Vampirates 3: Blood Captain Read Free Page A

their relationship that they had lately come to the understanding that each must go their own way, for now at least.
    And so here she was, on the deck of The Nocturne, awaiting the captain and her dear comrade Lorcan, about to embark on an important mission to the top of the mountain and a mysterious place called Sanctuary. There, they would meet the Vampirate guru, Mosh Zu Kamal, and appeal to him to cure Lorcan of his blindness.
    Glancing back up toward the mountain, Grace wondered just how long it would take to reach Sanctuary. It might prove to be a very arduous trek indeed. Already she was concerned about how Lorcan would manage. It was not just a question of his blindness but the fact that he had recently grown so weak. Why, just a few days earlier, it had been effort enough just to get him up onto the top deck.
    “My business is concluded.” She heard a familiar whisper and saw a new figure emerge onto the deck. Clad from head to toe in black, it was as if he had been sculpted out of the dark night itself. Others would be perturbed by the sight of this tall, imposing man with his leathery cape, which sometimes flickered with veins of light like the winged sails of the Vampirate ship. They would be intimidated by the fact that he always wore a mask and never removed his hands from their dark gloves. Some might recoil at his voice, which did not go out into the air, as other voices do, but instead arrived in your head as an icy whisper, never varying in volume or pitch.
    But in her relatively short acquaintance with the Vampirate captain, Grace had come to know him as a wise and compassionate being — more humane than anyone she had ever met before, save perhaps her dear departed father. In a way, she realized, she had come to view the captain as a father figure.
    “Let us go.” Once more the captain’s words arrived in her head.
    As the captain walked toward them, Darcy suddenly threw her arms around Grace’s shoulders. “Oh, Grace,” she said with a sob, “we always seem to be saying goodbye, don’t we?”
    Grace nodded, smiling. She was a little surprised to feel a tear roll down her cheek. Sometimes, she forgot just what a good friend Darcy Flotsam had become to her. It was no longer sufficient to think of her as the ship’s quirky but beautiful figurehead; a wooden sculpture by day, but a girl full of life by night. Darcy was as much flesh and blood and emotion as anyone Grace had ever met.
    Grace wiped away the tear. “I’ll be back soon, Darcy,” she said. “I promise. Just as soon as Lorcan is on the mend, we’ll return to The Nocturne .”
    Darcy nodded. And so they hugged once more and repeated their farewells, both hanging on to the pretense that Lorcan was sure to recover. Neither could bear to even entertain the alternative.
    The captain gently leaned forward. “Goodbye for now, Darcy,” he whispered, laying a gloved hand on her shoulder. “I know I can depend on you to obey the deputy and do your best for the good of the ship.”
    “Yes, Captain!” Darcy exclaimed, giving him a crisp naval salute.
    Watching them, Grace pondered the word “deputy.” She realized that she had no idea who the captain had left in charge of The Nocturne during his absence. She was aware of a certain hierarchy aboard the ship — Lorcan, for instance, now held the post of lieutenant, as Sidorio had before him. But she had no clue as to who the deputy captain was or even who might be of senior rank among the crew. This was in marked contrast to her time on the pirate ship, The Diablo, where it had been crystal clear that the deputy captain was first Cheng Li and latterly Cutlass Cate. Grace was reminded that, in spite of her already deep attachment to several of the crew of The Nocturne, there was still much she had to learn about the Vampirates. Perhaps her time at Sanctuary would give her more of an insight. She fervently hoped so.
    “Ah,” said the captain, his whisper cutting through her thoughts.