Vampirates 4: Black Heart (33 page)

Grace opened her eyes groggily. Her vision was blurred, and it took her a moment to place the figure entering the room.

"Oskar?"

"Yes," he said brightly, moving toward her. "How are you doing today?"

Her vision was hazy. "I'm okay ... I guess." But as she said the words, she felt suddenly nauseous. The room seemed to be spinning around her.

"Here," Oskar said, sitting down beside her. She felt his hand grip hers. His touch was cool, like all the Vampirates' ... but no, Oskar wasn't a vampire. He was a donor. Grace's mind was racing. His touch was cool because she was so hot. She must have a fever. "Oh, Oskar," she said. "I'm not feeling too well."

"It's okay, Grace," he said. "I know. I know." He sat down on the bed beside her and kept hold of her hand. They sat like that for a while, saying nothing further.

After a few minutes had passed, Grace felt her breathing begin to slow down and her temperature cool. Her vision was becoming clearer. She eased herself up in bed.

"Well," said Oskar, "you certainly look better than yesterday."

"Yesterday?" Grace said vaguely. "Did you come to see me yesterday?"

Oskar nodded and smiled patiently. "And the day before and the day before that. Don't you remember?"

She shook her head, gripped by a coil of panic. "No, Oskar, I don't. I don't even know how long I've been here." She sighed. "I guess I've been a lot sicker than I realized."

Oskar smiled and squeezed her hand. "You've been here for five days, Grace. Five days and five nights. Ever since we left Crescent Moon Bay." He paused. "Do you remember what happened there?"

"Yes," she said. "Of course! My mother passed on. She was reunited with my father -- at least their souls were reunited. They went away together."

"That's right," Oskar said. "And do you remember what happened next?"

She thought back to being there in the bay. To standing in the churchyard, safe in Lorcan's arms, watching her mother and father's reunion at Dexter's grave. And then seeing them walk away, and then ... The vision was dimming, but she held on to it tenaciously. There had been a beam of light from the lighthouse, and she had seen them up in the lamp room, looking down at her and waving good-bye. And then the beam had begun moving across the beach and the bay until she had to close her eyes. Darkness. Utter darkness. But no, before that there had been something else. The gravestone, her father's gravestone, had glowed red, no, pink. It was as if it was calling her, summoning her. She had raced toward it. And she had seen the extra line of carving -- Sally's inscription. And that was when the darkness had come. She had read the new words, and then everything had begun to blur and she had lost consciousness.

"I think I must have fainted in the churchyard," Grace said.

Oskar nodded. "That's exactly what happened," he said. "You see, you do remember! The others brought you back to the ship, back to your old cabin." He gestured around the room, and now her eyes began to take it in, too. It had been a while since she had been here, after her protracted stay at Sanctuary, but yes, this was her cabin -- the one she'd been assigned after her initial arrival on the Nocturne, back when she hadn't even known the ship's name.

She was propped up in the canopied bed, its wooden posts bearing intricate carvings. To her right was the small washroom with its china basin, a washcloth folded over its side. Her eyes continued to move around the room -- to the chair, on which her clothes were neatly folded. Close by the chair was the desk. As usual, its surface was crowded with pens, pencils, ink, and notebooks, including the notebooks in which she had written down the crossing stories of the Vampirates she had met and talked to here and at Sanctuary. Beyond the desk was the lacquered chest of drawers painted with strange characters and bearing a silver hairbrush and mirror set. She remembered that mirror. The glass was missing from it.

Grace seized Oskar's hand. "How long did you say I've been here?" she asked once more, starting to wonder if everything had been a dream -- Lorcan's blindness, their trip to Sanctuary, the captain's healing ceremony, her mother's return, and everything after.

"Five days," Oskar said. "Ever since your mother passed on and you fainted in the churchyard. The captain and Mosh Zu brought you here. Lorcan carried you."

So it hadn't been a dream. It had all happened. Why did it all seem so hazy to her?

"I'm sorry," she said. "Did you say you've visited me here before?"

He nodded. "Every afternoon," he said. "Lorcan and the captain told me it was okay. They thought you would like the company."

"I'm very grateful," Grace said. "I really am. It's just so strange that I can't remember. It's like everything since the churchyard has been lost. And everything that happened before is all jumbled. I'm having trouble telling what's real and what's my imagination."

Oskar addressed her in his most soothing tones. "Don't beat yourself up about it, Grace. You've been through a lot in the past few weeks. It's only natural that your body would react at some point. You've been under so much stress. There had to be some outlet for that."

Grace heard his words, processing them as though he was talking about somebody else. It made sense, though she hadn't seen it that way from the inside. "I suppose you're right," she agreed. "Maybe I've been running on empty for a while, and it's taken its toll on me. Maybe this is like a cold bug or the flu or something."

"Exactly," Oskar said. "I'm sure it's nothing to worry about, anyhow. The most important thing is for you to rest up. You'll feel better soon, I'm sure."

"Thank you," she said.

He grinned at her. There was a second knock at the door.

"Come in," Grace called.

"Well, you sound better --" began Lorcan, entering the cabin. He broke off. "Oh," he said, "Oskar. I didn't know you'd be here."

"It's okay, isn't it?" Oskar asked. "You said it was all right for me to visit Grace, remember?"

Lorcan looked remote for a moment, then nodded. "Yes. Yes, of course I remember. I just wasn't expecting to see you right now, that's all." He paused. He seemed a little agitated.

"Would you like me to leave you two alone?" Oskar asked him.

Lorcan nodded. "If you wouldn't mind," he said.

Oskar shook his head. "No, of course not. Besides, I have to go and get ready for the Feast tonight."

"Is it Feast Night, tonight?" Grace asked.

They both nodded. This explained why Lorcan seemed so distracted. Like the other Vampirates, he was at his weakest just before the Feast. It was when his blood levels were at their lowest, and his energy along with them.

"I'll go and get ready," Oskar said. He smiled at Grace. "But I'll check in on you again tomorrow, all right?"

"Yes, please," she said, smiling up at him. "Thank you, by the way, for what you said. You've made me feel a lot better already."

"Good," he said with a smile. Then he nodded at Lorcan and made his way to the door.

"How are you feeling?" Lorcan asked Grace, sitting down where Oskar had sat before.

"A bit strange, to be honest," Grace said. "I can't remember anything since I fainted in the churchyard. Oskar said that you carried me back here."

Lorcan nodded. "That's right."

"Thank you," she said. "One way or another, you always seem to be rescuing me."

He shrugged, and smiled at her tenderly. "Well, if you will keep getting shipwrecked and having fainting fits in churchyards, somebody's gotta look after you," he said.

"Well, I'm glad it's you," she said, reaching out her hand for his. His touch was cool, as always. But that was right. He was a vampire, after all.

"So," said Lorcan, "you and my new donor seem to be fast friends. What have the two of you been talking about?"

Grace was silent.

"Or is it secret?" Lorcan asked.

"No." Grace shook her head. "No, we were just talking about what I've been going through. And how I'm feeling now. Oh, Lorcan, it's been so strange. I have this jumble of symptoms. One minute I'm really hot, then I'm really nauseous, and then I guess I'm really tired, because I seem to be sleeping so much."

"I know," he said. "But it's okay, Grace. It will pass."

Grace nodded. "That's what Oskar said, too. He thinks it's just the stress I've been under, working its way out of my body. Some kind of flu, I guess." She stopped speaking, noticing that Lorcan was looking at her very intently. "Lorcan," she said. "What's wrong?"

He continued to stare at her, then gripped her hand more tightly. "Grace," he said. "My dear, sweet Grace. I have something to tell you."

"Lorcan, what is it? You're scaring me. Please, tell me what it is."

He nodded. "It's time. It's way past time. I've been trying to protect you for so long, we all have, but you have to know."

Grace stared at him in wonder. What on earth was he talking about?

33A DANGEROUS TRIO

Cheng Li was staring at her father's portrait when she heard the knock at her cabin door. She turned and composed herself before calling out, "Enter!"

The door opened, and Jacoby, Jasmine, and Connor trooped inside.

Cheng Li raised an eyebrow. "Is it done?" she asked.

Jacoby nodded. "It's done. The experiments concluded earlier today. We're ready to share our findings with you."

"Excellent," said Cheng Li. "Everyone grab a chair." She led them over to the round table by the window and they all sat down. Her three crew members had brought notebooks with them, which they opened, ready to discuss their findings and to take the captain's next orders.

"So," said Cheng Li, "three nights ago, I brought you three lab rats. Talk me through your experiments, and tell me what you've found."

Jacoby nodded. "Sure thing, Captain! Well, first we strung the cages with garlands of wild roses and garlic bulbs --"

"How decorative," Cheng Li cut in.

Jacoby grinned at the captain. "And you'll remember that both plants have apotropaic properties -- that is, they help to protect against vampires. Or so we had been told. We wanted to test it out."

"And?" inquired Cheng Li.

Jacoby nodded. "I'd say it's an affirmative. Certainly, we didn't see any early attempts at escape. Of course, it's hard to confirm one way or the other, but I'd say that the garlands had some repellent effect, wouldn't you, Min?"

Jasmine nodded. Cheng Li scribbled a note, then urged her deputy to continue.

"Next," said Jacoby brightly, "we tested out the effects of sunlight. We wanted to see just what degree of harm this would do to them. We know anecdotally, of course, that a vampire who Connor has met was temporarily blinded by the sun."

"How did these three fare?" Cheng Li enquired.

"They were definitely panicked by the idea," said Jacoby. "When we removed the covers from the cages that first night and told them we'd see them in the morning, all three were in a heightened state of agitation." He paused. "Of course, we didn't entirely take our leave, but observed them from a distance. As the sun rose, there were further signs of distress."

"They began to scream," Jasmine interjected. Her face showed her own distress. "It was horrible, really horrible."

"But," said Jacoby, "the sunlight appeared to be another apotropaic. It weakened them, but it didn't seem to inflict significant harm. Overall, I'd say it had more of a sedative effect."

"Interesting," said Cheng Li, making another note. She glanced at Connor. "Perhaps different Vampirates react to the sun in different ways?"

Connor nodded. "It's possible," he said. "Besides, from what little Grace has told me, I don't think Lorcan Furey's blindness was caused by exposure to daylight alone. There appear to have been other underlying causes."

Cheng Li nodded, turning back to Jacoby. "There's no chance they were faking this sedative effect to trick you?"

Her deputy shook his head. "No," he said. "Trust me, Captain, there was no fakery."

"After a time," Jasmine said, "we had to cover the cages in order to minimize their distress and prepare for further experimentation."

At this, Jacoby produced an object from his pocket and set it on Cheng Li's desk. "A wooden stake," he said. "We tested this on Vampirate One. You may remember him? Adult male. The largest of the trio. When I went into the cage, he was like a deadweight. I turned him around. He seemed to have been weakened by the sunlight, but even so, he put up a fight."