Vampirates 6: Immortal War (24 page)

“Is something amiss, Lord DeWinter?”

He met her stare and held his glass between two hands. “No, not really. It’s just that you’re pregnant, aren’t you?”

Lola giggled, proudly displaying her bump. “Indeed I am, sir. I can assure you that’s the only reason for my enormous belly.”

“Indeed,” said Lord DeWinter. “My point is, should you be drinking blood while pregnant?” He shrugged, seeming embarrassed to have raised the matter.

Lola smiled, confident that she had him exactly where she wanted him. “Actually, I have it upon good authority that blood is vital for my babes at this point.”

As she spoke, Lola turned toward Olivier, who was sitting unnoticed in the corner of the cabin.

As if on cue, he rose to his feet and walked over to join them. “Blood is full of all the nutrients Lady Sidorio’s babies need to come out kicking and fighting,” he said, sitting down beside them.

“And you are?” Lord DeWinter inquired.

Before Olivier could answer, Sidorio spoke on his behalf. “Olivier here is in charge of our healing center—for treating war-wounded Vampirates.”

Lola chimed in. “We discovered that the Nocturnals
had two healing centers, and so we sent in Olivier to research their facilities and then establish our own, infinitely superior, version.”

“It seems you really have thought of everything,” Lord DeWinter said, clearly impressed, and he lifted his glass once more. “I wish you and your kin the best of health,” he said.

“Talking of kin,” said Lola, exchanging a glance with Sidorio before turning the full beam of her stare back upon their guest, “do you feel ready to make an alliance with us? Are you ready to join our family, so to speak?”

Lord DeWinter set down his glass and rose to his feet. “My Lord and Lady Sidorio,” he said, “you have made an impressive case. It seems as if your power over the ocean rivals mine across the land. A lot of what you say makes sense to me. I can see the virtue in an alliance between our two empires.”

“That’s marvelous!” Lola exclaimed, rising to her own feet and gesturing to Sidorio to join her. “Isn’t it simply marvelous, darling?” she said.

“Yes,” Sidorio agreed, extending his hand to Lord DeWinter. “You won’t regret this.”

Lola reached for a small gold bell resting on a matching salver. She lifted up the bell and rang it. “In the hope of this happy outcome, I took the liberty of having some papers drawn up to formalize the arrangement.”

Lord DeWinter beamed. “You’re not one to let the grass grow under your feet, are you, Lady Sidorio?”

She laughed coquettishly and shook her head. There was a knock at the door.

“Enter!” Lola cried, and Holly came into the room, carrying a golden salver bearing the contract, a fountain pen, and a glass inkwell.

Lord DeWinter dipped the pen in the ink and then placed the nib on the parchment. As he signed his name in crimson, he chuckled. “Nice touch.”

Lola nodded appreciatively. “You have made the right decision,” she said. “Our power over the oceans is unquestionable. With allies like you, we will be able to forge on, relentlessly, until the oceans are red with the blood of our victims.”

Sidorio coughed discreetly. “I think you’ve started to repeat yourself, my dear,” he said, in a husky whisper. It was not sufficiently husky that Holly, Olivier, and Lord DeWinter could not hear. Lola shot her husband an icy stare.

The door opened once more and Mimma strode into the room.

“Mimma!” Lola said, surprised but grateful for the distraction. “Allow me to present you to Lord DeWinter. You’ll know him by reputation, of course. He is the Overlord of the Land as far as the eye can see. And, as of two minutes ago, our newest ally.”

Mimma waited for Lola to finish but seemed unmoved by her words. She turned to Lord DeWinter and nodded. “I have heard of you, sir, and it’s good to meet you.”

He nodded, smiling, but Mimma turned straight back to Lola.

“Captain, I have important news.”

“News?” Sidorio said, his voice booming across the cabin. “What news do you have?”

Mimma bit her lip, turning to Lord DeWinter.

“Don’t worry about him,” Sidorio said. “He’s our ally. We share news with our allies.”

Mimma seemed unsure but Lola, seeing no other option, nodded. “He’s right. Do share with us.”

“It’s
The Diablo
,” she said. “It’s been taken… by the pirates.”

“
The Diablo
!” Sidorio’s voice was no more than a whisper.

“Doesn’t that ship belong to one of your deputies?” Lord DeWinter asked.

“Johnny!” Sidorio exclaimed, striding toward Mimma. “How is Johnny?”

Mimma shook her head. “The ship was taken over, Captain. According to our sources, there was a high fatality rate.”

Sidorio’s face was grim.

“When did this happen?” Lola asked, all business.

“An hour or so after dawn,” Mimma answered.

Lola was incredulous. “Dawn… but that was eons ago! Why are we only finding out about this now?”

Sidorio strode toward the door, his hands clenched like claws.

“Where are you going?” Lola called after him.

“To find out about Johnny,” he said, lingering at the doorway, his face evidencing his deep loss. “My apologies, Lord DeWinter.”

“You can’t leave now,” Lola said. “It’s light outside.”

Sidorio faced her. “I can’t be a prisoner of the light anymore,” he said. “Not at a time like this.”

Lola threw herself at her husband. “I know how upset you are, but you can’t go out into the light. There are too many people depending on you.”

“But Johnny,” Sidorio said, suddenly defeated. “I have to know what happened to him. And I have to tell Stukeley. They were as close as brothers.”

Lola nodded. “I know how close-knit you all are,” she said. She turned back to Lord DeWinter. “You talked of family before. Sometimes I think that neither I nor my unborn children can compete with my husband and his two deputies.” She smiled, but this time, Lord DeWinter did not return her smile. He seemed preoccupied.

Lola faced Sidorio. “Of course you must talk to Stukeley, but you must wait, my darling, just until darkness comes.”

“Actually,” Mimma said, “Stukeley is here, on
The Vagabond
.”

Lola arched an eyebrow questioningly, but Sidorio grabbed hold of this fresh information eagerly. “Bring him here. Now! On second thought, don’t—take me to him!” He ushered Mimma out into the corridor and strode after her.

Lola’s eyes turned from them to Lord DeWinter, who had salvaged the contract from its tray and now held it in his hands, his thumbs meeting at the midpoint of the pages. Olivier and Holly were both watching him curiously.

“Please don’t be hasty,” Lola said, but, unheeding, Lord DeWinter’s eyes fell to the pages. He made a gesture as if to tear them, but, instead, the pages began to burn. As the flames licked their way up toward his fingers, Lord DeWinter dropped them on Lola’s antique rug and stamped out the fire with his boot.

Lola winced but Lord DeWinter was in a merciless mood. “You put on a good show,” he said. “And I’m grateful for the drink. But your claims just don’t stack up. You can’t possibly claim to be an invincible army when the Allied forces can sweep in and take over your deputy’s ship just like that.”

“Now wait a moment,” Lola said, raising her hand and trying to remain calm. “It’s unfortunate timing, I’ll grant you—”

“It’s a little more than that,” he cut in, the coldness in his voice undermining his smile. He clicked his fingers and his two bodyguards rose to their feet. Lord DeWinter made for the door, flanked by his retinue.

“Wait!” Lola implored. “You are no more able to travel in the light than my husband.”

Lord DeWinter paused, turning to face her once more. “I think you’re forgetting that when our ships moored, we
locked covered walkways. Mercifully, I’m able to walk off this ship and back onto mine, without risking the light. I don’t want to lose any time in disengaging from you and your delusions of grandeur.”

As he made his exit, Lola found herself uncharacteristically lost for words. Taking her empty glass, she threw it at the closing door, where the antique crystal of a thousand years’ pedigree smashed to smithereens. The action failed to quell Lola’s anger.

“That bloody cowboy!” she cried. “If he had to die, so be it, but not tonight of all nights!”

Her words were met with a sob from across the room. Surprised, Lola turned and saw Holly was still there.

“Pull yourself together, woman!” Lola said. “You can do better than a washed-up rodeo star!”

Behind them, Olivier found himself unable to suppress a throaty chuckle. Lola really was a hoot!

The first phase of Grace’s second healing successfully completed, Evrim had started to tidy up the healing chamber. Evrim’s meticulousness was one of the things Grace most valued in her.

“You said you know this patient?” Evrim asked as she carefully stored away the ribbons.

“His name is Jacoby Blunt,” Grace said with a nod. “I first got to know him when Connor and I visited Pirate Academy for the first time.” She could see Evrim was hungry for more information. “Jacoby was the most popular kid at the academy. Kind of the school jock—but smart too—and, of course, he was dating the academy equivalent of Homecoming Queen…”

“Ah, yes, the charming Deputy Peacock,” Evrim said.
“She’s sitting outside, as still and as beautiful as a statue—waiting for news.”

Grace nodded, deciding to leave out the fact that Jasmine was now dating Connor rather than Jacoby. She had some considerable sympathy for Jasmine under the circumstances. “I’ll go out and talk to her in a minute. He’s in a comfortable state of sedation now.” She looked down at Jacoby’s now tranquil face. “He was captured by the Vampirates six months ago, and presumed dead.”

“And so,” said Evrim, “it falls to us to imagine what happened to him during those six months.”

“I think we have a pretty good idea,” Grace said. “He’s lost a significant amount of weight since his capture by the Vampirates. A good proportion of that was muscle. He looks like he’s wasting away. I think he was found just in time.” She paused, extending her hand so that her fingers were tracing the air just above Jacoby’s face. “Look at these lesions,” she said. “I’m sure he acquired these scars during his journey from
The Diablo
to Sanctuary. I’ve seen the effect of daylight on Nocturnals before,” she continued. “The first time I came to Sanctuary was with Lorcan, when he had stayed out too long in the light and had gone temporarily blind. His face was covered with similar burn marks to these. Mosh Zu allowed me to change his bandages and prepare the salve for his wounds.”

“You’ve come such a long way since then,” Evrim said softly, feeling very proud that she was Grace’s colleague.
Her eyes returned to the patient. “I don’t understand, though,” she admitted. “If they converted him, why was he found caged up like an animal? And why is he so weak now?”

Grace had already thought that through. “I think our Jacoby has been a most uncooperative Vampirate,” she said. “They may have converted him, but I strongly suspect they were unable to persuade him to take blood.”

“He’s going to have to change his stance on that,” Evrim said. “For a Nocturnal, it simply isn’t a viable option to refuse blood. For a short time, perhaps, but not in the long term.”

Grace nodded. “When he wakes, we’ll need to talk to him about his need for blood, as a matter of urgency.” She frowned. This was not a conversation she relished having. And, even before she came to that, she had another pressing conversation to navigate through first. “What on earth do I tell Jasmine?” she found herself wondering aloud.

At that moment, the muslin curtain that separated the two sides of the healing chamber was brushed aside and Noijon stepped through. Seeing Grace’s worried look, he was quick to reassure her. “He’s doing well, Grace. He’s sleeping deeply now.”

Grace nodded, suitably reassured, though her head was buzzing with fresh anxieties. She looked over, fondly, at her two dedicated nurses. “You’ve both been absolutely brilliant today,” she said. “Together, we have saved both
of these men. And please be in no doubt, I could not have done this without you.”