Duke was actually a pretty great professor. He was professional, engaging, patient, but for the life of me I just couldn't concentrate.

As he stood in front of the class lecturing about ancient civilizations all I could think about were his scars. How did he get them? Did he get them before becoming a vampire?

"Audrey?"

Duke was staring at me, expectantly, as was the rest of the class.

"I'm sorry, what?" I hadn't heard a word he said. Thankfully, he took it easy on me.

"I said, could you read the beginning of this slide, please?"

"Sorry," I scanned the projector screen next to him, embarrassed to be caught daydreaming, and read the header aloud. "Entertainment in the Roman empire."

"Continue," Duke prompted.

"Entertainment in the Roman empire varied, and included everything from poetry readings held in theaters to chariot races hosted in the Circus Maximus." I paused, glancing at him to see if I should go on.

Instead of looking at me, Duke turned his sights on the rest of the class to address us as a whole. "The Circus Maximus was a massive entertainment venue, twelve times bigger than the Colosseum. But we'll go more in depth on that later. Audrey, if you would continue, please."

I gave him a nod. "But perhaps the most brutal were the gladiatorial games."

I stopped again, having reached the end of that slide.

"Thank you, Audrey." Duke nodded to me before switching to another projection, entitled Gladiators. "Now, some gladiators were not always slaves, contrary to popular belief. Free men, some of whom were ex-soldiers, eagerly signed contracts with gladiator schools in the hopes of gaining wealth and glory."

He paused to give everyone time to take notes.

"But, for the ones who did not become gladiators of their own volition, more...savage methods were used to coax them into fighting." Duke looked far away at that moment, like he was seeing something the rest of us couldn't. The expression was fleeting, lasting only a few seconds.

Was that how he got his scars? Had Duke been a gladiator?

"Was it really like that HBO show?" A guy asked from the back of the class. "The one about Spartacus?"

I, along with the other students, glanced back at the student who had spoke before returning our sights to Duke.

He gave us a knowing smile. "Believe it or not, that show was fairly accurate, regarding the brutality and debauchery." Duke paused to pace the room. "But in regards to the number of fights a gladiator had, things were a bit exaggerated."

He went on to say that due to the injuries fighters often sustained, average number of fights were six a year (and that was a generous estimate), for highly skilled gladiators.

Once we jotted that down in our notes, Duke glossed over a few more aspects of gladiators before moving on to lecture about the Circus Maximus he'd mentioned earlier.

I diligently wrote everything down, not really absorbing any of the information. I was still having a hard time focusing. Not just because of Duke, but because I was hungry. I hadn't been eating well since arriving at the University, (given what had happened since then, no one could really blame me) and it seemed that was starting to take it's toll.

By the time class was dismissed, I'd had two full pages of notes, and an achingly empty stomach.

"You're hungry," Duke whispered to me as I walked past him.

"Is it that obvious?" I sounded meek, and my voice wavered slightly.

Instead of answering, Duke took my hand in his, the iciness of his skin searing against the warmth of mine. "Come. Let's fetch you something from the banquet hall."

I couldn't move. His unexpected grasp reminded me of his feeding from me, of how he'd painfully held me down. Fear bubbled at the memory, and I fought back tears while trying to snap out of my terrifying flashback.

"Audrey," Duke looked hurt, pitifully apologetic as he released me. "I--" he paused, struggling to find the right words. "I'm sorry. I shouldn't have touched you without your consent."

He took a step back to give me a small bow. "If you don't want to have lunch with me, I'll understand."

Finally, I calmed down enough to speak. "I'm sorry, I've just-- I have to get to class."

Without giving him an answer, or waiting for a response from him, I turned on my heel and bolted for my next class.

Luckily I memorized my class schedule ahead of time, but now I was too freaked out to recall it.

Why was I freaking out, anyway. Not that my reaction wasn't justified; Duke had attacked me the day before, after all. Granted he wasn't in his right mind when he had done so, it was still him.

But why have a flashback now? Why didn't I react this way when we bumped into each other earlier? Or, when he wiped off my face in the laundry room?

Was it because it was such an intimate gesture that I hadn't seen coming?

My heart was still pounding when I stopped to get my bearings. Leaning back against a wall, I closed my eyes and took a couple of slow, deep breaths.

"Hey, Audrey, you okay?"

I peeked up to see Connor, giving me an apprehensive yet concerned look.

"Yeah, just got a little lightheaded." I smiled wearily, surprised at how well the lie came out.

It felt like I hadn't seen Connor in years, though it had only been yesterday morning when we had breakfast with Jo.

After all my interactions with the vampires of Lachlan University, it was nice to see a normal human.

I giggled, flooded with relief at being in the company of someone who didn't want to drink my blood.

Or someone who was thousands of years old.

Or someone who not only knew my parents before I was even born, but was cursed by my father to live on an island in the middle of nowhere.

I laughed harder.

What the fuck has my life become? I thought, close to hysterics. It's like the plot of a bad romance novel.

"Um, Audrey..?" Connor's dark brows were knitted together, trying to figure out what I found so funny. "Do you need to go to the clinic?"

I shook my head, standing straight while fighting another round of giggles. "No, I'm fine. Let's just get to class."

~~~

I felt better by noon, though I was starving. Connor and I walked across the bridge together, talking about everything I'd missed since my "accident".

Apparently, things were pretty uneventful on his end. He had been having boxing practice every evening after class, and his first match was in a couple weeks.

"That's awesome!" I said, giving him a pat on the back. "Are you nervous?"

Connor nodded. "Yeah, a little. But I'm excited to finally get in the ring." He paused to let me go ahead of him into the dorm building. "My high school didn't have a boxing team," he went on once we were both inside. "But my dad's been training me since I could walk."

"Is your dad going to be able to come to the boxing match?"

"Nah. He can't afford the trip." Connor sounded disappointed, but casual. "I'll get to see him during Fall break, though."

"Really?" I asked.

Connor gave me another nod. "Yeah. He's going to come here for a sort of meet-and-greet with the university staff. Apparently, a lot of the other students parents will be here, too."

We stopped at the entrance to the banquet hall, when Connor asked, "will your parents be coming here during Fall break?"

I felt the slightest twinge of regret, and shut it down before it could fester into something worse. "No, my parents...they aren't around anymore."

"Oh," Connor said awkwardly. "I'm sorry, Audrey. I didn't know."

I could feel the pity rolling off him, but thankfully we were interrupted before he could say anything else.

"Audrey, would you come with me, please?"

Duke was suddenly standing next to me, his face uncertain. After a moment, I gave him a brief nod, and said goodbye to Connor.

Once Connor was out of earshot, Duke gazed down at me, and whispered, "thank you."

I followed him outside, past the square. "For what?"

"For giving me a second chance."

It wasn't wise to be alone with a vampire, I knew that. But I honestly felt like he wouldn't hurt me... again.

Not that he consciously meant to the first time around.

"So, where are we having lunch?" I asked, to brighten the mood.

Duke flashed me a Cheshire grin before taking me down the steps that led to the dock. "Well, since it's such a lovely day, I thought we could have a picnic."

A big checkered blanket was spread out a few feet away from the dock, with a cute little picnic basket set at one corner.

I glanced up at Duke, smiling idiotically. He returned the smile, and indicated I should have a seat.

"I didn't know what you liked," he said, retrieving food out of the basket. "So I got a little bit of everything from today's lunch menu."

There was sandwiches, diced fruits and veggies, a thermos full of soup, and a bottle each of juice and water.

"Bon appetit," he said, pulling out a small thermos for himself.

I opted for a sandwich and veggies, and ate them in record time. After that, I sipped on some tomato soup from my thermos while Duke finished his lunch.

"I'm guessing that wasn't soup or coffee you were drinking." I nodded toward the thermos he was putting away.

He shook his head. "No. It wasn't."

I gulped, involuntarily.

"If I make you uncomfortable, you may leave at any time." Duke said.

"No, it's okay." I tried to smile. "You need to eat, too."

He dabbed the corners of his mouth with a black napkin, and inhaled deeply. "Do you still want to hear of my life?"

When I said yes, Duke seemed relieved, exhaling in a quick gust.

"It was so long ago, I can barely recall most things." He began, wistfully. "I remember my wife, Livia. I remember that her hair was the color of wheat, and it was like silk to the touch.

I remember my daughter, Aelia. She was tall and stubborn, like her mother. She looked exactly like me, but deep down, she was her mother made over."

He stopped to play with a loose thread on our blanket, wearing a melancholy smirk. One that quickly faded when he spoke again.

"I cannot remember their voices, or the sound of their laughter, but I remember their screams."

He trembled visibly.

I wanted to reach out, to give him some kind of physical comfort, but I wasn't sure if he'd accept it.

"It's strange," he whispered after a beat. "But, the strongest memory I have of my family is when they were brutalized and slaughtered right in front of me."

He put a shaky hand over his face, mumbling, "I tried to save them. I killed the two Roman soldiers who held me captive just feet away from Livia and Aelia. Then, I butchered the ones who were on my wife and daughter, but I was too late. Their wounds were...no one should ever have to suffer the way they had."

He was looking at me, caramel eyes filled with anguish and bloody tears.

"I was sold into slavery after that." Duke went on, suddenly sounding emotionless. "Forced to fight in the arena for the swine who had ordered the raid of my village. As you can imagine, I wasn't very cooperative in the beginning."

"They whipped you?" My voice was a croak, thick with disgust and pain.

"Repeatedly." He nodded, solemnly. "It wasn't long after that when I met Aiden, though he was known as Amulius back then. He too was a gladiator."

My jaw dropped. "Aiden was a gladiator?"

It was hard to picture Aiden, silly and playful Aiden, in gladiator garb fighting someone to the death.

"He was quite skilled." Duke confessed. "He was often underestimated, because of his fair looks. And he was always getting into trouble, and I was always there, bailing him out. But one night, a heated debate with another slave went too far, and Aiden was stabbed."

Duke appeared to be far away, starring off into space and muttering. "I was screaming for help, begging the gods not to take another person away from me, when he came.

A man with hair long and white, and eyes blue like the sky. He offered to save Aiden in exchange for our servitude. I was so desperate, so terrified of being alone, that I agreed. That was the night Aiden and I became vampires... and the night we got revenge on our masters."

I felt a little queasy after that, but ignored it. "So who was he? The man that turned you and Aiden?"

Duke gazed into my eyes, his expression cool. "He was Gabriel's father, Gildoroy. The first person to ever be turned into a vampire."