Moonshine grinned. “Not at all. You’ll catch me just after my morning run. I’ll even lay on breakfast. Remind me, how do you like your eggs?”
Smiling but leaving the question unanswered, Cate brushed past Moonshine and slipped beyond the velvet curtain into the night.
Seeing Connor seated alone at the table beside him—and Cheng Li deep in conversation with Jasmine and Bo Yin—Lorcan quietly rose up and moved across.
“May I join you?” he asked Connor.
Connor glanced up. “Feel free,” he said. “But I should warn you, I’m not great company tonight.”
“I’ll take my chances,” Lorcan said, sitting down opposite Connor. “How come you feel that way, on this of all nights?”
Connor stared at the Nocturnal curiously. “You mean on the night we should be celebrating our epic victory?”
“No,” Lorcan said. “I mean because it’s your birthday.”
Connor looked suddenly tense. “Who told you?” he hissed. “No one’s supposed to know.”
Lorcan leaned closer, smiling as he lowered his voice. “I was there at your birth, remember?”
Connor shrugged but said nothing.
“I’ll come clean with you,” Lorcan said. “I’m here under false pretenses. Cheng Li invited me here tonight to celebrate our successful mission. But I’m mostly here to see you.”
“Me?” Connor said. “Why would you want to see me?”
“Well, you’re my girlfriend’s brother,” Lorcan said. “Plus, we’re comrades now. We don’t know each other very well, but I’d like us to be friends.”
Connor took a draft of his drink. “I don’t have a great track record with friends.” He set the glass down again slowly, precisely. His eyes remained downcast. “They tend to die. Though I suppose the fact you’re already dead might work in your favor.”
“I know how close you were to Bart,” Lorcan said. “I’m very sorry for your loss.”
Connor did not respond directly, asking instead, “Is Grace worried about me?”
Lorcan shook his head. “I don’t know. Truth to tell, we haven’t spent much time together of late. Grace is very preoccupied with her work, just now. Well, we all are. I’m sure she misses you, but I’m not here because of her. I can see with my own eyes that something’s wrong.”
“Really?” Connor threw up his arms. “What could be wrong with me, I wonder? Hmm, let me think! I found out my dad wasn’t who I thought he was all those years. And my real father? Why, of course, it’s Sidorio, leader of the Vampirate army and—wait—as a bonus, I get Lola thrown in as my stepmother. Plus I’m a dhampir, a fact that none of my crewmates but Cheng Li knows—not even my long-suffering girlfriend.”
“Jasmine,” Lorcan said, his eyes glancing across to the other table, where Jasmine was still embroiled in a lengthy conversation with Cheng Li and Bo Yin.
Connor nodded, also gazing across at her. “Jasmine,” he said. “I fell for her the first time I set eyes on her at Pirate Academy. Everything was simpler back then.”
“Was it?” Lorcan interrupted. “Or does it just seem that way to you now?”
Connor nodded. “Good point, Furey. Because even back then she had a boyfriend, Jacoby Blunt—a good friend of mine, as it goes. Sure, he tried to kill me once, but we’ll gloss over that.” His eyes seared into Lorcan’s. “Because, you see, the impossible happened and Jasmine and I realized we had feelings for each other but we fought them out of loyalty to Jacoby. Then Jacoby was captured by the Vampirates and killed and we both felt too guilty to be together so our relationship pretty much stalled.” Connor shook his head. “Anyhow, by that time, I was completely sidetracked by the discovery that I was a dhampir, and had a rising hunger for blood.”
“But you have that under control now, right?” Lorcan said. “You’re drinking the berry tea Grace has sent to you?”
A glazed look came over Connor’s face. “One thing at a time, eh? We’re talking about me and Jasmine and Jacoby right now. Your not-so-regular love triangle. Well, you’d know how uncomfortable that is, wouldn’t you? So, as sad as I was at the news of Jacoby’s death, I thought maybe, at last, there was a chance for us. Perhaps not right away, but once we’d both had time to adjust.” He sighed. “But, as you know, Jacoby was found on board
Connor took a breath, fixing Lorcan with his gaze once more. “Only, unlike me, Jacoby was man enough to tell Jasmine what he is. And, guess what? She’s
Lorcan hesitated. “Connor,” he said. “I was concerned about you, but I had no idea you were going through all this—the situation with Jacoby and Jasmine, on top of your grief for Bart. And there’s obviously stuff going on in relation to your blood-hunger.”
Connor shrugged. “Nothing a swift pint at the Blood Tavern can’t remedy,” he said.
Lorcan frowned. “We
“No,” Connor said. “Talking only makes it worse. I’m done with talking.”
“Please,” Lorcan implored him. “I genuinely want to help you.”
Connor rolled his eyes. “One vampire to another?”
“I know you’re having a tough time adjusting—” Lorcan said.
“Understatement of the millennium,” Connor said, draining his drink. “I hate it. I despise it. I despise
He slammed his glass down angrily on the table. The gesture made Lorcan flinch. As he did so, Connor noticed a figure standing behind Lorcan. A familiar face staring at him in all-too-evident horror.
“Jasmine!” Connor said, feeling a wave of nausea, adrenaline, and dread. “How much of that did you hear?”
There was a definite edge to Jasmine’s brief answer. “Enough.”
“Well, now you know,” Connor said, trying to be matter-of-fact. “Now you know the full story—the real shape of things.”
Jasmine nodded.
“Aren’t you going to say anything?” Connor asked.
“What do you want me to say?” she asked. “I think you’ve mustered enough self-pity to drown in.” She hesitated before continuing. “Nevertheless, it might interest you to hear that I knew you were a dhampir. I’ve known for some time.”
“You knew?” Connor was aghast.
“Yes,” Jasmine said. “I guessed. It was weird knowing, but I knew it would be all right.”
“All right?” Connor said, incredulously. “How can it possibly be all right? I’m a monster!”
“Yes,” Jasmine said. “Yes, Connor, that’s a remarkably apt description. But that has nothing
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