All the blood drained from my face, my body stiffened to the point of trembling.

Gildoroy.

The very first person to be turned into a vampire.

The creature who turned Duke and Aiden.

Gabriel--and probably Nero's--father.

How was this possible?

"I know, I know." He said, rolling his eyes. "I am supposed to be dead. How am I still alive? What am I going to do with you? Blah blah blah. And before you ask, no, I am not psychic. Those are merely the same thoughts Nero had when I took over his body."

It was as if I'd been hit upside the head with a bat. I was flabbergasted, totally blank from shock. Then my heart pelted my breast bone, and a sickening thought suddenly occurred to me. "When was that, exactly?"

I felt clammy, cold to my very core.

What if it wasn't actually Nero I'd had sex with the night before?

What if it was..?

A knowing smile curved his lips, and mirth danced in his black eyes. "You are worried it was I, and not my bastard son, who so graciously accepted your virginity, aren't you?"

Too revolted to speak, I nodded with a jerk.

Gildoroy didn't say anything after that, not for a long time. He just watched me, his perverse amusement at my disgust twisting Nero's face in such an odd and terrifying way. I say terrifying because it looked so effortless, as if Nero wasn't fighting him at all...as if he wasn't in there anymore.

"Unfortunately, I did not have the pleasure."

He finally sighed, swiftly rising to his feet.

I felt myself sag, the breath I hadn't realized I was holding came out in a loud rush.

"Oh, come now." He admonished. "You could at least act a little disappointed. Yes, Nero did surprisingly well for his first time, but I could have satisfied you in ways that would make Lucifer himself blush."

I doubt that.

I wanted to spit the words at him, to see them erase that smug look he was making Nero wear.

But Gildoroy's threat was still hung heavily in the air between us. And if I really was going to die, I would rather it be later than sooner.

So instead, I asked, "how did you know about Nero and I?"

His face broke out in another creepy ear-to-ear smile. "I had a front row seat, courtesy of the gladiator."

I remembered the night before, how I had caught Duke watching me and Nero from the window. He had seemed so out of character, giving me a wink when he noticed I had seen him. Not showing any remorse or shame for peeping. I didn't give it a second thought at the time, but now that I knew he was possessed, his strange behavior made sense.

And it made me wonder...who else had Gildoroy possessed to spy on me?

"Although I must admit, the view from in here is much nicer." He pulled me from my reverie, pointing at his temple.

I gulped, fighting to keep my bile from spewing out.

"Amazing, isn't it?" He went on, turning his back to me. "I can see all of Nero's memories, every single thought he has ever had."

He must have been trying to goad me, because he glanced over his shoulder to study my face. "He truly loves you, you know. With every single ounce of his being...unlike the others."

It worked.

"What do you mean?" I asked despite my reservations.

Gildoroy was trying to get under my skin, I knew that. But I couldn't help myself; I had to know more.

"The other vampire denizens of this island, myself included, are drawn to you by the call of your ancient blood." He paused, stalking toward me. "It sings to us, demands us to pledge ourselves to you, our long awaited queen."

Stopping half a foot away from me, Gildoroy dropped to one knee and bowed his head. "It is nearly impossible for me to fight, the instinct to love and protect you. My only advantage in that battle is the knowledge that those feelings are not real. That if not for the spell your Royal heritage holds over my kind, I would have already drank your blood until you were nothing but a withered husk."

My heart sank.

It wasn't real?

"Apologies, my dear, but I am afraid that you are not as beloved as you were led to believe." Gildoroy again spoke with mock sympathy, joy hiding just behind the faux emotion.

Their friendship.

Their love.

Us having sex.

It was all fake, meaningless.

They never loved me. I thought pitifully. They never actually cared about me.

But Nero did.

"Why?" I asked aloud. "Why does Nero love me?"

He went mute, keeping his head lowered.

"Why?" I shouted, rattling my chains.

Suddenly, his body started jerking, and shrill laughter echoed throughout the room. "He is quite strong." Gildoroy was still laughing, though now he sounded strained. "He is trying to break through--to save you."

He gazed up at me, revealing a set of irises that resembled a computer screen glitching. A familiar shade of amethyst fought with bottomless onyx, until the darker hue won out. "Phew, that was close."

Like a flower blooming, Gildoroy gracefully unfolded from his kneeling stance to stand at his full height. "Forgive the interruption. Now to answer your question; why does Nero love you. Perchance, have you ever starved an animal? A pet, perhaps?"

I felt my jaw drop. "No. Of course not."

What kind of monster did he take me for?

"I am not surprised." He nodded courtly. "No matter, the analogy will have to suffice. You see in days of old to win an animal's loyalty and affections, one would simply ensnare the animal and starve it to the point of near death. And then, ever so slowly, the animal would be given crumbs by their potential master. Each day the amount of food would increase until the beast bonded with its master."

He reached down to brush my hair out of my face, and I fought the urge to pull away. "Nero, having never been shown any affection --maternal and paternal in particular --was emotionally starved. And then you came along and offered him the very things he had been craving, the things he had been denied for so long."

I was instantly reminded of the morning after Duke went down on me for the first time, when Nero visited me in my bathroom.

He gazed up at me, amethyst eyes uncertain. "After I led you on the other day, I didn't think you'd ever speak to me again. Not that I'd blame you. I acted like a dick." He shrugged, turning his gaze back to his feet. "But when you were attacked... when I got shot...you showed me more affection than anyone else ever had."

I was beyond terrified that day. There was so much blood, and he was so still. I thought he was dead.

"I heard you crying when I was on the floor," he went on, turning his whole body to face mine. "No one has ever wept for me before."

He reached out to brush a stray hair behind my ear. "No one has ever held me the way you did when I was on top of you. No one's... I've never had someone to care for me the way you do. Or, the way I thought you did."

"You are his master." Gildoroy rasped wickedly, slicing through my inner musings. "As is he yours. Though he isn't the only one, is he?"

I glared up at him ready to protest, when he placed a finger against my lips.

"Shh, no lying. I know you love them; my sons. The gladiator and his little blond flunky. That strange pirate." He circled me, like a lion stalking it's prey, before stopping just behind my right shoulder. "You know, it is quite amusing, you fit my analogy better than Nero does. Do you know why?"

I shook my head, and looked back at him, hating how much he was loving our back and forth.

"Because the vampires you love so foolishly are the very ones who starved you."

My eyebrows came together, my head cocked sideways at him.

This seemed to irritate him, if his heavy sigh and eye roll was any kind of indicator. "Did it not seem peculiar? A child who never spoke out of turn, who performed every task possible to earn love, never stayed in a place long enough to receive it?"

It felt like a boulder was dropped in the pit of my stomach. My body went rigid, tears filled my eyes. I shook my head. I was reliving my childhood all over again. All the times I spent making macaroni art, cleaning, making straight A's, doing everything I could to ensure I would have a forever home, a loving family. Only to be shipped off somewhere else without reason.

"No." I croaked. "No, that was my fault. I didn't do enough...I-I wasn't good enough."

That's what I had always told myself.

I should have done more.

I should have worked harder.

This family is too good for me. I don't deserve them.

"Oh no, my dear queen." Gildoroy forced Nero's face into an exaggerated frown, squatting down beside me. "That wasn't it at all. No, you were being groomed--starved."

The earth fell from my feet. "I was?"

"Yes. Gabriel needed you hungry for acceptance, for love, so you would easily fall for him." He licked his lips, enthralled by his own tale. "I understand if it seems farfetched, however consider this: your father cursed our kind to never leave this island until you and Gabriel married, yes? And Gabriel, being the chivalrous bastard that he is, thought it nobel to win you over as opposed to forcing you to wed him.

But in addition to being chivalrous, he is also impatient.

So to secure your bond, he had contacts move you around on the mainland every few months to keep you from getting close to anyone."

I didn't want to believe it, struggled to find an inconsistency in his story.

"But how did he know I would end up here?" I finally countered. "Even with all of his efforts, there was no guarantee that I'd end up attending his university."

The glint in his eye was instantaneous. "It is easy for a recruiter to set up during a, what is it called? Oh yes, a college fair! And it is made the better with a video of Influenced humans applauding Lachlan University's marine biology program. Best in the nation, if I recall correctly."

I remembered the video he was talking about; it was what ultimately made me decide on coming to the island to attend college. Everyone on it looked so happy, hyping up the home-like atmosphere and praising the faculty and staff for making them feel like family.

Looking back on it now made me feel foolish.

"How do you know about all of that?"

He stood and tapped at his temple. "I can see everything he has seen, know everything he knows, remem--"

A fireball cut him off as it connected with his chest, sending him flying back out of my vision.

Knowing I couldn't see him, I looked over my shoulder anyway, when a sweltering heat hit the front of my body like a brick wall. My head whipped around to see Gabriel outside the circle, flames shooting from his fingertips to his elbows, his chest heaving with rage.

From somewhere behind me, Gildoroy cackled hysterically.

"My boy!" He bellowed between laughs. "Now the fun can really begin."