Hallows: Den of Serpents

Or The Reaper Will

Bullet For My Valentine- You Want A Battle? (Here's A War)

B.B.:

"And then she implied that I was a slut," Stacy unpacks in front of the nail technician as she fills the acrylics. "She wouldn't be saying that if she knew the truth,"

"Do you want to tell her?" I ask.

"You should tell her whatever it is you're hidin', sugar," the nail technician advises. She has a really cool southern drawl. Half the ladies in here do. "Ya'll sisters. Fighting is part of the deal. Ya'll gotta come to an understanding,"

"Mhm," the woman filing my nails agrees. "Especially you Blackstone girls. Yo daddy is rolling over in his grave knowing ya'll out here arguing after her being dead and all,"

"She doesn't want to talk to me," I say looking over the stiletto-shaped nails. She's doing an amazing job. I went with white today. It looks like she's filling my bones.

"She was locked up for two years, sweet face. Give her a little time,"

"It doesn't feel like we have time. The last time she pulled away from me this way, I found a body hanging in the foyer of my house," I sigh. They all look at me sympathetically. Before anyone can say anything else, my phone buzzes in my pocket. It's James.

"Pardon the interruption, Miss B.B.," he answers.

"It's fine, James. What's going on?"

"I'm calling to inform you that I am on my way home. We'll be home by midnight,"

"That makes me really happy. I'll be there," I reassure him.

"Have you made way with Master Decarious? Ray wasn't disrespectful to you was he?" he asks.

"Not at all. We'll talk about it when you get home later. Did you find your guys?" I ask. He pauses probably understanding that I'm around mortals.

"Yes, Miss. There are now eight of us,"

"Great. I can't wait to meet them. How is Holly?"

"I'm good," she answers. "Thank you for offering to rescue me though,"

"You're welcome," I smile to myself. "We'll see you guys soon,"

"Was that James?" Stacy asks.

"Yeah, it was James and Holly. They'll be home tonight,"

"Oh, uh-what time? So we can try to clean up before he gets home to find the mess Luc has been making in the kitchen," she shakes her head.

"Midnight,"

"Are you going to come home tonight?" she asks quietly.

"Yeah, I want to introduce Dec to everyone," I nod.

"Is his daddy going to let you bring him to our side of town?" she asks worriedly.

"Yes, we came to an understanding," I say remembering the look on his face when I asked him how long he has to live. My stomach has been in a knot since finding out. I wanted to approach him sooner but he's been just as busy as I have making sure Dec is safe. The motives for what was done to him are unclear. It seems to be just a random act of hatred.

"Is everything all right?" she asks quietly.

"No," I answer truthfully.

None of us say another word. I hand the two one hundred dollar bills when they're done. They give us both a hug. I hand the Jeep fob to Stacy and look down at the Mercedes one in my hand. My eyes trail down the black sports car and then over to the Black Wrangler. I really got them both. The dealer helped me set up a password to keep Delilah out. The only one who will have them is Stacy, James, and myself. I might give the password to Natalie but she's not too crazy about driving.

"Are you coming home with me?" Stacy asks standing in front of the lifted Jeep. I laugh going over to her to open the door for the jeep. I help her into it.

"Yeah, I'm going to shower and change," I say. "I also want to see her face when we pull up,"

"You guys are going to end up fighting. You know people might get hurt because of that right? Remember what happened to Carson and Vic?"

"They didn't have control,"

"You have control, sweetie. Delilah doesn't right now,"

"Holly is coming home. She said no to my dad but she's not going to say no to Del," I laugh. "Let's go. My time with Dec is limited enough as it is,"

"I'd say let's race but it wouldn't be fair," she smirks.

I shut the door and go over to my new car. It smells brand new. It makes me a little sad. Mom's car was familiar. Her scent, mine, and lately Carson's. I love getting inside of it. It was a reminder of us sneaking away to have a little fun. Sure, we'll have fun in this car and definitely in the Jeep but disrespecting mom's car was a lot more fun. There was a certain pleasure that just sat well with me.

The engine purrs to life as I start up the car and watch Stacy pull out of the parking space next to me. I follow behind her. Delilah and Lucien are outside when we arrive. She looks away and makes her way inside before either of us gets out. Lucien looks at me bothered by how far I was willing to go to get under her skin. I get out of the car and lock it. I'm not sure why he would be surprised.

"B.B.," he sighs.

"Lucien," I mock him.

"You know you're being bratty,"

"You know I don't give a f**k," I smile.

"Is this what you wanted her back for?" he scolds.

"I didn't want her back. I accepted that she was dead. I want her to stop acting like I'm twelve and acknowledge me properly. As my sister. Not my mom. If I needed my mom I'd go to the garden where I buried her,"

I know I'm being bratty but what else am I supposed to do? She's not acting any better. As the eldest, she's supposed to be setting the example. She is and I'm following suit. I decide to slip on a pair of jeans, a plain black t-shirt, and my favorite Black Craft Jack O' Lantern hoodie. I decide to put on my Jordans and rush down the stairs. Carson grabs me around the waist before I make it out the door.

"You're not mad at me too are you?" he whispers into the back of my neck. I give him access. He doesn't hesitate to kiss my exposed skin.

"No. I'm not mad at you for once," I answer making him smile. I feel it against my skin. I turn around to face him.

"Are you bringing him back with you?" he asks. I nod.

"He doesn't know what he is," I inform him. "Ray told him today,"

"What are you hiding?" he asks making me look up at him. His warm hands bring tears to my eyes. He sighs pressing his forehead to mine. "How long do we have?"

"Not long. I'm going to try to cook something up to help him toward the end. He asked me to Reap him,"

"That's not a good idea. I'll talk to Vic and Damien about that. He's one of us. He deserves to go out honorably," he wraps his arms around me. "He'll be fine, B.B. We've got him,"

"What's going on?" Lucien asks. I pull away from Carson and turn towards the door.

"I have to go,"

"B.B.," he calls after me. I stop because if I walk out of here without saying anything to him he'll lash out at Decarious when I return. "This isn't just about you,"

"Right," I nod.

"Stay out of it, Lucien," Carson steps between us when I turn around to face him.

"You're just going to leave me out of the loop then?" he ignores him.

"Doesn't feel good does it?" I meet his challenge. His eyes instantly get dark.

"Luc, calm down," Carson warns him.

"This isn't my fault," Lucien shakes his head.

"I'm not saying it is,"

"Then what are you saying? Why are you punishing me for whatever the f**k is going on between you and your sister?" he shouts.

"I'm not. I miss you. You feel guilty because she's telling you she wants to find her footing and you don't always want to be there,"

"She's not ready to talk to you," he insists.

"Is she talking to you?" I ask. He finally averts his gaze. "This is where we are," I know she's not talking to him either. She's not even talking to Espinosa. She's distracting him with "concerns" about me. "I'm having company over tonight. James is introducing his friends so everyone has to be here tonight. Everyone. The entire stone,"

"Are you guys done talking about me like I'm not sitting in the next room?" Delilah calls from the family room. She walks out of my room dressed in a pair of shorts and one of Lucien's t-shirts. My entire body tenses up tightly as Remy's coldness floods through me. "Since you're the one in with all the rich folks, B.B. Holidays are coming up. The Hellbourne Debutante Ball, charity events, Garden-"

"Take the shirt off right now," I growl. The sound of the reaper in my voice makes everyone turn their full attention to me.

"What?" she asks confused.

"Take Lucien's shirt off right now, Delilah or I swear I will tie you up to the f*****g chandelier myself,"

I have no idea where the reaper is right now but she's close. She's so f*****g close I feel the rage of her possessiveness beating in my chest. She hasn't been around me in a while because I've been well-fed. She's getting whatever she wants but this is not something she is going to tolerate at all.

"Take the shirt off," Lucien steps between us. "Now, Del,"

"No," she scoffs.

The sound of a gun being loaded and pressed to the back of my head makes me shut my eyes tightly. I force myself to completely calm down as she steps out of the darkness behind the door. This is not good. This is not good at all. What happens if she shoots me with that thing? What happens if Delilah says no again? f**k my life.

"Take it off of her," she demands.

"Rem-" I try.

"NOW!" she shouts. The others jump at the force of her rage. The entire house vibrates with the sound of her wail. I put my hands up and nod when I feel the coldness of her breath sweep the baby hairs on the back of my neck.

"Take the shirt off, Delilah," I say calmly. The viper is nowhere in sight which means she's on her own this time. She unties the bottom of the t-shirt and pulls it over her head. I take the shirt from her immediately ignoring the subtle smell of her scent mixed with Lucien's. "Okay. You can put the gun down now. I have it. It won't happen again," the tears of fear I'm fighting back slide down my cheeks and she places her hand on my neck and comes around to face me. I have to remain completely calm or she'll overpower me. "I promise,"

"I tolerate a lot of things because you are a magnificent specimen, B.B. You're my good girl," her boney fingers caress my cheek gently. "I don't like this little arrangement. You are a good girl for me. I am the only thing in your life that won't leave you. Not now. Not ever. You belong to me. Let this be a warning," she pulls the pins from my hair and then shakes the high ponytail out. "Get your s**t together or I will get it together for you,"

"Okay," I give her a nod.

Her dark eyes stay on me for a while before she dematerializes into black smoke. I can't hold myself up anymore and I fall to my knees dropping the t-shirt so that I can wipe the tears on my face. My hands are shaking. Can't even begin to imagine what it would have been like had she been wearing one of Carson's t-shirts. Holy s**t.

"Bella?" Delilah whispers.

Anger surges through me when I look up at my sister. She's wearing a black tank top. There are marks on her chest. Burn marks. They weren't there when I examined her body which means they appeared when she came back. They're marks on her spirit. I read about them in the grimoire we're not supposed to be f*****g with. I've been learning a lot about the other side.

"I'm being incredibly patient with you, Delilah. I'm trying so hard to give you whatever it is you need but you're pushing the limits of what I can take." I wipe my face with the back of my hand. "She's never done this to me before. Remy and I have an understanding of what we want and we're usually always on the same page. I'm not going to forget this, Delilah,"

"B.B. I didn't mean to-"

"You never do. You think some bullshit ass apology is going to make up for half the s**t you've put us all through and it f*****g isn't. You think I want to hear about all the s**t you went through in purgatory? You think I want to tell you that I can still hear the sound of you hanging from the f*****g ceiling when I give into the darkness? I don't. I don't give a f**k about what you went through.

"I'd like to get my own s**t in order for once. I'd like to take a seat and work out my own problems as I see fit but I can't because half of them revolve around you and the other half make me wish I was the one dying instead,"

"What the f**k does that mean?" Lucien asks.

"Lucien needs to come home before seven just like everyone else. If you don't want to come home with him that's your problem. James will be back today which means after tonight, dinner will be at eight.

"I know I have to do all the stupid town bullshit things, Delilah. I'm on the committee since mom-" I swallow hard because if I lose it now, I'm not going to Dec's and he'll be alone while his dad is out. "Stacy and Nat are doing this with me. Carson volunteered to be my companion two nights ago when Lucien bailed on movie night. You can help him with photography. Just leave me alone, Delilah. Leave me and all of my things alone until you are ready. f*****g with me is only going to make s**t worse. Please. I don't want to hurt you but I will. I will f**k you up until you get the f*****g picture or the Reaper will,"