Free The Fortunates (Unfortunates #2) by Skyla Madi

fabric.
    “Is it because of her?” she asked, avoiding Kade’s eyes as she re-tied the lace.
    What did she think? Was the answer not obvious? Why was anything he did not fucking obvious?
    “Of course it’s because of her.” He sat against the edge of his table. “Have I led you to believe that I’d want you again? I haven’t wanted you since that night in the Black House and even then the sex wasn’t fulfilling.”
    Elizabeth flinched, but it failed to hit him where it should.
    “Well, I don’t want you anymore either,” she stated, planting her long-fingered hands on her hips. “I was only doing this out of pity.”
    His eyebrows shot up, an amused smile hinting at his lips. “Pity?”
    “Yes, pity. You’re weak and pathetic. Pining over an insignificant Unfortunate who doesn’t understand the complexities of a Fortunate relationship. She can never give you what I can. You want to marry someone who doesn’t have the same background or the support of the people? Go right ahead. You want to spawn children with an Unfortunate who can’t love them like a Fortunate can? Be my guest. You know better than anyone what you have to do before Vince turns twenty-five if you want to remain the leader of your house. I’m offering you that. If you don’t accept it, don’t come crying to me when your future is in shambles.”
    Elizabeth jumped as Kade kicked the trash can, strewing shredded paper and empty pens along the floor. He was sick of people telling him Nine wasn’t human, telling him he was in love with something that didn’t deserve it or couldn’t love him back. He didn’t blame Elizabeth for her twisted ideal on the nature of Unfortunates. She was only spewing what she was taught as an impressionable child. He hated her sheep-like brain and disliked her defective soul. He detested that she wasn’t capable of thinking or feeling for herself.
    It was during the secondary phase of schooling they were taught that Unfortunates didn’t love their young like Fortunates did. He was taught that, with time, Unfortunates would forget about their children, like animals do. Kade never believed it. Unlike Elizabeth, who relied on what she heard, Kade had seen the horror with his own eyes…the pain, the trauma, as babies were ripped from loving arms and put into camps.
    Squeezing his eyes shut, Kade shook his head, but the memory forced its way in—a memory he hadn’t thought about in years.
    He felt the warm pressure on the back of his neck where his father held him in place and the memory took over.
     
    “Take it,” his father ordered, digging his fingers into Kade’s neck.
    Kade tried to pull away and run, but Michael held him tight, so tight Kade was certain his skin would bruise for weeks. He didn’t want to take the baby. He didn’t want to separate the baby from its mother.
    Kade’s pulse hammered in his ears and a balmy sweat leaked from his palms.
    “Do you like being a Fortunate, Kade?”
    He nodded, nervously licking his lips, desperate to add moisture.
    “This is what being a Fortunate entails. If we don’t do this, how would we live? These jobs guarantee our place on the food chain.”
    Kade shook his head. “I don’t want to—”
    With a growl, Michael shoved Kade forward and he stumbled over a palm-sized stone. The ground rushed up to meet him as he fell on his hands and knees. He swallowed hard and shivered as his hands slid on the remnants of the woman’s afterbirth. His stomach churned, making his tongue quake in his mouth. Kade clenched his jaw shut, fighting the urge to vomit. In front of him, the black haired woman cowered, clenching her suckling baby to her chest.
    “Please…” she whispered, a plea just for Kade. “Not my baby. Please.”
    Her blood seeped through the soft, tan slacks Kade wore and soaked his skin. He wanted to be a Fortunate, but he didn’t want this. He didn’t want to see this.
    Kade snapped his head over his shoulder, shooting a glare in Michael’s