The Unfortunates(38)

Her injuries seem to worsen the longer I look at her. Vince has hurt her. “But you… you’re a kitchen hand?”

“Yeah, well, if you’re ever being held down while someone tries to jam their penis in you, don’t use that excuse. It doesn’t work.” Her voice cracks and her bottom lip trembles. I can feel her anguish and her pain radiate from her in epic waves. They hit me over and over, drawing my own tears from me. I step closer and she snaps away from me… as if I’m a bowl of hot soup she’s unknowingly put her hands on.

“Don’t touch me!” she shouts and I flinch as she slaps a hand over her mouth. She’s shaking uncontrollably and I don’t know what I can do to help. “This happened because of you. He made that clear to me the whole time.”

My heart rips open and my chest aches for her. Silent tears spill onto my cheeks. Right now, Thirteen is the embodiment of hatred. She hates me… what Vince did to her, she blames on me. She turns and limps down the stairs, taking them one by one. I remain standing in my spot long after she’s gone. Other Unfortunates pass, doing their daily chores without saying a word to me. I’m not going to lie… it hurts. Just like that, I’ve become an outcast… even to my own people.

At some point, I get the feeling someone’s watching me and I peer over my shoulder. There Kade stands with his hands in his pockets. For the briefest moment, he looks sympathetic, but the second I see it, it disappears and his serious expression returns.

“Heaven or hell, Unfortunate,” he says. “It’s your choice.”





Chapter Eight





Kade



Her red-rimmed eyes stirred a feeling Kade hadn’t felt in such a long time—sympathy. He hadn’t felt this way since his mother was still around. He didn’t like the feeling. It made him feel weak.

Kade saw Thirteen… he saw what Vince had done to her and heard what she said to Nine. It was nothing new. Vince had always been the kind to play dirty both in and outside of the bedroom. Many Unfortunates had suffered at his hands and many had died at his hands, but there was nothing anyone could do about it. That was the way the new world went… Unfortunates were disposable. One day they’re here and the next they’re not.

Kade slipped back into the solitude of his room and closed the door. Immediately, his eyes flicked to the fireplace. What was he thinking letting her go without punishment after she said no to him? He should’ve forced her into the fireplace while she was kicking and screaming, and he should’ve left her in there for the remainder of the day.

He pushed off of the door and stormed over to his desk. He hated that he was treating Nine like precious cargo, but he didn’t know how to stop it. This was why Kade didn’t want an Unfortunate in the first place. He could play cold and callous all day every day, but when it came down to hurting an innocent… he knew he couldn’t do it because of the foundation of kindness his mother built deep inside him as a little boy—the foundation that he thought he tore down, the foundation his father was making sure didn’t come back. ‘There is always an opportunity for kindness, Kaden. Even something as small as a smile can brighten another’s day.’ An angel, his mother was. It was surprising she lasted as long as she did in a world that doesn’t hold humanity in high regard. Kaden… He clenched his jaw. That was his biggest issue with Nine. He could stand her questions, her disobedience, and her glares. It was the repeated use of his full name that he couldn’t stand. Kaden. It reminded him of the boy he left behind, the weak boy who wanted to help humanity, just like his mother. When his father took her away somewhere in the city and she never returned, he buried that name with her. Hearing it brought back painful memories… memories that tortured his soul. He turned his back on his mother’s cause and he treated every Unfortunate that came through his door like shit. It was his only defence against breaking face and protecting them all. In order to survive here, Kade had to kill himself—his real self—and Nine would not be the one to revive him. Not now, not ever. Kade was going to take over his father’s empire and move into the city, and nothing was going to get in his way.

He dropped into his chair and flicked on his computer screen. His fingers moved smoothly over the glass, clicking on tabs and opening the blueprints of his main mine. Four tunnels in total were lost. He clicked on the CCTV footage and watched as the walls collapsed without warning. There was no explosion, no earthquake and no visible weak point in its structure. Of course, he could only see it from one angle. He needed a moderator he could trust to get inside. Soyer was out of the question, he was a moderator loyal only to his father. He needed someone who wasn’t as well known as Soyer… someone who would know that Kade was next in line to take over all of the Sario properties and businesses and would do anything to be a part of it. As Kade pulled up moderator profiles, he thought about the tunnels and how they led to a main centre. A centre with more than enough space to house all of the current twenty-seven Unfortunates that have gone rogue—assuming of course they all made it as far as the mine without dying. It was a tough trek, even with food and water.