Vampirates 4: Black Heart (43 page)

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.

Then Sally dropped her head. Why? The vision shifted and Grace saw Sidorio enter the room. He instantly stood out, even among the crowd of other Vampirates. He strode over to the table and took his position opposite Sally. As he did so, Sally lifted her head and smiled at him. He nodded back formally. If she had seen this vision before, Grace would have thought that what her mother had said -- that Sidorio saw her only as a blood supply -- was true. But now she heard Lorcan's recent words: Sidorio was in love with your mother. But it was an unrequited love. Yes, she could see it was true! Sidorio's face was masklike, but it was not the face of someone devoid of feeling. Rather, it was the face of someone desperately trying to hide the turbulent emotions beneath.

Grace continued to watch as the Feast began. She could even hear the conversations going on around Sally and Sidorio. They, however, barely spoke.

"Are you ready to move on?" Mosh Zu broke in.

"Yes," Grace said, without turning away from the flames.

At that, the vision shifted again and she was watching Sidorio and Sally walking along the corridor, arm in arm, to her mother's cabin. Was she about to witness their sharing? But as they entered the room, the door closed shut and Grace was left outside.

"Keep watching," Mosh Zu said softly. "You're not seeing this in real time. Time is passing."

Grace kept her eyes on the door. Suddenly, it opened and Sidorio stepped into the corridor. Her heart began to race. Where was Sally? What had he done to her?

Sidorio's eyes ranged from left to right. At first, Grace thought he was simply anxious. Then she realized that he was looking for someone. But who? She heard him call out. "Over here! Come inside! Be quick about it!"

Now a figure approached. A woman dressed in a long black cloak, carrying a bag.

Grace watched as Sidorio pushed open the door and pulled the woman inside. Now the door closed again, but this time the vision took Grace right inside the cabin itself. Once more, she caught her breath. There was her mother, lying on the bunk. She looked peaceful.

The other woman sighed. "A real sleeping beauty," she said, setting her bag down on the floor.

"Get on with it, witch," snapped Sidorio. "We don't have much time!"

"I'm no witch!" the woman cried angrily, throwing back her cape. "I'm a priestess!" Grace gasped. She had a dark sense of where this was heading. It was as if she were hurtling along on a runaway train. Part of her wanted to jump off, but she knew that she had no option but to ride out the vision.

Witch? Priestess? Medicine woman? Whatever she was, the woman now fell to her knees and began unpacking her bag. She lifted out a casket and set it with great care on the cabin floor. Sidorio hovered above her, his agitation and urgency obvious. Meanwhile, Sally slept on, the expression on her face angelic. Grace imagined that she was dreaming of the new life awaiting her, so close she could almost taste it, like salt carried on the sea air.

The medicine woman set out black candles on the floor and scattered tiny glittering discs around them. Grace heard Sidorio ask, "What are those?"

"Fish scales," the woman answered. "An offering to my hungry gods."

The priestess reached out and took one of Sally's hands, enfolding it in her own leathery grasp. She began to chant. Her words were unrecognizable -- strange, guttural sounds that lurched horribly between deep notes and high screeches. It was, thought Grace, an evil music. She feared for her mother, and yet Sally lay there, seemingly untroubled and oblivious.

"Now we begin," the priestess said, turning to Sidorio and stretching out her free palm. "First, give me the mobius spiders."

Grace saw Sidorio reach into the casket and lift out two spiders wriggling on a leaf. The priestess took the spiders in her hand, then dropped them over Sally's closed eyelids -- first right, then left. As she did so, she chanted, and with her free fingers tapped Sally's hand for a precise number of beats. "The spider's eye," announced the medicine woman, "for supreme vision, through fog and darkness."

After a moment's pause, she extended her empty palm again. "The vial!" she commanded. Grace watched as Sidorio reached into the casket and lifted out a small glass container. The woman seized the vial, and, flicking off the stopper, upended it over Sally's pale lips, all the while chanting and continuing to percuss Sally's hand. "The vial of mountain air," she announced, "for unflagging stamina." Looking over her shoulder, she grinned, gap-toothed, at Sidorio. "Next, the coral!"

Sidorio reached into the bag and took out a branch of red coral. The priestess placed it like a bouquet in Sally's free hand. There was more chanting, then the woman intoned, "Red coral, for good fortune till the end of days."

"Is it working?" Sidorio asked, bowing over Sally.

"Stop, fool!" the woman pushed him away, angrily. "Do not interrupt my conversation with the gods! Give me the kurinji plant!" Sidorio delved back into the casket and carefully removed the tiny purple sprig. The priestess snatched it from him and placed it on Sally's forehead. "The rare kurinji plant, which flowers only once every twelve years, for a rarity of wisdom." Again, the priestess chanted and tapped at the hand. Sally seemed to sleep, her body utterly still.