Immortal War

it all in. So, it had come to this.

The faces of many of the combatants were familiar to her. She didn’t know all of their names, but she had seen them often enough during her travels. They were the donors. Stepping onto the deck, clutching her bag in her right hand, Grace surveyed the scene. The very last thing she had expected was to see donors fighting. On a chill day such as this, it was unusual to see the donors up on deck at all.

But she sensed she was not in any danger. She turned to give a thumbs-up to the captain of the ambulance vessel. He nodded and lost no time in giving the orders to sail on. Grace began weaving her way through the combatants, anxious to get inside and find Lorcan without delay. She had the door within her sights when someone jumped across her path. A pair of boots clomped onto the red deck boards and a hand reached out before her.

“Halt!”

Grace felt a wave of adrenaline course through her. Was there danger here after all? But when she looked up, she found herself gazing into a familiar face, lean and tanned. The eyes were jet-black, the smile pure Hollywood.

“Oskar!” Grace cried, dropping her bag and throwing her arms around Lorcan’s donor. “It’s so good to see you again.”

“You, too,” Oskar said, his eyes brimming with light. “The old place just hasn’t been the same without you.” He gave her another squeeze, then pulled back from her. “Hey—check out my lately acquired sword skills!” He began whirling his rapier around his head dramatically, then proceeded through an intricate sequence of moves.

Grace was impressed. “Where did you learn to do that?” she asked.

“Right here.” Oskar smiled. “From the master himself, aka Lorcan Furey. He was charged with training us all up.” Oskar rested the tip of his sword on the decking and mopped his brow. “To begin with all our training sessions were at night, but now that we’re getting the hang of it, some us have been deputized to oversee daytime training.” His dark eyes seared into hers. “You look surprised?”

Grace nodded. “I am. I never expected to see the donors become a fighting force.”

“War changes everything,” Oskar said, drawing himself upright and tensing his muscles. “No sense in a fighting machine like this going to waste!”

Grace nodded, smiling but nonetheless concerned. Things must be getting serious if it had come to this. Her need to see Lorcan felt even more pressing now.

“It’s so great to see you, but I have to go,” she said, already making her way toward the door. “I have some urgent business to discuss with Lorcan.”

“Wait!” Oskar called after her.

“I can’t,” she cried over her shoulder, walking on. “I’ll come and find you later.” There was an expression on Oskar’s face she couldn’t quite read, but it evaporated as another of the donors crept up behind him and drew him back into the fray. Turning away again, Grace pushed open the door leading to the ship’s interior.

She was aware of the beating of her heart as she made her way down the familiar corridors. It was like coming home. She couldn’t be sure if it was the look and smell of the ship itself that made her feel this way or whether it was the promise of Lorcan. Either way, it felt good.

At last, she was standing in front of his cabin. She knocked on the door and waited a moment, longing to see him. There was no answer, and, unable to contain her excitement now that she was so close, she twisted the door handle and pushed it open.

“Lorcan?” she called, stepping inside his cabin. It was dark within and the portholes were covered, as she had expected, with blackout material. The lamplight from the corridor cast a lackluster glow into the room. It was just about sufficient to confirm that Lorcan wasn’t here. She was momentarily deflated but reasoned that he must be somewhere else on the ship.

As she turned back toward the corridor, she found that the doorway was now blocked by a silent figure.

“Lorcan?” she repeated, but, as her eyes traced the silhouette, she realized it was not Lorcan but Obsidian Darke standing before her. His imposing frame filled the doorway.

“Grace,” he said, his distinctive voice as abrasive as ever. “Welcome back to The Nocturne. I’m afraid Lorcan isn’t here.”

Grace struggled to make out Darke’s features through the gloom. “Where is he?”

“With Cate and the crew of The Tiger. He helped to mastermind the recapture of The Diablo and is now helping them to plan what to do next.”

Grace felt the energy draining out of her body at the news that her journey had been in vain. What was she supposed to do now? The ambulance vessel was long gone and it wasn’t as if she could just hail a taxi boat and head over to The Tiger or back to Sanctuary.

“Why don’t you come to my cabin?” Darke suggested. “It’s more comfortable in there. There are candles and the fire is lit.”

His cabin? It was the last place she wanted to go, and, frankly, he was the last person she wanted to spend time with. It made her sad to think this way. When she had known him as the anonymous Vampirate captain, she had felt very differently. But there was something about Darke she found forbidding. Yet, despite herself, she followed him as he turned and crossed the hallway into the captain’s cabin.

“Please,” he said, “sit down.” He lifted a poker and began agitating the coals in the grate. Grace sat down in the chair she had sat in many times before. She watched Darke stir up the fire, then set down the poker and take his seat opposite from her.

“Well,” he said, smiling at her. “I hadn’t expected to see you today, but I’m pleased to have the opportunity to wish you a happy birthday in person.”

“You know that it’s my birthday,” she said, her tone neutral.

He nodded.

She had wanted to keep things polite, but he had unwittingly lit a fuse of irritation inside her. “Of course you know!” she found herself saying. “You and Mosh Zu know everything but you keep things secret from the rest of us, even when those secrets affect our lives in the most profound ways.”

It was clear from Darke’s tone that he was taken aback by her attack. “What secrets have I kept from you, Grace?”

She couldn’t believe she was hearing this. “What secrets? Where do I begin?”

She hesitated, feeling the anger bubbling away inside her. Perhaps it was better to shut up and leave now, but the fuse had been lit and there was no going back. “You knew that Sidorio was my blood father and you kept that from me until you had no choice but to tell me. And you knew all about my mother but you hid that information from me, too. Until you chose to bring her back.”

Darke raised his hand. “I didn’t choose to bring her back. As you may recall, I was very weak and on the verge of oblivion myself.” His face was etched with sorrow. “I was no longer able to protect Sally or the other souls I had carried for so long.” His eyes returned to Grace. “I know it’s small comfort, but at least you got the chance to know her for yourself. I had hoped that would be… meaningful to you.”

Grace frowned. “I got to watch my mother die. Thanks for lining up that experience!” She was shocked by the anger evident in her own tone of voice. Her voice softened as she continued. “I’m not denying that the time we had together was precious. Whether it was your intention or not, I’m grateful for that time. But you have to know how painful it was to get close to her, only to lose her again.”

Darke nodded, his face somber. “I do understand that,” he said. “I know what it’s like to lose those you are closest to.” His eyes met hers. “You and I were close once, but it appears, from your perspective at least, that our friendship is over.”

Grace felt a surge of anger. “It’s not a matter of perspective,” she said. “You’ve kept too much from me. You and Mosh Zu. You both knew that Sidorio fathered me and Connor, and you knew that we were dhampirs, but, for reasons that escape me, you chose not to tell us.”

“We were always going to tell you,” Darke said now. “But we wanted to wait until you were strong enough to handle the information.”

Grace folded her arms. “That’s awfully convenient, isn’t it?”

Darke shrugged. “It also happens to be true.” He looked deep into her eyes. “What other secrets have I kept from you, Grace?” he asked. “Or have you come to the end of your list?”