Read Vampirates: Tide of Terror for Free Online Page A

was a moment of electricity — real or imagined — as she remembered Lorcan’s gift to her when she left the ship.
    Now, it was the ring, above all, which gave her hope. It reminded her of Lorcan’s words, his soft brogue, the way he looked at her as if there were depths of feeling he could not yet give voice to. The ring was the best kept of Grace’s secrets, hanging there where no one could see it, hidden under the locket. Sometimes, just sometimes, as the band of metal pressed against her clavicle, she felt a strange sensation — as if Lorcan were speaking to her, reassuring her that everything was going to be okay and that they would be together again. Sure enough, it was his voice that spoke softly to her now, pulling her away from the pirate ship into the sparkling blue waters of her dreams.
    “Grace! Grace, wake up!”
    “What?”
    She was floating in such a delicious dream. She felt so rested and comfortable.
    “Grace!” The voice came again. Louder. She recognized it but could not place it. And the dream was too comfortable to leave. She resisted.
    “Grace Tempest! Please wake up!”
    As the voice poured directly into her ears, Grace opened her eyes. She knew that voice — that strange, squeaking cockney accent.
    “Darcy!” she exclaimed, twisting her head on the pillow. “Darcy Flotsam.”
    Sure enough, Darcy was sitting beside the bed. Her brow was furrowed. “Well, I must say, you sleep awful heavy for a young lady.” Her frown quickly gave way to a smile.
    Grace smiled back, drawing herself up to a sitting position and swinging her feet round toward Darcy. “Darcy! I can’t believe it’s you! How did you get here?”
    “It’s a long story,” Darcy said. “Listen, I’m not sure how long I can stay. But I had to see you.”
    Grace was beaming. She couldn’t have wished for a nicer awakening. There she had been, lost in a dream about the Vampirate ship and now one of her friends had appeared — not only on the ship but in her very cabin! Elated, she stood up, opening her arms to hug Darcy. Darcy rose to meet her and stepped forward.
    But as Grace flung her arms about Darcy’s waist, Darcy must have moved suddenly, or else the ship did, because Grace’s arms flailed through thin air. She opened her arms again and reached for Darcy. This time, they were face to face. Darcy was looking at her strangely. Grace watched ...as her arms moved straight through Darcy. It was if she were made of air. Grace lifted her hand to her friend’s face, reaching out a finger toward her button nose. It poked straight through Darcy’s nose into nothing-ness. Grace recoiled, looking at Darcy curiously.
    “What’s going on?” she asked.
    Darcy looked serious, folding her arms across her chest. “You see, I’m here, but I’m not here, Grace.”
    “I don’t understand,” said Grace. “Can you see me ?”
    “Yes, yes of course I can see you,” she said, stepping forward. “And I can see you’ve made an awful mess of that pretty blouse I lent you.”
    Grace glanced down, guiltily. It was true — the blouse was stained with oil from her earlier sword-cleaning duties.
    “I’m sorry,” Grace said. “I had to get up really early to work and it was the first thing I threw on. I didn’t think.”
    “Hush!” said Darcy, raising a finger toward Grace’s lips but not touching them. “We have more important things to talk about than stains and spills.”
    “Yes,” Grace said. “Of course.” She still didn’t quite understand how Darcy came to be here but she could see from her friend’s anxious expression that she had come for a reason. “Let’s sit down,” she said.
    Grace sat on the bed and Darcy sat down next to her. Only she didn’t exactly sit, Grace noticed, but hovered just above the mattress. It was very curious.
    “How is everyone?” Grace asked. “How’s the captain? And Lorcan?”
    Darcy’s head dropped for a moment. When she raised it again, there were buds of tears in her