toward him, too tired now to run in the sloshing mess of blood and mud that had long ago permeated her boots.

  “Will!”

  His eyes flickered toward her, but his focus remained on his adversary. Aria remained aware of her surroundings but allowed herself a few seconds of rest to watch him, as always in awe at the sense of ease each of his movements gave even after days of fighting practically non-stop. When he was done at last, he turned toward her, his raised eyebrows asking the question he wasn’t voicing. She motioned for him to come with her closer to the wall where they wouldn’t be as exposed.

  “The storm,” she said quickly. “It’s been lasting too long. It can’t be natural.”

  “Magic,” he said at once. “Damn it. I should have realized.”

  He cursed again and surveyed the battlefield in front of them, obviously thinking. Aria envied him the ability; she felt too tired for one more coherent thought. He had found a new mini-com the last time they had taken some rest and pulled it from a pocket inside his shirt, turning it on before he even slipped it inside his ear.

  “Wilhelm to central. Respond.”

  Not fifty feet away, a demon had noticed them and was charging, an axe in one hand and a sword in the other. Aria raised her sword, ready for the attack yet aware of the conversation going on behind her.

  “Call the strongest mages back from the hospital and—”

  The demon was only a few feet away; Aria pushed herself into action, meeting it with a clash of metal on metal.

  “Yes, I know they’re needed there, but I need them. They have to stop the storm.”

  The first thing to do, Aria had learned, long before, during her Cadet training, was to take away one of the two weapons. Most demons were right-handed, and tended to drop their guard on the left. She found an opening, took it, and sliced the demon’s left wrist. It roared in pain and only attacked with more rage.

  “No, I’m not joking. I want those clouds gone within an hour and the brightest sun they can give me.”

  Attack. Parry. Side step. Repeat.

  “I know. You’ll need to ring the sunrise bell just before they do it so all vamps can find cover.”

  Aria’s foot slipped in the mud and she tumbled forward onto her knees, reacting just in time to raise her sword above her and protect herself from a blow, then another, but unable to stand again with the demon looming over her.

  “I don't have time to explain now. Do it. Wilhelm out.”

  The next time the demon struck, Will’s sword was there to deflect the blow and push it back. Aria jumped to her feet at once and attacked, a fresh surge of energy fueling her. They put the demon to death together.

  * * * *

  As I recall, no more than twenty minutes passed between that call and the sunrise alarms chiming over the walls. All over the battlefield, vampires looked up at the sky and at the clouds cover. It was as dark, as impenetrable as it had been for the past three days. They knew to obey the call back alarm, though, and all of them broke away from their fights, leaving humans to fend for themselves and liking it no more than I did. At the same time as they ran back to the city’s entrance, human troops poured out, no doubt the fighters who had been resting until that moment. I knew some of the humans would feel betrayed, and I could only hope it would be worth it. Aria and I retreated as well.

  All of us found cover in the connected tents that had been erected just two streets away and where we had all rested, a few hours at a time. There weren’t enough beds for all of us, but even if they didn’t understand why they had been called back, most vampires found a place to sit or lie down, a lot of them looking at me, knowing I had to know what was going on. I didn’t say anything, not yet, and just waited.

  First, the rain stopped, and after hours upon hours of the steady pounding of water, the silence was almost blissful. Then, the clouds cover broke. Even from inside the tents, it was easy to realize what was happening as everything, suddenly, seemed to be brighter. I turned on my mini-com and waited, feeling very tense suddenly. Aria startled me when s
he stepped closer to me and rested her head on my shoulder, but after an instant I curled my free arm around her, accepting her comfort. The first reports came within seconds.

  “The demons are confused!”

  “Look eastward! Some of them are breaking away!”

  I let out a relieved sigh. Aria pressed her lips to my neck. It was working. Demons don’t burn if exposed to sunlight as vampires do, but they hate the sun, and if given a choice they will find shade rather than remain exposed. Their strongest leaders can keep them fighting, sometimes, but they had to be just as tired as we were—at least, that was what I had been hoping.

  My eyes swept the tent and a few questions fused here and there.

  “Rest,” I said, making my voice as strong as I could even through my exhaustion. “In—” I glanced down at my watch. “—three and a half hours, night will fall and we’ll finish the demons.”

  Aria pulled away from me, took my hand and led me to a cot. We lay down together again, our swords on the ground beneath us. I left the mini-com on, certain I wouldn’t be able to sleep, but I did. Aria’s arms were like a cocoon around me, keeping everything that wasn’t us at bay.

  Three hours and twenty seven minutes later, the sun set. All of us vampires returned to the fight. The humans had held on, and when we came out we crushed the demons that hadn’t retreated in front of the sun.

  That was when it happened again.

  Aria got hurt.

  She had been magnificent for the past three days, and seeing her fight had inspired me to try to reach beyond my own abilities. Yes, she had guessed right, I would have kept her out of harm’s way if I had been able to, but we needed everyone. It was one of hardest fights we had ever fought but I had never been so determined. And so was Aria. I suppose both of us kept at the back of our mind that kiss and the promises it held. We fought hard. We finally won. And it was only when I turned to her when the victory bells chimed that I noticed how strong the scent of blood was on her.

  I knew, objectively, that she couldn’t die of a flesh wound, but my fears didn’t listen to what I knew, and instead they brought me back to those two times when she had been badly wounded before. The first time, I had gone to the hospital with her but had had to leave her to Lorenzo’s care. The second time, I had been too late. This time, I wasn’t letting her out of my sight.

  I picked her up, gave my orders and told my subordinates I’d be back in an hour, then I carried her to a truck that was going back to the base—back home—so I could take care of her. The hospital was too busy with humans; by my own orders, vampires had to deal with their injuries on their own or wait a few hours to be seen. She tried to get me to let her down when we got to the elevator, even tried to wiggle out of my arms, but all she did was hurt herself more.

  “I can walk,” she said, pouting. “I’m not some stupid damsel in distress who can’t take care of herself.”

  I couldn’t help myself. I laughed, oblivious to the looks the other Guard soldiers riding the elevator gave us. “No, you definitely are no such thing. But walking will only make your leg worse. The demons will be back. I need you to heal fast.”

  Her arms tightened a little around my neck. “Say that again,” she murmured.

  We had just reached my floor. I stepped out of the elevator, frowning. “Say what? That I need you to—”

  “Yes. That.”

  I understood and pressed my lips to her forehead before I said it again. “I need you.”

  It was all a terrible idea, I knew it. Both of us had too much resting on our shoulders to be involved together. I should have been assessing the damage at that moment rather than taking her inside my apartment, even if I didn’t plan to stay there long. Knowing it was a bad idea, however, did not stop me—not when she said those same words to me, along with a few more that made my stomach flip in a very curious manner.

  “I need you too. I love you.”

  Chapter 17

  “I love you.”

  Just saying the words filled Aria with giddiness. She had been waiting to say them to Wilhelm for a long time—for all her life, it sometimes seemed. She wouldn’t tire of it, especially if Will continued to answer by kissing her as though his life depended on it. She let out a little sigh when he ended the kiss to finally pass the threshold of his apartment, and closed her eyes. The past few days had been harrowing, she was both exhausted and hurt, but she couldn’t imagine a more perfect instant.

  “You should take a shower to clean the wound.”

  Perfection ended with those words. She opened her eyes to find that he had carried her into the bathroom. Despite herself, she groaned. After three days and nights spent almost entirely in the rain, the prospect of a hot shower didn’t sound as appealing as it usually did after a fight.

  “Great,” she muttered. “More water.”

  He was laughing when he finally let her touch the floor. For a moment, she thought he would leave her to undress and clean up on her own. However, he squatted down in front of her and untied the laces of her heavy boots before pulling them off. When he stood again, there were just inches between them in the small bathroom. Aria swallowed heavily when he unbuttoned her jacket and pushed it off her shoulders. Had she been human still, she would have been bright red by the time he had helped her down to her underwear, being especially careful as he pulled her fatigues over her injured leg. She dropped her gaze and cleared her throat. She tried to keep her voice level, but even so it shook a little when she said:

  “Maybe we could take that shower together. You know, share the hot water.”

  The spicy note of lust in his scent suddenly increased tenfold, but as tempted as he seemed to be, Will didn’t take her offer. “Maybe another time. I’ll get clothes for you. Dry clothes. And then we’ll look at that wound.”

  She glanced down at her leg for the first time. Her desire faded at once. She understood, now, why Will had been so insistent in carrying her rather than allowing her to walk. The wound looked ugly, the edges jagged and exposing enough muscle to make her squeamish. She was so tired, the pain barely even registered in her mind. Without thinking, she raised her hand; immediately, his own was there, taking hold of her and reassuring her.

  “You okay?”

  Looking back up, she could see the worry on his face. She knew he had been worrying about her for years, but it seemed like the first time he had ever shown it. She nodded, unable to push a word past the lump in her throat. Even after he had left her, she still felt a little awed that she had finally broken through his reluctance to admit his feelings.

  She finished undressing, stepped inside the shower stall and set the water as hot as it would go. The hot jet, as always, lasted just long enough for a quick wash and rinse, but even so it warmed her down to the bones. She hadn’t realized she was so cold. The wound on her thigh stung under the soapy water, as did a dozen other small cuts on her body. During the fight, she hadn’t let herself become aware of the pain, but now she had nothing left to distract her mind from it.

  When it was time to get out, she found a fresh towel by the sink, along with a t-shirt and boxers. She hadn’t even heard Will come back in. She dried herself and put it all on, grinning like a child at the simple idea that she was wearing his clothes. Supporting her weight on her good leg, she limped out. Will called out to her from the bedroom.

  “In here.”

  He had changed into fresh clothes too and toweled his hair dry. Leaving a first aid kit on the edge of the bed, he came to her and wrapped an arm around her waist to help her to the bed. Kneeling down at her feet, he opened the kit and pulled out a syringe that wasn’t part of the standard Guard first aid supplies.

  “I know what I’m doing,” he said when he noticed her anxious look. “I’ve had to do this so often on myself, I’ve become pretty decent at it.”

  She silently agreed that he was a more than decent medic when he injected the numbing agent in four places around her wound and she barely even felt the pricks of the
needle. He then cleaned the wound with quick, efficient movements.

  “I learned the hard way,” he continued as he pulled out a needle and surgical thread from the kit. “And then eventually a doctor taught me to do it the proper way.”

  He looked up at her face before bringing the needle to her skin. She tightened her hands on the edge of the bed and nodded. “I trust you.”

  She kept her eyes on the wall behind him as he worked. She could hardly feel a thing, but she couldn’t bear to watch.

  “It’ll scar,” he said after a moment, “but in a few years, it’ll start fading.”

  She risked a glance down when she realized he was reaching for the gauze and bandages in the kit. The three inches long wound was now sewn shut with small, even stitches. Will covered it with a square of gauze that he taped to her thigh before wrapping a bandage over it.

  She didn’t say anything, but she could admit to herself that she didn’t care how long the scar would take to fade. As long as it lasted, she would have a reminder of the first battle they hadn’t fought only side by side, but truly together.

  When he was done, he reached up to caress her cheek. Aria luxuriated in the feel of his touch. She covered his hand with hers.

  “Thank you,” she said very quietly.

  He smiled and stood, leaving his hand against her face.

  “I need to get back to the walls.”

  She nodded. She had known something like this would come. She was even a little surprised he had given her so much time.

  “Rest,” he said. “Heal. I’ll be back as soon as I can.”

  He leaned down to kiss her forehead. She bit down on the inside of her cheek so she wouldn’t let out those protests that wouldn’t help a thing. The last thing she wanted was to argue with him now. She allowed him to tuck her in, and even closed her eyes as she listened to him leaving the apartment. Once the door had clicked shut behind him, she waited for a few more minutes to give him time to leave the building and get a good head start on her. When she realized she was falling asleep, she figured she had waited long enough. To rest as he had admonished her would have been heavenly, but she couldn’t shirk her responsibilities—not any more than he could.