Vampirates 6: Immortal War (34 page)

Cate had almost reached Pieces 08 and the exit when a hand reached out and caught her arm. Surprised and somewhat irritated, she turned to find Moonshine Wrathe standing before her.

“Tut-tut, Catie,” he said. “You’ve got into this terrible habit of leaving parties early. Don’t you believe in the healing power of human company?”

“Not that it’s any of your business, but I’m tired,” Cate said. “And I’ve got a splitting headache.”

Moonshine reached out his hand. On his palm nestled two oval pills. “Pop these and you’ll feel a whole lot better.”

Cate arched an eyebrow warily. “What exactly are those?” she asked.

Moonshine laughed. “Paracetamol,” he replied. “Though I can understand your suspicion. I have a well-earned reputation as a walking pharmacy.”

“Thanks, but no thanks,” Cate said, folding her arms. “I’m going to leave now. You stay and enjoy yourself with
the others.” Fearing she had come across more severely than intended, she added, “You deserve it. You claimed a masterly victory.”

“Praise indeed,” Moonshine said, shrugging and popping the two pills himself. “Now what’s
that
look for?”

Cate shook her head but said nothing.

“I know.” Moonshine grinned. “I’m a danger to myself. That’s why I need someone at my side to teach me right from wrong and be a good influence on me.” He winked. “Though I guess we could just start with teaching me right from left.”

Cate stared at him, coolly. “You’re no fool,” she said. “And nor are you the loose cannon you pretend to be. Oh, you certainly
were
. I haven’t forgotten the Sunset Fort debacle. I don’t think any of us will in a hurry. But you’ve changed, Moonshine Wrathe. I can see that. The way you acquitted yourself in Operation Scrimshaw was exemplary—worthy of a pirate of many more years’ experience.”

Moonshine was uncharacteristically rendered speechless by her praise. Taking advantage of this rare scenario, Cate pressed on. “So the answer to your question is yes.”

Moonshine’s face moved through a series of contortions as he struggled to find the right words. After a great deal of effort, he managed, “The answer is… yes?”

Cate nodded, quietly amused. “Yes,” she repeated. “I’ve worked it all out with Commodore Li. I will retain my role as chief strategist for the Alliance but I’ll be based on
The Diablo
for now. I’ve already packed my things, so, after you’ve had your fun and made some interesting shapes on the dance floor, perhaps you can see to it that my old corner cabin is made ready for me?”

“Is that an order?” Moonshine inquired, back to his default cheek. “Because in a conventional captain-deputy relationship, isn’t it the captain who gives the orders?”

Cate smiled as her slate-gray eyes locked onto his. “Rest assured, my friend, this isn’t going to be a conventional captain-deputy relationship.”

“I’ll drink to that!” Moonshine said, raising his glass.

“Three drinks at the very most,” Cate said. “You’ll certainly want to keep a clear head for our strategy meeting in the morning. I’ll come over at seven-thirty sharp. Unless that’s too early for you?”

Moonshine grinned. “Not at all. You’ll catch me just after my morning run. I’ll even lay on breakfast. Remind me, how do you like your eggs?”

Smiling but leaving the question unanswered, Cate brushed past Moonshine and slipped beyond the velvet curtain into the night.

Seeing Connor seated alone at the table beside him—and Cheng Li deep in conversation with Jasmine and Bo Yin—Lorcan quietly rose up and moved across.

“May I join you?” he asked Connor.

Connor glanced up. “Feel free,” he said. “But I should warn you, I’m not great company tonight.”

“I’ll take my chances,” Lorcan said, sitting down opposite Connor. “How come you feel that way, on this of all nights?”

Connor stared at the Nocturnal curiously. “You mean on the night we should be celebrating our epic victory?”

“No,” Lorcan said. “I mean because it’s your birthday.”

Connor looked suddenly tense. “Who told you?” he hissed. “No one’s supposed to know.”

Lorcan leaned closer, smiling as he lowered his voice. “I was there at your birth, remember?”

Connor shrugged but said nothing.

“I’ll come clean with you,” Lorcan said. “I’m here under false pretenses. Cheng Li invited me here tonight to celebrate our successful mission. But I’m mostly here to see you.”

“Me?” Connor said. “Why would you want to see me?”

“Well, you’re my girlfriend’s brother,” Lorcan said. “Plus, we’re comrades now. We don’t know each other very well, but I’d like us to be friends.”

Connor took a draft of his drink. “I don’t have a great track record with friends.” He set the glass down again slowly, precisely. His eyes remained downcast. “They tend to die. Though I suppose the fact you’re already dead might work in your favor.”

“I know how close you were to Bart,” Lorcan said. “I’m very sorry for your loss.”

Connor did not respond directly, asking instead, “Is Grace worried about me?”

Lorcan shook his head. “I don’t know. Truth to tell, we haven’t spent much time together of late. Grace is very preoccupied with her work, just now. Well, we all are. I’m sure she misses you, but I’m not here because of her. I can see with my own eyes that something’s wrong.”

“Really?” Connor threw up his arms. “What could be wrong with me, I wonder? Hmm, let me think! I found out my dad wasn’t who I thought he was all those years. And my real father? Why, of course, it’s Sidorio, leader of the Vampirate army and—wait—as a bonus, I get Lola thrown in as my stepmother. Plus I’m a dhampir, a fact that none of my crewmates but Cheng Li knows—not even my long-suffering girlfriend.”

“Jasmine,” Lorcan said, his eyes glancing across to the other table, where Jasmine was still embroiled in a lengthy conversation with Cheng Li and Bo Yin.

Connor nodded, also gazing across at her. “Jasmine,” he said. “I fell for her the first time I set eyes on her at Pirate Academy. Everything was simpler back then.”

“Was it?” Lorcan interrupted. “Or does it just seem that way to you now?”

Connor nodded. “Good point, Furey. Because even back then she had a boyfriend, Jacoby Blunt—a good friend of mine, as it goes. Sure, he tried to kill me once, but we’ll gloss over that.” His eyes seared into Lorcan’s. “Because, you see, the impossible happened and Jasmine
and I realized we had feelings for each other but we fought them out of loyalty to Jacoby. Then Jacoby was captured by the Vampirates and killed and we both felt too guilty to be together so our relationship pretty much stalled.” Connor shook his head. “Anyhow, by that time, I was completely sidetracked by the discovery that I was a dhampir, and had a rising hunger for blood.”

“But you have that under control now, right?” Lorcan said. “You’re drinking the berry tea Grace has sent to you?”

A glazed look came over Connor’s face. “One thing at a time, eh? We’re talking about me and Jasmine and Jacoby right now. Your not-so-regular love triangle. Well, you’d know how uncomfortable that is, wouldn’t you? So, as sad as I was at the news of Jacoby’s death, I thought maybe, at last, there was a chance for us. Perhaps not right away, but once we’d both had time to adjust.” He sighed. “But, as you know, Jacoby was found on board
The Diablo
. Seems he’s alive after all, but here’s the real stinger. He’s a vampire now. He’s just as hungry for blood as I am!”

Connor took a breath, fixing Lorcan with his gaze once more. “Only, unlike me, Jacoby was man enough to tell Jasmine what he is. And, guess what? She’s
completely
fine with it. So he’s coming back to
The Tiger
tomorrow and I reckon that’s the end of any chance I ever had with Jasmine.” He raised his glass. “Let’s drink a toast,” he said. “Happy birthday to me! I have so many reasons to celebrate.”

Lorcan hesitated. “Connor,” he said. “I was concerned about you, but I had no idea you were going through all this—the situation with Jacoby and Jasmine, on top of your grief for Bart. And there’s obviously stuff going on in relation to your blood-hunger.”

Connor shrugged. “Nothing a swift pint at the Blood Tavern can’t remedy,” he said.

Lorcan frowned. “We
really
need to talk,” he said.

“No,” Connor said. “Talking only makes it worse. I’m done with talking.”

“Please,” Lorcan implored him. “I genuinely want to help you.”

Connor rolled his eyes. “One vampire to another?”

“I know you’re having a tough time adjusting—” Lorcan said.

“Understatement of the millennium,” Connor said, draining his drink. “I hate it. I despise it. I despise
me
. And you want to know the worst part? I’m immortal now so there’s no way out.”

He slammed his glass down angrily on the table. The gesture made Lorcan flinch. As he did so, Connor noticed a figure standing behind Lorcan. A familiar face staring at him in all-too-evident horror.

“Jasmine!” Connor said, feeling a wave of nausea, adrenaline, and dread. “How much of that did you hear?”

There was a definite edge to Jasmine’s brief answer. “Enough.”

“Well, now you know,” Connor said, trying to be
matter-of-fact. “Now you know the full story—the real shape of things.”

Jasmine nodded.

“Aren’t you going to say anything?” Connor asked.

“What do you want me to say?” she asked. “I think you’ve mustered enough self-pity to drown in.” She hesitated before continuing. “Nevertheless, it might interest you to hear that I knew you were a dhampir. I’ve known for some time.”

“You knew?” Connor was aghast.

“Yes,” Jasmine said. “I guessed. It was weird knowing, but I knew it would be all right.”

“All right?” Connor said, incredulously. “How can it possibly be all right? I’m a monster!”

“Yes,” Jasmine said. “Yes, Connor, that’s a remarkably apt description. But that has nothing
whatsoever
to do with you being a dhampir. You got there all by yourself.”

Sidorio was surprised to find his heart racing as he approached Lola’s cabin. He was transported back to the very first time he had boarded
The Vagabond
and interrupted Lola during the ritual of her nightly bloodbath. So much had changed since then. Lola had become his wife, and his partner in a formidable empire. Now she would bestow upon him a further prize—twin children who, in time, would join them at the helm of the empire and ensure its further expansion. Sidorio could not remember a time when things had looked so well for him. It seemed that at last it was payback for the long years of purgatory he had endured aboard
The Nocturne
—when he had allowed his appetites to be subdued and his innate power to be constrained.

He knocked on one of the gilded doors of Lola’s cabin to signal his presence, then hesitated for a moment, unsure whether to go inside or wait for her call. It was rare for him to feel so diffident, but he was suddenly stricken with nerves. He was entering this room as one thing—a warrior, of course, but also a father to grown kids who had little need of him now, however much he wished that was different. But when he emerged from this room later, it would be as father to two newborns, with whom his relationship would surely prove markedly different. He was excited but, he realized, fearful too. What if, after everything he had accomplished in this world, he was simply not up to this new challenge?