Vampirates 5: Empire of Night Read Free

them now brought only coldness to his immortal bones and a dull, heavy ache to his head. In his hands, Lola's face grew more wrinkled with every passing minute. Her skin was so dry, it was starting to flake. She was being ravaged before his very eyes. Sidorio began to fear his beautiful wife might simply turn to dust and slip through his fingers into the night air.
    He closed his eyes, urging darkness to engulf him. Now, even to think of her was a constant source of pain. But she was within him. Images of her filled his being as completely as blood cells: the time she had helped him pick out new clothes, like the wedding suit he was wearing still, though he would never again have use for such finery; the evening she had placed her tiny hand on his and shown him how to swirl the vintage inside the glass
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    to release its aroma; then that moment--that magical moment--when she had consented to become his wife...
    She had become his wife, but, more than that, she had become his world. Now she was gone.
    Sidorio had been lonely before, but never like this. He let out a sorrowful roar.
    The wind whispered close in his ear, as if somehow it shared his mourning. The sound came again, and Sidorio wondered if it could, after all, be the wind. The beach was calm, and the air was still and dry.
    There was a third sound, not so much a whisper as a cough. Tempted to believe that some drop of life still remained in Lola, he glanced down, fearful of the bitter disappointment ahead. But he had no choice. He had to gaze again at her beautiful face. At that perfect tattoo of a black heart.
    He contemplated his wife's ruby lips. Was it his imagination or had they parted slightly since he had last looked? And her skin seemed, if not smoother, then at least no more wrinkled and cracked than before. Sidorio shook his head. A man could drive himself mad with such thoughts.
    And now perhaps madness had taken hold of Sidorio. Because, as he gazed at his wife's face once more, he saw a fragile eyelid flutter. The black heart was broken. And, in its place, he saw the dazzling beauty of Lola's eye.
    Sidorio felt himself inextricably sinking into the depths
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    of insanity. "No," he moaned. "Don't play tricks on me! Let me mourn her."
    At that Lola's cracked lips shifted into a soft smile. Then he heard her unmistakable voice. "You're a touch premature in mourning me, my darling husband."
    Sidorio froze. "No more tricks!" he cried. "Whoever you are, whoever is doing this, stop! I must let her go!"
    Lola's eyes blazed with fire at that. "Darling Sid. I am not going anywhere just yet. Though if you would be a dear and hurry up and reunite me with my body, I'd happily go back to one or the other of our ships with you...."
    This was no dream. No madness. It was a genuine miracle!
    Sidorio couldn't contain the waves of joy that spread through him. "You're back!" he cried, tears streaming down his face. "But how? How can it be?"
    Lola gazed up at him. Though her face was creased and dried out, it was still unmistakably one of rare beauty. "Dear, dear Sid. Did you really think I'd leave you on our wedding night? Not a chance! A man like you is hard to find."
    Sidorio shook his head in wonder. Now he knew he wasn't imagining this. Only Lola would say something like that. "You're back," he said. "You're really back!"
    "Yes," said Lady Lola Elizabeth Mercy Lockwood Sidorio. "I'm back, husband. So let's not waste another moment. Take me to my body, and then I'm going to need something exceedingly strong to drink."
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    "I know exactly what you mean," he said. As he spoke, Sidorio was already striding across the sand, cradling his precious wife's head in his hands. Joyously, he broke into a run, then propelled himself up into the air. He flew up to the top of the cliff, where Lady Lola's svelte but motionless body lay patiently waiting on the cliff top, ready to be reunited with her wayward head.
    Sidorio laid Lola's head down upon the grass, holding it as close as