Vampirates 6: Immortal War Read Online Free Page A

skewered Captain Fallico.
    As he fell meatily to the deck, Holly swiftly plugged in her draining apparatus and began bottling his blood. It was the last of a good haul. From the edges of the deck, others of Lola’s crew now came forward, stepping over their victims. Each carried the standard-issue black case, which now held half a dozen bottles of recently harvested pirate.
    “Good work, ladies!” Lola said, standing proudly before her crew as Holly snapped shut her case and strode into position beside her. “Holly, Camille… next job for you. You know that quaint tradition the pirates have of putting a Nocturnal on each of their ships?”
    The girls nodded.
    “Doubtless, he or she will be hiding belowdecks,” Lola said. “Find them and bring them up to me.”
    “Dead or undead?” Camille inquired.
    Lola laughed lightly. “Undead, if you please. We’re going to play a little game with the opposition.” Her eyes searched the crowd. “Jessamy, Nathalie—fetch the package from
The Vagabond
, if you please. The rest of you can start clearing up the deck.”
    At her words her crew sprang into action. Jack Fallico’s husk of a body was the first to hit the water.
    “What’s going on?” Sidorio asked.
    “I’ll explain later,” Lola said, hurling a set of keys toward him. As he caught them in his thick palm, she continued. “A gift to you, husband. Another ship for your burgeoning collection. Number one hundred and one, if I’m not mistaken? It was supposed to be a surprise but you’ve rather blown that.”
    “Thank you,” Sidorio said, cradling the keys in his hand. He stepped forward to kiss his wife, but, at the last moment, Lola twisted her face and Sidorio found his lips thudding against her taut cheek, smooth and cold as marble.
    Stukeley, Mimma, and Johnny averted their eyes. Even so, Sidorio flushed with embarrassment.
    “Are you angry with me, wife?” he inquired, a dangerous edge to his voice.
    Lola sighed, her breath sending a sharp spiral of smokethrough the black air. “I’m
furious
with you,” she said. “I’m having a baby, Sid, not a lobotomy. I’m perfectly capable of taking care of business both before and after the birth.”
    “
Births
,” Sidorio corrected her. “You’re having two babies, Lola. Our twins. The heirs to our immortal empire.”
    “Yes, yes,” Lola said briskly. “Please be assured I know there are two budding Sidorios in my belly. I’m the one who gets kicked and nipped at all hours of the day and night. It seems big feet and sharp teeth run in the family.”
    Sidorio smiled and extended his hand to his wife’s neck. It was as elegant as a swan’s, deceptively fragile-looking. “I’m sorry,” he said. “I acted rashly. I know I’m overprotective sometimes, but I just care about you so much.” His voice became husky. “I almost lost you once before. I can’t imagine how I’d go on if something happened to you.”
    Lola’s dark eyes met her husband’s. “If something happened to
me
—or to your precious twins?”
    The brutal barb did not throw Sidorio off track. “You know how much these children mean to me,” he said. “But you’ll never know how much
you
mean to me, because my love for you is a thing which defies all measure.”
    At these words, Lola at last softened. “That’s very sweet,” she said, running a fingertip along the flat of Captain Fallico’s sword and bringing the bloodstained tip toher mouth. She tasted it, then nodded approvingly. The blood was surprisingly complex. She’d enjoy a glass of that later. Full of health-giving nutrients for the twins.
    “Are you truly sorry, Sid?” Lola asked. “Do you promise to mend your ways?”
    Sidorio nodded. “I only wish there was some way I could prove it to you.”
    “Actions speak louder than words,” Lola announced decisively. She reached out and took back the ring of keys. They glimmered in the moonlight as she extended them toward the girl by her side. “Mimma,