Black Heart

by Justin Somper

  Even now, Bo Yin was undaunted. “You’re going to fight the Vampirates,” she said. “I know all about it. That’s why Connor Tempest and Jasmine Peacock came for new swords.” She paused. “I can help!”

  Cheng Li shook her head. “Bo, I’m so sorry to disappoint you, but you have no idea of the danger we’re sailing into.”

  “I am not afraid of danger. I can help!”

  Cheng Li was trying to remain patient. “Bo, how exactly do you think you can help?”

  As ever, Bo was ready with the answer. “My father is a mastermind of weapons, yes? And I haven’t been around him without picking up a few tips. For instance”—she withdrew from her pocket a scrap of paper—“the formula for the poison to dip your silver swords in. When you run out, I can prepare more for you. As you know, I am very proficient at recipes.”

  Cheng Li felt the wind had been taken out of her sails. Maybe this could just work. Of course, Bo would have to be kept well out of combat situations. That was imperative. But so long as that was understood, where was the real danger? She could give Bo Yin a trial, and after the immediate business with Lady Lola Lockwood was concluded, she could talk to Master Yin.

  “All right,” said Cheng Li. “You’re in… for now! If you’re half as a good a pirate as you are a negotiator, you have a starry future ahead.”

  “Thank you, Captain Li,” said Bo, giving her a salute. “I am honored to join your crew.”

  Suddenly, there was a scuffle behind Bo Yin. A furry ball darted through the gap between her legs. Connor watched in disbelief as Sinbad mirrored his mistress’s gesture, raising his strange hand to his head and saluting the captain.

  “What is that?” asked Cheng Li.

  “He’s an aye-aye, Captain,” said Connor.

  “Very funny, Connor,” said Cheng Li. “I see your minibreak to Lantao has done wonders for your sense of humor.”

  “Actually, that’s true, but he really is an aye-aye, isn’t he, Bo?”

  Bo Yin nodded, scooping Sinbad up into her arms. “He’s my pet, Mistress Li. Say hello to Captain Li, Sinbad!”

  Sinbad stretched out his wizened hand in Cheng Li’s direction.

  “I’m sorry,” Cheng Li said. “You can stay, Bo Yin. But the Tiger is an animal-free zone. I’m running a pirate ship, not Noah’s ark.”

  Bo Yin frowned, then set Sinbad down on the floor. “Here’s the thing,” she began. Connor sensed that another lengthy negotiation was about to begin.

  41

  CHANGES

  “I’m sorry,” Connor said later as he and Cheng Li marched along the corridor. “You have to believe me. I had no idea she’d do this. And if we’d discovered her sooner, we’d have turned around.”

  “It’s okay,” said Cheng Li with surprising equanimity. “I don’t think any of us could have stopped this from happening eventually. It was only a question of time. Bo Yin is a very ambitious young lady.”

  “So you’re going to let her stay?”

  Cheng Li nodded. “For now. But we’ll keep her away from any combat scenarios. I’ll need your help with that.”

  “Absolutely,” Connor agreed.

  “Now then,” said Cheng Li, “where are these new weapons?”

  “They’re waiting for you in the armory,” Connor said.

  “Excellent! Let’s go and take a look!” Cheng Li marched along the corridor. As usual, Connor had to race to keep up.

  “Perfect!” declared Cheng Li, lifting one of the silver swords.

  Perfect. The word took Connor back to the deck of the small ship. Jasmine standing in the sunlight. Her tanned shoulders turned toward him, her coconut-scented hair. Just before that delicious moment when she had turned and…

  “Connor!” Cheng Li’s call brought his focus back into this room. “Didn’t you hear me?”

  “Sorry,” he said. “I was distracted for a moment.”

  “We’re about to embark on a dangerous and unprecedented mission,” Cheng Li said. “You cannot afford to be distracted even for a split second.”

  “Yes, Captain!” Connor agreed. It was madness. Here he was, involved in the most dangerous pirate mission of all time, and all he could focus on was what it had felt like to be kissed by Jasmine Peacock, the prettiest girl at Pirate Academy. Where was she now? With Jacoby? Had she told him yet what had happened? His heart was racing.

  “Come on,” Cheng Li said. “I can see you’re tired from your journey. Come and have dinner. It will be a good chance to catch up with your comrades.”

  Never one to refuse an offer of food, Connor followed Cheng Li out of the armory and up to the mess hall, or cafeteria, as Captain Li preferred her state-of-the-art eating area to be called. There was no captain’s table as such—Cheng Li preferred to eat with her crew, ensuring that she maintained day-to-day contact with the most junior recruits as well as her senior officers.

  “Follow me,” Cheng Li said, heading toward a table in the middle of the room. Connor saw that Jacoby and Jasmine were already seated there. They were laughing, and Jacoby had his arm around Jasmine’s shoulder. Judging from these signs, she hadn’t told him yet. She glanced up at Connor and smiled, but there was something guarded about her. Connor felt confused and a little bit crushed.

  “Welcome back!” cried Jacoby, jumping up and initiating their secret handshake. “I hear you got us some state-of-the-art weaponry!”

  Connor nodded.

  “And hey”—Jacoby leaned closer—“thanks for bringing Min home safe,” he said. “I would have been out of my head with worry if she’d been off with anyone but you!”

  Connor painted a forced grin on his face. But as he turned, he saw something that turned the fake grin into a real one. Two familiar but out of place faces were sitting at the other end of the table. Bart and Cate.

  “Guys!” Connor cried, racing over to hug them. “What are you two doing here?”

  “We heard you were in need of some serious muscle,” Bart said as he embraced his old friend. “So good to see you again, buddy!”

  “You, too!” Connor was close to tears.

  “We’re on temporary loan,” Cate told him. “Special dispensation for this mission. Ahab Black talked to Barbarro Wrathe, who talked to Molucco—well, anyhow, here we are, for now.”

  “I am so happy to see you guys,” Connor said. “I’m only surprised they didn’t send Moonshine over with you.”

  As he said Moonshine’s name, there was a cry from the food counter. “What’s all this low-carb crapola? I demand a pizza!”

  Connor turned around. At the same time, Moonshine looked up. Seeing Connor, he dug two fingers into his mouth. “I was feeling nauseous before,” he cried. “Now, I’m really ready to hurl.”

  “It wouldn’t be the first time,” Connor called, remembering all too vividly how Moonshine had vomited over him—twice!— during a particularly bad crossing on board Barbarro Wrathe’s ship, the Typhon.

  As Moonshine threw aside his tray and stomped out of the cafeteria, Connor turned to Cate. “I was only joking before. What’s the idea with Moonshine joining the team?”

  Cate leaned forward. “It’s politics, Connor,” she said. “Pure politics. When Barbarro persuaded Molucco to loan us out, he insisted that Moonshine come, too. He’s under the impression it will be character building for him!”

  “Character building?” Connor exclaimed. “Are you sure that Barbarro isn’t secretly hoping a Vampirate will do us all a favor and finish him off?”

  Bart laughed.

  Cate smiled but shook her head. “As ever, the strategy regarding Moonshine remains very straightforward: Keep him as far away from the action as possible.”

  “All right,” said Connor, “but please don’t even think about pairing me up with him this time.”

  “Don’t worry,” Cate said. “I promise that won’t happen.”

  Bart rested his hand on Connor’s shoulder. “Let’s not waste time talking about that little twerp. Grab some grub, mate, and bring
us up to speed on your adventures! We’ve missed you like crazy, haven’t we, Cate?”

  Connor noticed that Bart’s other arm was draped around Cate’s shoulders, and she made no attempt to remove it. Indeed, she was smiling contentedly. Connor grinned. “Looks like you two have some stuff to fill me in on, too!” he said.

  “Get some food!” said Cate, trying hard to be formal but failing. To Connor’s surprise and delight, she turned and kissed Bart just under his ear.

  “Careful!” Connor joked. “Don’t let Cheng Li see. This is a pirate ship, you know, not the Love Boat!”

  On his way to the counter, Connor passed Jacoby and Jasmine, who had already finished eating and were heading out.

  “See you later, buddy!” Jacoby called. “Me and Min got some catching up to do.” He winked at Connor, then punched his shoulder and continued on, joking with mates at another table.

  Connor felt a headache coming on. Jasmine held back, then reached out and touched his wrist. It was the lightest of touches but thrilling nonetheless. “Connor, don’t be angry with me,” she said. “I couldn’t just blurt it out the minute we got back. But nothing has changed. I will tell him. Everything we said to each other on the way back from Lantao holds true. I want this as much as you do.”

  Connor smiled and let out a deep sigh. “Thanks, Min,” he said. “That’s a huge relief.”

  “Okay,” she said, slipping free her hand. “I’ve got to go now. But I’ll come and find you later. I promise.”

  “Okay,” Connor said. Letting out a deep breath, he stepped forward and grabbed a tray.

  The next day, Cheng Li watched from the upper deck of the Tiger as Cate began putting the fifty members of the crew selected for Operation Wedding Gift through new attack formations. The captain’s eyes ranged from Jacoby to Jasmine, from Connor to Bart to Bo Yin, who was surprisingly dexterous with her épée. If the early signs were anything to go by, she had taken on a prodigiously talented new crew member in little Bo. Cheng Li smiled to herself. Everything was coming together very satisfactorily, in ways both planned and unexpected. She thought of something her father had once told her. Fate favors the brave. She hoped Chang Ko Li’s words would hold true.

  42

  THE SPELL

  Grace burst into the captain’s cabin. It was still a shock stepping inside and finding that the captain himself was absent. Where was he? Was he ever going to return to the Nocturne, to the crew who loved and missed and needed him? But as anxious as Grace was to solve this mystery, there were other, more pressing questions that needed to be answered.

  “Grace,” said Mosh Zu, turning from the steering wheel. He smiled, evidently neither surprised nor disturbed by her sudden appearance.

  She saw that Lorcan was here as well, standing in front of the hearth, staring into the fire. Now he spun around and looked at her, too, but he did not smile. He seemed anxious.

  Grace looked from one to the other, wondering how best to broach her question. In the end, she dispensed with all pleasantries and simply blurted it out. “Which one of the Vampirates is my father? I have to know. Now!”

  Her question was met initially with silence. Lorcan looked to Mosh Zu for leadership. Mosh Zu appeared to consider the matter, turning from the wheel and stepping closer into the cabin. “All right,” he said at last. “Yes, I believe it is time.”

  Grace felt her heart begin to race. At last she was going to get some answers.

  Mosh Zu sat down at the captain’s table and gestured for the others to join him. As they sat down, he addressed Grace. “Grace, I want you to know that no one has been trying to keep things secret from you. It was clear to me that you were moving toward these important discoveries yourself. I saw no need to rush them. You were getting there in your own time.”

  “You mean through these visions I’ve been having?” she said.

  Mosh Zu nodded. “The visions you’ve been channeling through your contact with Sally.”

  Grace nodded. “But that’s just it,” she said. “Ever since Mother—well, ever since we left her at the lighthouse, the visions have gone. I can’t seem to find a way back into them.”

  Mosh Zu nodded. “That makes sense,” he said. “As you know, Grace, your mother found it difficult to talk at any length when she came back. She desperately wanted to tell you her story—your story. I’m sure that was why she clung on so tenaciously for as long as she did. And though her speaking voice was weak, it seems to me that she found another way to tell the story.”

  Grace’s eyes widened. “You mean my mother was intentionally conjuring those visions for me?”

  Mosh Zu paused, then shook his head. “Not consciously,” he said. “No, I would think not. But the subconscious is very powerful.” He paused. “Remember how you were able to work with the ribbons in Sanctuary, tapping into the energies contained within them to unlock memories and stories others had imprinted there?”

  Grace gasped. “You mean that I did the same thing, simply by holding my mother’s hand?”

  “Yes,” Mosh Zu said, nodding. “Only, of course, your connection to your mother was even stronger.”

  “And now she’s gone,” Grace said, bereft. “And I won’t be able to channel the rest of the story.”

  Mosh Zu smiled warmly. “What’s that charming expression? There’s more than one way to skin a cat!” His eyes were bright as he continued. “Tell me, through your conversations with Sally and your own visions, how far did you get?”

  Grace’s heart was racing now. “She told me about how my dad, I mean, Dexter, how he joined the Nocturne as a kitchen porter and how they fell in love. She told me that she realized she’d been wrong to give up on her life beyond the ship and that she came to the captain and asked him to free her from the bonds of being Sidorio’s donor.”

  Mosh Zu nodded.

  Grace took a deep breath in, then out. “She said that the captain agreed to her request.”

  “It was a not a decision he took lightly,” Mosh Zu said, “but he could see her predicament and that her true destiny lay beyond this ship.”

  “And so,” Grace continued, “he told her that she must wait until a new donor had been found for Sidorio. Once that happened, she would be free to start a new life with Dexter.” She sighed. “And that’s where she ended the story, that day we spent together in Crescent Moon Bay—that last, perfect day.”

  “So,” Mosh Zu said, “that’s where we will pick it up.” He nodded toward Lorcan. “Perhaps you would care to begin?”

  Grace’s eyes turned to Lorcan, her first good friend aboard the Nocturne. He had come to mean so much to her, and whatever he was about to tell her, she knew there was no one she would rather hear it from.

  “Word got to Sidorio that Sally had been to see the captain,” Lorcan began. “That she had asked to be released from being his donor so that she could go away with Dexter.” He shook his head. “Sidorio was beyond himself with rage.”

  “Because he was losing his donor?” Grace asked. “But why? From everything my mother said, he only ever saw her as—what did Oskar call it?—a Mobile Blood Supply. Why would switching donors even matter to him?”

  “You’re right,” Lorcan said. “At least, that’s what we all thought. But evidently Sidorio had deeper feelings for your mother than he revealed. He couldn’t stand the thought of her double betrayal, first through her relationship with Dexter and then through her decision to leave.”

  Grace couldn’t believe what she was hearing. “Sidorio had feelings for my mother?”

  Lorcan nodded. “The very strongest of feelings, Grace,” he said. “Sidorio was in love with your mother. But it was an unrequited love. And so it was all the harder for him to bear.”

  This was a lot to take in and adjust to, but Grace hung on Lorcan’s every word as he continued. “Sidorio confronted Sally. She told him that he couldn’t stop her from leaving the ship. Perhaps not, he said, but he’d find a way for her never to forget him.”

  Grace
shivered at these words. She had a dark sense of foreboding about the way this tale was unfolding, but she had to stay with it, whatever the outcome.

  Mosh Zu was the next to speak. “Love and hate are not opposites. They are merely different manifestations of the same intensity of feeling. What Sidorio did next may seem hateful to you, to all of us—” He broke off.

  “What did he do?” Grace asked.

  “You’re sure you want to know this?” Mosh Zu answered.

  “It isn’t a question of wanting,” Grace said. “I have to know.”

  Mosh Zu nodded. “Would you like me to show you?” he asked.

  To show her? What did he mean? Mosh Zu stood up from the table and walked toward the fireplace. He beckoned to Grace to join him. She did so, puzzled. Lorcan, who was sitting with his back to the fire, did not stand but turned around and rested his arms on the back of his chair.

  “Look into the flames,” Mosh Zu said, laying a hand on Grace’s shoulder. Grace let her eyes fall on the flickering flames that licked around the edges of the hearth.

  “Now,” Mosh Zu said, “listen to the flames.”

  Listen to the flames? It was a curious instruction. But Grace did as he commanded, letting her attention focus on the hiss and crackle of the fire. Suddenly, the sound of the flames grew louder and all background noise was shut out. It was calming in a way, like listening to the waters of the fountain in the gardens of Sanctuary. The noise of the fire grew louder and louder in her head. Then she heard voices. The shock of it made her start, but Mosh Zu’s voice reassured her. “It’s okay. Stay with it, Grace. Listen closely.”

  She obeyed his command. She could hear voices and music. Deeply rhythmic, somewhat familiar music.

  “Now,” Mosh Zu spoke once more, “now look beyond the flames.”

  Grace did as he commanded. And suddenly, it was as if a window had opened in the hearth. She could see the Vampirates and donors at Feast Night. They felt so close that she could almost reach out and touch them. But where was Sally? As she framed the question, the vision shifted and led her to where her mother was sitting, waiting at the long table. Grace caught her breath. This time, she was seeing things from a different viewpoint, no longer through Sally’s eyes. It was fascinating to see her mother’s face. She could see hope in it. Her mother knew she was leaving the ship, that her plans were coming together. That she was about to start a new life—and family—with Dexter. Her green eyes were bright with hope. She looked more beautiful than ever before.