He nodded his head at Kathryn and her chin fell to her chest. Compared to Nine, Kathryn looked like she was already at Death’s door. Her skin was a pale white and her lips were cracked. Kathryn wasn’t used to living in the conditions she had to suffer through. She had never slept on a hard surface in the cold. She had never lived off one meal and a few tablespoons of water. Not like her daughter did. Kathryn didn’t live the way she forced her daughter to live.
Darkness built up in the pit of Kade’s stomach. He shouldn’t feel sympathy for a woman who abandoned a helpless baby. He shouldn’t…but he did. If it weren’t for Kathryn’s selfishness Nine wouldn’t exist. She’d be some prissy, bitchy, self-entitled Fortunate and Kade would be destined to fall deeper down the dark, dirty, murderous black hole they called society.
She wouldn’t be Nine.
She wouldn’t be his salvation…so he admired Kathryn for allowing the new world to have another person like him. No one despised society like Nine did. No one could make him feel normal like she could.
The whole setup was a spectacle. A wooden stage had been erected a day prior to the event. When Kade was feeling particularly sadistic and wanted to inflict pain on himself, he’d come look at the stage. It was much more menacing during the day. Rust was visible on the thick metal poles where they’d be chained and large, sharp splinters jutted out of the wooden panels that lined the floor. He cringed as Nine’s dirty bare feet pressed against them, the pointy tips snapping off in the soles of her feet. Once the moderators had dragged Nine and Kathryn up to the stage, the field fell silent. Kade hated that an execution was taking place on the same lot of land as the Sario house, but since Vince was the coordinator there was nothing he could do. It sickened Kade to know Vince would enjoy Nine’s pain. Portia told Kade Vince had visited Nine a few times while she was locked up. He stopped once Kade pressed the tip of his sharp envelope opener into his throat and threatened his life. He took Kade seriously. He seemed to take all of Kade’s threats seriously now that their father had gone “missing.”
But there was no way Vince could prove that he and Nine killed their father, Michael Sario.
No way.
Clearing his throat, Vince lifted himself out of his chair and joined Kathryn and Nine up on stage. There was a sinister curl to his lips that churned Kade’s stomach. He hated that Vince was enjoying this so much, but he had to ride it out…until the verdict came. He still had no idea what he was going to do if Nine was sentenced to death, but he knew for certain he wasn’t going to stay in his seat.
Soyer, a moderator who was promoted from monitoring the Unfortunate camp to serving the Sario household—courtesy of Vince—held on tightly to the thick iron cuffs clamped around Nine’s wrists. Soyer didn’t need to hold her so tightly—or at all. There wasn’t any life in her. She was defeated and death was what she wanted…more than anything. Soyer could free her and tell her to run and she’d still beg him to kill her. It wasn’t fair. Nine would do anything to put herself out of her misery, all while thrusting Kade into it? Fuck that. Misery was a gentle word when used to describe the unrelenting pain her absence would cause him. He knew because he’d already felt it. The pain grew denser every day she’d been locked up.
“Good morning!” Vince shouted, addressing the eager crowd.
He rattled off a few light, distasteful jokes as he paraded the stage before explaining the situation and what was about to unfold. Kade had to give it to Vince, he spoke eloquently. He didn’t stumble or pause and Kade wondered if he’d been practising how to deliver his speech.
“—she is potentially being punished for the very serious crime she committed,” Vince stated as he pulled Kathryn’s bony, fragile arms behind her back and tied her wrists to the thick metal pole.
This was where she’d receive her lashings before they shot her like a sick animal.
“It’s a crime against humanity,” he stated, a harsh smirk curling his lips.
Kade swallowed hard as Vince stepped away from Kathryn and approached Nine. He walked lightly, almost bouncing over to her. His black leather shoes tapped along the wood,