“Not a fuckin’ chance, you stupid cunt. We’re takin’ it to the grave!,” He shouted through clenched teeth.
The tension in the room got even thicker, heavier, suffocating her as she looked at the men across the room from her.
All of them were no strangers to bloodshed, to murder, to the mayhem that had almost killed her.
They were letting her lead this expedition.
Rayna had to remind herself that this was her show, and she decided how the ending went this time around.
This time, Rayna would be the villain.
“Don’t worry, Jaden. There’s hole waiting for you already,” She promised.
His mouth fell open, his green eyes narrowed in on the gun.
“You don't have the fuckin’ guts-”
Bang!
Jaden’s head exploded, and Rayna flinched when his blood coated her arms.
Brain matter went flying, and for just a moment, she found the spray of his blood beautiful.
Poetic, even.
How many times had he left me crying in a pool of my own blood?
How many times did he put his own gun to my head while he invaded my body like a deadly disease?
Haze was crying in his chair, his dark head bent forward, and Rayna pointed the gun at him.
“She just blew his fuckin’ brains out,” Slayer said.
Green and him fist bumped and Rayna wondered if they were raised by animals, because their social cues were way off.
“Where is my father buried?”
“About a mile east of the clubhouse, right outside of our warehouse!,” Haze said through his tears.
Rayna watched Haze break, she watched him sink into his own sorrow as he realized that he was going to die.
Rayna wasn’t much; a painter, an avid reader, a talented mechanic.
Tonight, she was none of those things.
Tonight, she was a reaper, and she wouldn’t settle for anything less than his soul.
After what he'd done to her body and her mind, it was a fair trade.
An eye for an eye.
A soul for a soul.
Rayna’s hand was shaking as her tears threatened to engulf her completely, but she didn't lower her gun.
Instead, she asked a question that only Haze would know the answer to.
“What did you say to me the first night you took my body without my permission?,” She asked, her voice nothing but a guttural whisper.
Haze’s face was soaked with his own salty tears as he looked up at her.
The shadows in the room threatened to swallow them all in the darkness, but Rayna now knew that she could survive the darkness.
She could survive anything.
“Why does that matter?”
“Tell me what you said.”
“I told-I said-d that you better buckle in, because you were in for a w-wild ride,” He choked out.
Rayna didn't much like the sight of a grown man crying, but Haze’s tears filled a void inside of her.
She thought about demanding an apology form him, but she hadn't received one from any of the other Blazin’ Eagles.
Besides, it was too late for apologies.
She didn't need it anymore.
Her chest heaved as her lower lip trembled violently.
“We’ve come to the end of the road now, Haze. The fucking ride is over.”
He didn't deny that fact either as he looked up at her, and for the barest of seconds Rayna contemplated letting him live.
She thought about letting him walk out of there alive, but…
He hadn't let her just walk out.
No, he’d tied her down and forced her to do awful things for his own sick amusement.
He’d hurt her just like the rest of his club.
Rayna’s chest was on fire as she let the reality of the situation sink in.
The Blazin’ Eagles were all dead.
Every last man who'd taken her world apart piece by piece and then left her to rot in limbo…they were gone.
Dead.
Except for Haze.
Without blinking, Rayna pulled the trigger one more time, and watched Haze’s whole body jerk as his head blew apart like a fucking firework.
Satisfaction, shame, guilt, relief-
Rayna dropped her hand to her side and sucked in a deep breath.
“Damn,” Green said.
Fury moved suddenly, and Rayna frowned as he took the gun from her trembling hand.
“Let me have it, baby.”
“It’s over.”
The words tumbled out of her mouth in one shallow breath, coated in sadness and surprise.
It was over.
She’d done it.
“Welcome to the dark side,” Green joked.
Rayna didn’t bother to correct him; she didn't bother to tell him that the darkness is where her and Fury met, that it’s the only place she felt like herself.
All of a sudden, like tidal wave, like a riptide, Rayna gripped Fury’s arms with her bloody hands and cried.
The scream that escaped her pouty mouth had her whole body shivering as she clenched her eyes closed.
All of the pain, the turmoil, the absolute suffering she’d endured since she was kidnapped was weighing down on her all at once.
Rayna had tried her damnedest to bury her feelings, but this time, they weren't going anywhere.
Fury seemed to realize this because he handed her father’s gun to Ox and lifted her into his capable arms, crushing her against his hard chest.
“I’m so fuckin’ proud of you, baby.”
He’s proud of me for murdering an entire MC.
“I murdered those men.”
“No, Rayna, you took what they owed you. They fuckin’ deserved it.”
It only took a few seconds before they were back inside the clubhouse.
Fury pushed his own bedroom door open and laid her down on his bed.
“You’ll get blood on the sheets,” She whispered.
“I don’t care.”
Which begs the question, what kind of man doesn’t care about getting blood on his sheets?
A man who’s shed enough of his own.
A man who’s taken matters into his own hands, and didn't mind the oppressive substance anymore.
Rayna loved that about Fury.
She loved everything about Fury, including the fact that he was willing to strip her down and press his mouth against her skin even though she was covered in another man’s blood and still crying silently.
Her tears slipped between their mouths, coating their lips, stinging their tongues.
Rayna’s pain was tangible, practically cloaking her sticky body like a second skin- but so was her healing.
With every touch of Fury’s mouth against her own, he breathed life back into her.
He cured that aching agony deep in her gut, and he conquered the shadows that threatened to swallow them whole.
Rayna opened her eyes so she could see the man of her dreams as he pressed his mouth to the bandage below her bellybutton, his dark eyes never wavering in their adoration for her.
She lifted a hand to run her fingers through his hair and the sight of her ring caught her attention.
In the moonlight she could see specks of blood plastered against the shimmering stone, and for some reason, she found it entirely appropriate.
Rayna and Fury had met, survived, and flourished with blood on both of their hands.
It was only fitting, in her mind anyways, that their story end in much the same fashion…
Yet, Rayna somehow knew that this was only the beginning.
Epilogue
Rayna hefted another box into her arms as she looked around her father’s bedroom.
Their house was almost cleared out, all of their finishings tucked into a U-Haul outside.
Fury knocked on the doorjamb behind her, his big body blocking out the entire frame around him.
“You ready, baby?”
She
smiled.
“Yeah, just takin’ one last look around before we sell the place.”
Fury eased himself away from the door and came towards her, his eyes meeting hers.
Rayna loved that dark color.
“We don’t have to sell, ya know. We could stay here,” He offered as he dropped a kiss to her forehead.
“Yeah, but I think we deserve something new, ya know? I like stayin’ at the clubhouse, but I was thinking…maybe we could use the money from my investments to build a house?”
Fury pulled away from her, his forehead wrinkled in confusion.
“You want to build a house?”
“Why not? We have the money, and our wedding is right around the corner. After we get hitched, there won’t be anything left to plan for. We’ll have the time to sit down and create something just for us,” She said.
Fury smiled, his perfect mouth upturning as he nuzzled his nose against hers.
“I’ve got some money saved up of my own, ya know.”
Rayna flashed her ring, the large stone catching the light.
“I know, cowboy.”
He laughed and kissed her hand before he too turned to look around the empty bedroom.
“You sure you wanna leave this place behind?”
Rayna took a second to think about that.
When it came down to it, she wasn't really leaving it behind.
She was starting over somewhere new, and in reality, that was probably the best option for her and for Fury.
There was no point in her moving back into the same house she’d shared with her father.
Jonathan Claire was gone, and he wasn’t coming back.
Rayna kind of felt like the new her wouldn’t do well inside the cookie cutter house any more than the old her would.
Not after what she’d gone through in the last seven months.
“Yeah, I’m sure.”
Fury nodded his dark head and took the box she was holding from her hands.
“Thought I told you no heavy lifting?”
“It’s a box filled with curtains,” She said as she rolled her eyes.
“Rayna Claire, do you want me to spank that juicy ass of yours?”
Rayna bit her bottom lip at that question- um, yes, she wanted that.
Fury knew it too, because he was smirking as he leaned in to capture her mouth in a deep kiss that left her panties damp.
“Hurry up, you know Green it waitin’ for us.”
Rayna groaned and closed the bedroom door behind her as they eased down the stairs.
“He told me he wants to throw us a joint bachelor and bachelorette party.”
Fury laughed, and the husky sound had Rayna laughing too.
“He does?”
“Yeah, and he even wrote up a contract for me to sign stating that I wouldn’t, and I do quote, ‘assault the potential pussy.’”
Fury laughed even harder as they stepped outside.
“You have to admit, he has a logical point with that. You’ve nearly killed Tasha at least four times by now,” Fury said.
Rayna helped him lock up the back of the U-Haul before she wrapped her arms around his neck.
“Maybe, but she deserved it.”
“Yeah, she did, my little blood-thirsty hellion.”
A ray on sunshine drifted through the parted clouds, and between the bright rays and the sounds of the birds singing, Rayna got the distinct feeling it was her father, dropping in to say hello and that he approved.
“Did Ox tell you that some woman named Maddie called the clubhouse?,” She asked.
Fury frowned.
“Did he tell you why she called?”
“Said she had a package for him and that she would be delivering this package soon,” Rayna said.
Fury shook his head and pressed his mouth to hers again.
Rayna let him hold her, let him love her, because in the midst of her own spiraling, she’d found a damn good anchor.
Fury wasn’t perfect, but neither was she, and together they were an imperfect mess that worked.
“Come on, baby. Let’s go home.”
The words settled in Rayna’s mind as she took one more look at the house she’d grown up in.
Home…
Home wasn’t some house she spent her time in, home was wherever Fury was.
“Yeah, Fury. Let’s go home.”
The End
Authors Note:
Thank you so much for purchasing my novel and supporting me.
I hope you enjoyed the ride, and that you’ll be back to enjoy more of my beloved Seven Deadlies men!
Thank you,
K. Ewald
Wrath (Seven Deadlies MC) Page 21
