Blood Lust (COMPLETED)

Chapter Forty-Two: Between Scylla and Charybdis

I gawked at the ring, swept up in a strong sense of deja vu. Just like the first time Dean Lachlan had presented it to me, I was completely floored, too stunned to speak. The ring of course was stunning, with its twinkly diamonds and massive sapphire, but it felt like looking at an anchor.

And I wasn't ready to be weighed down.

"Why?" I took a step back, searching each of their faces. "Why is this whole marriage thing suddenly a matter of life and death?"

The night before last, when Duke first learned of my plan to leave the island, replayed unbidden in my head.

"I don't want to be a vampire."

That shut him up.

I turned to face him, and elaborated. "Before the orgy tonight, the clinic doctor said that I was meant to transition from a human to a vampire."

His face softened, became thoughtful. "You don't have to become a vampire."

"I don't?"

"No, not if you do not wish to."

"Oh," that took me aback, but only for a moment. "What if I don't want to marry Dean Lachlan? Is that negotiable, too?"

"Audrey," he chuckled, shaking his head. "As Lucius stated earlier, you are our queen. We obey you, and you alone. No one will force you to do anything you don't want to."

What changed? What terrible thing has happened to make Gabriel and I getting married the best way to save my human classmates?

"Like Duke, Lucius was also Influenced." Dean Lachlan sighed, folding up his hand around the ring. "He incinerated all of our blood rations before I could stop him."

I gulped. "All of them?"

Gabriel nodded. "He got every single drop we had bagged."

Oh shit.

"Where is he now? Is he okay?"

I hadn't seen him since last night...when he and Duke tried to help me leave. Another pang of guilt shot through me, this time over not asking about him sooner.

"He's at the clinic."

"The clinic?" I repeated, gaping at the Dean. "Why? Did something happen to him?"

I hadn't even noticed Aiden had left until he abruptly re-entered the room, face grim. "A student was attacked outside of the banquet hall. Doc Hadley is taking charge of the scene."

Duke came over to quietly hold my hand. I gave it a squeeze, wishing I could just go to sleep and forget everything.

"Who was the student?" Dean Lachlan asked.

"A freshman boy." Aiden scratched his head, concentrating. "Malone, I think."

"No." I put my free hand to my lips. "Oh no, not Connor."

I had just had breakfast with him and Jo yesterday morning. We joked, talked about tomorrow evening's ball, and he seemed so relaxed, so happy. And now he was hurt, attacked...because of me.

"Damnit." The Dean ran his hands through his snow-white hair.

"Whoever has Nero is getting impatient. We need to do something before someone gets killed." Aiden approached us, serious. "You guys either need to get hitched, or we need to call in all available ferries to get the students out of here."