Chapter 27
Salem
Every time I spotted Heresy—whether he was talking to one of his brothers or just hanging at the Roost like all the Slayers did now—I found a way to avoid him. It took everything in me not to glance back, not to feel the ache that was building in my chest.
I found it funny how the Slayers were all dead set on not honoring our Presidents’ truce, but they were here at every party, lurking around. They were bidding their time, waiting for a chance to fuck up the peace and rub it in Riptide’s face. But what pissed me off the most was the way Heresy just suddenly... vanished. Like I didn’t exist anymore.
Thanksgiving had come and gone, and still, not a single word from Heresy. I couldn't say I was surprised. We'd left things in a mess, tangled in anger and confusion. And maybe that would’ve been fine if life hadn’t thrown me a curveball so hard I still hadn’t figured out how to catch it.
I sat on the edge of my bed, my knees pulled up, elbows resting on them as I stared down at the tarot deck in my hands. The scent of burning sage filled the small room, curling around me like a protective shield. Maybe it was for the best that he wasn’t around. I didn’t even know what the fuck I’d say to him right now.
It had been two weeks since I missed my period. Two fucking weeks of pretending I wasn’t freaking out. I’d blamed it on stress—the shit with my initiation into the club, the constant pressure of earning my patch, the rollercoaster with Heresy. But deep down, in the pit of my stomach, I knew it wasn’t just stress. I knew something was off, something had shifted inside me.
The cards were a ritual, a way to ground myself when life felt out of control. And right now, I was standing on the edge of a cliff, one wrong step from falling into a pit of madness I wasn’t sure I could handle. My heart pounded as I shuffled the deck, the cards worn and familiar in my hands. I needed them to tell me something. Something concrete, something to grab onto.
I laid them out, my hands shaking a little. Three cards, face down, their backs taunting me. With a deep breath, I flipped the first one over. The Queen of Cups stared back at me. I snorted, more out of frustration than anything else.
“Emotions. Great,” I muttered to myself. “Like I haven’t had enough of those lately.”
The Queen of Cups represented womanhood, intuition, emotional depth. It was a card that always showed up when I was feeling out of control, and I hated that. I pushed on to the second card, my fingers trembling a little more now as I flipped it over.
The Empress.
I froze. My throat tightened as I stared at the card in front of me, the figure of the Empress sitting in all her maternal glory. Creation. Fertility. Life.
Shit.
The fucking Empress.
I fixated on the card for what felt like an endless amount of time, a cold sweat breaking out across the nape of my neck. I wanted to throw the whole deck across the room, send the cards scattering across the floor. I wanted to scream, to curse at the universe for fucking with me like this. Because I already knew. Deep down, I knew. And the tarot—those damn cards—were just confirming it.
Fertility. Life. My stomach twisted, and I almost gagged at the thought. Pregnant. The word echoed in my mind, sharp and unforgiving.
I slammed the deck into my bedside drawer, the wood rattling as I shoved it shut. Fucking tarot. Sometimes I hated how damn accurate it could be. How it could point a finger straight at the thing I was trying to avoid and make me face it head-on.
I couldn’t base everything on a card reading, though. I needed confirmation, something solid, something real. But the cards had never lied to me before.
Running a shaky hand through my hair, I pushed myself off the bed. I needed to talk to my sisters. They’d know what to do, or at least they’d be there when I fell apart.
But the thought of telling them... admitting it out loud... it made my chest tighten. It wasn’t just about me anymore, and that scared the shit out of me. What would they think? What would I do?
And Heresy—fuck, what would I even say to him?
I paced the room. I wasn’t ready for this. Not now. Maybe not ever.
In the Roost that night, I ended up on the worn-out couch, surrounded by the familiar smell of leather and stale cigarettes. For once, the place was unusually silent, as most of the girls were out on a ride. It was just me, Pixie, Raven, and Razor gathered around like we were about to hold some kind of secret meeting.
I could feel the weight of their gazes on me as I fidgeted with my hands, picking at a loose thread on my jeans. I didn’t know how to start the conversation, didn’t even know how to breathe properly. My heart pounded in my chest, like a fucking jackhammer, and my stomach was a mess of knots. I had to tell them. These girls—they were my sisters. If anyone could help me make sense of all this shit right now, it was them.
Pixie’s bright pink hair was the first thing that caught my eye as she bounced into the seat beside me, her usual wicked grin plastered on her face. “What’s up, Salem?” she teased, lightly nudging me with her elbow. “You look like you just ran over a puppy.”
I forced a weak smile, though my lips felt like lead. “Yeah, well, it’s worse than that.”
Pixie raised an eyebrow, leaning in closer, her grin fading into curiosity. Raven, sitting across from me with her arms folded and her ever-practical gaze locked on mine, didn’t say a word. Razor leaned back in her chair, puffing on a cigarette, watching me like she was waiting for the punchline to some sick joke.
I took a deep breath, the words catching in my throat. “I... I think I might be pregnant.”
The silence that followed was deafening. All three of them stared at me like I’d just dropped a bomb in the middle of the room. Razor’s brow furrowed first, her face etched with concern. “You joking?”
I shook my head. “Yeah. I missed my period, weeks ago, and I did a tarot reading, and… well, the cards basically confirmed it.”
You could hear a pin drop.
Raven was the first to break the stunned silence. Ever the practical one, she squeezed her arms tighter across her chest, her voice steady but firm. “Tarot’s great and all, but have you taken a test? That’s the only way to really know for sure.”
“No,” I admitted, shaking my head. “I don’t have one.”
Before I could even process the situation fully, Pixie was already jumping up from the couch, her pink hair swaying as she disappeared. She came back a few minutes later, practically throwing a little pink box into my lap. “Here you go,” she said, wide-eyed and impatient. “Pee on it, and let’s find out.”
I stared at the box like it was some ticking time bomb about to explode. My stomach twisted into even tighter knots. I stood up, feeling my legs tremble slightly as I made my way to the bathroom. The silence that followed me felt thick, suffocating, like they were all holding their breaths, waiting for me to come back with either a confirmation or relief.
In the bathroom, I was on autopilot. I stared at the plus sign for what seemed like ages. When I finally came back, the test clutched in my hand like some cruel joke, I didn’t even have to say anything. One look at my face and Pixie was already up again, eyes wide in disbelief. “Holy shit, the cards were right?”
I nodded, feeling the reality of it all sink in deeper. “Yeah. They were right.”
Raven was calm as ever, though her eyes softened with understanding. She reached out and placed a steady hand on my arm, grounding me in the storm of emotions that had me spinning out of control. “What are you gonna do?” she asked, her voice gentle but serious.
“I don’t know,” I confessed in a whisper. “I’m still trying to figure it all out. I don’t even know if I should tell Heresy…”
Razor, always the blunt one, snorted and stamped out her cigarette. “Well, it’s his baby, right? Maybe you should at least let him know.”
I shot her a look. “I’m not ready for that yet. I’m not even sure what I want to do. And don’t you dare tell anyone. Not a fucking soul.”
All three of them nodded immediately, the gravity of the situation settling over us like a thick fog. The teasing, the jokes, all of it was gone, replaced by a heavy silence that spoke volumes.
Raven squeezed my arm, her voice steady and resolute. “Of course. This is your call, Salem. We’ve got your back.”
I glanced around at them, my sisters in every way that mattered, and finally, I felt a sliver of relief. But it wasn’t enough to stop the storm brewing inside me. The reality of it was too much to face all at once. I didn’t know if I was ready to be a mother. Hell, I was unsure if I could face Heresy again after all this.
The weight of the decision pressed down on me, heavier than any initiation into the club, heavier than any dare or patch I could ever earn.
Over the next few weeks, I buried myself in club business like my life depended on it—because, in a way, it did. Every ounce of my focus went into proving I deserved my patch. I spent long hours at the Roost, doing the dirty work, running errands for the sisters, handling anything and everything they threw at me. It wasn’t easy, not with the weight of this secret hanging over my head like a storm cloud I couldn't outrun. Every second I wasn’t busting my ass for the club, my mind drifted back to Heresy... and the baby growing inside me.
But I couldn’t risk him finding out. Not yet.
And I hadn’t seen hide nor hair of him.
It hurt more than I cared to admit. Hell, I didn’t even want to admit it to myself. The pull I felt toward him was undeniable, but I wasn’t ready to face him, not when my entire world was about to shift. I had to figure out what I wanted, and I couldn’t let anything—least of all him—distract me from getting that patch.
I knew I had at least a month before I’d start showing, and I clung to that timeframe like a lifeline. It gave me time. Time to make decisions. Time to wrap my head around the fact that I was pregnant and everything in my life was about to change. But no matter how much time I had, it didn’t make it any easier to ignore the way my heart twisted every time I thought about the future—about Heresy, about this baby, about whether I was ready to face either of them.
One evening at the Roost, while I was cleaning up from a run, trying to keep myself busy, Pixie came barreling toward me, waving a worn-looking envelope in front of my face like it was on fire. “Hey, Salem! Looks like Rage sent you an invite to your own party!”
I raised an eyebrow, wiping my hands on my jeans as I snatched the envelope from her. “What the hell are you talking about?”
Pixie grinned, her mischievous eyes practically glowing. “It’s a celebration, sis. You're getting patched. Congrats, sis.”
For a second, everything froze. The noise from the other girls, the clinking of bottles and laughter—it all faded into the background as those words sunk in. I was receiving my patch. My heart did a weird flip-flop, and I could feel my throat tighten. I had been working for this moment since the day I joined the Hell on Heelz. The sweat, the blood, the sacrifices... it was all leading to this. But now, now that it was here, it wasn’t exactly the way I’d pictured it.
I was getting my patch. And I was pregnant.
I felt like I was being split in two, the thrill of becoming an official member of the club battling with the reality that I had a baby growing inside me. And I couldn’t tell anyone yet. I couldn’t even bring myself to think about how I was going to break the news to Heresy. How the hell was I going to explain that we were going to have a baby when I had no idea what we even were?
The envelope crinkled in my hand as I clenched my fist, my mind racing. I should’ve been excited, thrilled even, but all I could think about was how complicated everything had become. What would all the members think if they knew? What would Rage say? I’d worked so hard to get to this point, but now there was so much more at stake.
Pixie watched me with a knowing grin, leaning her elbow on the bar as if waiting for me to jump up and down or scream with excitement. But I couldn’t muster that kind of enthusiasm, not when my world was on the verge of unraveling. I tucked the envelope into my back pocket and gave her a weak smile. “Thanks, Pix. I guess it’s about time, huh?”
She winked at me. “Damn right it is. You’ve earned this, Salem. You’re one of us now, for real.”
As the words sunk in, I nodded, but my mind was already miles away, thinking about Heresy, thinking about the baby. My life was about to change in ways I could never have prepared for.
I glanced out the window and saw the sun going down, shadowing the Roost. One part of me wanted to run into the night, disappear, to avoid this mess entirely, but the other part knew that sooner or later, I’d have to face the consequences of every decision I’d made.
I was going to be a full-fledged member of the Hell on Heelz MC. But I was also carrying a Slayer’s child. And that secret wasn’t going to stay hidden forever.
The next night, I ended up at the clubhouse, trying to keep busy. Regardless of how much I tried to concentrate on anything else, my thoughts kept drifting back to Heresy. I hadn’t heard from him in over a month. Yeah, I had been doing everything I could to keep my distance. But he’d not showed up at the Roost with his brothers in a long time.
We Heels didn’t go to the Lair. I’d heard the Slayer’s clubhouse wasn’t exactly inviting. And unlike the Roost, it wasn’t even open to the general public.
Then, as I passed by a group of Slayers who were talking loud enough for anyone to overhear, one of them mentioned Heresy’s name.
My heart stuttered.
“Yeah, Heresy’s been on a run for us,” one of them said. “Took Cutter’s sister, Diana, along with him. Guess they’ve been getting real cozy.”
The words struck me like a blow, knocking the breath out of me. Diana. Of course.
He’d brought her here as a date on Halloween.
I felt the walls close in around me, a cold sensation settling in my chest. I thought I could handle the distance, but hearing that he was off with her? It was more than I could take. Devastation welled up inside me, twisting into something dark and bitter.