Vampirates 5: Empire of Night (36 page)

"Buddy, do you reckon that's
blood
in Grace's glass?" Bart asked him.

"I don't know," Connor said, somewhat bored. "What's this new obsession of yours with Grace?" Nevertheless, he found himself looking over once more, just in time to witness her taking a long sip from her glass. As she did so, the hunger was evident in her eyes. Could she
actually
be knocking back blood like it was grape juice? It was possible. He couldn't condemn her. As his eyes circled the room, he was suddenly aware of all the blood in close proximity. In glasses. In bottles. He could smell it. Taste it. He wanted it. Now.

"Connor?" He felt Bart grip his arm. "Buddy, did you hear what I said?"

Connor was torn from his reverie. He turned to Bart and noticed his friend's expression. "What's wrong?" Connor asked. "You look like you've seen a ghost."

"Not a ghost!" Bart rasped. "For a moment there, you had actual fire in your eyes."

Connor shrugged. "It happens when I get the hunger. It happens to us all."

There was a haunted look on Bart's face. "I remember when I first saw Jez--I mean Stukeley--look that way. And now you share the same look."

"Don't worry," Connor said. "I'm not about to lean over and puncture your neck, if that's what you're concerned about. I have it under control."

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Bart frowned. "How can you be so sure?"

"Can we
please
talk about something besides blood?" Connor asked impatiently.

Bart nodded, glad to see that his friend's eyes were now back to normal once more.

"Tell me about my old friends." Connor found the words exiting his mouth before he had time to censor them. "Tell me about Cate."

"Of course!" Bart exclaimed, smiling. "In fact, there's something I've been meaning to tell you all day. You know how close Catie and I've gotten of late?"

Connor nodded.

"Well, I've made a decision. When I get back to
The Tig
..." He swallowed his words, aware of his audience, then lowered his voice. "When I get back, I'm going to ask her to marry me."

"You are?" Connor's face broke into a huge grin. "That's awesome news."

Bart nodded and patted his pocket. "I found my gran's wedding ring. It was in that old sea chest I've been lugging around with me all this time. I'm going to give it to Catie."

"I'm really happy for you," Connor said, reaching out to hug his friend.

"I hope you'll think about coming back for our wedding."

"Sure," Connor said, for want of anything better to say. "I'll think about it."

Watching from a distance, Lola prodded Sidorio. "The

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hunky Australian certainly seems to have cheered up Connor. That's the first time I've seen him smile properly in nights."

Sidorio nodded but frowned. "You do know which ship Bart's from, don't you?"

"
The Diablo
, right?" Lola said. "Presumably he was one of the lucky pirates out on the lash when Johnny and the girls took over the ship."

Sidorio shook his head. "He
was
on
The Diablo
originally, with Connor and Stukeley--when Stuke was on the other side. But now, he's been seconded to
The Tiger
."

"
The Tiger
?" Lola's eyes widened. "The ship of would-be assassins? The ones who tried to off me at our wedding breakfast? The next ship on our list?"

Sidorio nodded. "Yes, my dear, the very same." He turned to her. "Don't you find it quite some coincidence that he should turn up out of the blue tonight--the very night before we mount our attack?"

"You think the little pirates know something?"

Sidorio shrugged. "We can't rule it out," he said. "Though I don't see how they could. Do you?"

"No," Lola shook her head. "Maybe he
is
just here to see his old friend. It's clear they have a genuine bond." Her eyes were glued to Bart now. "I wonder, though... do you think he's here to tell Connor something? No, not to tell him but to
ask
him something. About us? About our ambitions, perhaps?"

Sidorio shrugged. "Who knows? But I don't want him

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going back to
The Tiger
before Obsidian Darke and his team head out there tomorrow night. It's in our interest to keep that pirate here, under our radar, for the next twenty-four hours."

Lola nodded. Then her eyes grew diamond-bright. "Darling, I have an even better idea. Seeing as he makes Connor so very happy, why don't we keep Bart here indefinitely?"

"What are you suggesting?" Sidorio asked.

Lola leaned closer and whispered in her husband's ear.

"A-hem, a-hem!" Stukeley interrupted. He had climbed onto a chair and was signaling to the rest of the room. "Ladies and gentlemen, if I could have your attention for one moment."

"If you break that Chippendale, you'll have far more than my attention to deal with!" Lola cried. There was a ripple of laughter.

"I promise I'll be careful," Stukeley said to Lola, then turned back to address the group. "We have a very special guest in our midst tonight, and I'd like you all to ready your glasses in preparation for a toast to him."

Connor and Bart looked toward Stukeley with alarm. He had captured everyone else's attention, too. Zofia stepped forward to top off Bart's glass. She offered Connor a glass of wine, too, which he reluctantly accepted. It was, all things considered, better than the alternative.

Around the room, the rest of Lola's team busily refilled

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every glass, until each Vampirate was poised. Stukeley continued his toast. "As many of you know, back in the bad old days, I was a pirate."

There were hisses and boos around the room. Once more Connor and Bart frowned. Where was Stukeley going with this?

Stukeley tutted. "Oh, you are a miserable lot," he said, working the room. "Yes, I was a pirate, working alongside young Connor here and this strapping lad, Bartholomew Pearce. Indeed, the three of us were such a tight-knit unit, that we were given our very own nickname: the Three Buccaneers. And we had this saying, didn't we, lads?" He glanced at Connor and Bart, his eyes bright. "
Didn't we, lads?
"

They nodded mutely.

"Yes," Stukeley continued, more loudly. "And this is how it went." He raised his glass in the air. "One for all!" He turned expectantly to the others. "Come on, boys! One for all..."

Connor and Bart rose to their feet, glasses in hand, but as they opened their mouths to speak, another voice was heard.

"And all for one!" Johnny cried, standing and raising his own glass.

Sidorio's distinctive laugh boomed around the room. "It seems that where once there were three buccaneers, now there are four!" he said.

"Very good, darling!" Lola laughed throatily and raised

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her glass aloft. "Friends, family, crew members!" Her eyes swept the room and settled on Bart. "Honored guests! A toast to the
Four
Buccaneers."

"The Four Buccaneers!" chorused the rest of the gathering. Glasses were raised, and Bart watched as, all around him, blood was drunk in his honor. His eyes moved from Lola to Sidorio to Stukeley, who jumped down from the antique chair to join him. Bart's eyes traveled along the row of Lola's attractive crew--was it his imagination or were they all staring at him?--and onto Grace, with her strange new tattoo and her cowboy boyfriend. At last his eyes settled on Connor. Bart saw Connor raise his glass to his lips and the blood hunger flicker in his old friend's eyes. Was Connor now drinking blood, too? He could no longer tell the difference.

Bart set his own glass down on the table, but his hand was shaking and his glass tumbled over, spilling a fan of red across the stark white damask tablecloth.

"I'm sorry," he said, turning to Connor. "I'm sorry, I can't do this. I need air..." He pushed back his chair and weaved through the crowd, desperate to find the door.

Connor abruptly set down his own glass and headed for the exit.

Lola stepped forward to survey the wine spill, but her efficient crew was already cleaning up the table.

As Lola left her husband's side, Obsidian Darke seized the opportunity to approach Sidorio.

"Captain," Darke said, reaching into his jacket. "I have

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made my list for the attack tomorrow night." He removed a square of paper from his inside pocket and opened it out before passing it to Sidorio. "This is the crew I would like to support me."

Sidorio glanced down at Darke's predictably precise handwriting and smiled. "You've chosen well," he said. "What you lack in quantity, you have more than compensated for in quality. These are all of my best fighters, present company excluded, of course."

Darke nodded. "Do I take it that I have your permission to enlist these men and women, Captain?"

Sidorio nodded, folding the list and passing it back to Obsidian Darke.

"Excellent," Darke said, putting the square of paper away again. "There are two more names I wanted to add to the list, but I was unsure of the protocol."

Sidorio arched an eyebrow. "Which other names?"

Darke cleared his throat before continuing. "Connor and Grace."

Sidorio's interest was piqued. "You'd like my son and daughter to participate in this attack?"

Darke nodded. "Of course, I have heard of your son's fighting ability. And I saw it with my own eyes when he got the better of you a few nights back. If what I've heard through the grapevine is true, your daughter is equally talented."

"They have good genes," Sidorio said with some pride. "Darke, you may take Grace into the attack with you, but

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Connor is unavailable." Sidorio smiled broadly. "Tomorrow night will be my son's initiation into blood-taking."

"I see," said Darke. "Well, of course, that's a momentous... moment in any young vampire's life..."

Sidorio waggled his finger. "Connor's not merely a vampire," he said. "He's a dhampir."

"Quite so," Darke said. "Well, it appears that I shall have to make do with one twin only." He nodded at Sidorio. "Captain, I thank you for the loan of your daughter."

"Make sure no harm comes to her," Sidorio said. "Or there will be consequences."

Darke nodded. "Understood, Captain." Seeing Lola making her way back toward them, Obsidian Darke hastened his speech. "And now I shall return to
The Blood Captain
and map out the attack in more detail."

"I hope you're not leaving on my account," Lola said as she returned to her husband's side.

Darke shook his head. "As ever, it is business that calls me away. Thank you for a most entertaining Tiffin." He turned and made a hasty path to the door.

"That man gets more detestable every night," Lola said.

"Yes," Sidorio agreed. "I'm beginning to hope that one of the Vampirate assassins gets the better of him."

Lola laughed and clinked her glass against his. "I'll drink to that," she said.

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Darke lost no time in striding across the deck toward the walkway leading back to
The Blood Captain
. It was windy out on deck, and he raised his hood. As it flapped in the breeze, he glimpsed Connor on the other side of the deck, talking to his pirate friend. For a moment, he considered turning back and speaking with them. But the night air was brisk and time, as ever, was short. As was his habit, Obsidian Darke kept his head down and proceeded briskly about his business.

Connor and Bart stood together at the guardrail of
The Vagabond
. "I've got to go," Bart said.

"Yes." Connor nodded.

Bart looked down at his light boat, idling in the water below. "I'd tell you to jump in, buddy, but I see now that it could never work."

Connor sighed. "If only it were that simple. I'd love to come back to you and Cate and Jasmine and the others. You guys gave me a home when I had none, and I'll always be grateful for that."

"Everything's different now," Bart said. "You're right. You belong here, with Stukeley and the others. I know what a great friend he can be--and I hope he will be a good one to you now, because, buddy, you badly need someone in your corner."

"Let's not draw this out," Connor said, doing his best to

416

rein in his emotions. "I told you before I'm terrible at good-byes."

Bart nodded, his eyes empty and broken.

"Will you tell the others the truth about me?" Connor asked him.

Bart hesitated for a moment, then shook his head. "No," he said. "They don't need to know."

Connor smiled gratefully. "Would you tell Jasmine that I wish things could have been different?" Then he shook his head. "Actually, better you don't say anything to her. Hopefully she'll find happiness again with Jacoby." Tears pricked at Connor's eyes. "I'm
so
pleased for you and Cate," he said. "You two belong together. You're everything that's good and true..." His voice faltered and he was unable to finish.

Bart stepped forward and hugged his friend. "You don't need to say anything more, buddy. And neither do I. We both know what we mean to each other."

Connor nodded, hugging Bart and trying to shut out the thought that it would be the last time he did so. As Bart finally released him, Connor spoke softly. "I'm going back to my cabin on
The Blood Captain
. I need to be alone for a while."

Bart nodded and, as Connor walked away across the deck, he climbed over the guardrail and made his descent to the light boat waiting below.

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Bart wasted no time. He had to get away from this place and back to normality as swiftly as possible. He couldn't afford to think about Connor or Jez. It was too painful, too paralyzing.

He lit his hurricane lamp and strung it to the mast of the boat, then pulled up the anchor. As it landed with a thud in the center of the small craft, Bart realized how heavy his heart felt. Ignoring this, he scanned his charts. He had no fishtail to guide him on this return journey, but he would do just fine, navigating home by the stars. It would keep his mind occupied.