“What about him?” Lorcan said, indicating Bart.
“I came when I heard the bell,” Bart said. “I thought Connor was in danger. I thought you’d raised the alarm.”
“That isn’t an alarm,” Grace said. “It’s to clear the deck, not to fill it.”
“So you’re okay?” Bart asked.
“Yes,” Grace said, smiling but still anxious to see Lorcan get safely inside.
“And you’re not sending over any others?” Lorcan asked Bart.
“No, buddy, no way. I’m just here for my friend.”
“Go inside, Lorcan,” Grace said. “Please go inside.”
The light was shining directly on his face now. It made him flail about and almost drop his sword.
“How do I know this isn’t a trick?” he said.
“It isn’t,” said Connor. “I’m just here for Grace.”
“Please, Lorcan. I trusted you. Now you must trust me.”
“All right, Grace, all right.”
At last Lorcan staggered back inside her cabin, grabbing the door as he fell and letting the sword slip from his hand.
“Look, I’ll go back and tell the others everything is cool,” Bart said. “Okay?”
Connor nodded.
As his friend departed, Connor looked at his sister again.
“I’ve got so much to tell you,” he said.
“So have I,” said Grace.
“And I’ve got something for you.” Connor lifted his hand under his shirt and removed the locket, holding it out to her.
Lorcan knew that he should close the door, but he had already been exposed to so much light that a small chink couldn’t do him any further harm.
He watched Grace and her brother through the thin crack of light. He should feel happy for her, he thought. Happy that after all the upset she had been through, she was reunited with her brother at long last. She seemed happy now, as she took the locket into her hands and then placed it around her neck.
It was painful for Lorcan to watch. He didn’t want it to be so. More than anything, he wanted to feel joy in his heart for Grace. And yet, as she snapped the locket into place around her neck, Lorcan felt the sadness of loss such as he had not felt in a long, long time.
His eyes were burning. At first he thought it was tears and he wiped them with his hand. But his eyes were dry, though they still burned.
Grace was safe. That was all that mattered. He’d sworn to protect her and his work was complete. He just needed to rest.
He stole one final glance at them but it was growing harder and harder to see them clearly. The mist was so thick on deck now that it created a veil between him and the twins. But it was more than that, he realized, as he finally closed the cabin door. He could not see properly even inside the cabin. The light seemed to have permanently damaged his eyes.
The strange mist completely encircled Grace and Connor now, until all they could see was each other. She still couldn’t believe he was here. It was as if it had all been a dream. Well, a mixture of a nightmare and a dream.
“I missed you,” she said.
“Missed you, too.”
“And I miss Dad.”
“Me too.”
He opened his arms and hugged her tightly. Just for a moment it felt like they were back in the lighthouse with their dad. All safe.
How had he found her? And what would they do next? Would he join her on the Vampirate ship or would she follow him onto his? Was it time, after all, to return to Crescent Moon Bay?
But for now none of this mattered, she thought, dismissing the noisy questions. She hugged him tight. And as she did so, she realized that she’d been right all along. Now she knew what home meant. Now she not only knew it but felt it, too.
And as Grace hugged Connor and Connor hugged Grace and the mist circled around them, she heard the captain’s whisper inside her head.
“So it ends. So it begins.”
Demons of the Ocean Page 21
