I gawked at the ring, utterly dumbstruck. It was white gold, with tiny, sparkly diamonds running down either side of the band. And resting in the middle was a sapphire bigger than my entire thumbnail. It was simple, yet elegant.

And like the dress Dean Lachlan had sent me, it was too much.

"I don't know what to say," I breathed.

I knew what I wanted to say, though.

I'm not ready for marriage.

"You don't have to say anything, not right away." He took out the ring and placed it on my left ring finger. "Saturday. You can give me your decision then. But for now, consider this a token of my affection."

I forced a smile, encumbered by the weight this beautiful piece of jewelry carried.

"Thank you." I looked down at the ring, watching it twinkle in the candle light. "And thanks for the dress. It was beautiful."

Dean Lachlan tilted my chin up to peer into my eyes. "Ah, tis but a mere pile of rags when compared to your beauty." He planted a chaste kiss on my lips, and smiled. "But I am delighted to hear you like it."

Before I could say anything else, a loud moan erupted from somewhere in the crowd. At first I thought someone was hurt, but then a low grunt followed, and I felt myself pale.

"I see someone decided to start the consummation ceremony early." Dean Lachlan chuckled humorlessly.

"Consummation ceremony?" I kept my gaze locked on to him to keep from looking at the group in front of us.

Not that it helped much.

I could see movement out of my periphery. People were getting undressed, and some were panting and groaning.

"When a vampire couple betroth themselves to one another, it is tradition for their kin to engage in a...shared sexual encounter."

"You mean an orgy?"

"Well," the Dean rubbed the back of his neck, sheepishly. "I wouldn't put it quite like that..."

"But that's what this is," I took my hand out of his, revolted. "Am I...are we supposed to take part in this?"

Was this what he had in mind for our raincheck from this morning?

He shrugged. "Traditionally, yes. The newly engaged couple normally initiate the, um, festivities. But since you are new to our world, I had asked everyone to control themselves."

The moans and heavy breathing got louder, and a female voice shouted out her release. The noise caused my head to whip around thoughtlessly, and I gasped at the view.

Everyone was naked; their bodies smashing and grinding into each other at various speeds and in different positions. Some women were bent over tables, being pounded from behind. Others were giving oral--or receiving it-- and there was even a few same-sex couples swept up in the carnal moment.

"Yeah, I don't think they got the memo."

I could feel myself getting hot all over, my heart thumping in time to the unexpected throb between my legs.

"Gabriel," Duke approached our table, fully clothed and seething. "I thought you decided to not have the consummation ceremony."

Seeing him dressed had me curious. Where were the other camp sec members?

Swallowing the lump in my throat, I braced myself to scan the crowd.

Lucius was at my right, near a set of thick, Royal blue curtains, looking as pissed as Duke had.

Nero and Aiden were on either side of the entryway, standing as still as statues, with their eyes focused on me.

They were all completely dressed.

I wasn't sure how I would have reacted if they had been participating in the debauchery, but the relief I felt in that moment both overwhelmed and surprised me.

Maybe I cared a lot more about them than I was willing to admit?

"You were there during the staff meeting," Dean Lachlan replied, indifferent. "You heard me announce that the ceremony was not to take place tonight. Not until I was certain Miss Ridley would be comfortable with it."

"Look at her!" Duke bellowed, motioning at me. "Does she look comfortable?"

I was far from it.

I was many things: confused, aroused, disgusted, intrigued-- but definitely not comfortable.

Duke came around the table to kneel in front of me. "Do you wish to leave?"

I nodded without hesitation. "Please,"

He took my hand as I stood, and led me away from the table.

"Miss Ridley, wait," Dean Lachlan called after me. "You cannot leave. Not without allowing me to apologize first."

Lucius abruptly stormed past me and Duke to tower above the Dean.

"You forget yourself, Gabriel." His tone was a deathly cold warning. "Miss Ridley is your queen. You do not, and will not ever, dictate her behavior. You obey her, not the other way around."

And without another word, Duke took me through the curtains at our right, with Lucius following close behind.

~~~

Apparently, the place we were in was part of a subterranean fortress that housed the majority of Lachlan Island's vampires.

Vampires that taught human students.

And cooked for them.

And provided them with medical attention.

"How is this possible?" I thought out loud after we got back above ground. "How are there no incidents of the faculty feeding on students?"

"You just saw a room full of vampires have an orgy, and that's your takeaway from it?" Aiden asked after he and Nero joined us.

"I'm actually trying not to think about the whole orgy thing," I mumbled, hugging myself for comfort.

A couple of college students walked by us then, one of them asking his buddies, "did somebody say orgy?"

We waited for them to pass before continuing the conversation.

"There have been many, actually." Duke answered, matter-of-fact. "Though, not as frequent in recent years. But enough to force Gabriel to ban all electronic devices."

My jaw dropped.

"No evidence, no crime." Aiden added with a shrug.

"But what about their memories? I mean, you can't just erase something like that from..." I trailed, remembering the day I was attacked in my dorm.

Nero had wiped my memory from that day, when he whistled.

"Why?" I looked each of them in the eye. "Why do this? Why run a university and risk killing innocent people?"

"The university started as a way to reintegrate newly created vampires into human society." Lucius answered that time. "It kept casualties to a minimum and isolated while providing our human counterparts a quality education."

"But when your father cursed us to stay here," Duke interjected, "it became a means to kill time until we could find you."

A dark thought suddenly occurred to me. One that made my blood run cold, and made my eyes tear up.

"Audrey, no." Duke read what I was thinking, and spoke gently, pleading. "Please, please don't think that."

"Think what?" The other guys asked in unison.

That's why they don't want me to leave. I thought, anger fighting with heartbreak. I'm their ticket to freedom. That's why Dean Lachlan is in such a rush to marry me.

The memory he had showed me, his most painful memory, was stuck on repeat in my head.

You and every other vampire on Lachlan Island can never leave again, not until you marry...

I didn't have to hear the rest to know what my father's curse was. None of the vampires could leave Lachlan Island, not until the Dean and I got married.