Split - Coffin Nails MC (Contemporary New Adult Erotic Dark Romance) (Sex & Mayhem Book 7) (30 page)

“Oh, no.” Ray dragged Hunter toward the banister,
and when Hunter tried to punch him, he kicked Hunter’s ribs so hard Asty heard
a crack that made her shiver. “First, I’m dealing with you. Priest took
something away from me, and I will do the same to him!”

Asty stopped, shuddering, and hugged
herself, suddenly conscious of her nakedness. “He will let you go, I promise. I
will ask him.”

“Cuff him, or I will just shoot him now.”
Ray looked between them both and nudged Hunter’s bloodied forehead with the
barrel of the gun.

Asty gritted her teeth and moved forward,
slowly getting to her knees next to Hunter. The hole in his naked shoulder was
consistently seeping blood, so she chose that hand for the cuff, hoping that
maybe it would bleed less if his arm were raised. Her lungs felt narrow and
tight as she took shallow breaths, struggling with the simple lock she
eventually secured around Hunter’s wrist. Ray’s presence right next to her
burned her skin like sulfuric acid.

“Please, run whenever you can,” Hunter
whispered, staring at her wide-eyed and catching shallow breaths.

“I heard that.” Ray smacked Hunter’s head
again, but right after, he grabbed Asty’s arm and dragged her along toward the
blankets on the floor. He kicked one of the candles on the way, and it spilled
some wax on the marble before the flame went out. “Your dear Hunter is very
stupid, you know that? I told him I’d give up avenging my father, and he
actually believed me.” He pushed her to the floor and looked at Hunter. “I’ve
been tracking your van, you idiot.” Hunter pulled forward, pale as a corpse and
sweating. He screamed out when he put strain on his arm, and the old banister
behind him creaked.

“Then hurt me, you cunt! Hurt
me
,
and let her go!”

Asty fell on the blankets, rolling on her
side in the last moment and curling her knees toward her belly. The world was a
blur around her, but one thing stood out—a glimmer of gold on the edge of the
altar above her. It was the ceremonial knife, sharp enough to easily cut into
her skin. It wasn’t within reach yet, but she quickly crawled forward,
listening to the furious beating of her own heart. The handle was sticking out
just a bit, but if Asty could only reach it …

“Oh, I will hurt you.” Ray laughed, and
grabbed Asty’s arm, pulling her back down and getting on top of her before she
could even blink. When she still struggled, he smacked her face so hard that
for a moment she thought the dull pain in her nose meant it was broken. His
words were coming to her with an echo. “I’m gonna make you watch how I remind
your bitch how a real man fucks.” Ray grabbed Asty’s cheeks and dug his rough
fingers into her flesh until he touched her teeth through it. “Remember,
sweetheart, how you said I wasn’t any good? I think you need a do-over.”

All of Asty’s blood seemed to drain out of
her head, making her limbs heavy. She abruptly raised her knee, hoping to hit
his nuts, but it was no use. He was so much larger than she was, and all of a
sudden, she realized with painful clarity just how uneven this fight was. She
tried to stick her fingers into his eyes, screaming at the top of her lungs,
but he swatted them away like flies, only to push both her wrists against the
floor with just one giant hand. She tried everything. She kicked and tried to
roll and twist out from underneath him, getting even more frantic when the
sharp sound of a zipper jarred in her ear. His big hand pushed her face to the
side and pressed on, as if he intended to squash her head against the floor
even before he violated her further.

“Let go of her, you bastard!” Hunter
screamed and struggled against the banister like a maniac, making the old wood
squeak and the cuff rattle against it, but it was no use. “You fucking shit-eating
bastard!”

When Ray let go of her head, Asty caught a
glimpse of Hunter from behind Ray’s thick forearm, and she saw tears streak
down his now flushed, face. She opened her mouth, wanting to call out to him,
but her voice was stuck in her throat, and she froze in horror when Ray’s hand
squeezed around her naked breast. She tried to pull her hands out of his grip
again as her whole body shuddered with terror. “Please ... I’m pregnant ... you
can’t,” she uttered, barely catching air into her lungs, completely stiff under
him. She was trapped, and now that he was holding her down, she felt like no
matter what she did, she wouldn’t be able to overpower him. Cold fear climbed
up her spine and spread through her brain. What if she made him lose his balance
and he fell down on her, hurting her baby?

“I can do whatever the fuck I want with a
pathetic slut like you,” Ray hissed at her, and Asty cringed when she felt his
fingers between her legs, touching her exposed labia as if he had the right to
do so.

Hunter screamed out, and with a sudden
crack of wood, he broke one of the banister poles and charged right at Ray with
his arm bleeding all over the marble floor and his hand at a strange angle.
“Get off her, you scum!” he yelled and pushed Ray to the floor next to Asty,
getting on top of him despite Ray grabbing the gun.

Asty rolled to her side and crawled from
between them as quickly as she could. Her breath was hitching loudly, but her
joints were soft, making it hard for her to move. Ray’s touch felt like a
sticky presence on her body, spots she wanted to get rid of. Everything felt
slow, but even as Hunter and Ray struggled on the floor so close to her, the
bright colorful light Asty mistook for a sign from her namesake was cast on
both of them and on the deadly weapon in Ray’s hand that Hunter was struggling to
keep away from himself. Asty gasped and brushed away the tears clouding her
vision. The presence she felt earlier was not a demon, at least not the
infernal being she invoked. It had been Ray, a demon of flesh and blood, who
wasn’t here to protect her family. He came to destroy it, and all this during a
ritual that was meant to shield her and Hunter from people like him. She was
alone. No one came to her call. It had all been a lie, and the only person
protecting her now was Hunter.

A shot from the gun pulled her out of the
stupor. The bullet hit the ceiling and sent a rain of dust and plaster down to
the floor, making both Hunter and Ray cough.

“You think you can just take everything
away from me?” Ray yelled despite Hunter pushing the gun out of his grip. “My
family took you in! You’re nobody, and you’re worth nothing without me!”

Hunter pushed back, but with his one arm
seriously hurt, he was visibly struggling more with each second. Asty exhaled
so loudly it muted Ray’s next words from her ears, and she blindly reached up
to the top of the altar. The cool handle of her ceremonial dagger filled her
small palm just right, hard and steady in her grip as she rushed forward and
stabbed the knife into a bit of flesh uncovered by Ray’s shirt. The blade went
in like it were soft butter, and for a moment, Asty was certain she missed her
mark, but when Ray shrieked, arching over Hunter, red spots appeared on his
grey top. He rolled off in panic, and Asty followed him, pushing the knife as
hard as she could. For a brief moment, their eyes met, and he swung his fist at
her without success. As Ray fell on his back, his weight added to Asty’s own
strength, pulling the knife through flesh, across his stomach, opening him up
for the world to see all of the ugliness inside of him.

Ray swore and gasped for air, but as he was
losing blood by the second, no attempts at crawling would help him. He grabbed
at Asty’s hair, pulling on it with rage and panic painted on his face, all this
with a huge gash in his body. He was like a cockroach that just wouldn’t die,
no matter how hard you hit it.

And so Asty kept hitting. Each stab sprayed
her with dampness when she yanked the dagger out of his body, but she grabbed
the handle with both hands and hit down harder and harder, screaming with
disgust as Ray’s blood stuck to her naked skin. She wouldn’t let him hurt her
family. He would die for trying to.

In her rage, she almost slashed Hunter with
the knife when he got to her on all fours and touched her arm. “Asty. He’s
dead. I think he’s dead.” His voice was raspy and every other word had him
heaving.

She looked at him and then at Ray. The
empty look in his eyes, bright in the background of bloodstained skin was what
made her sit back on her heels, melting into Hunter’s arms. She sobbed, staring
at the gore all over her naked body, and tried to uncurl her fingers from
around the dagger, but it was as if her hand had become a separate being that
refused to listen.

“It’s all right,” Hunter whispered even
though he only hugged her with one arm. “I’ve got you. It’s okay. He’s gone.”
His body felt cool to the touch, and she sobbed because it only reminded her of
the death on her hands.

She eventually dropped her weapon and
turned to Hunter, remembering his injured arm. “Are you ...” Her breath came in
shallow gasps and made it hard for her to speak in complete sentences. “Your
arm?”

“I think my wrist is broken.” Hunter looked
into her eyes, but the amount of blood on his arm was making her heart pound in
her chest. She couldn’t lose Hunter. Not now. And right now, she didn’t believe
they would meet again in hell, protected by demons. If he died, he’d be gone
forever. “Are you okay, Asty? Did he hurt you?”

“You’re bleeding,” she uttered, looking
around for something to stop the bleeding. The blankets wouldn’t be good
enough, and she didn’t want Ray’s blood anywhere near a hole in Hunter. “No ...”

“Get me my jeans, baby.” He sat down,
slouched, and held on to his arm, shaking slightly as he looked at his crooked
wrist.

She nodded and got to her feet, unsteadily
moving forward. Her heart stopped when she slid over the wet floor, but the
goal was within reach, behind the banister where they left their personal
things. Nothing seemed real as she cradled their clothes and her backpack to
her chest, stumbling toward Hunter, who rested his back against the altar, pale
as a sheet.

“Hunter?” she uttered weakly, joining him
on the cold floor. She took one of her stockings and tied it above the wound
without waiting for his answer. She had no idea if that was the right way to do
this, but that was what they did on television whenever someone was bleeding.

Hunter reached into his jeans with his
uninjured hand and pulled something out. “Listen, babe. I hope I’ll be fine, I
do. That I won’t get infected, that I’m not bleeding out just yet, but in case
I don’t make it—”

“You
are
going to make it,” shouted
Asty and pushed her dress against the wound while she searched her huge backpack
for the cell phone. Her hands were shaking so bad she’d probably fail at
writing her own name at this point. “Don’t say it. I need you with me ...”

“I just …” Hunter took a deep breath and
popped open a little black box, making Asty go still at the sight of a gold
ring with diamonds. “I never got you one. I don’t want you to think I’m cheap.
I wanted to make this special, but if I don’t make it—”

“I told you not to say that,” she sobbed
and brushed the back of her hand over her face, trying to swipe off the blood
and tears, but with all the stickiness on her, she ended up making herself even
more of a mess. The ring made her feel so many things, and she slid deeper into
Hunter’s arms. “Don’t leave me ...”

“We’re not even married yet, and you’re
already nagging me?” Hunter tried to laugh, but it sounded more like a raspy
cough.

Asty kissed his lips, tasting blood and
sweat, but her heart throbbed so painfully at the thought of losing him now.
Her hand finally squeezed on the phone, and she took it out of the backpack.
“It’s a pretty ring.”

“It was your mother’s. Your dad wanted you
to have it.”

Hunter hissed in pain when she hugged him
tighter, but it was hard to curb the emotions tumbling inside of her one after
another. She needed too, though. She had to call for help.

Asty switched on the screen and tried to
look through the contacts, but her wet finger only left a red smear on the
bright glass. Her whole body shuddered with revulsion, but she quickly cleaned
both the phone and her thumb against Hunter’s jeans and found the first number
in her phonebook. Her lips traced Hunter’s cheek as she pressed against him,
hardly keeping herself steady as her mind cried out with fear. What if instead
of a wedding, she’d have to attend a funeral?

“You hear me?” she whispered.

Hunter nodded. “Just be careful. Tell your
dad we need a doctor and … a cleaner.”

Asty looked at Ray’s dead body, and it was
only now sinking in that she’d killed someone. But Hunter slightly nudged her
cheek, forcing her to look back at him as the phone kept ringing. He gave Asty
a faint smile and slid the ring on her finger.

Priest finally answered his phone. “What is
it, pumpkin?”

Asty sniffed. “Daddy? We need your help.”

Asty

It was a warm day in July when Asty arrived
at her new home. For the last month, she was expressly banned from the area, as
the guys were working on the exterior and Hunter wanted to surprise her. The
dark blue siding looked great in contrast to the white window frames, doors,
and elements of the porch. The small front garden consisted only of a driveway
and grass that had thinned from people constantly walking all over it, but the
small two-story home they chose a few months before looked like a completely
different place now. Over the stairs hung a piece of cloth welcoming her and
the tiny baby she held in her lap, and she smiled, accepting Hunter’s hand as
he helped her out of the car.

She was incredibly exhausted, even though,
according to the doctor, the birth had been very quick and easy, especially for
a first-time mother. Still, her whole body was swollen and heavy, and all she
wanted was to lie down in that new bed she heard so much about from Lucky,
who’d enlisted himself to help with the decorating. She discussed the interiors
with Hunter earlier, and the agreement was that she’d get to decorate a room of
her choice however she wanted, but the truth was that none of them wanted to
live in a gothic castle or a witch’s hut full time.

Dad parked his bike behind the car and
rushed to her side, proud as a peacock of his first grandson. “Let me hold him,
pumpkin. You need some rest.”

Asty was surprised at how reluctant she was
to give her son to anyone else, but after a brief moment, she gently passed the
bundle along. “Thanks, Daddy.”

Hunter put his arm over her shoulders with
a bright smile and so much tenderness in his eyes that it could fill the whole
house in front of them and overflow through the windows.

“Let me know if there’s anything you need,
babe.” He led her toward the house, but he stopped before the door and picked
her up.

She yelped, and the first thing she thought
about was if his arm was fine, but it had been a few months, and the healing had
gone smoothly despite him still doing rehabilitation on his wrist. Despite the
lack of energy, she smiled at him, resting her head against his arm as he
slowly pushed the door open with his foot. He too seemed tired after being with
her all night at the hospital, but he still was the only Prince Charming she’d
ever want.

The moment they followed Dad inside, the
house exploded with cheers, and blue balloons came into view before she turned
her head back to see all their friends gathered in the hall. She waved at them,
excited to see everyone despite being so tired, but Hunter carried her straight
to the airy living room, where he gently lowered her on the sofa. She had
chosen some elements of furniture and decor before the house ban, and seeing
them coming together now was making her smile widen as everyone followed them,
taking places in all available seats. It really felt like home.

Most of the guys from the club were here
with their wives and girlfriends, and she didn’t need to lift a finger. Lucky
had food prepared for everyone, and the fridge was stacked with beers. She even
noticed Hunter’s younger brother, David, being a wallflower and clenching a
Coke in his hands, but when Asty looked at him, he smiled back.

As soon as Dad handed her baby boy back,
more people flocked around her to see him and congratulate her, as Hunter
walked around like a peacock, serving drinks and talking to everyone.

Asty accepted congratulations and gently
rocked her sleeping baby until he awoke and needed to be calmed down again, and
it was when she cradled Bell to her chest, she realized whose presence was
missing in that happy picture. If only her mother were still alive, she could
be here, look at her grandson and give Asty some much-needed advice. It was
strange not to have her around at a moment as important as this, but when Asty
met Hunter’s gaze in the crowd, she thought that maybe it had all been a part
of the plan. No matter how misguided Asty’s mom was when she wrote her notes
about Bell’s resurrection, her actions ultimately made a positive difference in
Asty’s life. She never really considered having children before, being so young
and never even being in a relationship before, but now that she held little
Bell in her arms, feeling loved among friends and family, she couldn’t help but
be grateful. Hunter had said he would have tried to win her over no matter
what, but she wasn’t sure how she would have responded if they met in normal
circumstances. After all, she never wanted to date a biker. Life did work in
mysterious ways, as cliché as that was.

She really wanted to take a nap, but no one
bothered her anyway, so she curled up against the side of the sofa, gently
petting Bell and watching everyone mingle. At that moment, feeling so
completely safe and happy, she knew she had made the right choice about staying
alive.

THE END