Hallows: The Golden Viper

As Humans Say, "Co-Parenting"

Svdden Death- Born To Suffer

Delilah

The sound of La Dispute coming from my dad's study is worse than when B.B. blasts Pierce The Veil from her room. At the very least her s**t is semi-romantic and Tony Perry is hot as hell for a man his age. I love the videos where he's just swinging his guitar around. I open the door to find my father sitting behind his desk going through Carson's financial books. He's sporting a black eye, a busted lip, and has an ice pack on his head. My guess is Carson saw B.B.'s face. Serves him right. f**k nut.

If I'm being honest, last night needed to happen. The house is calm and quiet. Everyone is doing their own thing without saying a word. They're probably all waiting to see how we apologize. We don't. Not really. When we're mad at each other it's never for the reasons we should be. He looks up at me and decides that he's going to continue to ignore that I'm standing right here.

"Carson and B.B. don't make mistakes," I tell him. "The two of them together is kind of scary. Did you know they have a plan to make Carson President of the United States?"

"You think they can do it?" he asks. I laugh.

"Yeah, I think they can do it," I say without a doubt. "What happened to your face?"

"The devils don't fight fair," he huffs.

"Oh, the three of them f****d you up?" I laugh. Smiling hurts my face. I'm considering making one of the crows hit me. Victor might be willing for the right price. He looks at me and smiles. "That's hilarious. I wish I could have been there to see that,"

"Did you and your sister make up?" he rolls his eyes.

"Yeah, we bonded over her pissing you off properly. Doesn't feel good when she turns her rage on you, huh?"

"No," he slams the leather folder shut. "Why did you provoke her?"

"I figured she'd hit me and then f**k off," I shrug.

"You left her alone for two years and then came back and started f*****g with all her s**t and you thought she'd hit you once and then get over it?" he shakes his head. "Did you forget who she was while you were in purgatory?"

"Mom had no f*****g reason to go in there in the first place," she really didn't. She has no right to go anywhere near her.

"She's her baby, Del and she did something f****d up to her. You got to let them deal with that s**t on their own. You baited your sister into hitting you, Del. That's not okay,"

"I apologized to her already," I nod. I did and she's not in that f*****g room contemplating cutting her skin open and crying because of it. So, you're all f*****g welcome. "And I fixed her hand,"

"Oh, s**t. I forgot about her hand. How bad was it?"

"She just pushed her middle knuckle back. I was a little too far when she swung and she hit my chin. You kind of deserved to get jumped by the devils. Her face is purple,"

"Neither of you should be fighting like that, Del. You're sisters and she was completely out of line. Ash was just trying to help,"

"B.B. likes being alone when weird s**t like that happens. Even the guys know to steer clear. Lucien knows when to talk to her. He didn't f**k you up because he didn't want to make things worse. She would have put you on your ass if you would have put your hands on him like she did Mom. She says she doesn't have favorites but he's her favorite,"

At least, I want him to be. He's been obsessed with her since we were kids and he's gone to hell and back because of it. He deserves to be the favorite. He deserves to be the only one. Sorry, Carson but I said what I said.

"Well, maybe she'll try when she sees the devils," he shrugs.

"You're supposed to be the adult," I remind him.

"Since when?" he smiles.

"I didn't mean what I said," I look around the room.

"Get the f**k out of here. You apologize just like your mother," he rolls his eyes. I laugh taking the pass.

Carson and Victor are the first I come across when I get downstairs. Victor is looking over Carson's swollen eye as if he's about to tell him how to hide how f****d up it really looks. I laugh and then jump out of the way when I feel a sharp coldness brush up against me.

"What the f**k?" B.B.'s eyes look like they're about to pop out of their eye sockets as she moves past me. Victor puts his hands up defensively. Her face isn't purple anymore. There's no sign of her- I guess f*****g six Hallows has its perks. "What did you do? I was gone one day. One f*****g day, Carson,"

"I know, baby. I'm sorry," he smiles or tries to. He groans and puts the back of his hand on his bleeding lip. To make things so much better Ahsan and Dec walk in looking no better than him.

"Oh, s**t," Vic and I say looking the three of them over laughing.

"Aww, you guys all have matching black eyes," I laugh.

"You have a black eye too," B.B. shakes her head.

"Yeah, but I didn't get my ass handed to me by Dad," I laugh. She looks up at Carson.

"You guys tried to fight Black Death?" she sighs. "By holding back your familiars?"

"You should see Dad's face," I shrug.

"Okay," she nods. She goes over to the pantry and comes back with a box. "Damian and I have been making these," she holds up some syringes. "In case of emergencies,"

"Is that your venom?" Carson asks.

"Yeah, but let's not make this a habit and you all have to fill these out for me," she whips out her phone. It folds in half. That's cool. Why the hell do I still have an iPhone if that exists? Their phones ping.

"Questionnaires?" Carson smirks.

"Yes, I need to know everything. All of the side effects. Any reactions? It's all on there. Agreed?"

"And if we don't agree?" Ahsan asks.

"You get to heal the old-fashioned way, sweet face," she smiles sweetly.

"Agreed. If I show up at school like this again, Gahlleger is booting me off drills," Carson turns around to lean against the counter.

"Stop. f*****g. Fighting," she growls at him and pulls one of the step stools out from under the side table by the couch. She taps it so he can take a seat.

"I would if I could," he shrugs.

B.B. takes a cotton swab and cleans the area around his neck before injecting him with it. We all watch him for a bit. It takes the venom about thirty seconds before the wounds on his face close up and the bruising begins to fade. He blinks a couple of times as his chinky eyes go back to their normal pristine state.

"Holy s**t," I blurt out. She takes her stylus pen out of her back pocket and starts writing notes down on her phone. "That was amazing,"

"Yeah," Victor agrees. "That's better than the viper venom,"

"So, are you guys in?" she asks the other two.

"You guys need to do this," Carson grins. "f**k. I think it healed everything. I feel f*****g brand new," he gets up moving around like he's testing out a new pair of shoes. "Dec, you got it the worst,"

"All right, fine. I'll fill out your questionnaire," Dec agrees. He takes Carson's place. She repeats the process. Except for this time it moves along a lot faster than Carson's. He groans holding his arm over his ribs until there's a popping sound. "The pain is gone. All of it,"

"You had a dislocated rib," she pulls his shirt up and begins to touch his side. She pushes her glasses up the bridge of her nose as she presses around and keeps writing things on her phone. She looks over his face and lets out a sigh of relief. She smacks him on the side of his head.

"Yo, what the f**k?" he growls at her.

"I expect better from you," she shakes her head. "Them, they don't know any better. You do. Get out of my face,"

"I-" he scoffs and gets up. "I ain't doing your stupid ass survey,"

"Don't and see what happens," she threatens. "San, in the stool," she taps it. He takes a seat. "Are you hurt anywhere else?"

"Not from last night," he answers.

"From when?" she glares at him. He opens his mouth and then shuts it. "You're not going to tell me?"

"Are you going to smack me?" he smiles.

"Do you want me to?" she places her hands on her hips.

"No,"

"Then tell me,"

"I got stabbed a couple of times doing an exchange with Allie on Wednesday,"

"What the f**k?" Victor and Dec say at the same time.

"By who?" Carson demands. I wonder if they're protective of one another for B.B.'s sake. It is cute to think that they take care of one another because they know that if something happens to one B.B. would be eternally wounded. Cry baby.

"It's taken care of. I can clean my own s**t up," he dismisses them. B.B. gives him the shot and does her thing. When she puts her phone down she takes a step back. Carson pounces on Ahsan before he can move.

"Who f*****g stabbed you, Ass hat?" he growls, gripping his face tightly. The others stand behind him daring him to deny Carson what he wants. Ahsan's eyes meet B.B.'s with hurt flaring in them. Okay, I admit that this is kind of fun to watch. I get why the others love being here now.

"Answer the question. San," she ignores his expression and even smiles.

"Calb, but it doesn't matter anymore. They're all f*****g dead," he tries to get Carson's hand off his face. She pushes Carson away gently and he lets her.

"Was that so hard?" she asks him. He rubs his face and looks them all over. "Let me see,"

He doesn't stop her from lifting his shirt. He's just as shredded as Dec and I know Carson and Lucien are as well. She takes some notes and then looks up at him.

"Don't," he looks away.

"We've talked about this. What do you think Ro is going to say when he finds out?" she asks him. He turns his head so he's not looking at her anymore.

"What the f**k is going on between you and Jimenez?" Carson demands.

"None of your f*****g business," he says and walks out of the kitchen.

"Hey," Carson calls after him. My sister stops him. "You okay with that?" he demands. "What the f**k did I say about hiding s**t from the rest of us?"

"Whatever is happening between the two of them, it's up to them to decide when they want to tell us. The two of them sat down with me respectfully and explained the situation. It's not what you think," she defends them.

"Really? Because I think they're f*****g," Victor raises his hand.

"It hasn't gotten to that," she shakes her head. Carson grabs her by her throat and pulls her into him.

"It hasn't gotten to that?" he asks. "What has it gotten to?"

"Why are you so mad?" she places her hand on his wrist. She is so f*****g patient with them. I could never and we just work together. His nostrils flare as he looks at her angrily. She's not in any way bothered or uncomfortable by it either. I mean why would she? She could put any one of them on their ass or all of them at once. She's the reaper. "Is this about Lucien?"

"Lucien?" I ask.

"Lucien is weirdly possessive over Ro because Ro is his baby. He's been teaching him everything he knows. It's been a whole thing with Ro and Ahsan hanging out," she explains as if Carson isn't holding her hostage right now.

"What does Ro have a wonder d**k or something?" I scoff.

"He's just a gentle person and he's very patient. Especially with Lucien. You know how he is. But the thing with Ro and San is completely different. Lucien is tapping into his Crow loyalty traits hard. It used to be just Carson and me but now it's extended to the other guys and he doesn't really know how to handle it," she says removing Carson's hand and grabbing her things. I wonder if he knows she lets him do that to her. I wonder if she likes it. They're all kind of weird. Very. Kind of is an understatement.

"Stop," Carson reaches out for her. "This isn't about Lucien. This is about you. I know that s**t is bothering you. You're just as f*****g possessive as we are if not more. None of us have given you a reason to tap into that but I see it in your eyes right now,"

"That s**t is hurting you," Victor agrees. "I'm not a big fan of Ro or San and it's bothering me a little,"

"This bond between the seven of us is different. It's not just the reaper and the crow. Chance said it would escalate like this. He said it could be-" She stops and swallows hard. "I can't deal with this right now. Leave them alone, please. I want to speak with Espinosa. I want to know if he feels different and I want to examine him to make sure I didn't f**k anything up inside of him. Ash said it was a possibility because of how long it was on him,"

"I'll drive you," Victor speaks up when Carson just stares back at her.

"I can't drop this, B.B. Not when you're hurting because of it and not when I know Lucien is going to f*****g flip," he pets her gently like she's a cat or some s**t.

"Just for now. Until I can clear my head a little and we'll all talk to Lucien together,"

"Talk to me about what?" Lucien and Jimenez walk in through the kitchen.

"I am exhausted just watching this," I blurt out. She looks over at me. "Holy s**t. How do you handle all of this?"

"This is a mild situation," she grins.

"Oh, f**k yeah. This is like low on an average scale," Victor laughs.

"Okay, okay," I pull my sister away from them. "Do your homework. Answer your little test. I am taking B.B. with me. Stacy is coming. Lucien, you and Dylan are at the warehouse today. Clean it up. Pack up deliveries and reorganize the weapons cabinet. You guys left that s**t a mess last week. Anyone got a problem with that?"

"Nope," they all say collectively.

"Seriously, Carson. Together. If I come home to another f*****g mess, I will go home with Vic even if I have to wake up an hour earlier than I usually do,"

"Fine, together," he agrees. She puts both her hands on his face and pushes up on her tippy toes to kiss him. "You act like you sleep,"

"Please, f**k up so I can lock her up in my dungeon," Victor laughs. "I'm still driving, girls,"

"What? I think I can protect my sister just fine, Victor Escobar," I huff.

"I'm not saying you can't, Delilah Blackstone," he says my name mockingly. "The future first lady of the United States is being threatened with kidnapping. So, future President Carson Hayashi decreed one of us be at her side at all times until said threat is eliminated. I don't know about you but I rather not rattle the cage right now. I like my teeth right where they are. Plus, I'm not big on talking. Just let me drive you around all day,"

"They're not going to let up," B.B. sighs. "Dad seconded it last night when I came down for pizza,"

"Did something bad happen?" I ask.

"Yeah, my dad beat the s**t out of my devils after I went to bed," she shakes her head.

"It was pretty even," Dad walks in. "How the f**k are you all healed up?"

"Perks of having a black mamba girlfriend, old man," Dec scoffs. "Ain't nobody giving up crows for yo stanky ass,"

"I happen to smell amazing," Dad rolls his eyes. My father is stupid white. The expression on Dec's face is priceless. "Once I feed, I'll be fine,"

"Here is a list of people you can eat," B.B. slaps a piece of paper on the counter. "There's a thing going on in Old Town. If your child girlfriend wants to feed on their war. She can head that way. I hope she becomes an adult soon,"

"Wow," he sighs taking the piece of paper. "You take the fun out of everything, don't you?"

"You have no f*****g idea," I laugh. "But I'm the controlling one,"

"Not anymore," Carson scoffs. "Something in your head broke and you don't want any help from anyone to help you get back on track. Someone has gotta pull your weight too,"

"Excuse me?" I look over at him.

"You're excused," he sneers. Everyone just walks out of the room as if they all agree with him.

"Biggie, five minutes to whoever is coming," B.B. calls out.

"Your bag, Miss," Ruth appears with my things.

"Do you think I'm not pulling my weight around here?" I ask her.

"I'm not sure what everyone's role is around here. I thought Miss B.B. was in charge but she seems to be as humans say co-parenting with Master Carson," she shrugs. "They make an amazing team,"