and threatened to fall.
“And if they declare me a Fortunate?” I asked through silent tears. “What right will you have to my body then?”
He chuckled. “I’m not worried about that. You’re not one of them. You were born an Unfortunate whore and you will die an Unfortunate whore, but not before I fuck you like the stupid slut you are.”
I snapped. Anger shot through me, sucking the fear right out of me. I thrust backwards, pushing Jim off balance and sending him crashing to the floor.
“You cunt!” he shouted, clenching his skull. Panicked, I ran for the main door, but it was locked. My lungs heaved, my heart clenched, and thick tendrils of dread burrowed through my chest.
Jim laughed, his torturous cackle filling the room. “You didn’t think I’d let you out of your cage without locking the main door, did you?”
I was mortified, mortified because I didn’t hear him lock the door. With nowhere else to go, I dived for my cell. I needed something, anything to put between us to keep him away from me…but he beat me to it. He caught the gate before I had the chance to close it.
Jim yanked the gate open, pulling it from my hands. I backed up, my hands outstretched in front of me.
“Please,” I begged. “You don’t want to—”
He snapped forward, grasping my face in the palm of his hand, squeezing my jaw shut.
“I’m done hearing you talk.”
“If you hurt me, Kade Sario will kill you,” I squeezed out through my clenched jaw. “That I promise you.”
He shoved his free hand down the front of his pants. “You talk too much. Lucky I have something big enough to stuff your mouth with.”
“The Misfortunate? That’s what they call me?”
He squeezed my jaw tighter, making me hiss. Saliva spilled out the side of my mouth since my tongue was wedged against the roof of it.
“Do people simply drop dead around me or do I have someone looking out for me?”
He swayed on his feet.
“Think about it,” I said. “Is a quick screw worth your life?”
He dropped his hand from my jaw and I fought the urge to rub it as it throbbed.
“I don’t believe you.”
I almost wanted him to do it. I wanted to prove to him that people like me are capable of winning someone’s love—even someone as big and as strong as Kade Sario.
I swallowed hard. “Touch me and find out.”
To my surprise, Jim eased off. He pulled his hand from his pants as he backed up one step at a time.
“I hope they put a bullet through your head,” he growled, sneering.
I pressed my back to the wall and hung my head, relieved.
“Yeah. Me too.”
Chapter Six
Kade
Dew from the grass flicked onto his shoes with every step he took, making them glisten in the light of the full moon as he crossed the sparse field. Fifty metres ahead was the moderator barracks. It wasn’t a tall building but it was long, housing every single one of the town’s active moderators. Those that weren’t on duty were here, drinking and messing around like they had no care or responsibility in the world.
A dense, sick feeling swirled inside him. It’d be a lie if he said manipulating Nine into telling him about the jagged cut on her neck didn’t make him feel guilty. He didn’t plan it, but when the opportunity arose, he took it. She admitted everything, explained it in full detail, and he felt every hurtful word, every knock and every cut. He couldn’t ignore it, despite how bad he wanted to. He tried, but he’d based his whole life on principles and that moderator fuck she called Jim imposed on those principles. A lot of notable Fortunates would take a political approach to dealing with this kind of infringement, but his father taught him differently. As a Fortunate something had to be done. As a Sario, Kade would make Jim pay with his blood.
∞
Chet, the burly, red-headed moderator at the front desk, let Kade in without a word, and even supplied him with Jim’s mod number and what annex he resided in. Kade made a mental note to promote the man later.
James Buchanan was Jim’s full name. He was the offspring of Jarold Tremaine and an unnamed Unfortunate. Kade felt better knowing he was going to kill the seed of an insignificant Fortunate. No political issues would arise from that.
Kaden passed annex after annex, drawing closer and closer to the number he desired, and, as fate would have it,