Not that it had ever fucking worked.
Her parting words still stung."You're a worthless piece of rubbish, Stone. You ruined my life, and I don't know why I kept you all these years. You're a selfish, greedy child who doesn't deserve to be loved. I'll be happier to be rid of you, and so that's what I'm doing, abandoning you like I should've done nine years ago."
Not wanting to remember how lost and sad he'd been to see his mother leave him with the fight ring master, he focused back on telling Reika what she needed to know. "Growing up, it was the other females in the brothel who looked after me, more than my own mother did.
"But despite their kindness, they all had their own worries. So even if they knew my mother was going to sell me, it wasn't as if they had the means to do anything about it."
One of the prostitutes, Mary, had been more a mother to him than his own. She'd told him to be brave and fight to stay alive. Because one day, she knew he'd be able to do something with his life. She had a feeling.
Not that he'd ever been able to tell her about what he'd eventually accomplished. No, she'd died shortly after he left.
A glass of water slid toward him, pulling him back to the present. "In case you need it," Reika said.
He took a sip, cleared his throat, and continued. "The male my mother sold me to used me as a boy fighter until I started to grow too tall. He liked to run invite-only fights between boys aged eight to eleven, and then sometimes matches between gangly teens. Something about how it was harder to guess who would win, and his customers like the unpredictability."
Anger flashed in her gaze. "The assholes."
He smiled at her attempt at cursing. "I agree. But I at least was one of the lucky ones—I survived. But then at fourteen, he sold me to a human couple who wanted a vampire plaything. Even if I'm only half, they couldn't tell. They were addicted to a vampire's bite and wanted a constant source at hand."
Not for the first time Stone cursed the fact a vampire's fangs secreted a substance that instantly brought on an orgasm.
He'd been used on demand for so long he'd grown to hate biting anyone. Once he'd been free, he'd relied on drinking from a cup for nearly a decade before he could handle being near someone's flesh again.
Tracing the rim of the glass, he pushed on. "For ten years I had no free will. I wasn't even allowed to speak unless given permission." He finally met her gaze, ignoring the surprise there. "They did whatever they wanted with me. Anything and everything."
Understanding flashed in her eyes, and then fire. "Who would do that to a child?"
Part of him wanted to laugh at her naïvety. However, he remembered that she didn't know how nineteenth century England worked. "Back then, decades ago, it was considered fashionable to own a paranormal. Especially once acquiring new human slaves was made illegal. However, the government turned a blind eye to the paranormal ones to appease those in power."
Reika growled. "Bastards."
He nodded. "It's at least a little better now, especially in London. The head of the Metropolitan Police made it a priority to arrest those trading in paranormals. They have to be far more secretive now to get away with it.
"But I'm getting far from what I need to share with you. The couple who owned me, well, they became more and more addicted to my bite. And that weakness is how I was finally able to stage their deaths to look like an accident and obtain my freedom."
Reika turned pale. "You killed them?"
He met her gaze head-on. Stone wouldn't lie about this, even if he’d found a way around not showing any pain. It would show her exactly who she was thinking of sharing her body with. "Yes. And I'd do it all over again without hesitation."
He waited to see how the sweet, happy fae witch would react. Stone had never killed since, unless it was during a battle. However, he'd never, ever fucking regret pushing the orgasm-drunk pair into a lake and letting them drown.
* * *
As Reika listenedto Stone reveal one horrible thing after another, she simultaneously wanted to cry and hit something. Between not even being able to talk freely, let alone be in control of what was done to him, it revealed why Stone was the way he was.
Yesenia had warned her that things were different here in the nineteenth century, how they could be more violent and dangerous. But it'd all been in the abstract. However, listening to Stone's tale, it suddenly made her appreciate how boring and safe the future had been by comparison, even with all its faults.
Although as soon as he admitted to murdering the couple who'd bought him, she froze.
He didn't regret it either. And for a second, she wondered if in the same situation, the same life of slavery and exploitation, would she have done the same if it meant finally gaining her freedom?
Reika didn't know. Although after ten years of never being able to make a choice, she probably would've thought of a million ways to try.
Stone sat impassive, staring at her. No doubt trying to see if she'd flee from the room, shout at him, or basically tell him she didn't want anything to do with him.
But something about this male, this strong half-vampire with such a dark past, called to her. Reika had always tried to find the good in everything. It was merely how she lived life to the fullest each day.
However, she knew not everyone could do that, or cope the same way. And if she'd been in Stone's shoes, she'd probably be a lot less cheery, and chatty, and unused to being teased.