by Jana Downs
Cassisus jogged to the head of the throng, eager to get his mind on something familiar. He needed the physical action, the weight of his armor, to make him calm. He’d thought it was a simple matter of mating, but the larger implications were becoming clearer. No matter. I’ll make it simple. Things will die down once Tobias and I are mated, once we join. They just had to start with some open communication. It sounded simple enough.
* * * *
“Beautiful, Tobias,” Flavius complimented as his servant finished the calligraphy on the personal invitation to Senator Chen Hermes. It had been Tobias’s idea to issue some personalized invites to the higher members of society whom Flavius desired to watch them perform in Louisiana. Celebrities drew the media, and the media drew sponsors. “You really are becoming an invaluable asset to me, Tobias. You run the media side of things better than I ever dreamed to.” Tobias had a knack for it. That was clear.
Tobias looked up at him with the same doe-eyed expression that he usually did when he was in a place of utter contentment. “Thank you, Master. I do enjoy it.”
“The photographer should be here any moment. I imagine the gladiators are just getting out of the showers. If you like, you can go down, watch the session, and bring Cassisus something sweet to tide him over until supper,” Flavius suggested. He’d heard from the head servant that Cassisus had wanted Tobias all day, but he really hadn’t been able to spare him until that moment. Corbin had suggested letting Tobias go down about this time anyway. He shivered as he recalled the rest of Corbin’s scrawled message on his messenger. The bear was really getting out of hand with his innuendo and stolen kisses.
Tobias sighed softly. “I would rather wait until my scheduled time to go down to him, Master.”
Flavius looked over at him in surprise. Tobias hadn’t moved from his spot at his desk for hours. At the least, the mouse needed to stretch his legs. “Is everything all right, Tobias?”
The mouse looked up, meeting his eyes. “Everything is fine, sir.”
“The Ludus servants tell me you were at Cassisus’s cell until late last night. I had hoped that you two were getting along.” Corbin had reported that the cat had been all but whistling this morning when Corbin had gone to wake them.
“We’re getting along fine,” Tobias said, returning his eyes to the paper he was folding. Written mail was rare in today’s age, so it would say something to the receiver about how highly Flavius viewed them.
“So why don’t you want to go to see the man who you spent a nice evening talking with?” Flavius asked.
“It’s personal, Master.”
There was his title, slapped on to create distance. Flavius took a deep breath. Tobias was being inordinately stubborn when it came to the subject of his mate.
“Our arrangement for your cottage isn’t. What is the problem?” Silence reigned as he asked his question. The pregnant pause made Flavius wonder whether Tobias would actually yield on the subject. Out of all the servants in his household, Tobias was the least likely to rebel, the least likely to give him even a ripple of trouble.
“I like him, Flavius,” Tobias snapped.
Flavius reeled. Had Tobias actually yelled at him? It should have disturbed him, but instead he felt an acute sense of relief. He hadn’t had anyone react to him with honesty in so long that it nearly brought him to his knees. Even Corbin maintained a maddening amount of distance between them. How was he supposed to express to Tobias how wonderful it was to be treated as an equal for once?
His silence must’ve frightened Tobias because he looked panicked for a split second. “Master, I’m so sorry. I didn’t mean—”
“Shut up,” Flavius said. “Just shut up. Don’t ruin it.”
Tobias looked utterly confused. “Master?”
“I just…Don’t call me ‘master’ right now. Just talk to me, converse with me, tell me the truth of what you’re feeling,” Flavius begged.
Tobias’s eyes rose and met his. This time it was Flavius who looked away. “You’re lonely,” the mouse whispered. “That’s why you want me to be your friend. You’re just as isolated as we are in your station.”
He was right. The men and women he spent every day with didn’t talk to him, not really. He was sick of having to maintain an air of superiority with people he didn’t truly believe were inferiors. “I am.”
“Cassisus is a beautiful temptation, and something happened last night that has my head screwed up. I want to maintain some kind of wall between us because it will hurt too much if he’s taken from me.”
Flavius’s head snapped back to Tobias as he spoke. Was that honesty? Was Tobias actually talking to him?
“What do you mean ‘taken from’ you?” Flavius asked.
Tobias sighed as Flavius leaned closer. “As a gladiator, he could fall in the arena. As a slave, he could be sold off at any moment. You’re human, so you don’t understand what mating means to us. If we mate bond with someone and then that someone dies or we’re separated, the experience is excruciating pain. It’s not just emotional. Our animal literally dies without its mate and leaves behind a hollow shell of a person, unable to shift or even maintain a semblance of life. We become empty, Flavius. Would you risk the pain when it isn’t in your control? My life isn’t my own. If I were a free man, maybe. But mating isn’t something to take lightly.”
Flavius was fascinated. “I’ve read the texts of Antinious, Bellenus, and of the Elders of Pran. They mention nothing about that.”
“That’s because the predators wrote our history. They’re too proud to admit a weakness, especially in writing,” Tobias explained. “The less predatory species circulated the information and the legends word of mouth.”
“Ah, I see.” And he did see. It was easy to understand because similar things had happened in the history of humanity. The bigger conquerors wrote their own version. “So you don’t want to risk becoming attached to him because you’re afraid of the possible consequences should he be hurt or sold.”
“Keeping him at arm’s length is the only way I can deal with this arrangement,” Tobias said, looking tired. “I hope you understand, Master.”
It didn’t seem very fair to Flavius. Destiny, fate, whatever someone wanted to call it, had given the shifters the ability to identify the one person whom they were perfectly matched with. It seemed cruel to deny that sort of match. “And if I promised never to sell him?”
Tobias considered him for a minute before shaking his head. “I can trust your word, but what if something happens to you? There is nothing legal to keep us together. What if your sponsors pressure you to breed him? What will you say then?”
“I can promise you that I will never sell him and that I will never use him as a stud to breed more gladiators for the arena. You ought to know I find that practice barbaric. I won’t make you go to him any other time than you are scheduled, but I do encourage you to seize the opportunity, Tobias. The reward might be worth the risk.”
Tobias was quiet so long that Flavius thought he’d really pissed the other man off. He didn’t regret it, though. Despite his station and his vehement denial of Corbin’s affections, Flavius really was a romantic at heart. Human beings assumed that the Romans had the right idea by enslaving the shifters the first time around, but Flavius knew better. The shifters were people just like him. They needed companionship to be truly happy. If Flavius could gently nudge one of his household into a relationship that would give him a measure of peace, he would do so.
“I’ll go,” Tobias said at last.
Flavius smiled. “Good. Make sure that you stop by the kitchens and pick him up a snack. Good luck, Tobias.”
Tobias looked at him strangely, like he was seeing Flavius for the first time. “Thanks.” He pushed up from his desk and left quietly.
Flavius took a deep breath as the door snicked quietly shut behind Tobias. This was a good thing. It wasn’t something his father would approve of, but it was something that he could live with himself about.
> “You did well, cub,” an oh-so-familiar voice rumbled from behind him. Gooseflesh broke out over his arms. Corbin must’ve come in from the outside service entrance. He turned his head slightly, hoping to lessen the impact of the bear on his senses, but it didn’t do any good. “I think they’ll do well together if given enough space and opportunity.”
Flavius swallowed. “Yes.” He couldn’t manage to say more than that as the lanista took three great strides to stand in front of him before wrapping his massive arms around Flavius’s waist. “I thought you were getting the men ready for the shoot?” Flavius whispered. Everywhere Corbin touched burned.
“I came to tell you that they are all ready to go. The photographer will need your approval for the final shots before they’re sent to the printer, though.” Corbin was nothing if not efficient at his job. He took being a lanista as a serious charge and duty. Corbin really believed that running a gladiatorial school was what he would’ve chosen if he would’ve lived a free life, and because of that, Flavius believed he put extra effort into his work.
“All right. How long before he’ll need me?” Flavius asked, trying to maintain a façade of normalcy as his body came alive.
Corbin’s eyes sparkled, and the look sent shudders of longing down to Flavius’s toes. “About an hour.”
Flavius inhaled Corbin’s scent and tried not to pant. “And how long will you need me?”
The bear growled, the sound low and feral, and oh so good. “At least that long.”
Flav closed his eyes in an effort to calm his suddenly galloping heart. In the middle of the day? Someone could come in at any moment…“Lock the door,” he whispered.
“With pleasure, Master.”
Chapter Seven
“You shouldn’t run to him every time he calls, Tobias,” Giotto said as Tobias rounded the corner on the first floor of the Ludus. The guards had said that the gladiators were in a room near the showers on the exhibition floor. Unfortunately, Tobias didn’t spend enough time in the Ludus in order to navigate there without a few wrong turns.
His cousin’s face was a relief until the words penetrated his bubble of thank God. The snide way Giotto said the words automatically put him on the defensive. “I’m not running every time he calls. Besides, if I want to go to him, it’s my prerogative. He’s my mate.” The first time saying it out loud was equivalent to sucker punching himself in the gut. He hadn’t realized how heavy the words were until he spoke them. My mate. Flavius was right. It was special. How could Tobias even begin to reconcile the fact that he was using his mate to get his freedom?
Giotto huffed. “You’ve always got to be different, cousin. But this is really something else. I always knew you thought you were better than us, but I didn’t think you’d take up with the most arrogant cat in the Ludus.” Tobias bristled. He wasn’t different, and Cassisus wasn’t that bad.
“Careful, Giotto. Some things you don’t get to take back,” Tobias said through gritted teeth. What is my problem? Why is he getting under my skin? I’m calmer than this. He tried to center himself like he normally did when something about the world bothered him. It usually worked and sent him into a numbed state where nothing could touch him. However, today he just couldn’t manage it. After Flavius treated him like a friend and Cassisus pledged himself as Tobias’s equal the night before, the independence had seeped into his marrow.
Giotto grabbed Tobias’s arm. “We were raised in a hierarchy. Humans on top, predatory shape-shifters under them, and nonpredatory shape-shifters on the bottom. You’re fucking with the hierarchy, Tobias.”
“What is your problem?” Tobias asked. He glared and jerked his arm out of Giotto’s grip.
The aggression that had been bleeding from Giotto’s every pore eased a little with his next words. “Did you know that the rest of the house servants are talking about your mating and contemplating coming down to the Ludus to see if any of the predators are their mates? This event isn’t just about you mating a man of another shifter type. This is about you disrupting the natural order of things. I find this a very disturbing thing, Tobias.”
Tobias assessed the situation. It was probably best if he eased his mind somewhat. Even if he had decided to actually try and give the mating between them a chance, there was no reason to upset the whole mess of house servants. “The master has promised to give me a measure of freedom if I keep Cassisus company until they leave for Europe. At most, the disruption will be for another few weeks. After that things will return to normal.” Mainly because I will be at a cottage on the grounds and not submerged in slave politics.
Giotto looked intensely relieved, his entire body sagging as the tension left him. “So you are doing this on the master’s behest?”
Tobias nodded but felt uneasy. He wasn’t sure if it had been his best idea to tell his cousin about what was going on other than the mating between him and Cassisus.
“Good. I’ll tell the rest of the mice. That should calm the uprising a little bit. Thank you for telling me, Tobias. I didn’t mean to jump you,” Giotto said, smiling a little sheepishly.
Tobias offered his cousin an answering smile, but it felt wooden and forced. “No problem, cousin. Could you direct me to the shower hall? I was told the gladiators were there.”
“I think they’re in the holding cell next to the exhibition studio actually. It’s down the same hall.” Giotto pointed to the long hall on their left. “Go down that hall until you come to the staircase. Go up a floor and you’ll find them at the end of the hall you come out on.”
“Thanks,” Tobias murmured, heading in the direction Giotto instructed him to. He hurried away from his cousin and the things he’d said. Was his mating really that much of an abomination? The issue wasn’t a new one. There had been shifters in the recent past who had accidently mated their owners and had met rather unfortunate ends. But that was understandable given how little humans really knew about the mating process. Had there ever been a cautionary tale about a predatory shifter mating a nonpredatory shifter? He’d read his fair share of scandal rags that paired them, but nothing was ever said about the likelihood of failure. Probably because such a mating never happens. The thought was a bit daunting.
He ascended the stairs and followed his cousin’s instructions to the room he hoped was correct. He pushed open the door and was immediately surrounded by steam. What the—Oh, dear God. The holding cell was little more than a steam bath. There were mostly naked gladiators everywhere, sitting on the polished wooden benches or leaning against the white tiled walls, getting oiled by other Ludus servants.
“Well, look who we have here,” the massive shifter, who had confronted him the first time he’d come to the Ludus with Master Flavius, drawled as the door clicked shut behind him. He tensed and automatically reached back for the door handle. As he tugged it, the handle didn’t open. Shit. It’s an auto lock.
“I’m here to see Cassisus,” he blurted out as the shifter took another step toward him.
“Hmph, of course you are,” the shifter rumbled, changing directions at the last second and heading deeper into the steam. He was trying to intimidate me. Holy shit. He’d never felt more hunted than when that massive cat was growling at him.
“Was Gregori bothering you?” an unfamiliar voice asked. Tobias looked up and nearly sagged in relief. It was Faustus.
“No. He’s just scary. Where is Cassisus?” He really needed to see him. The nervousness he was feeling was perfuming the air with chemicals guaranteed to agitate the cats. He was a mouse after all.
Faustus glanced over his shoulder. “Getting oiled currently.”
Raw, unreasoning jealousy reared its ugly head. Without thinking, he sidestepped the gladiator and beelined over to the bowl-shaped area where the gladiators were being rubbed down with oils.
A servant that smelled like an avian of some kind was kneeling at Cassisus’s feet, rubbing rowan-smelling oil into his calves in slow, steady motions. It didn’t help Tobias’s temper that Cassisus w
as naked. Without thinking, he kicked the basin of oil over and nearly fell on his ass for his trouble.
“What in the world?” the avian squawked, falling backward.
Tobias bared his teeth. “Get away from him.” He looked up at Cassisus and glared. He pointed his finger in Cassisus’s face, nearly spitting he was so angry. “You do not get to let other servants touch you!”
The big cat’s eyes widened in surprise, his pupils dilating until they were pinpricks against the sea of blue in his irises. “I’m sorry?”
“You better be, Cassisus,” Tobias snapped, stomping his foot in rage. He slipped on the oil and pitched forward, but Cass caught him by the shoulders and righted him.
“I belong to you,” Cass murmured, his hands tightening on Tobias’s arm. It wasn’t painful, but it certainly conveyed the possessiveness that the words claimed. “We’re mates.”
Tobias huffed, the anger not abating even at the whispered admission. “If you need something, you can call me.”
“I did!” Cass rumbled, looking exasperated. “It’s not my fault that no one would deliver my message.”
That was true, but Tobias didn’t have to like it. He counted backward from ten trying to rein in his temper. Had he ever been jealous before? He didn’t think so. It was then he became intensely aware that his very naked and very large mate was holding him very close. He swallowed, unable to resist peeking at Cass’s prominently displayed body.
“Is it necessary to get oily naked?” he asked, inhaling the scent of rowan and Cassisus until he was almost dizzy with it. His body hardened. Being mated is like going through freaking puberty. Cass just had to exist to get Tobias turned-on.
“Your little mate is feisty, Cass. Care to share?” a voice called from behind them.
Cass raised his head and hissed. “Shut the hell up, Mal. You talk about my mate again in any way, and I’ll come over there and add some authentication to your supposed badassness with bruises!”
