Vampirates 5: Empire of Night (41 page)

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open arms. I have acted only out of kindness and generosity to you. I take my stepparenting responsibilities very seriously. And this is how you repay me--by raising your sword to your own father? Connor, I'm disappointed in you."

Connor shook his head. "You still don't get it, do you? Neither of you do. You fiends killed Bart. I'll never forgive you for that as long as we all live."

"You seem to forget that we're all immortals here," Lola said. "That's a long time to bear a grudge, dear. Besides, you shouldn't be forgiving us--you should be
thanking
us. Few parents could bestow such gifts on a child."

"I'm not interested in your gifts," Connor said.

"Don't be so dismissive," Lola said. "Your father and I are constructing an empire, the likes of which the world hasn't seen in a very long time. Naturally, we want you and Grace at our side." Lola sighed. "Connor, if you could just get rid of this unappealing adolescent angst and open your eyes to the very real opportunities here, I think you'd see that we are offering you the most dazzling of futures."

Lola exchanged a glance with Sidorio. He nodded, buoyed up by her stirring words.

Connor remained unmoved. "I don't want anything from either of you."

Lola frowned. "This is getting a little trying," she said. "I'm sorry if there have been crossed wires here, but we truly thought that by breathing immortality into Bart's

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impressive but nonetheless mortal body, we would make you a happy young dhampir." Her dark eyes bore into Connor's.

Connor held her gaze. "You thought wrong," he said.

"Here's what I suggest," Lola said, refusing to accept defeat. "Take some time to rest and cool down--I'm afraid the Sidorio clan do have a tendency to burn quick to anger. You can't fight your gene pool! If you go and think about this quietly, I'm confident you'll see that you've got the wrong end of the stick. Then Sidorio can proceed with siring Bart and we can all move on. As a united family."

Connor was silent for a moment. Lola smiled reassuringly at Sidorio, content that she had regained control.

Then Connor opened his lungs and let out a fearsome cry of anger. "No!" he shouted. "I'm not going to cool down or think this over. And, once and for all, no one is going to sire Bart. As for being part of a family with you... forget it! I'm leaving the ship tonight and I'm taking Bart with me. The least I can do is give him a proper burial."

Shaking, Connor pushed past Sidorio and lifted Bart from the bunk. His friend's body was heavy but, even without his newfound strength, Connor would have broken his own bones if necessary to remove Bart from that cabin. Hoisting Bart's body over his shoulder, he turned to leave the room. His sword was poised in case either Sidorio or Lola tried anything.

Sidorio followed him out into the corridor. "Connor,"

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he said. "Please, don't run out on us like this. Don't let it end this way."

Connor turned to him, his eyes raging with fire. "
I
didn't end this.
You
did. You and that she-devil wife of yours."

Connor turned purposefully and walked off down the corridor. At the end of the passage, he turned into the main stairwell of the ship--and found to his horror that he was walking toward the family portrait. Sidorio must have hung it up there earlier.

Connor could hear Lola and Sidorio's footsteps close behind him. Making sure that Bart was secure on his shoulder, he stepped up close to the portrait. Then he lifted his sword and slashed a diagonal through the canvas. It was especially gratifying slicing Lola's face in two. He lifted his sword and cut the remains of the picture into ribbons. His heart hammering, he drew down his sword and set off up the stairs.

Lola grabbed Sidorio's arm as they took in the vandalized portrait.

"Oh, no," she cried, aghast. "After all Signor Caravaggio's fine work!"

"Do you think he could paint another?" Sidorio said.

Lola shook her head. "It would be too embarrassing to even ask." She shuddered. "'How sharper than a serpent's tooth it is to have a thankless child!'"

Sidorio looked blankly at her.

"I was quoting Shakespeare," Lola said impatiently.

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Seeing the hurt in her husband's eyes, her tone grew softer. "Mister William Shakespeare wrote plays, darling. In fact, there's one I think you'd rather like. I have it in my library. I'll read some of it to you later, Sid. Perhaps that will soothe your frazzled nerves."

Back on the deck of
The Diablo
, Johnny's and Lorcan's swords met once more.

"Of course," Johnny said nonchalantly, as he swiped at Lorcan. "The really
big
scoop on Grace is that she's developed a great liking for blood since you last saw her."

Lorcan swung his sword against Johnny's. "Don't waste your breath on cheap lies," he said. "You're going to need every bit of energy you can muster."

Johnny's eyes were bright. "It's no lie,
amigo
. Grace loves the ruby-red stuff." He spun his sword through the air, defending Lorcan's attack. "And why shouldn't she? She
is
a dhampir."

"A dhampir doesn't need blood to survive," Lorcan said.

"True," Johnny agreed amiably, between parries. "They have a choice, unlike you or me. But Grace has definitely given blood the thumbs-up. Good for her, I say. It's one of the reasons why she fits in so well on our ships. See, we don't beat ourselves up about our appetite. Not like your lot--the ship of self-hating vampires."

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Their swords clashed once more and locked together. Now Lorcan threw all his weight at Johnny, pushing him back along the deck. "The Nocturnals are not
self
-hating," he said. "We just hate Vampirates like you. You give us all a bad name."

Johnny shrugged. "I think you just proved my point. No wonder Grace got bored with your crew and decided to defect to the fun side." He dug in his heels so that he was bringing his own strength to bear against Lorcan. It was, for the time being, a deadlock.

Lorcan smiled grimly at Johnny. "The only reason Grace came over to your ship was to spy for us," he said. "Whatever she's done--whether it's going riding with you or pretending that she's into blood--it's only been part of her mission. We've been playing you, cowboy, and you're just too dumb to realize it."

Johnny's expression changed. His cockiness drained away in an instant. "I don't believe you," he said. "I know what went down between Grace and me."

Lorcan was merciless. "Sure you believe me. I can see it in your eyes. You've fallen for Grace. You've wanted her from the very first time you saw her at Sanctuary. You tried to steal her from me then--when I was blind and sick. That's the kind of lowlife you are, Desperado. But you couldn't have her then and you can't have her now. Face it, you were just part of her game plan."

Lorcan shoved Johnny backward. Their swords separated at last.

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Johnny's face was dark. "I'm going to kill you, Furey," he spat. He charged at Lorcan, and this time, Lorcan was wrong-footed. A space opened up in his defenses, and Johnny's sword found its way through. His blade sliced through Lorcan's hair. As a clump of dark locks fell to the deck, Johnny's sword continued toward Lorcan's neck, pressing in just below his right earlobe. Johnny stared at his rival, his eyes full of fire. "Maybe I can't have Grace. But now,
amigo
, neither can you."

Cheng Li and Obsidian Darke were fighting side by side and proving to be an unstoppable force. As they each dispatched their latest victims, Cheng Li turned to the Vampirate captain.

"I always had you figured for a pacifist," she said. "Not a man of action."

"I used to be a pacifist." His voice was low. "But times have changed, and I needed to change with them. It wasn't an easy transformation, but it was a necessary one."

Cheng Li's eyes swept across the deck. "I think we're winning this," she said.

"We have to," Obsidian said, his eyes as dark as his name. He raised his sword and ran back into the fight.

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Lorcan felt the cold steel of Johnny's blade against his neck and glanced up at his dark, mocking eyes. He could tell the cowboy Vampirate was relishing this. He wondered how long he would draw out the moment of victory.

"Stop!"

Johnny and Lorcan froze to hear the familiar voice--the voice that had such power over them both.

Now Grace was at their side, her own sword in her hand. Her emerald eyes looked from Johnny to Lorcan and back again.

"Put down your sword, Johnny," she said.

Johnny exhaled slowly. "I can't do that, Grace. I'm sorry." He pressed the edge of his blade harder against Lorcan's flesh. Another millimeter and he'd draw blood.

"Wait!" Grace said. "I heard what Lorcan told you. I can understand why you're angry."

"Is it true?" Johnny asked, his eyes avoiding them both and fixed only on the tip of his sword.

Grace hesitated.

"
Is it true?
" Johnny repeated. "Grace, if you don't want me to do something bad, you need to start talking fast."

"Some of it is true," Grace said.

"Which part?"

"Stop hounding her," Lorcan rasped. "Just do what you have to do. Isn't that the cowboy code?"

"Shut up!" Johnny fumed. "Grace, I asked you which part was true."

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"I did come to you, at first, on a spying mission. And I didn't trust you in the beginning. I've always liked you, Johnny. I know Lorcan won't thank me for saying that, but we all know it's true. I'm allowed to like both of you. After what happened at Sanctuary, it was hard to trust you again, but you showed me a whole new side on those midnight rides. I enjoyed getting to know you--the real you." She paused. "And Johnny, the real you would know that if you want any kind of future with me, harming Lorcan would be the very worst thing you could do." As she spoke the words, she stepped closer.

Johnny's eyes darted from Grace to Lorcan and back again.

"I don't know what to believe," he said.

"Believe
me
," said Grace.

"She's only saying this to save my skin," said Lorcan.

"Wow," said Johnny. "You really do have a death wish, don't you? Well, the time for talk is over. I'm gonna make your wish come true." He drew back his sword and readied himself for the killer blow.

As his sword swung forward, it was met by another blade. But this time it wasn't Lorcan who faced Johnny along the length of their swords. It was Grace.

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44 CHOICES

Grace looked at Johnny down the blade of her sword. "I'm not scared of using this if I have to," she said. Her confidence was buoyed up by the knowledge that, if necessary, she could wield Grace O'Malley's sword with consummate skill.

Johnny gazed in wonder at Grace. "I really don't want to fight you," he said.

Grace looked into his eyes. She found herself thinking of the twists and turns in their relationship. Joker Johnny who had kept her spirits up during those difficult nights at Sanctuary. The loner who'd confided in her about the bad choices he'd made in his life and after crossing. The Johnny who'd attacked her and told her, as he'd left to join Sidorio's team, "It ain't that I
can't
be good. It's just that I'm so much better at being bad." She had lost faith

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in Johnny then, but since arriving on
The Vagabond
, she'd gotten to know a different man. She thought of their midnight rides and their crazy adventure down in Lola's cellars. Remembered his frantic expression earlier that night when he'd seen her on the deck of
The Diablo
. She suspected that he'd been sent on some kind of charm offensive by Lola but, even if this was true, she didn't doubt that his feelings for her were genuine. One exchange above all others was etched in her mind.

"When you said I was a thousand times more fun than Lorcan, did you mean it?"

"No, Johnny. Not a thousand times more fun. A million times."

She remembered the vulnerability in his eyes then. He bore the same expression now. Seeing Lorcan and Johnny together made her feel guilty. She had feelings for them both--not quite the same feelings but strong feelings, nonetheless. It had been an exaggeration, brought on by the adrenaline of the night and the taste of blood, to say that he was a million times more fun than Lorcan. Her relationship with Johnny was easier in many ways, but there were shades and complexities to her relationship with Lorcan that gave it deeper roots.

"I know you don't want to fight me," she said. "And now you need to let Lorcan go." She glanced over her shoulder. "You're losing the battle. Your team needs you."

Johnny looked past Grace, his eyes sweeping across the deck. She was right. His team was being decimated.

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There was no sign of Stukeley; and there, in the heart of the battle zone, was Obsidian Darke, fighting one of his own Vampirates. What was going on?

Johnny turned back to Grace. "You're right. I have to go. Wait for me, okay? Stay out of the fighting and wait until we go back over to
The Diablo
."

Grace shook her head. "I'm not coming with you," she said with a certain sadness.

She expected him to go, then--he needed to rejoin the fight--but he seemed rooted to the spot, his eyes flickering with pain. "So I really was just part of your mission."

"No, Johnny," Grace said. "I told you before that I like you. I wasn't lying. I can't go back with you to
The Vagabond
and
The Blood Captain
. You were right--I
do
have the hunger for blood, but I can't bear the thought of someone dying in order for me to have it. The way that Sidorio and Lola run their ships repels me. It almost drove me to killing someone for blood myself. That's why I have to go back to
The Nocturne
. You say it's a ship of self-hating vampires, but you're wrong. It's a ship of vampires who acknowledge their need for blood and have found a responsible way to fulfill it."