Black Heart

by Justin Somper

  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.

  There was only one object left in the casket. The woman turned to Sidorio. “Last, the blackened heart of the sea eagle,” the woman commanded.

  Sidorio reached in and took out the charred offering. It looked disgusting, but the priestess smiled as she received it, lifting it to her lips and kissing it. Chanting, she placed the blackened heart on Sally’s thorax. “The heart of the sea eagle, for strength to never stand down from the fight,” she announced.

  “And now”—she turned to Sidorio—“give me your hand.” He readily extended it. The priestess clasped it tightly in her own, then brought it together with Sally’s, which she continued to tap until the very last moment. Then she pressed the two palms against each other and chanted once more. Her song seemed to grow louder and even more ugly as it reached its crescendo.

  “Keep hold of her hand!” the priestess ordered. “Keep hold of her hand now, and you will never be parted.” Grace trembled, watching how tightly Sidorio clasped her mother’s hand. Sally did not stir. At last the priestess laid her hand on Sidorio’s shoulder. “It is done,” she said. “I asked the gods and they have given their answer.”

  What did she mean? Grace thought she had an idea, but she couldn’t be sure.

  The vision was fading fast, as if consumed by the hungry flames. Grace let it go, then turned to face Mosh Zu.

  “What was the spell the priestess performed?” she asked.

  “The answer is within you,” Mosh Zu said.

  Grace frowned. This was no time for riddles. And yet, suddenly, it came to her. Sidorio had said he’d find a way for Sally never to forget him. The priestess had said that Sally and Sidorio would never be parted. All at once, it was as clear as day.

  Grace felt numb. “It was a pregnancy spell,” she said, turning to Mosh Zu. She waited hopefully for him to correct her. But he said nothing. Grace found herself shaking as she continued. “Sidorio is my father! He is, isn’t he? He put a spell on my mother, and that’s how Connor and I were born.” She could hardly believe she was speaking these words, yet somehow deep inside, she knew them to be true.

  She turned to Mosh Zu and Lorcan, waiting for them to deny it, to tell her she was crazy, that it was another, quite different spell. But still they said nothing.

  At last, Mosh Zu reached out his hand to her. “Yes, Grace,” he said. “You are quite right. Sidorio is your father.”

  43

  FATHERHOOD

  Though she had guessed it, to have it confirmed by Mosh Zu left Grace reeling. It was the worst possible outcome. Sidorio—Sidorio!—was her father.

  Lorcan reached out and put his arm around her. “I’m so sorry, Grace,” he said. “I know this isn’t what you’d have chosen.”

  She wa
s almost speechless. “Sidorio,” she rasped, her voice weak, her body numb.

  “Come and sit down,” Mosh Zu said. “I know this is a great shock.”

  Lorcan held out the chair for Grace. She sat down and sighed but shook her head. “I think on some level I knew this,” she said. “It was what I feared most, though confirming it takes away some of the fear.”

  Mosh Zu nodded. “Yes,” he said. “I hoped that you would see it that way. It will take time to adjust, both to the idea that Sidorio is your father and that you are a dhampir, but I know you can work through both those things.”

  “Yes,” said Grace; then a fresh thought occurred to her. “In fact, it wasn’t what I feared most.”

  Mosh Zu raised an eyebrow.

  Grace reached out her hand to Lorcan. “It would have been much, much worse to discover that Lorcan was my father,” she said.

  Lorcan smiled at her and squeezed her hand. There were tears in Grace’s eyes, but she wiped them dry.

  “And besides, whatever Sidorio did, I’ll never stop thinking of Dexter as my dad.”

  “Nor should you,” said Mosh Zu. He smiled at Grace. “I want you to focus on the fact that you are very special.” He paused. “You remember the different elements of the spell the medicine woman cast?”

  She nodded, still a little dazed.

  Mosh Zu continued. “She was talking about qualities that you and Connor possess. Supreme vision. Unflagging stamina. Good fortune. Rare wisdom. And perhaps most important, the strength to never stand down from a fight. You have both been blessed with all these gifts. And I think we have already seen a number of them in action.”

  “Do you want some time to yourself now?” Lorcan asked.

  Grace considered for a moment. “Perhaps,” she said. “But first I really need you to finish the story. What happened after the spell was cast?”

  Lorcan gripped her hand. “Are you sure you want to hear this now?”

  Grace nodded, feeling determined. “It’s best I know everything. Then I can start to move forward.”

  Lorcan gazed at her, his eyes wide with concern. He glanced at Mosh Zu, but the guru smiled and nodded. “All right then, we shall continue our tale.” He rested his hands before him on the table. “When your mother awoke—alone, as usual, after the sharing—she had no memory of the medicine woman’s visit, nor any realization of what had happened. And so life continued as normal. The time for Sally and Dexter to depart the Nocturne was approaching. The captain had identified a new donor for Sidorio, and everything was set to proceed as planned.” He paused. “But then your mother realized that something was happening to her, within her. Sally realized she was pregnant. The thought filled her with concern, and she came once more to talk to the captain.”

  “Sally remembered Sidorio’s words to her—that he’d find a way for her never to forget him. Those words sent a chill through her.” Mosh Zu stood and began walking around the cabin. “The captain came to see me and asked me to visit Sally on the ship. When I did so, I was able to confirm that she was pregnant, and that she was bearing not one child but two. I told her that, as these twins had a mortal mother and a vampire father, they would be dhampirs, powerful beings blessed with both vampire and mortal qualities.” Mosh Zu smiled at Grace. “Even then, we knew that you would be very special. And we promised to look after Sally and her children, either on the ship or at Sanctuary.” He shook his head. “But Sally didn’t want that. All she wanted was to go away with Dexter, as planned. To return to the mortal world.”

  “And what about Dexter?” Grace asked. “How did he feel about it all?”

  “A good question,” Mosh Zu said. “I believe it was terribly hard for your mother to tell him what had happened, though she had no control over the events. I truly think that she expected him to reject her. She’d had a hard life before coming onto the Nocturne, and her faith in people was fragile at best. But Dexter Tempest was not the kind of man to run from trouble or pain. He was, in the most instinctive of ways, a healer. He told your mother that their plan should remain the same. They would still leave the ship, take the babies with them, and raise them together.”

  Grace’s eyes filled with tears once more. “He agreed to bring us up as his own?”

  Lorcan nodded. “I don’t think he ever had a moment’s doubt about that, Grace.”

  “Sally and Dexter came to see the captain and me once more,” Mosh Zu said. “They told us what they wanted. We foresaw some problems, of course, but we could also see the sense of keeping Sidorio away from the children he had created. So we devised a plan to deceive him.”

  “To deceive Sidorio?” Grace asked, shocked. “How?”

  Lorcan now took up the story. “Sally was to give birth at Sanctuary, where Mosh Zu would deliver her babies. But as far as Sidorio knew, there was only one child, not two. And so, when the time came, we all journeyed to Sanctuary.”

  “You were there, at my birth?” Grace asked him.

  “Yes,” Lorcan nodded, his blue eyes full of emotion. He smiled at her. “Yes, Grace. I’ve been there since the very start.”

  So, thought Grace, there is a special connection between us. Going right back to the beginning.

  “And Sidorio?” she asked. “Presumably, he was there, too?”

  “He arrived late,” Lorcan said. “He had been out feasting on blood.”

  “Out feasting!” Grace couldn’t contain her rage. “While my mother gave birth?”

  “To be fair to him,” Lorcan said, “he was unable to share Sally’s blood while she was pregnant. And besides, his late arrival at Sanctuary enabled us to enact our plan.”

  “When Sidorio arrived at Sanctuary,” said Mosh Zu, “we told him that his baby had died shortly after delivery.”

  Grace gasped.

  “He was devastated, as you can imagine,” Mosh Zu continued. “He stood at the peak of the mountain and cursed the medicine woman for failing in her spell.”

  “And meanwhile,” Lorcan said softly, “I had you and Connor in my arms, two healthy babes in swaddling clothes.”

  “You?” Grace said, once more marveling at the way their lives had intertwined.

  “Yes.” Lorcan nodded. “I carried you both down the mountainside. I had a boat waiting there, and I sailed off with both of you to meet your dad. We met at a location we’d agreed on. And, Grace, he took you and Connor in his arms, and I have never seen a happier man than Dexter Tempest at that moment.” Lorcan placed his hand over Grace’s. “I left him there and watched him sail off into the night, with you and Connor. My last words to him were to assure him that we would bring Sally to join him later. And you know what your dad said? He said that he would wait for as long as it took.”

  Grace bit her lip. “But she never came, did she? And he never stopped waiting.”

  44

  NO MORE SECRETS

  “I must tell Connor,” Grace said. “As soon as possible.”

  Mosh Zu frowned. “I’m not convinced that Connor is ready.”

  “He has to know,” Grace insisted. “He has to know who his real father is and what that makes us.”

  Mosh Zu considered her words, then nodded. “You are right. Of course you are. And perhaps you are the best one to tell him. But first we must ensure you are fit to do it.” He paused. “I’m not just talking about dealing with the shock of what you’ve learned, but also with your body’s transformation.”

  Grace felt a chill run through her body. “Maybe Connor’s going through the same transformation! Only it will be worse for him, because he won’t understand it.”

  Mosh Zu shook his head. “Connor is not there yet. I always thought it would happen to you first.”

  “How can that be?” Grace asked. “We’re twins; surely it should happen to us at the same time? How do you know it isn’t happening to him?”

  “You just have to trust me on that,” Mosh Zu replied. “When it begins for Connor, we will be there for him, just as we are for you. We will help him
, and, of course, so will you.”

  “Well, all right,” Grace said. “Oh, this is such a shock. But in many ways it explains the feelings I’ve been having. Of not fitting into my life before. Of belonging to this ship, this world—of being connected to all of you. It will be more difficult for Connor. He hates this world. He’s already run from it once.” Her eyes were wide with fear for her brother.

  Mosh Zu coughed lightly. “Grace, be assured that we will help Connor make the transition. But for now, let us concentrate on you. Besides, our story is not yet at an end. If you’re sure you want to hear it, then we should continue.”

  Grace had no hesitation. “I want to know everything,” she said. “I’ve already waited too long.”

  “Very well,” said Mosh Zu.

  Once more, Lorcan spoke. “After the birth, Sally recuperated at Sanctuary,” he said. “And back on the Nocturne, Sidorio seemed to have accepted that he had lost his child. Indeed, he seemed at last to have lost all interest in your mother. Perhaps in some way he felt that the death of his child, as far as he knew, brought the affair to an end. He had a new donor, and he began to get on with his life.” Lorcan paused, a dark shadow falling over his face. “But then he found out that he had been tricked. To this day, we don’t know who told him. Sidorio found out that he had not one child but two, and that neither of them were dead but were, in fact, living far away from him.”