Hallows: The Golden Viper

Parkour Dating

Jauz, Zeds Dead & Nicole Miller- s.o.s.

B.B.

"Uh," Victor laughs nervously. "f**k. You guys are really going to make me talk about that, huh?"

"Dude, your mom was the widow of New City. She's like Jack the Ripper. No one ever f*****g caught her. They're not even sure she was a woman," Lucien says excitedly. "She is a legend among mortals and Crows. Please?"

I laugh because I know his fascination with horror movies and Widow is one of his favorite movies. Yeah, there's a movie about his mom. Victor scratches the back of his neck and nods. He pulls the tie from around his shoulders and puts it on the table.

"If you're not comfortable talking about your parents, don't," I shake my head.

"That was an option?" Carson huffs.

"I'll tell you just so you never f*****g ask again. Deal?" he sighs reluctantly.

"Yes, never," Lucien agrees. Carson and I look at one another and laugh because there is no way in hell that after this, Lucien isn't going to ask again. He's a details kind of guy.

"I don't really remember a lot about my childhood. I didn't really have one," he begins to tap the head of his soup spoon nervously so he doesn't have to look up at us. "My dad was Victor Escobar the fourth. I mean being the King Shark is kind of like our thing. We originated in Colombia. That's where he grew up until he met my mom and she took him out of the coke trade. For a while anyway. He knew what she was but he loved her.

"That man never f*****g said a word to me. Never even looked in my direction but he adored her. He was passive as hell. I never saw him lose his cool. He never raised his voice. My building, where I live. I was born there. Raised there. My loft is the space he granted me. The only one that came and went was my mom and it wasn't often.

"I wasn't allowed to leave the loft as a kid. It's not clear if it was for protection or because he was f*****g insane. I didn't go to regular school until eighth grade. I didn't interact with others really. My mom would bring people to teach me. I had this one teacher, who was obsessed with Donatello. He was the one that first exposed me to art. When my dad found out he was making me soft, he ordered my mom to kill him and she did,"

"f**k," Dec looks at him horrified. I think we're all looking at him like that. He just grins and shakes it off.

"I was twelve when he died. My dad. My mom put me in school so that she could run my dad's business. I went to that all-boys academy. That's where I met Damian. I knew what he was right away. The other kids picked on him. He was so small and skinny.

"He didn't have regular parents. So, my mom bought him for me. He belonged to this rich guy. He was his-" he pauses and tries to calm himself. Ro kind of taps his hand gently offering his support. "Anyway, my mom got sick shortly after that. I had to pick up where she left off. Damian helped me. It was pretty easy to pick up. To place where everything went. By the time I was fifteen, I had killed every gang leader in New City and replaced them with one of my dad's guys. Dominic, the guy that sits in front of my building, always has my back. He was only a couple of years older than me. I have a pretty solid crew.

"My mom got sick. Even as bad as she was, she couldn't stop killing. The longer she went without snatching someone off the street the sicker she got. So, I would send Damian to do jobs and I would-" he looks down at his hands. "I would bring people for her to feed on. After graduation, I couldn't do it anymore. It was time-consuming and I was f*****g tired of her. Of seeing all that s**t because I had to stay there to make sure her victims wouldn't escape.

"So, I killed her and I told Damian that she passed away peacefully. When she was stable she was actually pretty chill. She loved him. I didn't lose control until Mariah came around and told me what I was. I lost my grip on everything when the fringe took me in for basic training. That night Carson and I fought at the docks, I had just gotten back. I was told not to engage with you but I couldn't overlook your hostility,"

"Jesus Christ," Lucien still sounds a little excited. "Did she?"

"Did she what?" he asks. "Love him?"

"Pass peacefully," I shake my head.

"f**k no," he laughs. "That b***h fought me," he sighs heavily. "She f****d me up real good. By the time she lay dead at my feet, I hated her. I was glad she was f*****g dead. There was a moment when I thought I wasn't going to be able to kill her. I mean she was skinny and she barely had any hair left. The world f*****g rejoiced. Had the biggest party I ever threw to this day that following weekend,"

"Oh, my god," Carson lets out a heavy breath. "I thought I had to worry about Lucien butchering you, baby. I was dead f*****g wrong. Are you sure you want to live in the place his mom butchered hella people and then he killed her after we graduate?"

"Shut up," I roll my eyes but we all laugh anyway.

"None of that happened in my loft. It happened on the fourth floor. The only one that goes there is Damian. He has a clinic set up there,"

"A clinic?" Dec asks.

"For the people that can't afford health insurance," I nod.

"What the f**k? He doesn't experiment on those people, right? Baby?" Dec glares at me and then Vic. "Right, Vic?"

"No, I'd never allow that. The school throws away a lot of good medicine. We just repurpose it. He's into dark web s**t too, so we try to get the real bad stuff off of there as fast as we can. He also volunteers a lot with first responders and stuff. Damian is the ultimate dream boy with a psycho switch," I reassure them. Victor is the only one that laughs.

"f**k Damian," San rolls his eyes.

The guys all laugh at that. He's with my sister now. You'd think they'd give him a chance now that there's an obstacle. Not that there was ever a chance in hell. Wait. How did Chance sneak his way into my head just now? I guess there is a Chance in hell, just not the one Damian would need. What did I do with that little compact my dad gave me?

"Are we really going to eat after that?" Dec asks only making us laugh more. That's all we can do, I think. None of our stories are pretty. None of our stories are happy or tender. Moving on is the best way to go. Out of sight, out of mind.

James and Brandon, Carson's personal demon who is rarely ever around, begin to serve our dinner. Lucien looks over at me every now and then to see if I like what he chose and I make sure to show him that I do even when I don't like something because he went out of his way for all of us. Not just me. I mean Lucien, Lucien f*****g Daniels orchestrated a date for all of us. What a world.

"Carson," I turn to him. He looks up at me with a smile on his face.

"B.B.," he says in the same tone.

"What do you have Brandon doing? He's never around. I just know his name is Brandon," I ask.

His demon glances back at me and smirks at the mention of his name. Creepy, but he's nowhere near as creepy as James. James is like a trap door spider hiding, reading the room, and waiting for his opportunity to jump out and serve before you can even finish your train of thought. I love him.

"Lots of stuff. Brandon was a cleaner for Lucifer in hell," he reaches for his wine and takes a sip. I love his manners. I always have. He's like a trained prince lost in a world of monsters. "So, he has special skills I use to my advantage,"

"Do you have one?" I ask Lucien. "Because for sure, I've never seen yours,"

"His name is Beezie," he nods.

"Beezie?" Dec laughs. "Is that short for something?"

"Yeah, it's short for Beelzebub," he nods. My mouth falls open.

"I'm sorry, what?" I ask. The others look at him the same way I am. "Like thee Beelzebub? Like the sin of Gluttony, Beelzebub?"

"Yes," he laughs. "He's actually a really cool dude. He's a really good cameraman and he's not the sin of Gluttony anymore. He said he was demoted or something,"

"You have Beelzebub manning your camera and Ash Media cooking f*****g scones for you?" San glares at him. Carson snorts.

"His name is Ashmedai," I laugh. "Not Ash Media,"

"Ash Media is the name Delilah put on his person forms," Carson tells me.

"Oh," I nod understanding. "I didn't know that," I laugh because of his choice of words. "His person forms,"

"We also do f****d up s**t to feed," Lucien smiles at the two of us. Ro is the one that laughs this time. "I also took Ash off scones. He keeps turning the oven up to make it hotter and they get hard. He's on tea duty now. He's actually really good at that. Likes to put his hand on the burners,"

"We wouldn't want hard scones," I say choosing to ignore the rest of it. Lucien Daniels ladies and gentlemen.

"No, we wouldn't," he smirks.

"I want a demon buddy," Dec says. "Why do you guys get them and we don't?"

"Hellbourne privileged," San scoffs.

"That's an official title they've given us," Carson laughs.

"What?" Lucien and I laugh at the same time. He reaches out and pokes my side loving that we just did that.

"Yeah, they monitor us and they know about all the s**t we do here. The other hallows call us privileged. James is one of the strongest demons ever to be summoned and since he was summoned by Blackstones he sticks to your bloodline. He's kind of the king of demons out here," he smiles.

"Lord James," I laugh.

He looks over at me with a playful glare to remind me about telling anyone. I would never out him like that. He can continue being the mystery that he is to the rest of the world. I love that I have the coolest demon to ever be summoned. I've said this before and I will say it for the rest of my life. We should probably be serving him.

"It's you guys that are privileged," Lucien scoffs.

"Facts," I agree quoting San. The others laugh. "We didn't even know there were others out there,"

"Or that we could extract snake venom without it going to waste right away," he adds. Not important. We probably would have stumbled on that eventually.

"Or that there was a secret organization of Hallows who work around the world and that we're not allowed to be part of it. That's discrimination. If they were on social media we would have canceled them already," I nod.

"Nice one, baby," Lucien grins. "That's right. We should overthrow them and run it ourselves,"

"Oh, my Lucien. That is a great idea," I place my hand over his.

"You guys are a weird f*****g dynamic," Victor laughs.

"Facts," the others laugh.

"Try being in a room with the two of them plus Dec," Carson shakes his head.

"You are in a room with the three of us," Dec laughs.

"Car feels safe with the others here," Lucien jokes.

"He shouldn't. These are probably the only people who can potentially kill him," I smirk.

They all look at me like I've lost my mind. The three of us laugh. Okay, we are kind of rude when the three of us hang out. It's a lot of fun and we take a lot of pictures. I like looking my best when I hang out with Lucien. He's always looking for the right lighting and Dec always just looks so good. Like 50 Cent in Power. Simple yet, terrifyingly gorgeous.

"The only dynamic that creeps me out is B.B. and San," Ro says. We all laugh except for San. He looks at Ro like he just betrayed him. Mr. Takes everything personally.

"That's f*****g rude," San rolls his eyes.

"Why?" Carson asks. "I've never been alone with them,"

"The tension. It's like watching two bombs about to detonate at once," Dec complains.

"What does that mean?" I ask.

"Yeah," San adds.

"Oh, don't team up on me. We'll all fight," Dec snorts.

"No, seriously," I say.

"Seriously," San repeats and the room goes silent.

"You don't see what ya'll are doing?" he asks.

"No," we answer at the same time and I think our tones synced up.

"Someone help me," he looks around the table. Victor is the one that bursts into laughter.

"Mamita, you two are toxic as f**k together," he shakes his head. "You like to read in silence together and if someone interrupts you, los dos," he points between the two of us. "Have the same what the f**k do you want face. It's kind of terrifying,"

"In a cute way," Lucien chuckles.

"What?" I shake my head. He smiles. "What is our what the f**k do you want face?"

"Right here," Lucien points to himself. He sits back on his chair and pretends to read a book and his eyes come up without him moving his head. He looks so annoyed and angry. Very unapproachable.

"Holy s**t. Nailed it," Ro laughs.

"And then you guys don't even have to say a word. You just look at one another like you're f*****g connected," Dec adds angrily.

"You guys also stare at one another for long periods of time," Vic growls lowly. "Longest I've timed is twenty-seven minutes without blinking,"

"Wait, you guys time us?" I laugh.

"Yes," some of them say at the same time.

"I've never noticed that," Carson says. "I do notice that when you two-" he points from me to Victor. "-Are together, you're always getting in trouble. Every time she says I'm going over to Vic's my stomach clenches and then the entire time she's over there I swear I'm waiting for that call to get you both out of jail. Can't even imagine when we graduate and you two start going to school together. Who is going to watch you two? I'm going to be in BootCamp,"

"Big facts," San nods.

"So, where are we all going to be this Summer?" Ro asks.

"I'm going to Rionegro with Stacy," I raise my hand.

"I'm going to finish training in New York," San says.

"We're going on tour," Lucien adds.

"I will be training with my old man in the D.R.," Dec finally reveals where he's training.

"Serio?" Vic looks up at him. "With Chicharon and Epie?"

"Yeah, how do you know that?"

"They used to work for me," he smiles. "Real chill dudes. You're going to like it over there,"

"You been?"

"Yeah, take some bug repellent with you. f*****g bugs eat you up out there. Take a couple of family-pack spray cans. You don't want to run out,"

"Bug repellent," Dec repeats. "I'll remember that,"

"What are you doing?" Carson asks Ro.

"I have no idea," Ro says. Everyone looks over at him.

"What do you want to do?" I ask. He leans forward and takes a deep breath.

"I want to take my parents out of the picture," he answers taking me by surprise. He doesn't talk about them anymore and with everything going on, I haven't asked. I feel like a bad girlfriend now. "They're not giving me any breathing room. If it wasn't for San I don't think they intended for me to come back. My mom is here and she's causing problems. Dante gave me some advice and I want to take it,"

"My dad's solution to everything is murder," I remind him. He laughs as his pretty hazel eyes meet mine. "You don't have to go back there at all. They wouldn't be able to lay a finger on you here,"

"Agreed," the guys all say.

"Thanks, but I have no intention of giving this up. I don't want to go to school for some pretty job. I love this job. Having a crow has only opened up more opportunities. I want to deal with the Eastside and Old Town before I move in on my parents,"

"Why don't you come with me to the D.R. for a bit? You can clear your head and think about what you want to do," Dec shakes his head without looking up at Ro. "Even if you decide to go through with it, it's a win. You make new friends. Learn how to aim better,"

"f**k you," Ro smirks and takes a sip of his wine. His movements are very relaxed right now. He's usually all wound up. I'm glad he feels safe with us. Like he can let his guard down.

"You get some real training in you. Your self-taught s**t is good but there's room for improvement. You get fresh material. Or you can go get fringe training with San," Carson says as if they have all been thinking about it for a while.

"No, thanks," San shakes his head.

"b***h, what?" Dec glares at him.

"We don't use the B word here," Lucien scolds him. "That falls under the no fighting rule,"

"B.B. voided the rules," he shoots back.

"B.B. did do that," I nod. "Bad B.B., but I also would like to know the answer to the b***h what question. Would you really not want Ro to go with you to get training from the fringe over the summer?"

"No," he answers honestly. "Ro is a hardcore criminal. They would tear him up in the fringe. It's not that I don't think he can handle it. He just has better s**t to do. Like killing his parents and taking over the South American underground,"

"Thanks," Ro smirks.

"f**k this. It's too complicated," Victor groans. "Ro and San told us they connected and that they almost f****d in Mexico,"

"Victor," Lucien shouts.

I press my lips to my napkin trying not to spit my wine out but I'm scared to swallow because what if I choke in front of all six of them? I try to calm myself before I force myself to swallow and then I burst into laughter. They're all staring at me like I've lost my mind. I mean I'm starting to think that myself. I have six boyfriends and I'm having a great time watching them get along.

"Okay," I nod. "Good. Everyone knows. I'm glad that's no longer an issue," I look over at Lucien. "It's a relief,"

"Oh, not you too," he groans. "I am not jealous of them. We established that. I swear to f**k I am working with a bunch of amateurs. None of you stayed on script tonight. I hate you all. Not you, baby. You're doing great,"

"This is fun," I admit. "I feel like we needed this. I feel so much closer to all of you. We should do this at least once a month. No matter where we are. If we're mad at each other. Or if we're in the middle of something,"

"We're all going to be in different parts of the world," Dec says.

"Right, that's what's going to make it fun," I nod. They all look at one another and then back at me.

"I don't hate that idea," Carson says. "We can set a location and we do everything we can to get to that location for a weekend. We all hang out and catch up. It would be fun,"

"We can call it Parkour Dating," I laugh.

"Or we don't have to call it anything," Vic grimaces.

"You are a homeschooled f*****g weirdo. Learn to live a little," Lucien huffs. We all burst into laughter including Victor.

"I've been to places you've never even heard of, hashtag," he shoots back. "Look at me, I'm hashtag Lucien Daniels. I can make cookies. Shut up,"

"Hashtag," Carson laughs. "Vic with the sick burns. I can't believe I almost killed him,"

"You two are awesome together," Lucien smirks. "I didn't think there would ever be anyone you could actually vibe with outside of me and B.B. Also, never call me that again, Shark bait," he flicks his wrist and a piece of prime rib slaps Victor on the forehead. Dec and Ro just absolutely lose it. "Hater,"

I flick a pea off my plate getting Ro on the cheek. He flinches and looks at me with a glare.

"No," Carson growls. "I am reinstating the rules,"

"I don't work for you," I laugh. He looks at me challengingly as I take a piece of toast between my fingers.

"Don't you dare, Belladonna Blackstone," he shakes his head. "Do not throw-"

I flick the bread at his head getting him right between the eyes. I turn to the others and laugh as they watch me carefully. In this lighting, the glow of their familiars is shrowded by shadows. It should be terrifying but it's not. I can see us doing this forever. None of us ever has to be alone again and they don't just have me. They have each other. We have each other. Maybe my mom is right. This can be fun.