Ocean of Blood. Darren Shan

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      Darren Shan pilots his ship over the bloody waters of the internet at:

      www.darrenshan.com

      For:

       Shaun, Ciarán, Áine and Cian – monsters from the deep!

      OBEs (Order of the Bloody Entrails) to:

       Jessica Bromberg, the East Coast Kraken!!

       Editorial Skipper: Sam Quint, AKA Nick Lake!!!

       Admirals of the Dark Waters: Captain Christopher Little

       and his scurvy crew!!!!

      Contents

      Part One

      Chapter One

      Chapter Two

      Chapter Three

      Chapter Four

      Chapter Five

      Part Two

      Chapter Six

      Chapter Seven

      Chapter Eight

      Chapter Nine

      Part Three

      Chapter Ten

      Chapter Eleven

      Chapter Twelve

      Chapter Thirteen

      Chapter Fourteen

      Part Four

      Chapter Fifteen

      Chapter Sixteen

      Chapter Seventeen

      Chapter Eighteen

      Part Five

      Chapter Nineteen

      Chapter Twenty

      Chapter Twenty-One

      Chapter Twenty-Two

      Chapter Twenty-Three

      Chapter Twenty-Four

      Chapter Twenty-Five

      Other Books by Darren Shan

      Copyright

      About the Publisher

      PART ONE

      “a howling, hungry creature of dark delights”

      CHAPTER ONE

      The vampire known as Quicksilver threw a knife high into the smoke-clogged air of the tavern. Those around him watched with beady-eyed, bloodthirsty fascination as he held his head back, opened his mouth wide and waited for the knife to drop. A few people shrieked, but Quicksilver didn’t flinch, expertly tracking the flight of the dagger. At precisely the right moment he clenched his teeth together and caught the blade two inches past the tip. As the handle quivered, he turned slowly, so that everyone in the room could see. Pulling out the knife, he threw it into the wood of the table – it drove in all the way to the hilt – and took a bow.

      As the crowd went wild with applause, Quicksilver grinned and slumped into a chair close to another vampire and a gaggle of admiring young ladies. “There,” he beamed. “I told you I could do it.”

      “One of these nights,” the other bloodsucker said, “you’ll time that wrong and end up with a knife through the back of your throat.”

      “Don’t be such an old woman, Wester,” Quicksilver laughed. “You’ll scare these lovely creatures and I would hate to send them to bed with nightmares.”

      “It will take more than your dull tales to scare us,” one of the ladies snorted, but they were undeniably impressed.

      “What’s your real name?” another lady asked, cuddling up to the man with the odd, orange hair, immaculate grey suit and dazzling smile.

      “I only reveal that to my very special friends,” Quicksilver murmured. Then, as she blushed, he whispered in her ear, “Larten Crepsley.” After that he called for more wine and the rest of the night passed most pleasantly.

      A groggy Wester rose before Larten and stumbled to the window of the inn where they had bedded for the day. He peered through the curtains at the sunlight, hissed and let them swish shut. It would be another couple of hours before they could go out. The sun wouldn’t kill the vampires instantly, but they’d start to redden within minutes and would be in agony in less than an hour. If they were exposed to its rays for two or three hours, there would be nothing left of them except for charred bones.

      Wester washed in a basin of water and studied his beard in the mirror above it. Shaving was a complicated business for vampires. Normal razors were useless on their tough hair. He and Larten had picked up specially hardened blades a couple of years ago, but Wester had lost his in the course of their travels. He’d asked to borrow Larten’s, but the slightly older vampire had said it was time Wester learnt to take better care of his possessions. Larten had just been teasing him, but Wester didn’t want to give his friend the satisfaction of seeing him plead, so he’d grown a beard since then.

      “My head,” Larten groaned, sitting up, then flopping back again. “What time is it?”

      “Too early to be getting up,” Wester grunted.

      “How much did we drink last night?”

      “I don’t want to think about it.”

      Vampires could consume a lot more alcohol than humans and it was difficult for them to get drunk. But Wester and Larten had been managing to defy the physical odds most nights.

      “They were nice ladies,” Larten chuckled. “They loved my knife trick.”

      “You should try it at the Cirque Du Freak,” Wester said drily. “It would go down a treat there.”

      The pair had bumped into their old ally, Mr Tall, a while ago. They’d spent a fun few nights with the circus crew and Larten had performed some of his old magic routines in the show. He had been rusty to begin with, but adjusted swiftly. He had an incredibly fast hand, even for a vampire. СКАЧАТЬ