The Unfortunates (Unfortunate #1) (23 page)

Kade
’s hands snap to the Unfortunate’s throat and he squeezed until his knuckles turned white. He gasps for air, his fingers, the same fingers that dug themselves into Nine, were now fighting, clawing against Kade’s arms in a desperate attempt to live. A few moments passed by and the Unfortunate’s hands fell away… and he became lifeless.

The third person Kade had
ever killed.

He released the Unfortu
nate and sat back on his heels, watching. He couldn’t help but notice that it felt different this time around… it felt justifiable. Because of Kade, Nine never had to see his face again and it had nothing to do with emotion or fondness. He owned her and he was defending his own name.

He felt he should clean up the body, maybe bury it, but that would only waste time Kade didn’t have. Besides, the death of an Unfortunate didn’t matter in this society. No one would ever convict him. No one would ever chastise or be disgusted by him… because the Unfortunates didn’t matter
, and to die at the hands of a Fortunate was normal—expected, even.

He wiped his hands over his shirt
and pushed himself to his feet. He noticed his heart was beating rapidly, too fast for his brain to keep up. It restricted his chest, tightened it until he couldn’t breathe.
This isn’t me… I’m not a killer. My father… he’s the killer.
He swallowed hard and took a step back, raking his fingers through his hair. What was happening to him? He had no idea. As he stood, studying the dead Unfortunate at his feet, there was a tug in his chest, one that begged him to return home, to return to Nine. She would comfort him… tell him he’s nothing like the others. That’s what he needed, to be convinced that he wasn’t his father.

He stormed f
rom the room and slammed the door behind him. When he turned around, he was startled by Elizabeth’s sudden appearance. If she saw what was in the room behind him she would blow it way out of proportion. Her blue, quizzical eyes raked him from head to toe, focusing on every little dot of blood, blood that wasn’t his, blood that he took in vengeance for something that shouldn’t matter to him as much as it did.

“What were you doing i
n there, Kade?” Elizabeth pried, pushing off the wall.

Her blonde cur
ls swayed against her shoulder as she stepped forward. Her eyebrows drew in accusingly and the not-so-subtle pout on her lips told him she already knew what he was doing. How long had she been she standing there?

He stuffed his hands into his pockets.
“None of your business.”

She surveyed the blood on his clothing.
With every drop, her face grew darker. “You killed him, didn’t you? The Unfortunate who hurt your precious
whore
?”

Kade found himself smirk
ing, despite the anger her words stirred. Did he actually enjoy what he did? “You’re jealous?”

He knew her answer. They’d had this conversation plenty of times before.
She scoffed, dismissing his observation with a flick of her hand. “Of an Unfortunate? Don’t be so ridiculous.”

“Then what’s your problem?”

Her features softened and her big, blue eyes glistened in the light. “I miss you… I don’t see you anymore.”

“I’m busy.”

She stepped forward and Kade’s brows drew closer as she reached out for him. He stood still, allowing her arms to surround his waist. It wasn’t because he needed comfort from her. He just knew he’d never get out of here without her causing a scene… unless he gave her what she wanted. His hands remained in his pockets as she pressed her head against his chest. It was a meaningful embrace to her, Kade could feel it in the pressure she held him with, but to him, he was bored and eager to get the hell out of here.

“Are you finished?”
he asked, letting his head tip to the side as she peered up at him.

She was hurt and made no effort to hide that behind her parted lips, but Kade didn’t have the time to worry about it
, and besides, he was still mad at her. Twice she’d fucked around with his things. Twice he had to tell her to back off and that wasn’t something he was going to forgive easily. Then, without notice, she lifted herself on the tips of her toes and pressed her lips to his. She’d changed the taste of her lip-gloss from apple to cherry. Kade was fond of cherry. As she kissed him, she slipped her tongue between his lips. In his pants, Kade began to harden. It wasn’t because he was aroused, not really, he just hadn’t had sex in weeks and his body wanted it, desperately… but he didn’t want it with Elizabeth and he couldn’t have it with Nine. His hand was his only option for release, not a particular favourite of his, that’s for sure. Finally, he removed his hands from the pockets of his black slacks and placed them on her hips. The gesture caused her to push herself harder against him. He slid his hands up the contour of her body, to her shoulders, and he gripped them before pulling her lips from his. Her face contorted into a confused scowl.

“But we’re—”

“We’re what?” Kade snapped forward, lowering his face to hers. He wanted her to say it, to say that they were together so he could take that dream and crush it, leaving it broken at her feet. Elizabeth had been Kade’s friend since he was a child, but she was just like the rest of them, like Vince. She treated everyone she thought beneath her like shit. That was the main reason Kade entered this sex-only relationship with her in the first place, to make her feel useless. Somewhere along the line, though, he grew comfortable and kept her around… but tonight, tonight was when he would end it. No more. Elizabeth said nothing as Kade straightened his posture.

“Goodnight
,” he said, dismissing her as he walked away.

It was wrong to judge Elizabeth for all that she had done, considering Kade was no better. The difference was, Kade tried, he really did. He kept his distance from Unfortunates most of the time, and he’d never degraded one in public. Then Nine came along and he was forced into the proceedings that came with owning a slave. He didn’t like it… seventy percent of the time he didn’t like it. What scared him the most was the thirty percent that craved it. That thirty percent bubbled to the surface whenever Nine was around and she’d slam it back down with her smart, sarcastic mouth, bringing the seventy percent back the right way.
As far as he was concerned, she was his saviour as much as she was his condemner. She was both beautiful and terrifying, promising him redemption all while forcing him to sin harder than he ever had. Kade had to remember that he was in control. That she was a pawn that he needed to checkmate his father. She was a beautiful pawn, one that danced graciously along the board, but a pawn nonetheless.

∞Nine∞

My eyes flutter open and I blink rapidly, searching the darkness. My heart races in my chest…
someone is here
. My fingers tighten around the fabric and suddenly I hate that I’m lying naked in Kade’s bed. Then, I feel the edge of the mattress shift and I vigorously sit up, pressing as hard as I can into the headboard. I see his silhouette first… his head is down, his back arched. The image sends dread spearing through my body.

“Kade?”
I whisper. “What’s wrong?”

No answer.

I reach for the bedside lamp, my fingers brushing over the smooth marble table before I find it. When I flick it on, I gasp at the sight of Kade as he sits on the edge of the bed with random splatters of blood on his clothing. I swallow hard, but inch closer, regardless of my survival instincts.

“I killed him
,” he tells me, loosening his tie with his finger. “I hit him until he started bleeding…” Kade refuses to look at me. He keeps his stare ahead on the wall as he pulls the tie free and tosses it to the floor. “And then I choked him until he stopped moving.”

Horror
freezes my organs as the visual of it plays out on my head. “W-why’d you do that?” I almost whisper.

He turns his body and looks at me like it’s obvious, like I already know the answer.
“Because he ruined my plan, he interfered where he shouldn’t have, and because he touched you. He put his hands on you—in you—in my possession.”

“Possession?”

He stands up and quickly fingers the buttons to his shirt, exposing a sliver of his bare chest with every single one. “Yes, you are mine. You wear my crest. I own you.”

I frown, even though
I
know
that,
why does it hurt so much to hear?
I thought tonight… the way he helped me, saved me, meant I mean more to him… I thought that maybe my life actually meant something to someone. I know better, I know he’s a Fortunate, but he saved me, and as I think about it, butterflies flutter anew in my stomach.

“
My brother is next,” he states dryly as he lets his shirt fall to the ground.

Tendrils of dread burrow through my chest and I shift even closer, desperately clenching the blankets to my body. “No
, you can’t—”

He
swallows the distance between us in the next heartbeat and harshly grabs my face, drawing it closer to his. “Vince fucked me over for the last time. I am not his brother. I am relentless. I am cold. I am bloodthirsty and he is fucking dead to me.”

I want Vince gone
—I do—but murder is not the answer. “Kade… you don’t want to do—”

A rough knock on the door forces me to eat the remainder of my words.
Kade looks over his shoulder and releases me. When he looks back, there’s something on his face. Panic? Fear? It lasts only a second before his calm façade returns.

“Pretend to sleep
,” he orders in an urgent whisper as he lies me back down.

“Why?
”

He slaps his hand over my mouth and brings his mouth to my ear. “This is life or death, Nine. Pretend to be asleep and don’t you dare open your eyes for anything. Understood?”

He pulls his head back to look me in the eyes and I nod. As he turns away, I shut my eyes, but I’m unable to slow my breathing or my erratic pulse. Who is it? Vince? Elizabeth? Moderators? I hear the door open and then the unmistakable sound of a gun being cocked. I’ve heard that noise one too many times in the camp.

“You acted too out of character for my liking tonight
,” Michael, Kade’s father states.

“I had a
bad night so you come ‘round pointing guns?” Kade laughs under his breath. “A little dramatic, don’t you think?”

Silence falls—a deafening silence. One I’m sure betrays the sound of my beating heart.
“If you’re going to shoot me, old man, make sure you kill me this time because if you don’t, you’re as good as dead.”

“Why’d you ruin Vince’s birthday?”
Michael asks, ignoring Kade.

The sounds of Kade’s shoes occasionally scuffing against the floorboards
is the only indication I have that he’s moving about—probably over to his desk. Sure enough, I hear the sound of his whiskey bottle pop and the tinkling of glasses. “I took back what was rightfully mine before he broke it. Whiskey?”

Michael
must decline because I don’t hear him move from the door. “If he broke her, I would’ve bought you a new one.”

“I don’t want a new one
,” Kade counters. “I prefer
her.
”

My heart leaps into my throat and I swallow constantly, trying to lessen the dryness in my throat.

“There are plenty more like her, plenty more that do the same thing.”

“Maybe, but I’m a sentimental guy. She’s my first Unfortunate and I’d like to keep her as long as possible.”

Another silence fills the room… and that’s when I hear a floorboard close to me creak. “Why’s she sleeping in your bed?”

“I’ve just finished with her. Not that it’s any of your business
,” he lies immediately. He’s been interrogated before by the looks of it and he handles the pressure well. I’d have caved the second I saw the gun.

“Caring for them makes yo
u weak, Kaden, like your mother, and you remember what happened to your mother, don’t you? I won’t be embarrassed by another member of this family.”

My heart stills. Kade’s mother cared for Unfortunates? Kade’s father killed his mother? I feel the cold barrel of his gun press gently
to my temple and my heart stops cold. I want to cry, to scream, but I can’t. I’m frozen, locked by Kade’s order not to open my eyes for anything.

“
Do it. I’ll let you, if it makes you feel better.”

I’d flinch, if I wasn’t so terrified of having a bullet in my skull.
Seconds pass that extend into minutes that I’m sure stretch into hours and all I can think about is not screaming. Then the barrel is removed and it takes all of the energy in me not to sigh aloud.

“I’ll be watching you, Kaden. One more relapse and you’re a dead man. Got it?”

He doesn’t reply, and soon enough, I hear the sound of Kade’s door closing and then I hear it lock. Still, I don’t open my eyes until I feel his hand brush hair out of my face. I open my eyes and almost lose my breath at the sight of his smiling face looking down at me from such a perfect angle.