Page 49 of The Mobster's Mate

Caden nodded miserably. “If we didn’t… It was bad,” he whispered. “The first time, I refused until I was nearly killed by the other shifter with me and was forced to defend myself. I couldn’t blame him because I’m guessing he’d tried to resist, too, and faced the same consequences.”

“What did they do?” Quinten seethed, blood boiling.

Caden’s fingers twitched around Quinten’s. “They… They didn’t bring me any food for days, and then once I was weak enough, a bunch of the guards came into my cell. They had Tasers and baseball bats, but most just… punched and kicked. I-I don’t know how many bones were broken before they stopped… but then they came back the next day… and then the next… Until finally someone from the Gray Room came and asked if I was going to behave. By then…”

When he didn’t finish, Quinten gave his hand a squeeze in understanding. “You said yes to make it stop. Just like anyone would.”

Tears were streaming down Caden’s face. “I did. The next time they brought me into the arena, I fought. I fought as hard as I could. Usually, they’d let us stop once they’d gotten a good show and one of us yielded. But sometimes… You could tell when it was going to happen. The crowd would be louder than normal, really worked up. Those days… they’d make us keep going until… until one of us was dead.”

He said the last word so softly Quinten almost didn’t catch it.

“Jesus, kitten. That’s so fucked-up. I’m so sorry they did that to you,” Quinten said softly.

Caden’s beautiful honey eyes met his, more tears streaming down his cheeks. “They made me kill people, Quinten. They turned me into a killer.”

Quinten shook his head. “No, you’re not. You’re nothing of the sort. I know killers. Fuck, I am one.” Caden stilled, watching him disbelievingly. “You were put in an incredibly tough situation, and you did what you had to do to make it out the other side. They didn’t turn you into anything. You’re still just as sweet and kind as I’m sure you’ve always been.”

Caden swiped at the wetness on his cheeks. He didn’t agree or disagree with Quinten, but he took a deep, shaky breath and then exhaled it roughly. Some of the tension left his shoulders.

“After a few months, I just kind of figured they’d either get tired of doing their experiments or somebody would kill me in the arena,” Caden said without any inflection to his voice, which was more terrifying than anything else he had said so far.

This sweet young man had accepted that he was going to die and there was nothing he could do about it. The toll that had to take on his psyche couldn’t be measured.

“Then a few days ago, this guy came to my cell. He didn’t wear a mask or dress like the Gray Room people did. I’d never seen him before. He was human but… scary.”

“Scary how?” Quinten said, refocusing like a laser. That had to have been Tiho.

“The way he smiled at me,” Caden said. “And the look in his eyes. I could just tell he enjoyed hurting people. He had this old guy with him, had to at least have been seventy, who smelled a little like magic. The older man pointed at me and said I was the one he’d seen, and the scary guy just grinned and told the guard with them that he’d take me.”

Take him. Had they sold Caden to Tiho? Were they selling others, or had it been a onetime thing? Something Tiho had orchestrated with some of his daddy’s money, maybe.

“What do you remember after that?” Quinten asked.

“They shot me with a tranquilizer, and when I woke up, I was in the warehouse. They had already chained me to the wall and collared me.” Caden rubbed at his eyes with his free hand, the other still holding on to Quinten for dear life. “I was still a little groggy, but the scary guy knelt down right in front of my face, patted me on the cheek, and said that I shouldn’t take it personally. It was just business.”

Quinten bit back another curse. He was going to fucking rip Tiho Draža apart with his bare hands.

“He and the others left, and I tried to get the collar off or break the chain, but it just made the collar start to heat up. It was burning my skin, but the more I struggled, the worse it got until it became so excruciating I could barely think. I didn’t know if anyone was going to find me. I didn’t know if they were going to come back…”

“And then my people showed up,” Quinten finished.

“Yeah, I didn’t hurt any of them, right?”

Quinten shook his head quickly. “No, you didn’t. Don’t you remember?”

Caden shrugged. “Some of it, but some of it is kind of a blur. Like the pain short-circuited my brain, so I can’t remember quite all of it. I remember a woman with a terrified face.”

“That was Ginger.”

“She wanted to help, but her mate kept her from getting too close. Which is probably for the best,” Caden added with a sad smile. “If anyone had gotten close to me, I probably would’ve tried to hurt them. I was so scared.”

His words ripped through Quinten’s chest. “You didn’t hurt anyone, and you didn’t hurt me when I got close.”

Caden stared at him, wide-eyed. “I don’t even remember that. I remember seeing you. I remember your eyes, but I don’t remember you getting close.”

“After we broke the chain, you were in so much pain, just writhing on the floor. So I went over, put my hand on you, and I told you that you were going to be okay.”

Caden’s eyes widened even more. “Wait, I do remember that. I remember hearing a voice say that right before I passed out, and it was the first time I believed it was going to actually be true.”

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