The Fortunates (Unfortunate #2) - Skyla Madi Page 0,33

see him as being worth anything? Yesterday he could have spat on me and no one would have cared, but today my skin is too good for his gaze to rest upon?

A simple blood test confirmed that Fortunates were my birth parents and that suddenly makes my blood gold? It doesn’t make sense.

I’m faced with a dilemma. Right now, I can shoot him and be accepted into the Fortunate community with open arms, or I can lower the gun and be even more of a pariah than I already am. Two souls rage inside of me. One wants to be loved by someone—by everyone—and the other wants me to take a stand and defend the defenceless.

I clench my jaw and focus on Kade’s hand on my hip. His grip is tight, but allowing. Through the touch alone, I know he’s letting me decide what to do.

I lift the gun, ignoring the way my whole arm trembles. Rogue tears spill over my lids and drip down my face, but I’m not crying. I feel Kade’s breath on the back of my ear as it blows against my hair. With his whisper, he tells me it’s going to be okay.

It’s not going to be okay. This life will never be okay and I’m not okay with that.

“Look at me,” I bark at the Unfortunate, surprised by the aggressive tone in my voice.

Surrounding Fortunates gasp and murmur, their excitement felt through the tiles under my feet.

Ever so slowly, the Unfortunate lifts his head and the look of his blue eyes and full cheeks slams into me. Such a beautiful face and he’s barely a day older than me. His gaze settles on mine and I see no trace of fear in their blue waters. He accepted that this is his life a long time ago.

I hate him.

I hate that he’s making me do this! Why isn’t he fighting me? Why isn’t he making this easier?

“Nine…” Kade murmurs, a whisper only for me.

I can’t do it. My hand shakes. Before I have the chance to drop it, Kade’s hand reinforces mine and he squeezes the trigger. The gun fires, sending vibrations up my arm. It kicks back into my hand, but Kaden’s straight arm holds it firmly in place.

It happens in slow motion.

One second the boy is looking at me, indifferent, and the next he’s flat on his back in a pool of blood with a bullet buried into his skull.

He’s dead…

Because of me…

“What the fuck, Kaden?” Vince shouts, storming forward.

I let go of the gun and cradle my burning hand to my chest. My ribs hurt…I don’t feel so good.

Kade tosses the gun at Vince. “She has never shot a gun before, genius. She wasn’t even holding it correctly. The next time you want her to shoot somebody, make sure she has the proper training.”

And just like that, everyone else goes back to their pointless conversations. They continue dancing and drinking their alcohol and the boy who lies dead on the floor is already forgotten…left to rot like yesterday’s trash.

Vincent huffs, tucking the gun into his waistband. “It slipped my mind.”

“I’m sure it did.”

Kade wraps a strong arm around my waist and guides me back to the stairs. He whispers soothing things in my ears, but I don’t hear what he’s saying. There’s a ringing in my left ear, in my brain, that I can’t shake. My heart squeezes against my ribs as my soul presses desperately against my skin.

It wants out.

It doesn’t want to be trapped by this weak, tainted body anymore.

Chapter Eleven

Kade

He’d barely made it twenty-four hours without killing.

Guilt swirled in his stomach, punching holes into its lining as he thought about what he did…he killed a man…another innocent to stain his rapidly diminishing soul. Kade understood that he didn’t have a choice, but it didn’t help ease the sorrow that grew in his chest. When did murdering become second nature? How did it become so easy? He swore to himself, to his dead mother, that it never would.

And yet, his death toll stacked up like pancakes on a plate.

Kade glanced at Nine, who stormed in front of him. Her shoulders were slumped, as if she were carrying the weight of the whole world upon them. Perhaps she was…

Nervously, she rubbed the palm of her hand with her fingers and hung her head. Nine was the reason he had to take over. She was the reason he did anything anymore. Immediately, it was clear to him that if he didn’t squeeze