Vampirates 5: Empire of Night Read Online Free PDF

from happiness. In a short space of time, he had gone from feeling that he had lost everything to the sense now that he was being overloaded with gifts. Fortune's wheel was certainly spinning fast.
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    "Nothing would make me happier," he said, "than you and I building an empire, with Connor and Grace at our side."
    "Let's not waste a moment," Lola said, refilling her glass. "Let's cut short our honeymoon and return to the ships this very night."
    Sidorio smiled. "Sometimes it's as if you can read my every thought."
    Lola gave a little laugh. "There is no time to be wasted in the quest for world domination...." They clinked glasses. "Though there is a small supply of vintage still to be drained back at the hotel.... Perhaps we could finish that first?"
    "Indeed," said Sidorio. "We should drink a toast to our family!"
    Arms entwined, they turned and headed leisurely back toward the hotel, their footsteps muffled by the snow.
    The entrance door closed quietly behind them. All that could be heard was the tinkle of gold coins clattering to the floor.
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    4 VOYAGERS OF THE NIGHT
    Grace Tempest and her friend, Darcy Flotsam, joined the throng making their way along the corridors of the ship. Dressed in their finery, they were all journeying down to the banquet hall on the bottom deck, where the weekly Feast would take place.
    Scanning the faces of the Vampirates around her, Grace saw clear signs of their hunger--a silvery-gray paleness to the visible flesh and a distant quality to their eyes, as if they were not entirely present in this realm. Such signs were always most pronounced just before the Feast, when the Vampirates were at their lowest physical ebb and in most urgent need of blood. In spite of the Vampirates' evident weakness and pressing hunger, it was a remarkably orderly crowd that made the weekly passeggiata
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    through the ship, their footsteps beating time with the percussive music drifting up from below.
    Since the captain's disappearance, Mosh Zu had taken command of The Nocturne , and it was a credit to the guru's quiet authority that there had been no further rebellions or incidents of random blood-taking on his watch.
    Mosh Zu had made it very clear upon his arrival that he expected members of the crew to exercise self-discipline with regard to their blood hunger and to confine their blood-taking to the weekly sharing that followed the Feast. He gave them a simple choice--either they respected this modus vivendi or they departed the ship and took their chances in the world beyond. A few had chosen to leave and seek out Sidorio and his renegade disciples. But that had been during the first nights of Mosh Zu's command. Since then, order had been fully restored.
    When the captain returned, Grace mused, it would be to a ship of Vampirates brought firmly back into line.
    Darcy nudged Grace gently. "You look lost in thought," she said. "What's on your mind?"
    "I was just thinking about the captain," Grace said. "I find it impossible not to, on nights like this."
    Darcy nodded. "Me too. He's missed so many Feast Nights now." She hesitated before continuing. "I know it's a terrible thing to say, Grace, but I'm starting to doubt he'll ever return."
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    "Darcy!" Grace exclaimed in shocked tones, causing some of those walking ahead of her to turn and glance back. Grace lowered her voice before continuing. "He is coming back, Darcy. I know it. He wouldn't just go away and leave us. You, of all people, know how weak he was, but Mosh Zu says he is making a steady recovery now. He'll be back soon, I'm sure of it."
    "I'd like to believe that," Darcy said. "Truly, I would. It was horrible seeing someone so powerful brought down so low."
    Grace nodded. She had experienced the same gut-wrenching emotions, standing over the captain during Mosh Zu's healing catharsis. But she had to hold on to hope. "He'll be back," she repeated firmly, to reassure herself as much as Darcy.
    The two friends had reached the entrance to the banquet