Unaware of exactly how it happened, I soon found myself in front of Nero's cabin. Snarling, I contemplated setting the tiny building ablaze, but then I took in a deep breath.

"He did not force her," I begrudgingly reminded myself. "She chose to sleep with him of her own volition. She was willing..."

Anger roiled my blood, forced that all too familiar heat to the surface of my skin. In seconds flames shot up my arms, greedily swallowing all the oxygen around me to grow stronger.

It used to be unbearable when the flames took over. So much so that I spent my first five-hundred-years as a vampire avoiding feeling any emotions for fear of triggering the fire. But now, after living with it for millennia, I've learned to embrace that pain.

It certainly paled in comparison to the tremendous guilt I had been feeling as of late.

A flame whipped up next to my eye, bringing me back to the present. To keep the fire from outright consuming me, I urged it through my fingertips, shooting a ball of flames towards the ocean. Once I heard it sizzle into the waters, I closed my eyes and begged myself to calm down.

I wasn't upset about Audrey losing her virginity to Nero. Honestly, there were much worse choices on the island aside from him. What infuriated me most was the state I discovered her in.

Another flame shot through me at the memory.

She looked so beautiful, so vulnerable, strewn bare across the hardwood of Nero's floor. Her breath whispered through soft, parted lips, and her dark-blonde hair rested in a wavy puddle above her head.

But where was Nero?

Why had he left her in such a compromised position?

A distinctly harsh smell abruptly pulled me from my musings, and quelled the fire dancing up my arms.

Someone was melting plastic somewhere near the shore. A lot of it.

Curious, and frankly miffed, I followed the scent to find Lucius standing before a small bonfire.

At first I thought maybe I had inadvertently caused the fire. "Lucius," I approached him. "Forgive my callousness. Here, allow me--what the bloody hell?"

The overwhelming stench of petrol burned my nostrils seconds before Lucius dumped the contents of a jerrycan onto his head.

"The gladiator failed." He mumbled, dark eyes far away. "I must succeed."

I cocked my head, confused, as he picked up a dry piece of driftwood. "Lucius, what are you doing?"

"I must succeed." He repeated, igniting the wood off the bonfire. "I must succeed."

"Lucius, no, stop!"

Without hesitation, Lucius stuck the flaming wood to his chest, setting himself on fire.

"" I tugged my blazer off, ready to toss it on him, when I felt the air change. All the oxygen suddenly vanished, snuffing out the flames on my oldest friend.

I watched, dumbstruck, as Lucius' smoldering body hit the dirt with a dull thud.

"Gabriel!"

Aiden approached me, his hand still extended in Lucius' direction. "I smelled smoke. What the hell is going on?"

"That is what I would like to know." I said, watching Lucius twitch on the ground. "This nutter was spouting nonsense and then he set himself on fire."

As quickly as he'd extinguished the fire bathing Lucius, Aiden robbed all the oxygen from the bonfire. Once those flames died out, he squatted down to investigate the charred remains.

"Lucius set himself on fire?" He asked without looking up. "What did he say before that?"

"He spoke of a gladiator failing," I replied, still keeping an eye on Lucius. "And he said he had to succeed. He repeated it over and over until he..."

"Tried to barbeque himself?" Aiden offered.

I nodded. "Precisely."

"He must have been Influenced, too."

"Influenced?" I scoffed, incredulous. "Lucius is nearly as old as I. Who could be strong enough to Influence him?"

Aside from Miss Ridley, with her powerful bloodline, I was the only being capable of Influencing older vampires.

"I'm not sure." Aiden stood, young face uncharacteristically grim. "But that's the least of our problems."

I stared at him quizzically when he nodded towards the ground.

"Are those..?"

"Yup." He sighed heavily. "Those are the last of our blood bags."

"Shit," I hissed. "Damnit!"

The flames were fighting for control again, but I closed my eyes and quietly counted to ten.

That's when something dawned on me.

"You said Lucius must have been Influenced, too. Why? Who else has been Influenced?"

A small part of me was hoping it was Nero. That would explain his abandoning Miss Ridley in such a disrespectful manner.

"Come on, I'll explain it on the way."

~~~

"You are a fool!" I growled at Aiden after we dropped Lucius off at the clinic. "What were you thinking, leaving her alone with him?"

"Would you relax?" Aiden waved me off, struggling to keep up with my fevered pace. "I all but incapacitated him, and I gave Audrey some of my blood just in case--"

"You did what?!" I cut him off, turning around to glare at him.

Aiden put his hands up in surrender. "Jeez, take it easy. I had no choice."

I rolled my eyes before releasing him. We resumed our journey to Miss Ridley's room, with Aiden yammering right behind me.

"I couldn't take them to the clinic one at a time without risking Audrey's dorm mate finding whoever I left behind and causing a scene. And I certainly couldn't carry both of them to the clinic at the same time."

"Aiden, why must you complicate things?" I mumbled, pinching the bridge of my nose. "You could have simply had Miss Ridley escort you and Duke to the clinic after you gave her your blood."

"Oh shit, you're right. Why didn't I think of that?" Aiden said as we ascended the stairs leading to Miss Ridley's floor. "Eh, no matter. They've been left alone for less than ten minutes. And the injuries I inflicted will take a lot longer than that to heal. Honestly, what's the worst that could happen?"

Aiden opened the door to Miss Ridley's hall, and I was walloped with the scent of her blood.

Without hesitation, I bolted for her dorm room. I nearly yanked the door off its hinges when I got to it, but froze at the threshold. Aiden crashed into me, barely moving my rigid frame, not that I really noticed.

All I could see was Duke's arms wrapped around Miss Ridley's naked back. One of his hands was clutching her round behind, moving her up and down on his lap. His other hand was tangled in her hair, pulling her head back so he could kiss her throat.

Suddenly I was at war with myself. Arousal battled with fury as I watched my friend, my subordinate, fuck my future bride. I swallowed hard, wincing at how painfully tight my khakis had become, then whispered to Aiden. "What's the worst that could happen, huh?"

A/N*