Black Heart

by Justin Somper

  “That’s why she threatens your position. They’re going to be married, and then they’ll divide the spoils between them, and you two… Well, your future will be uncertain, to say the least.”

  Stukeley shook his head once more. “Like I said, we’re not here to talk about us.”

  “We just wanted to invite you to join the festivities,” Johnny said. “Everyone loves a wedding.” His eyes were bright.

  “That’s right,” Stukeley said, his eyes fixed on Cheng Li’s. “Everyone loves a wedding. Isn’t that right, Captain Li?”

  Now she understood. “You want me to come to the wedding and assassinate Lady Lockwood?”

  “What a shocking idea!” said Stukeley, apparently deeply offended. But his eyes told a different story.

  Cheng Li thought fast. “How do I know this isn’t a trick?” she asked. “That you’re not luring me there to kill me?”

  Stukeley laughed good and hard at that. “Captain Li,” he said, “if our intention was to kill you, you’d be dead in the water by now, and we’d be long gone.”

  Cheng Li considered this. “But the invitation says ‘plus guests.’ You want me to bring my crew with me. You could kill us all.”

  “No one’s talking about killing anyone,” said Stukeley.

  At least not aloud, thought Cheng Li.

  “No,” agreed Johnny. “Just come along, on your own or with your crew. Myself, I think it’s more fun to bring a date to a wedding than to fly solo, but it’s up to you. So come along, eat some cake, throw some confetti—”

  “And then murder the bride!” said Cheng Li.

  “Johnny,” said Stukeley, “we ought to be getting Captain Li back to her ship. We’ve detained her long enough.”

  “Of course,” Johnny said, attending to the steering once more. “You must get some rest, Mistress Li. Give you time to come up with the ideal wedding gift.”

  Cheng Li turned back to Stukeley. “Do you have any suggestions?” she asked. “After all, you know them both so much better than I do.”

  Stukeley shook his head. “I’m sure you’ll come up with the perfect surprise.”

  So that was as much as he was going to help her. Well, given what he knew of her experiments, this must mean she was on the right track. Cheng Li thought of Connor and Jasmine returning from Lantao with the silver swords dipped in hawthorn and aconite. The perfect gift for a vampire bride. A poisonous sword through the heart.

  “And afterward?” she asked, turning back to Stukeley. “After the wedding, how can I be sure of a quick getaway? That you won’t double-cross me and attack me and my crew?”

  “Don’t worry,” Stukeley said. “You do us the very great honor of attending the nuptials, and we’ll take care of the rest. Trust us!”

  Cheng Li laughed lightly. “You’re asking me to trust you?”

  “You said it yourself. We’re old comrades, aren’t we?” He grinned at her. “Here, have your katanas back.” With that, he slipped the deadly blades back into their scabbards. “There now, Cheng Li. You have to trust me and I have to trust you. I believe this is what’s known in better circles as mutual self-interest.”

  40

  IMPOSSIBLE DREAMS

  Once more, Connor wielded the sword of Chang Pao in his grip. The last time he held it, he had thought of Chang Pao’s history as a legendary pirate and the commander of the Red Flag Fleet, and then of his own future. Now all his thoughts were concentrated on the present moment as he looked down the length of the épée toward his opponent’s weapon.

  “En garde!” Jasmine cried, her rapier making contact with his épée. The battle had begun again.

  Jasmine was an expert swordswoman. She had been schooled to the highest levels during ten years of combat workshops at Pirate Academy. This elite education combined with her natural athleticism made her a dangerous adversary. Connor felt like a rough streetfighter by comparison. No ten years of classes for him, just a few months at sea and the expert tutelage of Cutlass Cate, Bart, and Jez. But Connor had a natural instinct for combat, as if he was born to the sword. As Jasmine parried him backward, he remained cool and collected. He had a few surprise moves of his own!

  Bo Yin watched the duel from the sidelines, greatly impressed by Jasmine’s grace and precision. She had often tried out the swords herself, unbeknown to her father. She had even smuggled some of his ancient books on swordsmanship into her room, reading late into the night by the dimmest of light so as not to alert him. The problem was that she had no one decent to practice with. She had challenged some of the other local kids, but after showing some initial enthusiasm, they had rapidly grown tired of her games and moved on to others. Bo Yin sighed. If only Connor and Jasmine would stay longer, she could finally start to hone her skills.

  “You win!” Connor cried as Jasmine lunged at him, her épée perilously close to his heart.

  “Three-two to me!” Jasmine cried, elated.

  Bo Yin clapped her hands furiously.

  Connor wandered over to her, putting down his sword. “I need a drink,” he said, reaching for the bottle of water. “She’s tiring me out!”

  “I think you let her win, Connor Tempest,” said Bo Yin. “You let her win because you like her.”

  Connor grinned but shook his head. “Trust me, Bo, Jasmine’s a tough opponent.” He smiled, extending the hilt of Chang Pao’s sword to her. “Why don’t you see for yourself?”

  “May I?” Bo Yin felt a shiver of adrenaline as she glanced down at the sword. She turned to Jasmine.

  “Go on!” Jasmine said. “I’ll be gentle with you, I promise!”

  This time, it was Connor’s turn to watch from the sidelines. True to her word, Jasmine was a little gentler with Bo than she had been during their bout. But it was evident that the younger girl was also blessed with some real skill at swords. Perhaps, he mused, that was only to be expected from the daughter of a master swordsmith.

  He sat back, watching the two girls sparring away. Jasmine was so lithe and elegant, as he imagined a leopard might be in a fight. Not for the first time, he found himself lost in a dream about himself and Jasmine. And as usual, a picture of Jacoby—Jasmine’s boyfriend, he reminded himself—swiftly rose in his mind. There were some things you didn’t do, some thoughts you just didn’t entertain. And yet, watching Jasmine now, sleek as a wildcat, he couldn’t help but wonder what it would have been like if things were different.

  His little fantasy was interrupted by a gentle tap on his shoulder. He turned around to find Master Yin at his side. The swordsmith had arrived in the room stealthily, or perhaps Connor had been too involved in his impossible dream to notice.

  “Come with me!” Master Yin said softly. He turned and shuffled out of the room. Connor followed.

  “Wow!” Connor said once more, surveying the long line of shining swords laid out in Master Yin’s workshop.

  “Yes, wow!” Master Yin smiled. “Fifty silver swords. Dipped in a compound of hawthorn and aconite. Fatal to Vampirates!” He grinned. “If I say so myself, some of my very finest work.”

  At the end of the bench was a stack of what looked like tins of wood varnish. Connor lifted one. “So each time we go into battle, we just paint on a coat of this compound?”

  Master Yin nodded. “Yes. Just a sparing amount on the tip of your sword. Don’t go crazy with it. Just a touch should prove most effective. I have prepared a detailed note for Captain Li.” He reached among the tins and picked up an immaculately written page of instructions, which he gave to Connor.

  “Well,” Connor said, a little sadly, “I guess it’s time to pack up our stuff.”

  “Yes,” Master Yin agreed. “I’ll have Bo Yin help me put the swords into cases. Then we’ll box them up for you.” He turned and called over his shoulder. “Bo Yin!”

  “Coming, Pop!” A moment later, Bo Yin raced into the room. She was red-faced and a little out of breath. She still gripped Chang Po’s sword in her hand.

  Master Yin gazed at it, then
lifted his eyes to his daughter’s face. “Put away the épée, Bo Yin,” he said. “I need your help packing these swords. Connor and Jasmine are ready to return to the Tiger.”

  “So soon?” Bo Yin looked crestfallen.

  “So, once more we find ourselves saying good-bye.” Master Yin had come down to the quayside to bid farewell to his guests. “Miss Peacock, it was a pleasure to meet you.”

  “And you, Master Yin,” Jasmine said. “Thank you so much for all your hospitality.” She bowed formally, then found herself unable to resist hugging the old swordsmith. He might come across as an old curmudgeon, especially where his daughter was concerned, but during their ten days on Lantao, Jasmine had seen that this was just a facade. Deep down, Master Yin was like a teddy bear, albeit one who had devoted his life to crafting deadly weapons.

  “Good-bye again, sir,” Connor said, shaking Master Yin by the hand.

  “Travel safely,” said Master Yin. “You and your comrades are sailing into uncharted waters with these Vampirates,” he said. “Keep your wits about you, and rest assured you could have no better leader than Captain Li.”

  Connor nodded. “I know,” he said. He glanced around the harbor. “Where’s Bo?” he asked. “We haven’t said a proper good-bye to her.”

  Master Yin shook his head. “She was too upset,” he said. “Bo Yin is very angry with me. Feels I am ruining her life by keeping her here with me.” He sighed. “Perhaps she is right. But I made a promise, many years ago, to her dear mother, and I intend to honor it. For a little while longer, anyhow.”

  “Well, tell her we said a special good-bye,” said Connor. “And to Sinbad,” he added.

  “Yes,” Jasmine nodded. “And please thank her again for that laksa recipe!”

  Master Yin nodded. “Yes, yes, yes. Now get into the taxi boat, please. You’ve already clocked up a good few minutes’ waiting time.”

  “Poor Bo Yin,” Jasmine said as they lifted the anchor and prepared their own boat for the sail back to join their comrades. “Do you think her father will ever allow her to pursue a career as a pirate?”

  Connor shrugged. “Maybe. He seemed to be slightly softening on it this time. But she is still so young.”

  “She’s only two years younger than you,” Jasmine reminded him with a grin.

  “True,” agreed Connor, hoisting the mainsail. “But if my dad was still around, I’m not sure he’d be too thrilled about me being a pirate.” As the sail billowed out, he jumped across the deck to help Jasmine with the ropes.

  “Funny,” Jasmine said. “My parents’ only dream for me was to follow them into piracy. You and I come from very different worlds, don’t we?”

  “Maybe,” Connor said, finishing off the knots and finding himself so close to Jasmine, he could smell her coconut-scented shampoo. “But does it really matter where you come from? Isn’t the important thing where you’re going?”

  “Maybe,” Jasmine said, standing up and drawing a stray strand of hair back behind her ear. Suddenly, she grew self-conscious. “Connor, you’re staring at me. What’s wrong? Do I have a smudge of oil on my nose?”

  Connor smiled and shook his head. “No,” he said. “No, you’re perfect.” The words were instinctive. “You really are absolutely perfect,” he said.

  The skin around Jasmine’s dazzling green eyes crinkled. “No one’s perfect, Connor,” she said. “Don’t be silly!”

  “I’m not…” he began, reaching out to her, surprised at the boldness of his own actions.

  She turned away, slipping her sunglasses down over her eyes and folding her arms, gazing out to sea. Puzzled, Connor stepped closer, daring to place his hands lightly on her waist. She jumped at his touch.

  “What’s wrong?” he asked. Then he heard a muffled sob. “Jasmine? Hey, are you crying?”

  “No!” she said. “Yes! Oh, I don’t know! It’s so stupid. I really didn’t want to be a drama queen about this.”

  “About what?” he asked, his hands resting thrillingly around her waist.

  “About these feelings I have. These things I shouldn’t do. But that I really want to do.”

  Connor’s head was spinning. “Min, what are you talking about? What things?”

  Jasmine turned around as gracefully as a ballerina, still held within the circumference of his arms. She leaned in and kissed him on the lips, her arms draping themselves loosely over his shoulders. Connor was utterly taken aback. It was quite possibly the most magical moment of his life.

  “Should we start thinking about dinner?” Connor asked.

  They had been sailing for several hours and made excellent progress, spurred on by favorable winds. For Connor, the day had continued to have an unreal quality about it. Jasmine’s first kiss had been the start of that. More kisses had followed. But they had talked, too. This, in itself, wasn’t new. They’d been friends for a while now, and of course, during their ten days on Lantao, they had chatted at length throughout each day. But ever since that moment, ever since that kiss, they had started talking in a different way, opening up about their pasts and about their hopes and dreams for the future. Their fears, too; fears that ranged from what to tell Jacoby when they joined up with him again to the surreal and unprecedented mission they would soon be embarking upon.

  “Hey, Min, did you hear me? Are you hungry?”

  She turned and glanced over at him. “I guess so. What time is it?”

  Connor was about to glance at his watch when he was distracted by a curious tapping noise. He paused, listening to hear where it was coming from.

  Jasmine stared at him, puzzled. “What are you doing?”

  “Listen!” he said. “Do you hear that?”

  “Hear what?” She focused her attention.

  “There it goes again.”

  “Oh, yes,” Jasmine said. “What do you think it is?”

  Connor walked slowly forward, trying to pinpoint exactly where the sound was coming from.

  “Probably something got loose down below,” said Jasmine.

  But Connor could hear the tapping again, closer and louder. He was crouched over a hatch now. He lifted it up and was not entirely surprised as a long finger poked out from below. Connor reached both his hands down, cradling the warm and furry body lurking below.

  “Hello, hello,” he said. “Ahoy there, Sinbad!” Bo Yin’s pet aye-aye seemed delighted to see Connor again and to hear his own name.

  “What’s going on?” Jasmine walked across the deck to join him.

  Connor turned, cradling the strange creature in his arms. “Looks like we have a stowaway!” he said.

  “Looks like we have more than one,” said Jasmine as Bo Yin popped her head through the hatch.

  “Sinbad Yin,” she hissed. “You’re a very naughty boy!”

  “You’re a fine one to talk,” Connor said. “What on earth are you doing here, Bo?”

  “I’ve run away!” Bo Yin announced, climbing up through the hatch and jumping onto the deck, her hands on her hips.

  “Of course you have!” Connor said, shaking his head but grinning.

  “Please don’t be angry, Connor Tempest!” said Bo, her eyes wide. “And please, don’t take me back. I’ll make a good pirate. You said so yourself.”

  Connor sighed, though he found it hard to stay exasperated with Bo. “I did mean it,” he said. “But not now. Not yet.”

  “Carpe diem, Connor Tempest!” pronounced Bo Yin. “Seize the day!”

  “What are we going to do with you?” Connor asked. He glanced over to Jasmine.

  “Please don’t take me back, Jasmine Peacock!” Bo Yin implored.

  “We can’t go back to Lantao,” Jasmine said. “We’ve come too far already. We have to get back to Captain Li and give her the new weapons.”

  “Yay!” cried Bo Yin. “And then Bo Yin can join Cheng Li’s crew!”

  “We’ll have to see what Captain Li has to say about that,” said Connor.

  “She’s an old friend of the family,” sai
d Bo, smiling. “No worries!”

  Connor couldn’t help but grin at her irrepressible enthusiasm and determination.

  Cheng Li stared down at Bo Yin, then spoke with surprising tenderness. “You shouldn’t have acted so rashly. Your father will be upset and worried about you. I know how deeply you dream of becoming a pirate, but you really shouldn’t have done this without talking to him, and to me, first.”

  “When you know what you want out of life,” said Bo Yin, “you just have to go after it. Think back, Captain Li. When you were younger, if someone had told you you couldn’t be a pirate, would you have let anything stand in your way?”

  “No,” Cheng Li agreed. “But that was different.” She indicated the portrait behind her desk. “My father was a pirate.”

  Bo Yin shook her head. “That’s not what you’re supposed to say.”

  “No?” Cheng Li raised an inquisitive eyebrow.

  Bo Yin grinned, stepping closer. “You’re supposed to say how much I remind you of yourself at my age.”

  Cheng Li laughed, but it was the warmest laughter Connor had ever heard from her. “Is that right? Well, Bo, I guess you’re right. I do see a lot of my younger self in you. Though you are much cheekier than I ever was.”

  Bo Yin pressed on. “And this is the part where you tell me that you’ll give me a try, and if I prove myself to be worthy, you will talk to my father and persuade him that this has happened for the best.”

  Cheng Li smiled. “You have this all worked out, Bo Yin, don’t you?”

  The girl nodded. “I have given these things much thought, Captain Li. I had a lot of time to think on Lantao.”

  Cheng Li considered the situation for a moment, then made her decision. “Bo Yin, under normal circumstances, I’d let your cheek and enthusiasm carry the day. But, you see, my ship is no ordinary ship.”

  “No,” agreed Bo Yin. “The Tiger is the best pirate ship, the very best.”

  “No, that’s not what I meant. We have a special mission. A very dangerous mission. It wouldn’t be right to involve you in this. I’d never forgive myself if something happened to you.”