The Fortunates (Unfortunate #2) - Skyla Madi Page 0,4

front row, his stomach twisted and clenched, threatening to expel the slice of toast he ate for breakfast. It’s a miracle he was even capable of keeping the buttered carb down as long as he had. Since Nine was taken and locked up, he hadn’t been able to swallow a single thing besides water. Truth be told, Kade was exhausted. Every day he fought for her freedom, but it just wasn’t enough. The harder he pushed, the harder Vince and everyone else pushed back. They didn’t want to see an Unfortunate rise from the ashes. They didn’t want an Unfortunate to become one of them. They were intimidated by her and what she stood for. Or at least most of them were. Kade knew Vince only wanted to see him suffer, but he’d do more than suffer. Without Nine, he would die.

Kade understood that the best thing for Nine would be for the four families to sentence her to death. Only in death was she safe from them…safe from him. Kade knew very well that making her a Fortunate was like pushing a newborn lamb into a den full of starved lions. Naturally, a situation like that would never bode well for the little lamb.

Trumpets sounded off in the distance and Kade clenched the plastic armrests of his chair. He knew with absolute certainty that it wasn’t a dream, but even so, he willed himself to wake up.

Of course, nothing happened. His chest still hurt. He still felt alone.

“This is going to be fun. Isn’t it, brother?”

Kade’s blood ran cold, riddling his flesh with heavy goosebumps. With a clenched jaw, he turned his head to face his baby brother. Vincent grinned at him, his black tar irises gleaming with delight. Kade was beginning to regret murdering his father. Because of that, Vincent was now his adviser—like Kade was to Michael.

Kade glared. He hated that Vince looked like him and he hated that people could immediately link them as brothers. He wanted nothing to do with Vince. He didn’t want to share the same features, last name, or DNA. For a brief moment Kade wondered if he cut Vince open would he bleed black? Would his blood be ice cold, the same temperature as his heart?

Kade leaned closer to his brother so the Fortunates behind him couldn’t hear.

“Call me your brother again and I’ll cut your tongue out of your mouth.”

Vince chuckled with an excited shiver. “Ooh. The hostility.” He grinned. “Deny me all you want, brother, but we are blood.”

Kade clenched his jaw. If there weren’t so many people around, he’d punch Vince in the mouth. He’d done it before and he remembered the night well, but as the new head of the Sario household he was forced to rein in his temper. Just after Nine was locked up, Kade was advised to present a united front with his brother in case other families began sniffing for weaknesses. Naturally, Vince made that hard to do.

Kade straightened his posture as rancorous whispers hissed around him. His heart pounded painfully in his chest and the palms of his hands became clammy with a nervous sweat. He’d both anxiously awaited and absolutely detested the arrival of this specific day. Nothing made him feel weaker than being unable to save the girl he loved. In the distance, he heard the rattle of metal chains and the scrape of tired feet against the concrete. Any second now they were going to read out the results. Any second now his heart would either thrum with newfound purpose or cease to beat.

Forever.

Kade turned his head as Nine passed by him. She was thin—thinner than usual. Her dress hung off her bones and barely covered the parts that needed covering. As she passed by she didn’t turn to look at him. Somehow, she kept her head up and her eyes forward. There was no fear in her face, no regret. It was the face Kade recalled the day he branded her with his family crest. The way she looked at him…she was defiant, she was courageous. It warmed Kade’s heart to know she was fearless right to the very end—given this was her end.

As Kathryn passed by Kade, he peered up at her. She was already looking at him and somehow, underneath her ratty auburn hair and dirt-covered face, she mustered a small smile. The small twitch of her lips told him all he needed to know. Nine was Kade’s to look after. She was his to protect.