“Little bitch!” he snarls.
I spit the rubber bit out, gasping for air like it’s holy, and fumble with the other restraints. My limbs barely move right. The lock clicks, and I fall forward onto the cold cement.
Crawling. I don’t know where I’m going. I just know I have to getaway.
But he grabs my ankle. No. He drags me back like an animal.
No no no?—
He flips me onto my back. His face is streaked with blood, eyes wild. One strong hand wraps around my throat and squeezes. The room pulses. Black spots gather at the edges of my vision.
“I warned you,” he says through gritted teeth, wet with blood. “You’remine. Mine to break. Mine to ruin now.”
The stun gun in his other hand crackles to life.
“No—”
He drives it between my legs. A white-hot bomb explodes inside me.
My scream dies in my throat. My body bucks. My legs jerk uncontrollably as if they’re not mine anymore. I can’t think, can’tbreathe. The pain owns every inch of me.
I taste copper. I can’t scream anymore.
Then he flips me over. Grinds the weapon against my rear.
Not again—it fires.
I think my heart stops. Ihopeit stops. Please let it stop. I don’t care anymore. I need to escape the pain.
My body convulses so violently, all my stomach contents come up, and I vomit until I dry heave. I bite my tongue and taste blood. The pain is obliterating, world-ending. My brain shuts down. My lungs disappear.
Unconsciousness takes the edges.
And then—BOOM.The door slams open.
Shouting. Boots thundering. Hands rip him off me.
I hearRoryscream. Seth roars like a monster as Alden slams into the wall. “Get him off her!”
“Jude—now!”
Hands grab me, gentle this time. A warm cloth presses to my cheek. “Briella—stay with me. You’re safe. I’m here.” Jude.
My body won’t respond.
And then, mercifully?—
Black.
78
Raphael
WHEN IT COMES TO HEALING…I’M USELESS.
Citizen Soldier Playlist
“First Blood”
