Vampirates 6: Immortal War (55 page)

“I’m so sorry, Jasmine,” Cheng Li said, her own voice deep with emotion. “But there’s nothing more we can do for him.”

Rising to her feet, Jasmine spat at Sidorio. “You monster!” She had never felt more pain, nor felt more intensely the desire to inflict it. Seeing the tips of her three comrades’ swords pressing into Sidorio’s thick neck, she cried out, “What are you waiting for? Send him to oblivion!”

As she finished speaking, the air was suddenly riven with the sound of screams. They filled the sky. It was disconcerting at first, but then the pirates understood. The screams were sirens, coming from the Vampirate ships.

One of Sidorio’s last remaining crew members called
out to him from the edge of the deck. “Sire, we must retreat! Dawn is coming!”

“Save yourself!” Sidorio responded. “I can take care of myself!”

With a worried expression, the Vampirate nodded and jumped ship.

“Dawn?” Jasmine confronted Jacoby. “You have to get inside. Now! I’ll take your place.” She extended her own sword to Sidorio’s neck as Jacoby, with obvious reluctance, stood down.

“That’s it! Run away, little
Nocturnal
,” Sidorio sneered. “Run to safety!”

Irritated in the extreme, Jasmine pushed her sword deeper into Sidorio’s flesh. He flashed her a murderous look but was powerless, for now, to do anything more.

“That odious sound is the Vampirates’ call to retreat,” Lorcan told Grace, on board
The Nocturne
. “You were right, my love. The war is won!”

Grace punched the air with delight. “I knew it!” she said. “I can’t wait to see Connor again and tell him we’re going to be okay.”

Lorcan hugged her. “I need to clear the deck of our own crew before it gets any lighter,” he said. “I’ll come and find you inside.”

She nodded, flushed with relief and exhilaration as she saw the enemy ships filling up in preparation for their urgent retreat. She leaned against the deck rail, thinking of everything she and her comrades had accomplished. This victory had been hard-won.

“Grace!” said an urgent voice, close behind her. It was immediately familiar but it wasn’t Lorcan, nor Oskar. Turning, she found Johnny at her side. In his arms was a bundle, which, on closer inspection, looked very much like a baby.

“Johnny!” Grace exclaimed. “What are you doing here? It’s almost dawn. You should be safe inside.”

“I know,” he said. “We don’t have much time, but I needed to see you.”

Grace nodded, leaning closer toward him. “Is that one of Lola’s twins?” she asked.

“His name is Evil,” Johnny said. “Would you like to hold him?” He didn’t give Grace a chance to decline before thrusting baby Evil into her arms.

“Poor baby!” Grace said as the infant made himself comfortable. “As if the odds weren’t already stacked against him! What kind of a name is Evil?”

“You can change it if you like,” Johnny said.

Grace glanced up at him. “What do you mean?” She gazed at him intently. “Why did you bring him to me?”

“I stole him,” Johnny said. “Stukeley wanted me to kill him.” He shook his head. “I couldn’t do that, Grace. But I had to get him away from Lola and Sidorio. He’ll have a
better chance at life with you.” His dark eyes met hers. “With you and Lorcan, I mean.”

Grace’s eyes narrowed. “You want me and Lorcan to bring up Lola’s baby?”

Johnny nodded. “I would have brought them both to you if I had the chance, but Hunter… well, I couldn’t get Hunter away. But you can save this little guy. You’ll do it, won’t you, Grace? You understand why he needs to be kept away from them?”

She nodded with grim conviction. “Everyone is better off away from those two. But Johnny,
you
should stay, too. Leave that world behind. Come with this baby to
The Nocturne
and make a fresh start. Obsidian and the others will welcome you, I know they will.”

Johnny considered her proposition for a moment. Then he shook his head. “The die is cast for me,” he said. “I have to get back before the light scalds me. But I’ll sleep a little more easy knowing I did something good at last.”

He stepped closer in order to directly address baby Evil. “Be a good boy for your new folks,” he said. “Or you’ll have Uncle Johnny to answer to!” Grinning, he turned back to Grace. “I’d best get going now.”

Grace looked into his eyes imploringly. “Please stay,” she said.

He shook his head again. “I appreciate the offer, truly I do. It just wouldn’t work out, Grace, not for any of us.”

A tear escaped from Grace’s eye. “I really wish I could help you,” she said. “Ever since I met you, I’ve wished I
could find a way to help you change. There’s so much goodness inside you, but you just can’t seem to see it.”

Johnny was genuinely moved. “You’d best stop right there,” he said, “or I’m going to start blubbering myself.” Letting out a sigh, he resumed in a more pragmatic tone, “There is something I need from you before I head back. Do you happen to have in your possession a book? Some kind of magic book about being a dhampir?”

Grace frowned. “No,” she lied. “I don’t.”

“I really need that book,” Johnny said, a note of pleading in his voice.

“I did have it, but I gave it to someone else,” Grace said. “Someone who needs it more than me.” Before Johnny could make a further appeal, Grace nodded toward the sky. “If you’re going, you need to go right now,” she said.

Johnny saw that she was right. “I hope to see you again sometime, once all this dust has settled.” He leaned over and kissed her tenderly on the cheek. “Remember, Grace, the ride is far from over.”

Then he stole away into the night, leaving Lola and Sidorio’s baby already sleeping peacefully in her arms.

“Where is he?” Lola cried, running along the corridor of
The Vagabond
, Nathalie at her side. “Where is he?” Each cry more desperate than the one before. “Can you see him?”

“There he is, Captain!” Nathalie cried, pointing out through the porthole toward the deck of
The Tiger
.

As Lola came to a stop beside her, Nathalie opened up the porthole so that their view was no longer impeded by its smeared surface. Now Lola stepped forward and saw the terrible truth—Sidorio, her dear husband and father of her twins, commander in chief of the empire of night, was trapped on the deck of the enemy ship.

“Come away from the window!” Nathalie urged her. “The light!”

A single tear fell across the black-heart tattoo around Lola’s eye. “How can you tell me to step away from the light when you see the predicament Sidorio is in?” She remained at the window, watching with horror as the light grew more golden. Dawn was imminent now. She saw the light stalk hungrily across the decks of the pirate ships, swiftly overpowering their sails and rigging.

Her eyes returned to the deck of
The Tiger
, watching in mounting horror as the light began to steal its way from the prow to the center of the deck, where Sidorio was effectively pinioned by his three captors.

“Let’s destroy him!” Jasmine repeated.

“No,” Cheng Li said. “We’ll simply allow the light to do its work.” She glanced across at Obsidian Darke, seeking his agreement. He nodded.

They stood there, their three swords pressed into Sidorio’s neck, as the light crept across the deck toward them. Suddenly it was upon them, bathing Jasmine and Cheng Li’s face with welcome warmth. Obsidian Darke kept his head bowed. He might be able to endure the light, but still it was not something he welcomed. He kept his face fixed on Sidorio’s.

As light fell on Sidorio’s forehead, the Vampirate grinned and lifted his face, as best he could, to meet the sun’s rays. He laughed, his eyes turning from Cheng Li to Obsidian. “You see. I’m just as powerful as you now. The light can do me no harm.”

Jasmine was the first to notice that the tip of her sword, still plunged into Sidorio’s flesh, had begun to glow red. It was as if the sword was being heated from within Sidorio. She turned to Cheng Li, wondering if she had noticed, too. Cheng Li nodded discreetly, then turned her eyes back to their captive.

Sidorio’s expression had faltered. He appeared far less cocky now. In fact, he looked as if he was in considerable pain. There was fire coming from within him. The skin on his face and the exposed parts of his body rapidly darkened, cut through with traces of fire, like embers. Already, his face had started to disintegrate—no more than ash floating away on the ocean breeze. There was a sudden splintering as his shoulder detached from his body and fell to the deck, breaking into a thousand tiny pieces.

“No!” Lola cried out, still watching the nightmarish scene unfolding on the opposite deck. She lifted her crossbow and swiftly loaded it with a single silver arrow. “I’m going to make Obsidian Darke pay for this. Pathetic excuse for a Vampirate that he is!”

Lola aimed the crossbow sight through the open porthole at her unsuspecting target. With a guttural cry, she sent the silver arrow flying through the air and onto the deck of
The Tiger
.

Perhaps it was the infinitesimal movement of
The Vagabond
; perhaps a sudden gust of ocean breeze; or perhaps simply the maelstrom of Lola’s own emotions. Whichever, her aim was a little off, and the arrow sailed clear past Obsidian and deep into the heart of Cheng Li.