Vampirates: Tide of Terror Read Online Free Page A

the periphery. Everything was under control. Now, just one important maneuver remained — the surrender of the defending captain. But where was the captain? Who was he — or she? All the pirates were dressed identically, with no distinguishing marks of rank. Why, Connor himself might be holding the captain captive.
    Connor watched his prisoners’ faces as he heard Molucco Wrathe call out.
    “Captain, come and show yourself. Your ship has been boarded and I, Molucco Wrathe, of The Diablo , lay claim to your cargo.”
    There was no response. Captain Wrathe’s words hung in the air like the residue of cannon fire.
    Jez rejoined Connor. Connor turned to him, expecting his comrade to be smiling, but Jez’s face was serious.
    “I don’t like this,” he whispered. “I don’t like this at all. It’s been too easy.”
    “Easy is good, isn’t it?” said Connor.
    Jez shook his head. “There’s easy, and there’s too easy. Something’s wrong.”
    Connor trembled at his words.
    Captain Wrathe called out again. “Come and show yourself, Captain. We’ll do no more harm if we can agree to terms swiftly — and fill our hold with your treasures!”
    This time, there was an answer. It came with the sound of a bell. The ship’s bell. As the strange tolling rang out three, then four, then five times, the pirates of The Diablo looked from one to the other, wondering what was going on. Connor could just make out Cate’s face in the distance. He could see that she was as perturbed as the rest of them.
    Now, he was really worried. He looked back at his prisoners’ faces. One of them was smiling at him. Then he began to laugh. His fellow followed suit. Connor turned to Jez, confused, as the wave of laughter spread from one prisoner to the next, until a crescendo of laughter took over the deck.
    Suddenly, Connor became aware that his crewmates no longer formed the outer periphery of the deck. They were now surrounded by a circle of pirates, dressed head to toe in black like their prisoners, brandishing the same deadly scimitars. How had the captives done it? The deck was now full of them. The pirates of The Diablo were completely outnumbered.
    “They tricked us,” Jez said. “Look over there!”
    Connor followed his gaze to where a line of black-clad figures were rising from two holes on the deck. Trap-doors!
    “And look behind you!”
    Connor twisted his head. More crew members were climbing out from two farther trapdoors at the starboard end of the ship. The defending crew had lulled the pirates of The Diablo into a false sense of victory by only fielding a skeleton crew for the initial fight. It was a bold move — for how did they know that the pirates would not go in for the kill? But the risky stratagem had paid off and now four times as many black-clad crew stood ranged about the deck, scimitars outstretched.
    “What do we do?” Connor asked Jez. Jez shrugged, looking beaten. “Know any good prayers, mate?”
    Connor had never seen Jez so dejected. He looked from Jez’s ashen face to the smiling prisoners before him — or, at least, the men he’d thought were his prisoners. Suddenly, Connor felt very, very sick.
    “Lay down your weapons, attacking scum!”
    The captain’s voice at last called out across the deck. Still, Connor held tight to his raised rapier. No pirate of The Diablo could lay down his or her weapon without instruction from a commanding officer. It was one of the articles Connor had signed up to when he joined Molucco Wrathe’s command.
    But now, to his surprise, Connor heard Cate cry, “Lay down your weapons, fellows.”
    He could scarcely believe his ears. In the three months of his tenure on the ship they had been in some scrapes, but nothing compared to this. All around him, weapons thudded to the floor. He turned questioningly to Jez, who nodded sadly. Together, they lay down their rapiers. As they did so, in a clearly well-rehearsed movement, the former prisoners swept up their