Aria and Will Read Free Page A

beginning of the festivities.”
    Information exchanged, Wilhelm flipped his phone shut
and hailed the two soldiers who were about to walk into the fenced yard of a
house.
    “I’ll take this one,” he told them. “Move on to the
next house.”
    The two women exchanged a quick glance. No doubt, they
found it strange that he would take part in the evacuation himself. He owed
them no explanation however, and at his raised eyebrow, they saluted him before
hurrying off to the next yard. One of them was a vampire, but he could never
have guessed from simply looking at her if he hadn’t recruited her himself. The
first vampires who had joined the Guard had demanded a special insignia, but
Wilhelm had fought that idea with all his might. Distinguishing between humans
and vampires would have led to nothing good.
    He couldn’t help glancing at the second floor window
as he walked toward the front door. The light was on behind the pink curtains
despite the late hour. The wooden lattice that had once run down the facade of
the house had been torn away days after he had visited the house, almost a year
earlier.
    He raked his fingers through his messy curls when he
reached the door, then pressed the bell. The three chimes were the same as he
remembered, but when the door opened, the woman behind it was much different
from the grief-struck widow he had once met. A hint of fear clung to her scent,
but she showed none of it and the way she stood straight screamed her
determination.
    “Your street is being evacuated,” he said, wondering
if she would recognize him. “Your family has three minutes to pack one bag
before we take you to safety.”
    He saw her gulp, but she nodded before turning back
toward the inside of the house and calling out very calmly: “Paul, Aria, we’re
leaving.”
    Within seconds, the two children were descending the
staircase while their mother picked up the travel bag resting against the wall.
Clearly, they had listened to the emergency instructions broadcasted earlier.
If everyone had prepared like them, Wilhelm thought grimly, the evacuation
could have been finished in half the time.
    Both Paul and Ariadne opened wide eyes when they saw
Wilhelm, and the girl gave him a shy smile; they recognized him, even if their
mother did not, but neither of them said anything as she motioned for them to
step out. She closed and locked the door behind her; when she rested her palm
against the white wood for an instant, her lips moving soundlessly, Wilhelm
guessed that she was praying she would still have a home when it was over. He
felt a slight pang at that. There was no place he called home anymore. No place
he would miss if he needed to leave town.
    “The trucks are this way,” he gestured toward the end
of the street, and the three humans started walking behind him. There were
other groups walking up the street, all of them accompanied by soldiers. They
had learned the hard way that they needed to accompany the evacuees to the
trucks if they wanted a fast evacuation.
    Wilhelm was startled when a small, warm hand slipped
into his. He looked down and met Ariadne’s eyes. She had grown, since he had
first met her, and her head almost reached his shoulder.
    “You’re Will, aren’t you?” she asked quietly.
    “And you’re Ariadne. I remember you.”
    Her smile widened, just a little.
    “I’ve seen you,” she murmured. “When you walk down our
street. You always look at my window.”
    Both Paul and his mother were observing the exchange,
Wilhelm noticed, and neither seemed pleased by it. Uncomfortable, he freed his
hand from Ariadne’s.
    “I just wanted to make sure you were safe,” he
replied, shrugging to make his words more casual. “You haven’t been walking
around at night anymore, have you?”
    A quiet gasp from the mother revealed that she
understood, at last, who Wilhelm was. When he glanced at her, she looked away,
her cheeks suddenly very pale.
    “I haven’t,” Ariadne said with a shake of