Chapter 5: The Branding

KADE

His Unfortunate stood there, staring at him. Her violet eyes watered, and a tiny sliver of skin beside her nose twitched. The air was tense. All eyes were on him and his Unfortunate, and there was no room for error.

Nine peered through her long, dark lashes for a second too long. He knew it, the crowd knew it, and they murmured their excitement. Kade handed the iron branding pole that bore his family's lion symbol back to Clive and snatched Nine by her small bicep. She gasped as he yanked her along the stage. Then, shoved her over the table, and she made a noise that knocked the air from her lungs. He pulled at the knot of her gown and tugged the fabric down her back, exposing her shoulder's smooth, flawless skin.

Clive handed Kade his pole. Nine lifted her head off the table and glanced at Kade for reassurance, but he'd never comforted anyone in his life. Colour drained from her face, and she shut her eyes as she rested her cheek against the wood and gripped the edges.

He moved the end of glowing metal towards her flesh and watched as the fine hairs on her back shrivelled under the intense heat. Nine gritted her teeth. A silent tear dripped from the corner of her eye and ran over the bridge of her nose. Before the metal could cool down, he swallowed hard and pressed it into her skin. It sizzled and burnt her flesh, forever disfiguring her perfect back. He could smell her meat as the iron sank deeper into her skin. She shrieked, her fingers flexed, then she swallowed it down and bared her teeth in a silent cry.

"You are an empty vessel to be controlled by a will other than your own," he began, reciting the agreement to her.

"I am an empty vessel to be controlled by a will other than my own," she said, flexing her fingers against the edge of the table.

"You do not walk of your own accord. You are made to walk."

"I do not walk of my own accord. I am made to walk."

She sniffled, and an odd feeling cut sharp through his soul as clear tears rolled off the sharp edges of her face.

"You are not your own person. You are an extension of me."

"I am not my own person. I am an extension of you."

"You exist as long as I want you to exist."

"I exist as long as you want me to exist."

"You are my Unfortunate."

"I am your Unfortunate."

Clearing his throat, he pulled the iron from his Unfortunate's flesh and handed it back to Clive. The odd feeling in his gut swirled violently, but Kade refused to acknowledge it.

Clive held out a jar of black sludge, and Kade stuck his hand inside and gathered some with a swipe. He pressed it into Nine's blister, making her wince. The black sludge would stain the wound, making it permanent and visible for all to see. He hoped it would also offer some relief from the pain.

Nine lifted herself off the table and turned to him, her face red from the pain. Her entire being trembled, and there was a pure, white-hot rage in her stormy violet eyes. If anyone else witnessed the death stare she was giving him, they'd beat her within an inch of her life, but Kade enjoyed the display of courage. It would only make it more fun to strip it from her as easily as he stripped her from her dress.

He thought, for a moment, that she would attack him. Instead, she bowed, and an angry tear dripped from her nose. It splashed onto the tip of his shoe, sending a sharp sting through his gut.

"Thank you, Master Kade," she said, and the hint of disgust in her tone didn't pass him by.

She stepped past him, and the cherry smell that emanated from her auburn hair as she brushed by seeped in through his nostrils and set fire to his blood. Nine strolled to her marble block and stood still. She kept her head up and confident, so confident you wouldn't think she was just branded with a hot iron. A lick of pride travelled up his spine.

His Unfortunate was tough. He'd give her that.

-

Kade sat at the centre table surrounded by other Fortunates who boasted about their new Unfortunates. As the conversation grew from bad to worse, he deferred his attention to the left, toward Nine, who stood straight, her hands behind her back, her chin up. Her face betrayed no sign of what she might be feeling deep down, which amused him. Next to her, the other Unfortunates sobbed, feeling sorry for themselves. Why didn't she? What made her stronger than the others? They were raised in the same place, but Nine refused to cave to the same distress. He wanted her to. He wanted to make it worse and then better. He wanted her entire existence to revolve around him. Kade wanted her to despise him, to crave him. He wanted to control the strings to her limbs like a puppet master. It was only to prove his own control to himself. It would piss his father off, too. To turn a gift he was sure was supposed to sabotage him into a fiercely loyal weapon.

Kade was complex and insecure. To himself, he never denied it, but he needed to keep up his hard exterior, the callousness he spent years cultivating. He lived in a convoluted world, and he couldn't afford to be seen as weak. Not again. Not as an adult and next in line as head of the house.

In Freeport, power balances were shifting. The Knowles were proliferating, dabbling in all kinds of trades—mining, weaponry, and farming—and Michael did nothing about it. He did nothing to increase the Sario's profit or power. Michael refused to see that the Sario name was crumbling, and in due time, Kade knew other houses would swoop in and take what belonged to him. He wouldn't let that happen. When his father retires, and Kade takes over, the Sario household would claim back its power and, once again, strike fear in the hearts of all other houses. But first, he had to deal with the mine. He had to take control of the situation before news spread that he was struggling.

Tired of the same monotonous conversation, Kade grabbed his empty glass, lifted himself out of his seat, and turned away from the table without a goodbye to those who kept him company.

"You've got a good Unfortunate there," Henry said, strolling up to Kade with an extended hand.

Henry was a friend of Michael's, one Kade had known since he was a small boy. He didn't like Henry or his sly, thieving, gambling, alcoholic ways. Feigning respect, Kade shook Henry's hand, taking note of the excitement in his tight grip.

"A birthday gift, courtesy of my father," Kade replied, forcing a smile.

"You're twenty-five already? Gone are the boy years."

Kade nodded. "I'll be twenty-five soon."

"Ah, I trust there'll be a large party in your honour?"

"Bigger than large," he replied.

"Good. No one throws a party like Michael Sario, that's for sure." His gaze drifted, and Kade knew where it landed. "Well, are you going to show her off?"

Kade clenched his jaw. He'd never been one to flaunt his possessions; that was more his brother's forte, and it wasn't a secret that Henry had wandering hands.

"You know me better than that, Henry. Vince is the show-off."

Henry grinned and exposed his palms. "I'll keep my hands to myself, I promise. I know how you feel about people touching your things."

Kade analysed him and hoped he was telling the truth, for he couldn't formulate the sentence 'touch her again and I'll kill you' any politer than that. Deciding it wouldn't hurt to allow himself to be the envy of another Fortunate, he turned to Nine. She looked up at him like she sensed his attention on her. He flicked his head, beckoning her over, and she swallowed hard before stepping down from her marble block. Kade watched her bunch her dress, lifting the fabric so she could see the stairs. Beside him, Henry rubbed his fat hands together.

Nine lowered her dress and approached them with as much discipline and grace as an Unfortunate was meant to. It shocked Kade. He hadn't seen her do anything right since she got here. Pride surged in his chest as Henry raked her with his gaze, from head to toe, and glowed with the fire he felt in his abdomen. Nine kept her head down, ignoring his prying eyes.

"Perfection," Henry mumbled.

As he watched the fat, lust-filled Fortunate lose his mind in her presence, it occurred to Kade that he could surrender his Unfortunate. He saw how the Fortunates watched her, licking their lips like the air surrounding her was delicious. With her damn near-perfect looks and virginity still intact, he could trade her for power. Using her as bait, he could make any powerful man do whatever he wanted—like Albert Knowle.

Kade didn't need the Unfortunate for himself. Sex wasn't hard to come by, but more power? That was a rare treat for any Fortunate these days. Kade simmered in thought while Henry trotted closer to Nine. Her bright, violet gaze flickered to him, and Kade saw her in a new light, a light of shimmering gold, power, and promise. If he was going to use her to elevate his house, he needed to protect her first, then present her to the one Fortunate who could offer his family the most. But who?

"What I wouldn't give," Henry uttered.

And he reached out and touched her.