Angel

Chapter 75

Marc

My ears were ringing as I shook my head. Dust and debris swirled in the air as I heard men yelling followed by gunfire and more shouts. I crawled toward Axel. His dark hair was matted with blood. "Sean," I croaked.

He came over with a cloth, "Hold this against the wound. I need to see to Victor first." I started to say something until my eyes landed on Victor's blood-covered body. Kota was holding his hand as Nate brushed his hair back and kissed his forehead. A large piece of what looked to be metal sticking out of his leg. He was far too pale and barely responding.

Axel groaned, and I let out a breath I didn't realize I was holding. "Ax, baby, can you hear me?"

"What the fuck happened?" he moaned.

"I'm not sure, but don't move. You got hit pretty hard. Just try and lay still until Sean can look you over."

"Wh...where's Mattie?" he asked.

I started to answer when we heard a soft voice. "If anyone can hear this, please come and help. Mattie and Tori are trapped in Mr. Cardoza's office. Her grandmother is there too." Lorna's voice sounded terrified, then everything went dead.

"That came from our room," Owen said. He grabbed whatever weapons he could and handed several to Emilio. "We're going."

"Can anyone hear me," the com rang out with Corey's voice.

Owen grabbed the walkie, "We hear you, Corey. What's the status?"

"Ravenstahl troops have cut off the flow of Carlos's men. Raven, Luke, and Gabe have taken down a large section. Silas is unconscious and with North and Brandon in the Palmas section. Rico is heading to the girls with a few men. I heard Lorna's message," he answered.

"Victor and Axel are injured, Emilio and I are heading to the girls as well," Owen said.

"I'm coming with you," I told them. I looked down at Axel and pressed a kiss to his lips, "Be safe. I love you."

He squeezed my hand, "I love you too," he said as Sean started examining his head.

"Victor?" I asked. Sean just shook his head and went back to working on Axel. I wanted to ask for clarification, but time wasn't on our side. Emilio handed me a gun and we started toward their hall.

Mattie

Lorna had done exactly as we asked, slipping out of the room at the first sign of gunfire. Tori had a cut on her leg, but it wasn't bad. I knew I'd landed hard on my stomach, but right now I couldn't think about it.

"Well, look at that, he was right," Vivian said as she pushed her way into the room. "He said you'd be hiding with your girl while the men folk fought. I thought you were made of sterner stuff, Cher."

"I seem to remember telling you not to call me that, Vivian," I spat at her. "Too bad you missed the wedding. Violet was the perfect flower girl."

"She...she's here?" she sputtered.

I laughed, "Gods no. I'd rather never lay eyes on my daughter again than let you get your conniving claws into her. I don't even know where she is right now, none of us do."

"Why couldn't you just play by the rules, Matilda? You could have been happy, but no, you just had to be a stubborn brat and mess up everything," Vivian yelled.

"Did she always sound this unhinged, or is this a new thing?" Tori asked me.

"New thing actually. I always thought she was the kindest person I knew. Turns out she's worse than fucking Jekyll and Hyde," I groaned.

"Maybe you should learn to shut up," Vivian smirked and I jolted at the sound of the gun. I kept waiting for the pain, but it never came.

"Mattie," Tori whispered. I turned to see her clutching her stomach as blood poured from it. I scrambled to her, pressing on the wound.

"No, no, no, you don't get to leave me, Tori. Don't you fucking dare," I yelled at her.

I heard a gurgling sound then a thud and looked up to see Gabriel and Luke kneeling next to Tori. My grandmother's lifeless body was on the floor, throat slit. "Hey beautiful, keep those eyes open for me, baby. You can't leave us," Luke said, trying to control his sobs.

"We've got you, Belle. You're gonna be okay now," Gabriel said, stroking her hair. He put his hand over her wound as Raven pulled me back.

"You know I...I never got that threesome, that you and blue eye pr...promised, Kisses," Tori coughed.

Luke laughed, "There's still time, baby. I'm gonna bring the whipped cream and Gabe will bring the whips." She gave a laugh and coughed some more, a trail of blood running out of her mouth.

I don't know what happened next, I just saw Sean pushing past us followed by Owen. Emilio and Marc wrapped their arms around me as we watched Sean starting chest compressions. All I could hear were their pleadings and cries when I passed out.  

Author's Notes: ...