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

by Merikan, Miss

  Asty heard a door creak open before Prince’s voice broke the silence yet again. “Prez? She’s here. She’s waiting in the office.”

  A whimper and a muffled mumble that came afterward made her blood freeze. Hunter. They had Hunter, and they were doing horrible things to him. She clenched her teeth and slid over the floor, silent despite her body being so loud in her own ears. When she walked past the bend of the corridor, Prince was right there, standing in an open doorway that had always been locked whenever she was visiting. Blood rushed to her head, and as he looked at her, surprise painted all over his face, she pushed past him at full speed.

  Her stomach clenched when she realized her feet weren’t touching the floor, but a split second was enough to realize there was a flight of stairs starting right beyond the doorway, and she grabbed the metal railing, landing safely on one of the steps.

  “Fuck! Asty! You’re pregnant, stop it!” Prince grabbed her arm and pulled her back, but when she heard a deep moan from downstairs, she blindly punched back with her fist. Without being able to put much force into it, it was by sheer luck that she hit a sensitive spot, as Prince released her with a low hiss, and she stormed downstairs, jumping past two steps at once.

  “Prospect! Get her out of here!” Dad yelled, but it was too late. No one could stop her.

  She almost tripped on the second flight of stairs, but the moment an open doorway came to view at the bottom of the steps, she steadied herself and burst inside, her stockings sliding over white tiles of a room so tall that it could have fit in a second floor. She stopped breathing, perplexed by what looked like a movie set for a creepy asylum-themed shoot with trays of steel tools on a wheeled table and a large circular lamp casting its clinical light on a medical chair. She touched her face and screamed.

  Hunter’s face was streaked with blood and bruised, but when he turned his head to her slightly, she realized why he couldn’t yell back to her. He had a metal mouth spreader between his lips, and just looking at the contraption was painful. Bloodied spittle drizzled from the side of his mouth where it was most swollen, and both his arms and legs were strapped to the chair with worn leather belts. Blood dripped to the floor from his hands, and she noticed shards of glass glistening in his skin.

  Dad looked at her with a scowl. “Can you ever listen to what you are told?” He stood between her and Hunter, and pointed to the stairs. “To the office. Now.”

  Asty glanced at him but ignored the order and rushed to Hunter’s side. She didn’t expect the strong arms of her Dad grabbing her. She looked up, stunned. “Let go,” she hissed through clenched teeth. “What did you do to him?”

  “Nothing that he didn’t deserve,” Priest said, but Tooth wouldn’t meet her gaze, and just stood in the corner with a pair of scary-looking steel forceps in his hand.

  The ball of fire that gathered in Asty’s chest on the way here wouldn’t be stopped, and with Dad holding her by the arms, she jumped up and pushed the heel of her hand straight into the underside of his nose.

  “Let go of me!”

  The hit made Dad’s head tilt back, and his fingers loosened around her arms. She pushed at his stomach and dove under his arm, falling straight at the chair. Her eyes met Hunter’s glossy ones, and she touched his cheeks, shocked by the bruises, the cuts, the spreader that forced his mouth so unnaturally wide open. She instinctively looked into his mouth, searching for any missing teeth, but none were missing. While bloody, his jaws seemed as complete as they always were.

  “I’m so sorry,” she uttered, petting him. Her heart was breaking with fear of what damage could have been already done. She couldn’t believe her dad could do this to someone for no reason. “Take this off him ...”

  Dad growled and turned to her, holding his nose. “He deserves this! Getting you pregnant, sneaking around in my club? You don’t need to protect him. If he’s got some blackmail on you, don’t worry about it, I’ll make it all go away.”

  She didn’t even turn back, too focused on the intense look in Hunter’s green eyes. She sniffed and slowly touched her forehead to his, sliding her hands to the bruises on his neck. “Do you think I’m stupid?” she hissed through her teeth and fought against her instinct to lash out at him for once. “Why would you do this? He did nothing wrong! Are you insane?” Her gaze moved to Tooth, who stood by the wall with a grim face. “Tooth, take this off him.”

  The man grumbled and looked up, first at her, then at her father. Priest took a deep breath and rubbed his nose again. “Fine.”

  Tooth shook his head as he approached. When he brushed past Priest, she caught the tiniest whisper in his low voice. “And this is what I get pulled out of bed for.”

  It was like a match to the gasoline streaming through Asty’s veins. She turned around and kicked down the metal table, sending all the torture tools flying across the floor. “What the fuck is wrong with you? You can fuck and sleep all year if you want! How dare you touch him? You know shit, and you won’t listen to anyone!” she yelled, moving her gaze between her father and his VP.

  Priest swore beneath his breath, as Tooth sent her a punishing glare and started releasing Hunter by taking the metal contraption out of his mouth.

  “You want to tell me something, Astaroth?” Priest asked and clenched his fists. “You’ve been lying to me all this time. What did you think was going to happen, huh? This piece of shit knocked you up, and you’re defending him now, after he wouldn’t own up to his own kid? Just yesterday, I found a photo of you and him on the Internet. It was published three months ago. And now you’re pregnant, and he wants nothing to do with it,” Priest spat at the floor.

  Asty stared at him and suddenly burst out with an angry laughter. “I told you not to look for the father. How is that a difficult concept? Look behind me and ask yourself why I didn’t want to tell you anything. I didn’t trust you with this, and turns out I was right!”

  Priest pursed his lips and chewed on her words. “This psycho cuffed you to a hotel bed,” he grumbled, and behind him, Hunter slowly slid off the medical chair.

  “I can explain …” Hunter whispered.

  Asty shook her head. “That’s our business. You have nothing to do with this. I’m fucking through with you policing me like that when you’re busy fucking Jewel after Mom’s only been dead for a few months!”

  Priest’s face went red. “That bitch should keep her mouth shut!”

  Asty shook her head. “She didn’t tell me. I put two and two together,” she hissed and shook her head at him. She was going to be sick. “You should have kept it in your pants. Just like you should have done that when you cheated on mom with Lucky’s mother,” she uttered, suddenly tearing up. She couldn’t possibly remember that time, but it had left a rift in their family that lasted to this day.

  Hunter came closer under the scrutiny of Dad’s hateful glare. “Asty, please don’t cry. I really wanna hold you, but there’s glass everywhere.”

  Asty looked at him, and when she saw the shards sticking out of his flesh, she couldn’t take it anymore and broke into a deep sob, gently brushing her fingers over the front of his jacket. Her gaze returned to Dad’s face. “How could you do this to him? You wouldn’t even ask me what I thought about all this?”

  “Told you it was a fucking bad idea,” Tooth muttered, watching them with his arms crossed on his chest.

  Asty sniffed again and brushed tears out of her eyes. “You have no right to judge him ... Lucky’s mom killed herself after you left them ... he told me all about this ... you were never there for him when he was young, and now you’re beating up my man when I told you I didn’t need any help?”

  “She didn’t kill herself because I left her. That happened much later,” Priest mumbled, stepping back. “I’m not good with all this ‘talking about our feelings’ bullshit. I thought he hurt you …”

  “Well, you were wrong,” whimpered Asty, sobbing even harder. She couldn’t even hold Hunter when they both needed it so much. “You’re the on
e who hurt so many people, and you already forgot about my mom ...”

  Priest straightened up and looked into her eyes. “I loved your mother to her very last breath. But I’m not made of stone, I needed company.”

  “Is that why you’re never at home and then come over to tell me what to do with my life? I need company too!”

  Priest tried to grab her hand, but she pulled away. “I’m trying, baby, but I’m not so good at this. You’ve been so distant. I don’t know how to talk to you sometimes.”

  Asty chewed on her lip and brushed the heel of her hand against her eyes. “I know you must miss Bell so bad. But I’m not a little girl anymore. You can’t expect me to just listen to what you tell me to do. You can’t invade my life like that. You can’t just beat people up...”

  “Can we go upstairs and have a civil conversation there?” Hunter looked at his hand and winced. “I came here tonight for an important reason, and I’m not going anywhere until we talk it over.”

  “Civil conversation.” Priest huffed and turned for the stairs. “Maybe you shoulda thought about that before you knocked up my daughter.” At least he wasn’t throwing punches anymore.

  “Dad, I wanted to get pregnant, so stop blaming him for it,” hissed Asty, ignoring Tooth’s face when he frowned at her. Of course, they would be surprised, but she needed to clear Hunter’s name somehow.

  “I’ll stay and clean up here,” Tooth said, and Asty could sense just how badly he didn’t want to get involved in all this, but after beating up her boyfriend and strapping him to a dental chair, he would not be getting a free pass.

  “Tooth, he needs help. You put all those shards into him, and someone needs to remove them,” she said, knowing Tooth had enough medical knowledge to deal with that and steady hands. Something she didn’t possess at the moment with her fingers trembling like baby chickens.

  Since Dad didn’t even answer her last sentence, she shook her head and glanced straight at Tooth, who eventually gave her a “Fine.” At least he didn’t try to explain himself.

  Hunter moved slightly closer to her and looked into her eyes with an infinity of worries, even though it was his face that was bruised. “You know we will need to have an even harder talk with your dad, right?”

  Asty rubbed her face and held on to his jacket, not sure where the waves would throw her now.

  Asty

  Asty felt like a helium balloon with dozens of holes that was now propped against the chair, with life slowly seeping out of it. Hunter told it all, minus the details of how they met and who else was involved, but he mentioned everything she told him about the ritual, about the life she wanted for the baby.

  She was so tired after the stress of that day, so angry with herself for handling things so badly, but she couldn’t find even a bit of anger at Hunter in her heart. She knew he meant well. He loved her and was worried for her safety and for the safety of the unborn baby. He wished for a future for all three of them, and she was torn, because when she looked at him so bruised and battered, she couldn’t help but want to be selfish and stay with him. Defy Mom’s wishes and think of her own happiness.

  Tooth listened to it all without a word as he methodically pulled out pieces of glass out of Hunter, cleaned the wounds, and applied bandage where needed. But as Hunter talked, his deep voice faltering at times due to the pain, Asty stopped looking at Dad. She didn’t want him to know all this. He was clearly as lost as she was after Mom’s death, and he shouldn’t have to know the truth behind her actions, but there it was. He’d now know why she decided to get pregnant with a man she didn’t know. He’d know of the things she did to her body, of her plans for the future, and of Mom’s secret notebooks.

  “So in my mind, as a Satanist yourself, I hoped you could shed new light on this matter for Astaroth,” Hunter finished, wincing when Tooth’s tweezers dug deeper into his hand. Hunter had taken off his jacket and sat in just his T-shirt so that Tooth could have a more thorough look at him.

  The one thing Asty hoped for as she was exposed by Hunter’s words was that at least Dad would see what good intentions Hunter had toward her.

  Priest stayed silent for a long moment, his face as if carved in stone. In the end, he got up, walked around the desk, and pulled up a chair to Asty so that he could sit closer.

  “I’m a Satanist, but that’s only a name. I thought you knew this, baby.” He grabbed Astaroth’s hand so gently in his thick fingers. “I don’t believe in demons, hell, or heaven. I’m not even a member of the Church of Satan, because I don’t agree with some of their philosophy. I have my own code of rules, and I have always encouraged you and Bell to do the same. To not give into superstition, to think rationally and ask questions.”

  Asty exhaled. She knew all this. But whether Dad’s personal code of conduct was something to follow, she wasn’t sure, considering it allowed him to brutalize Hunter. But she nodded and slowly looked at him.

  “Your mother on the other hand … She …” Priest squeezed Asty’s hand. “I never told this to you and Bell, as we agreed on that with Dolly, to not distress you. Your mother was living with schizophrenia. She started being ill after she had Bell. That was why we waited such a long time between our two children—the doctor wouldn’t let her go off the drugs for a while. Most of the time, she took her meds and was doing really well, but at her worst, she was like a different person. She believed demons talked to her, that she knew what the future holds, that she is awaited in hell.” Priest had to take a deep breath and close his eyes for a moment before looking back at Asty again. “I loved her like a madman, and I think that her personal rituals were good for her, like a time for meditation. I meditate, too, from time to time, but I don’t really believe I’m talking to Satan. It’s about reflection, and soul searching. What I do can cause some serious fucking mental strain, and that’s how I deal with it.”

  Asty choked on her own breath and gently squeezed Hunter’s forearm, which now felt like the steadiest thing in the world. Schizophrenia? Her mother was ill, and she never knew? “But ... how did we never notice?” she uttered, completely out of her depth. Her mother had always been such a calming presence in her life, always there to listen and offer her guidance.

  “Remember that time when we sent you both to summer camp out of the blue? Or when your mother went to a spa sometimes, and you wouldn’t be allowed to go with her?” Priest raised his eyebrows. “Schizophrenia can be inherited by children, and she was very scared that even knowing about it could trigger it in you or Bell. She loved you both very much.”

  Asty bit on the inside of her cheek and clutched the bottom of her dress, her chest so tight it was difficult to breathe. “This is so horrible ...” she uttered, shivering at the thought of Mom only having one person’s support all that time. Asty could have been there for her if she had known.

  Dad sighed and entwined his thick fingers. “So those notebooks she filled up in hospital … She needed to stop taking the psychiatric medication through chemo, and then in her last weeks, she didn’t even want them anymore, and I hoped it could help her last longer if she didn’t ingest any other drugs, so I wouldn’t try to change her mind. Asty … baby, I know it’s hard to take in, if you’ve been reading into those notebooks so much, but they’re gibberish. The product of an ill mind. Your mom would never want to push you into something like this.” Dad’s voice trembled, and he went silent.

  Asty rubbed her face, shaken to the core. If Dad was right, then all her attempts, all the sacrifice was for nothing. All of a sudden, it was hard to breathe, and she squeezed Hunter’s forearm. So she slept with two random guys for no reason? If this was true, then she really had been putting herself in danger. “B-but ... when she talked to me, she made sense. When she talked about our family, she made sense ...”

  Despite the bandage on his hand, Hunter still let their fingers entwine and squeezed hers gently.

  Priest nodded. “Of course, she wanted it all to be true. She was facing death and was delusional
. I know that to you she was a hero, but she was only human. She believed in all those things, did the rituals, and she still got schizophrenia, then cancer, and still died. And you know what? I would also like to believe that there are demons guarding me, that I will live on forever in a sacred place in hell, and that … and that one day I will meet Bell and Dolly there. But I don’t. It’s not an easy thought, but in a way, it makes life all the more precious. To take your life because of some fantasy belief would be a sin against yourself. A lot of people who call themselves Satanists actually have different definitions of what’s right or wrong. Some believe that it’s a person’s right to take their own life, some believe that you shouldn’t, but what makes your possible choice so painful, is that it’s rooted in self-deceit. Just because you want something to be true doesn’t make it true. If you find a way to contact demons, and are able to prove their existence, then at least this choice would make sense in some kind of way, but right now, you need to take a good hard look at your actions and beliefs. And I can’t tell you exactly what to do. You need to work it out yourself, Asty. You like charming candles, you like reading tarot cards, these are not essentially wrong to do if they help you in this way or another, but what I have heard is hurtful. You hurt your body for this belief.”