Hallows: The Golden Viper

We Connected

Coheed & Cambria- A Favor House Atlantic

Lucien

"You're going to sweat if you keep pacing. Go stand under the box," Carson growls at me as he fixes his silver cufflinks with B.B.'s initials outlined with diamonds on them.

"I love these things," Ahsan says looking down at his. I agree holding out my arm to look at mine.

"Gotham got me a good deal on them," Vic says. "I like the gold ones better,"

"Silver tonight," Carson rolls his eyes. "You'll see why,"

"Do you think it was too much?" I ask letting my head fall back as the cold air blows down on me.

"No," they all say collectively. Good.

"The big ass crown would have been too much," Ro laughs.

"Yeah, she's not ready for that," Dec agrees. "Give it a few years,"

"I agree," Carson nods. "That s**t will go straight to her head," we laugh because he's right. The reaper keeps fueling that dark side of hers. "Ground rules,"

"I was just going to ask," Ahsan groans. "How do we-"

"They're f*****g getting along," Dante walks into the study and points out the door. "I heard music and giggling in there. What did you assholes do? Tell me in detail so I can repeat it when you're not around," we laugh. "Seriously. I'm taking notes,"

"We're taking B.B. out collectively," Carson answers. "Lucien's idea,"

"You motherfuckers are brave as f**k. You know that?" he grins crossing his arms over his chest.

"I agree," Ash nods and points at the human head over the doorway. "What the f**k is that?"

"That's my father," Dante looks back at the head and then over at Ash. "Kelly stuffed his head for me as a gift for my thirteenth birthday,"

"My mom?" Carson laughs.

"That note next to it is a handwritten sorry from your father to Ashley. They were really close. He'll never admit to it but she was the sister he wished he had. The entire stone felt that way about her," he smiles. "Except me of course. That'd be weird,"

"What did he apologize for?" Carson asks. We rarely ever talk about his dad. Carter Kennedy was a complicated mortal. By the time he died, he had completely fallen into madness. It's the price to pay for falling in love with one of us as a mortal.

"Car didn't trust her at first. He treated her like hell. Threatened to kill her constantly. Called her a commoner every chance he got. And Ash went out of her way to be his friend. When the hunters were activated to kill our humans, they came for Carter and Ash. They were taken and they never really told us what happened but they survived it together,"

"Do I want to know why my mom was a Kennedy and not Kelly?" Lucien asks.

"It was business," he shrugs. "Lily and Carter were promised to one another to keep the peace between their families since before they were born. Anthony let it go after he killed Efraim De Laughrey. Kelly got vengeance when Carson was born and she refused to give him the Kennedy name. It won't be added to his birth certificate until he turns eighteen and he inherits the Kennedy fortune,"

"What?" I ask.

"Did you think you were the only one who would inherit a fortune when you graduated?" he smirks. "She also did it to protect him. Halestorm would have fought it. Tiffany gets a percentage of it and a couple of properties but the rest is yours,"

"Wait, Tiffany Halestorm is related to Carson?" I ask.

"Yeah, Tiff and Car are twins. He's the oldest,"

"f**k," Carson looks at me and laughs. "No wonder she's so nice to us. Does she know?"

"That you're her nephew? Yeah. She was there when you were born,"

"I mean what we are," Carson rolls his eyes.

"No, she doesn't. Carter didn't think she could handle it. Not even when we dated,"

"You dated Tiffany Halestorm?" I laugh. He doesn't seem like the kind of guy that would want a trophy wife.

"Mmm, I dated her best friend and she was kind of an attachment and she was nuts. Her essence was really good. She introduced Carter to Kelly. She also inadvertently put Ashley on my radar. Ash took her place in the school's piano competitions and she tried to go after Ash. People died,"

"Tiffany Halestorm? The lady that does all the PTA meetings and organizes all our charity events? That Tiffany?" Dylan asks.

"The very one," he grins and sits behind his desk.

The distraction was momentary because as soon as the others start asking questions and I drown out the noise, my heart starts racing again. Our dinner is going to be served at seven and it's only five-forty. And it feels like it's so long from now. What if she sees what we did on her phone? I shouldn't have switched places with Ahsan today, but f*****g Carson insisted. She's going to be so upset and not the mad upset she gets. This is going to make her cry. I'm sure of it.

"Relax," Ro says offering me a wax pen. I take it and take a big hit. Two. Okay, four.

"I've been planning our first date for weeks and it has to be perfect," I admit. "Anything less than that is not acceptable,"

"None of you have asked my daughter on a date before?" Dante growls.

"What? Of course, we have. All of us," Victor scoffs at him.

"Individually," Ahsan adds.

"This is our first time as the seven of us," Dec nods. "Never thought I'd say this but I'm with Lucien on this one. It has to be perfect. B's been f*****g stressed for a while now and every time we think we're past something we hit another wall. Carson, you were setting rules before Dante came in,"

"Do tell," Dante laughs.

"Right," Carson nods. "Tonight isn't about us. So, whatever s**t any of you has going on. Put a f*****g pin in it unless you want to talk about it now and get it all out there,"

I look around the room and I see the others looking at Ro and Ahsan.

"What the f**k are you looking at me for?" Ahsan asks defensively.

"b***h," Dec shakes his head. "You really going to let Ashley take that fall, right now?"

"What are you talking about?" I ask.

"Earlier today," Vic scoffs. "I've felt that before. When Damian injected Car with Josh's viper venom," he points from Ro to Ahsan. "That wasn't pain. That was full-on rage. Like don't look at my girl with your disgusting mortal eyes rage,"

"f**k," Ro growls putting his hands on his head. "Yeah, that was on me,"

"What the f**k do you mean that was on you?" I ask. "What were you doing?"

"Us, it was on us," Ahsan adds. "On our trip to Monterey Ro and I connected,"

"What?" Dec laughs. "What does that mean? You guys f****d? Is that allowed?"

"Do you want it to be allowed?" Vic laughs.

"I never thought about it but I mean I feel like it was bound to happen somewhere when we do group therapy," he shrugs. "I don't hate any of you anymore since we're all channeling all this power through B.B. I'm having a great time,"

"Group therapy?" Dante growls. "Give me the f*****g patience, satan. I already have the power to kill all of them,"

"You can leave," Carson suggests.

"I probably should," he shakes his head and pulls a black blunt from the inside of his jacket.

"You guys f****d?" I laugh turning my attention back to Ro and Ahsan. Everyone looks at me like I did something wrong. "What?"

"You're not mad that they f****d?" Carson asks.

"Me? Why would I give a f**k? Aside from this s**t f*****g up my girl. I don't give a f**k. Does B.B. know? Or does she suspect? Saying the word f**k repeatedly is fun. f**k," I might have hit the pen too many times.

"We didn't f**k," Ro shakes his head. "We just connected,"

"What does that mean?" Victor asks.

"We had a lot of downtime," Ro says. We all laugh.

"Not like that assholes," Ahsan growls. "We weren't always working and we started sparring away from the people and our familiars-"

"Your familiars connected," Dante finishes when Ahsan can't. "Was it just that once?"

"No, it's hard to separate them now," Ro answers. Dante sits back and nods.

"What's that mean?" I ask.

"I don't know, but I know what that's like. My Mamba connected with Kelly's Devil the first time we met. We were ten. Her guardians were dealing with my dad. After I killed my father the snake made me look for her and I killed a bunch of mobsters in Tokyo to get to her. They didn't reconnect after but that one time, it felt like love at first sight. She was my best friend. We did everything together,"

"Ugh," Carson shakes his head.

"Except that," he laughs. "She wasn't my type and she had a lot of demons in her head. Taking her essence in would have f****d us both up. I don't know how B.B.'s reaper can take your essence. Devils burn differently. Tried one once and I got extra emotional about everything,"

"My mom?" Carson asks skeptically.

"No, not your Mom. Your Mom thought it was cute though," he snorts.

"Back to this," I say. "You told B?"

"Yeah," Ro nods. "I had to. Especially after what happened when we got back,"

"What happened after you got back?" Ashmedai asks.

He always seems happy to ask us about our relationship. He's a weird guy. Is really good with his hands. When he's not itching for the heat of hell he makes the best croissants I've ever had. I really hope we don't have to kill him because he's a cool buddy and he keeps Del in check.

"B.B. took Dante's advice and she tried to break up with me," Ro glares at Dante.

"I f*****g love that kid," Dante laughs throwing his head back against the headrest. "She's crazy as f**k. I didn't think she was going to do it,"

"Why would you tell her that?" Carson asks. "You know what it's like to be like her,"

"I do. Which is why I would never recommend keeping anyone. The two I kept, I completely ruined. I want to say it's nothing personal but I'd be lying. There are six of you. If you guys ever have daughters, you'll understand," he shrugs.

"B.B. was really hurt," Ahsan says. "Not just her. Eve and Remy were pissed,"

"Eve tried to bite me," Ro nods. "Remy intervened and they fought. B.B. sent us away,"

"Yeah, they took it pretty hard," Ahsan nods.

"Why didn't you guys tell us?" I ask. They all look at me. "What? Is it obvious or something?"

"You, asshole," Dec scoffs.

"Me? I didn't do anything," I shake my head.

"You, as in because you're an asshole," Vic laughs. I look at Carson not understanding.

"You're super into Ro," he tries to clarify. Dante and Ash laugh.

"What?" I shake my head. Since when? Why do they think that?

"You've been a f*****g asshole since we got back," Ro growls.

"Yeah, because you assholes went into the eastside with explosives and didn't invite me. I love blowing s**t up. I thought we cleared this when we went into New City," I defend myself.

"Wait," Carson laughs. "That's seriously the only reason you were mad?"

"Yeah. And their f*****g inside jokes. What the f**k is Draino?" they both laugh. "See what I mean? That s**t is mad annoying. You didn't think-" I look over at Ro and laugh. "b***h, you are not that pretty. No offense but if I did ever swing that way, I wouldn't want a f*****g bottom,"

"Ooo," Dec and Victor both howl.

"Wait, you'd want to be the bottom?" Ahsan asks and the others laugh.

"Yeah, I'm already a dom. I'd want to know if I could take not being in control for once. Hypothetically, of course,"

"What the f**k is happening?" Dante shakes his head in disbelief.

"When have you ever been in control of anything?" Carson asks crossing his arms over his chest.

"When haven't I? My default setting is kill. I see sick s**t day in and day out. When I'm awake and when I'm asleep. It never stops. If I didn't have control, I'd blown this whole f*****g city up by now. I would have killed all five of you already,"

"Amen," Victor agrees. "I thought I had it bad in New City. They're f*****g basic compared to some of the s**t that happens here,"

"Especially on this part of town. You rich bitches are gross," Ro smirks.

"The east side f***s me up the most," I admit. "Witches and wolves are the f*****g worst,"

"All right. It's six-fifteen," Carson interjects. "Rules. Rule number one. Don't fight. We can do that tomorrow at the stump like we always do. Rule number two. Lucien set this up, follow the itinerary. B.B. has a weird thing about schedules," he pinches the bridge of his nose. "Rule number three and this is the most important one. No one brings up what happened Downtown. We agreed we'd tell her when it came out in the news tomorrow,"

"What happened Downtown?" Dante laughs.

"We accidentally blew up a building with fifty casualties inside," I scratch the back of my neck.

"Holy s**t," he flinches.

"There is no we," Ro shakes his head. "San and I weren't there,"

"San gave us the wrong f*****g bombs," Dec growls.

"Me? I told you to break the bricks in half," Ahsan shoves him.

"No, you didn't," we all say at the same time.

"s**t, I might have forgotten that," he groans. "My bad," he laughs. "This was on you though. I was supposed to set them up but you insisted on Lucien going with you,"

"Yeah, and you know why," Carson growls at him. I don't know why but I honestly can care less. B.B. is going to be so sad and upset with us except for f*****g Jimenez. Again. f*****g goodie two shoes. I hate him. How could the others think I was in love with him? Imbeciles.

"You guys are f*****g dead," Dante and Ash laugh. "I knew you motherfuckers weren't just being nice to her,"

"We actually weren't supposed to do this until my prom night but we agreed as a group that tonight would be better. She can't see the news if we're having fun," I sigh.

"No wonder you're all nervous," he shakes his head. "I hope there's enough room in the dog house for all of you,"

"Won't be calling it your room for a while," Ro smirks. "I'm going to have to clear my schedule,"

"f**k," Carson growls. "You really f*****g are. On top of all of this, she's going to be pissed we addressed this issue with you assholes without her. She specifically told me not to say anything. I hate all of you,"

"Wait, you knew?" I ask.

"We knew something was up," Victor says. "But she wanted to be the one to tell you in case you tried to kill one of them,"

"Okay, plan B. If s**t hits the fan I try to kill Asshat and she forgets our f**k up," I suggest.

I instantly regret it when it comes out of my mouth but it's better than her giving us all the cold shoulder for the next couple of weeks. Belladonna can hold a grudge for all eternity. I'm convinced. I don't want to ever not have her essence inside of me and I know she's going to prioritize us over our mishap for a while.

"You'd do that?" Dec shakes his head. "That's so unlike you,"

"If it means keeping her from doing some crazy s**t. I'm down with plan B," Ahsan nods.

"You f*****g better be. This all your fault," Carson scoffs.

"Wow, you guys are a lot calmer than the last time I was here," Dante gets up and hands his blunt to Ash.

"You cannot tell B.B. about any of this," Carson and Vic growl at him.

"Aww, come on. We're all friends," he shakes his head.

"We're really not. You're an asshole," Ro points at him. "I still haven't forgotten what happened with my parents,"

"Oh, come on. You should be thanking me. It made your life a hundred times better. Look around you, Jimenez. This is the family you deserve. Take it from someone who knows your father. He's an f*****g asshole. He doesn't give a f**k about you. All he cares about is his power and his money. If he could kill you and keep the crow in you he would. Let's not even get to your mother," Dante scoffs. "I thought my mom was a b***h,"

"Whatever," Ro sighs.

"Wait, really? You agree with him?" Carson asks.

"I do," Ahsan nods. "I'm really glad I went with him when I did. We might have lost him,"

"What the f**k happened in Monterey?" Dec asks.

"Yeah, what the f**k?" Vic agrees. The two of them, Ro and Ahsan, look at one another and laugh.

"That's f*****g annoying," I growl. The others laugh. "We have to go. We'll pick this up tomorrow at the Toad's clearing. We ready?"

"We are," Carson looks around the room. He picks some lint off Vic's shoulder and nods. "All right, Lucien. Do your thing,"