Angelic Annihilation

chapter 35

Gabriele's pov

Holding her in my arms again felt surreal to say the least, it felt like I could breathe again. Even if she was covered head to toe in other men's blood. My arms were holding her waist tightly against me but she was trying pretty damn hard to get away from me. Her movements were frantic but I kept a hold on her until she fucking bit my hand.

"Hey, Bel, calm down." My voice is soothing and my hands reach for hers again as she trembles.

Her gorgeous eyes seem so dull, I could feel the defeat radiating from her, and it crushed me. I had expected to find her fighting, but they managed to break down the strongest person I know into a drone.

Emily's eyes are watery as she sits and speaks softly, "Talk to us Jezebel, what did they do to you?"

She begins shaking uncontrollably as she opens her mouth, and I was appalled to hear wheezy breaths comes out in place of words.

I grab a towel and wet it before moving slowly towards her, "I just want to clean your neck, it'll get infected if you leave it like this."

She nods at me but when I step at her she inhales sharply and falls back against the wall. I catch Bel by her waist before she can hit the ground but she flinches at my close proximity.

"Emily, look for any peroxide," I push a strand of hair that covered Bel's face behind her ear, "Angel, you know I'm not going to hurt you."

I drag the towel along the cut on her throat, watching her twitch and hiss at me for the harsh pressure. Instinctively I press my lips to the crown of her head but she freezes against me. I let out a sigh as I pull away and continue wiping her neck clean. Then I notice bruises placed adjacent on each side of her neck, the bruises were deep and I let out a breath.

"Are you able to speak at all?" I ask her sadly.

"I- yes." The words are barely audible with how breathy and gravelly it is and Bel shakes harder the more she complies with me.

I hold her face in between my hands, "What did they do to you baby?"

The smallest flicker of despair flits through her eyes before she becomes unrecognizable once again. I turn to face Emily and I give her a nod of encouragement, maybe her best friend could draw out more emotion than me.

Emily saunters over and sits herself next to Bel, "I've missed you so much, it's been terrible having to be around Hayden and Mac without you there."

A small twitch of her head shows me that she's losing a fight against whatever they did to her.

Emily rubs her face with both hands, "I hate how things were left, I want you to know-,"

Another strained noise from Jezebel has us both turning, "Traitor."

Emily flinches back at the word before her eyes gloss over with tears, she sniffles and turns her head to face opposite of Jezebel. The sound of her friend crying seemed to get her attention, her eyebrows furrowing as her body shakes.

"You have to fight it, I know you don't want to be stuck as your mother's minion." The words leave my mouth as though they were waiting for a time to tell her.

All I wanted was to throw her over my shoulder and take her away from all of this, but if I did she would fight against me every step of the way.

Jezebel starts breathing heavily and I pop up to rest on my feet as she croaks, "It hurts."

My hands start rubbing her back soothingly, "I know it does baby, but after it's over you'll be free from them."

Her jaw grinds itself as she curls into a ball on the floor. Emily and I look at each other in alarm before we hear knocks on the door.

"Jezebel," I urge her to look up at me, "You are more than what they've done to you."

Jezebel lets out a shaky cry and the knocking gets louder and more rapid. The door is pushed open and the man I saw touching Bel strolls into the room.

His eyes trail to the shaky mess on the floor before he looks at me and smiles, "You can't break her down, she's too far gone."

My lips pull back into a snarl, "You've already broken her down."

He shakes his head before kneeling and placing a hand on her hair, "Stand up, you've got a crowd out there waiting to meet you."

I feel my anger overwhelming me as Jezebel stands up and takes place a step behind the man, her eyes are nearly black with how dilated they are.

The man sneers at me, "I suggest you stay away, we wouldn't want to break the treaty and end your bloodline."

I move towards him but Emily steps in front of me to stop me, Jezebel twitches as she stares at the man.

I know you're in there.

"Think about your dad Bel, he would want you to fight. Thomas would want you away from all of these monsters." I try to reason with her.

She blinks a few times and her honey brown eyes return, taking me by surprise. Jezebel holds her chest as she wobbles before coughs erupt from her. Blood hits the floor and she slowly lowers herself as more and more blood comes with each cough.

The man's eyes widen and he grabs her arm as he grits out at her, "You are weak. Take her back to the warehouse."

I pull my gun out of the back of my pants and shoot him in the back of the head.

"You're not taking her anywhere."

A/N

Shorter chapter cause I don't want to make my original two chapters into one long one.