“Are you a coward that you want to involve women in business between men?” Hunter stared back without even blinking.
Ray’s resolve was melting like the polar caps. “She’s putting herself out there, but whatever. No taping,” he said with a dismissive gesture. “I still wanna fuck her tight pussy even beyond the day I kill Priest.
Hunter clenched his fist, and the homicidal rage burning up in him could definitely take him to hell if released. “Keep the girl out of this.”
“Fine,” growled Ray, and he uncovered his teeth. “We don’t touch her. That includes you.”
Hunter chewed on those words for a long moment, but nodded. If this would keep Ray away from Astaroth, he’d shake hands on it. “Deal.”
Asty
The blue plus sign stared back at Asty, making her heart gallop. She was content. This was, after all, the purpose of the ritual she had performed two weeks ago. But there was still this tense itch in her joints, and her head became strangely light when she saw the same result for the third time. She placed the pregnancy test on the side of the tub next to the two she used earlier.
She would be having a baby.
In the fleeting glow of the aromatic candles she lit all over her bathroom, she felt like the only person left in the world. Shadows were dancing around her, but she heard no whispering and could not recall her mother’s voice to reassure her that everything would be fine. This wasn’t as she had imagined. She’d have to go through this alone, with nothing but her mother’s personal journals as guidance.
It had been two years since Bell’s passing. He had died instantly—a bullet to the head—or at least that was what Tooth and Dad had told her. They wouldn’t let her see the body. She couldn’t believe at first that he was really gone. She had half-expected to see him in the kitchen, with Mom feeding him pancakes for breakfast, or have him unexpectedly pinch her when she was at the club. But he was no more after being there for her all her life. A true older brother, Bell had always stood by Asty and scared off kids who teased her, at least until she got older and was too embarrassed to ask him for help.
Dashingly handsome and charismatic, he was the future of the motorcycle club. Since Astaroth had been little, she had always remembered him hanging out with Dad all the time. He knew how to fix bikes before he got into junior high, and he dropped out to venture into club life as soon as he could. Their parents had been fine with that decision, even though they had tried to pressure Asty to finish her secondary education. She would never have a chance at doing the job Bell was doing, and she’d never be a member of her Dad’s beloved club. With Lucky more interested in trimming beards than fighting anyone, after Bell’s death there was no one to carry on their family legacy.
Asty knew her parents loved her, but she couldn’t help but feel useless when her mother fell ill soon after Bell’s death and ultimately followed him to hell. The last months of her life had been dedicated to writing down the secret spells she wanted to pass on to Asty, but most of all, she had been focused on one ritual—one that could bring back Bell’s soul and have it reborn in the body of a baby. Several conditions had to be met.
The bearer of the baby needed to share blood with the one they wanted to bring back, which made Asty the sole candidate, and she was certain that was what her mother had tried to tell her when she had given Asty the journals on her deathbed. But it wasn’t enough to present the devil with the baby, an empty vessel to pour a dead man’s soul into. After its birth, there needed to be a trade. Asty had to go to hell in Bell’s place. Saying she was “fine” with it wouldn’t tell the whole story. It was just something that needed to be done, and her life was the best she could offer. If the trade were completed, according to her mother’s journals, Asty would stay in a part of hell guarded by demons, a place for the enlightened, where her mother would be awaiting her, and where her father and brother would arrive eventually.
It made sense. It wasn’t as if she could add much value to the world the way she was now. Earth seemed more like purgatory for sins she hadn’t committed than anything else. She loved making things from scratch, so Dad even got the guys from the club to build her a candle-making shed by the house. She was quite good with hair and makeup and she liked reading, but none of these things had any true purpose. None of them had her dad interested the way her mom was. He’d already lost his wife, so if Asty could, she would give her life this one meaning—bringing Bell back to life.
She took a shuddery breath and dumped the tests into the trashcan. The hot bath was ready for her, smelling of ginger and herbs meant to soak into her and fuel the baby growing inside her. Slowly, she put her feet into the shallow water and rested against the sloping back of the tub, letting her skin adjust to the intense heat. Her heart was drumming so hard she felt as if her breasts were trembling from the impact of it as she whispered her prayers, looking into the white ceiling above. The ritual dagger was at an arm’s length, sharpened just a few hours ago and ready to be used. But as her back became numb to the temperature it was immersed in, her front seemed hypersensitive, vulnerable. And when she looked at the lines she had drawn on her stomach earlier, she couldn’t help but tense up in fear. There were so many of them in the symbol of the demon she’d been named after, and for the good of the baby, she needed to make the drawing permanent.
This was the next step. To create Astaroth’s seal on her belly once she knew she was in fact pregnant. The cuts didn’t have to be deep, but they needed to leave scars, even if small ones. Asty took a few more deep breaths and began cutting along the marks. Lines, dots, a pentagram with three circles around it. The task made her hiss, and droplets of blood spilled down her sides and into the water. From now on, she’d need to drink five drops of blood from the seal every day. She only noticed by the end of the cutting that she was panting, and sweat beaded on her face. But she didn’t cry. Pain couldn’t make her cry the way losing her loved ones did.
She slowly moved her index finger along the round line encircling her navel and gathered the first drop. It melted in her mouth as if it belonged there. Salty, with a hint of sweetness, it fueled the agitation coursing through Asty’s body. Once she drank five drops, she slowly gathered some water into her hands and poured it down on the open cuts. It stung, and Asty winced, watching the red layer disperse from her skin, revealing the symmetrical shape that would now protect the baby and aid its transformation. Some of the lines were deeper than others were, but she didn’t really care much. She could always cut her skin again if some of the shallower scars started disappearing as they healed. It was done. She was one step closer to her ultimate goal. She would bring Dad’s beloved son back and make her mother proud.
As adrenaline lost its effect, Asty’s body started feeling heavy and sluggish. She slid lower over the sloping back, immersing herself in the warm water that now had a distinct rosy tint. Pretty.
Growled vocals resounded in the air, pulling Asty out of the pleasant throbbing in her abused skin. She grimaced, but with the phone lying within her reach, she couldn’t find an excuse not to respond to a call from Dad. She briefly squeezed her hand on a towel to dry it and grabbed the cell.
“Yeah?” she asked, brushing her fingertips over the wounds.
“Hey, Asty. Don’t panic, but Beast is acting very strange. You should come over and see him. Decide if he needs to go to the vet or not. He’s bleating, has diarrhea … it’s messy.”
The moment she’d been told not to panic, her heartbeat skyrocketed. “What do you mean?” she uttered, rushing out of the tub with so much haste she spilled some water on the tiles, and the blood still dripping from the cuts wasn’t helping. “When did it start?”
Asty wanted to use her towels, but remembering the fresh wounds she didn’t want infected, she used a bunch of tissues instead. She had some dressing materials prepared, but she had never expected to leave the house that evening.
“Half an hour ago Prospect noticed that he was unusually loud.”
“Oh, no ... we need to take him to the vet. Can you put him in the trailer? I will be there in like ... fifteen minutes?” She frantically put gauze over her wounds and fastened it with white body tape.
“Will do. I’m really sorry, Asty. I hope he’ll be fine. I’ll get one of the guys to go with you in case someone needs to carry Beast.”
“Okay, see you,” she said and dropped the phone.
She put on her clothes so quickly that she managed to get to the clubhouse before the time frame she gave her dad. The small trailer was already in the front yard, and Asty stopped her scooter as quickly as she could, rushing to answer the calls of her furry baby. It seemed as if Beast sensed her arrival, and his shrieking became frantic as she ran past two guys, straight to the open trailer, where her pet was lying on its side in some fresh hay. It moved its front leg, shifted its head, and cried again, searching for Asty with its eyes, begging for help.
Asty put her hands on Beast, scared when she sensed him shivering beneath her touch, and the foul smell that exploded from the small compartment made her gag. This was bad. “He needs to go to the clinic. We need to go now,” she called, finally looking around to find her dad.
Priest stood at the back of the trailer with his bushy eyebrows in a frown. “Sorry, baby. I’ve got business. I’ll get the prospect to go with you. Prince!” He walked out of her line of vision.
Milk’s blond head emerged from the shadows, and he scowled, pulling over a cart with piles of boxes. “Tooth sent him on an errand. Our guys are all working. Maybe we could spare the Hogs, since they aren’t involved in this thing?” he said, gesturing at the boxes
“Get one of them. Fast,” Priest said and walked up to the trailer again. “I’ll get one of the new guys to take you to the vet. I hope Beast will be fine.”
Asty could hardly focus on his words as she stroked her pet’s muzzle, trying to keep from getting more frantic. That wouldn’t be good for Beast. He needed her strong, not a crying mess. She nodded and took a bowl and a bottle of water from a meal basket hung on the wall of the trailer. Beast lapped at the water a bit, but that didn’t stop his shaking. It was physically painful to see him like this without being able to do anything about it. “You’ll be okay, baby.”
And to make matters worse, she saw Hunter for the first time in two weeks. He came into view in the open door, drilling holes in Asty with his gaze. “You wanna stay in the back?” he said in a voice that reminded her of how his hands had held her.
Asty gave a shuddery breath and gently squeezed Beast’s horn before getting to her feet. The trailer was too small to hold her alongside a large goat, and as much as she wanted to be with her pet, she couldn’t. “Sorry, Baby,” she muttered as she closed the door.
Hunter’s presence was burning her back when she rushed to the car and jumped into the passenger seat. Not talking too much would be the safest option. He was the last—maybe before his sleazy cousin—person she wanted to be with that evening, but Beast’s health was priority, so she’d bear with it just like she bore with the pain radiating all over the skin of her stomach.
As they sat in the front and drove off in uncomfortable silence, she couldn’t help but admit to herself that even though she had avoided going to the clubhouse after getting back that tarot card, a part of her had hoped he’d come visit her again. Maybe in a less creepy fashion, but still. He would ring the doorbell so she’d come down and tell him he wasn’t welcome. To which he’d have some cocky, sexy comeback, and maybe, just maybe, she’d reluctantly invite him in for coffee.
She hated herself for fantasizing about the heat of his cock inside her while Beast was suffering in the back, but the moment she and Hunter were in close quarters, her nose picked up on his cologne and her skin on his body heat. It was purely physical. She couldn’t help it.
Hunter cleared his throat after a good ten minutes of silence. “So, what’s the deal with the goat?”
Asty brushed her hand over her face and froze in terror when she realized she had absolutely no makeup on. She was bare, with her big eyes and small nose that combined to make her look like a child if she didn’t apply any products. Her eyelashes were short, barely visible, and the uneven skin tone around her eyes and lips had been a major issue for her since she could remember. She looked away, hoping her big hair would protect her from his prying eyes, but her stomach clenched in shame. It had been years since she had let anyone, other than her immediate family, see her without makeup. Hunter would surely notice how different she looked, how childlike and plain her face really was. He’d stop being interested in her. He’d stop teasing her. That was exactly what she wanted, so why did she care?
“It’s my pet,” she muttered eventually and pointed him in the direction he should take at the crossing.
“Are you fattening him up for a ritual or some shit? Or do you pray to him?”
Of course, he didn’t take her seriously. Why would he. He didn’t understand how the world was truly constructed, that demons were more real than most people thought. If he knew what she did, he wouldn’t joke about these matters.
“Do you even listen to yourself? He’s back there, crying, and he needs help. Why are you making stupid jokes?” she uttered and suddenly burst out with a sob, turning away so he wouldn’t witness her ugly cry.
“Fuck, I’m sorry. I didn’t mean it that way. I just wanted to distract you. Please don’t cry.”
“I’m not crying,” sobbed Asty and rubbed her eyes with the heels of her hands. She pushed her whole body against the door and looked outside. When she flexed her stomach, the cuts on her skin screamed at her not to, and she quickly pulled on the front of her hoodie so the fabric wouldn’t be too close to the wounds. She just wanted this day to end.
“Fine,” Hunter muttered, but he wouldn’t shut up. “So … has Ray talked to you lately?”
“What?” Asty sniffled and glanced at him from behind her shoulder. Hunter had such a good profile, and his dark brown hair shone in the lamplight, like waves spilling down his shoulders and chest. “Why would I talk to that sleazebag?”
“I don’t know. You let him fuck you, so maybe you like him. I’m just saying, for your own good, don’t go out with him if he asks, okay?” Hunter glanced into her eyes with determination, but she could sense the jealousy behind his words. As if he had any right to tell her who she should and shouldn’t be seeing. How did it happen that she went from no one chasing her to two guys trying to catch her attention at once? Clearly, all she’d needed to do all along was put out. She should have known already how men worked.
“My own good, right,” she muttered stiffly and stuffed her hands into the pocket at the front of her hoodie. “Don’t worry. This was only a part of the ritual. Any woman who actually likes him should kill herself.”
Hunter smirked. “Come on … you must have at least enjoyed me a little bit, right?”
This was exactly what no man should ever ask after sex. Asty groaned. “Why does it matter? It’s not gonna happen again.”
Hunter frowned, but the conversation would end soon because they were approaching the vet’s. “Because I’ve never been with a girl like you. I don’t know if it was the ritual, drinking your blood, or having my cock inside of you, but you can’t fake that kind of shit. We had a connection.”
Asty wasn’t sure what to say, so she kept silent for a long time, overwhelmed by the sincerity in his voice. It might have been a trick, a gamble to make her feel special, but she was falling for it. “Of course. It was magical,” she snorted in the end, hugging her cheek against the window and watching as it became matted with her breath. “It’s just sex. People do it all the time.”
Hunter’s jaw locked and he gritted his teeth. “Oh, fuck you. You’re such a bitch, you know that?” he hissed and parked in front of the clinic. He pushed the door open and got out without waiting for an answer.
For a brief moment, Asty remained frozen to her seat, and it almost felt as if the slap of the door closing had been m
eant for her. She eventually rushed outside and ran to the reception area to get some sort of bed or stretcher for Beast. They couldn’t just carry him. A few minutes later, she pulled the little cart to the parking lot, and with each step she made, the wounds on her stomach ached, reminding her of her purpose. She might have hurt Hunter, but it was for the best. What if he was developing feelings for her? She would be gone in nine months, and that was that.
He stood by the open back door of the trailer, smoking a cigarette, but she couldn’t see his face as he slouched and his hair hid his features. Great, just what she needed when her pet was in agony—a sulking man-baby.
“They’re waiting for him already. You can put him on this,” she uttered, catching her breath as she pushed the cart to the open door. With Hunter not even making a move toward the trailer, anger rose in her chest, but words died in her throat when she realized how silent Beast was. She looked inside, and the handle of the cart fell from her hand. Beast’s dark eyes were halfway open, and his long tongue was sticking out from between his teeth, but he didn’t even twitch. He wasn’t crying anymore, but his side wasn’t moving either. He was so still ...
“Beast?” She stepped closer and slid her hand into the matted fur on its side, deep enough to feel his ribs, but there was no movement there. No heartbeat.
Slowly, she sank into a crouch, and her eyes filled with tears so abruptly, she didn’t even know how to stop them.
“I’m so sorry …” Hunter said and held out his hand to help her up. “Would you like me to take him inside so we can find out what happened?”
Asty sniffed and brushed her eyes with her sleeve, but accepted his hand and stumbled to her feet, emotionally exhausted. It was as if Death was really chasing her, closing in now that he knew she’d be gone soon.
“Yes,” she muttered, staring at her dead pet.
Hunter pulled her in for an unexpected hug. “There’s nothing you could have done.”
Split - Coffin Nails MC (Contemporary New Adult Erotic Dark Romance) (Sex & Mayhem Book 7) Page 6