The Fortunates (Unfortunate #2) - Skyla Madi Page 0,76
blood in order to save the blood of our children, and our children’s children. We need people to willingly endure the pain and the suffering of our rebellion in order to teach our future leaders how to lead. I believe a good leader has to experience the pain of their people. They have to have lived through the injustices they promise to fight. Only then can they truly lead. I don’t know much about politics, but I know one thing for sure. You don’t pick the baker to teach you how to climb a cliff. You pick the climber, the one who knows the correct path to the top.
“Really?” Vince scoffs, pulling me from my thoughts. “You’re going to—”
Kade lowers himself to his knees and Vince swallows his sentence with a growl, grabbing his chin with an angry hand. He massages his jaw as he shifts his weight onto one leg. Kade scoops Portia into his arms, uncaring that blood leaks from her chest. I step closer, trying desperately to keep myself in check. Kade sweeps her hair off her cheeks and lightly touches her cheekbones, admiring the round shape of her face. His hands are bloody and they tremble as he grazes the tip of her nose.
“At least she’s in a better place,” he utters.
I nod. Anywhere is better than here.
I close the distance between us, stopping only when the tips of my toes reach the edge of her puddle. Tears drip onto my cheeks and roll down my face. I purse my lips, desperate to keep it in, but as my heart splinters, a sob is forced up my throat and it hiccups out of my mouth. The sticky warmth of Portia’s blood surrounds my feet. In my head, I feel it climb my legs like a million tiny spiders. The hem of my dress absorbs her blood and, fairly quickly, it becomes heavy. I place my hand on Kade’s shoulder and crouch low. I don’t care that I’m in her blood. It’s the only way I can get closer to her. I want to look at her…what was her last thought? Was it of me? Of Kade? Perhaps her last thought was about Oliver and how he stood by like a coward and allowed this to happen. How could he? I don’t understand. Kade has always defended me. Always.
I rest my forehead against Kaden’s firm bicep and cry. I try my hardest not to overshadow his grieving process with my own, but it’s hard. He’s not a crier and I am.
Behind me, John orders people to leave his house. I don’t know what he tells them or what he says to Vince, but when I look up some time later, they’re all gone—except John.
No Fortunates.
No Vince.
I glance over my shoulder. No Oliver.
By the staircase, two moderators wait patiently. They look everywhere but at us, allowing us our private moment.
“I want to bury her,” Kade says, turning his head to me. “Somewhere nice.”
“You can’t.” John clears his throat. “I don’t mean any disrespect, but her body is to be burned like the rest of them.”
I scowl up at him. “You’re just going to throw her on top of a pile of dead Unfortunates and set it alight, huh?”
John’s eyes soften as he tilts his head. “I want her to have the burial she deserves, Anna,” he says softly so only we can hear. “But we cannot stray from the path yet. It’s too soon and we’re not ready.”
I smooth the palm of my hand over Kaden’s back. John is right. We don’t have enough weapons and we definitely don’t have time on our side. Every detail in our plan has been plotted out meticulously. A sudden change could throw the whole thing off balance and get us all killed.
He swallows, his lips pinching tightly as he tries his hardest to fight off his emotion. My own lips quake, causing my teeth to chatter. She does deserve something nice. She deserves the best.
“We can have her cremated separately, if you like.”
We whip our heads up, our gazes settling on the young blond moderator who pushes off the staircase bannister.
“And we can bring her ashes to you,” the other moderator, the redhead, chimes in.
The young men can’t be that much older than me. I’d peg them both around twenty, at most. With a nervous hand, the blond runs his fingers through his short, messy hair while gripping the neck of