Hallows: Pretty Snakes & Devils

My Little Brothers

Simple Plan- Perfect

B.B.

David is standing in front of the glass that looks into the private NICU suite for the triplets. When he spots me he lets me hug him. There on the other side of the glass are three little blue bundles. They're so small in their little containers. I rest my head on his shoulder.

"Are you okay?" I ask him.

"I can't believe she's gone," he answers. Neither can I. Van wasn't a big part of my life but she was our friend. She might have been a hunter but she was never really an enemy. She didn't deserve this.

"Carson and Vic have the hospital on lockdown. We need to prepare for Van's funeral," I take his hand. "I know it's f****d up but you're the mayor and we have a responsibility. Delilah is on her way,"

"Yeah," he nods.

"Tiffany has her team working on the arrangements. All you have to do is show up,"

I can hear it in my voice. The heartlessness. I don't know how to comfort anyone. Not even myself. What do I say or do? He might not have been in love with her but he did love her. She may not have been the mother of her sons but she carried them regardless of how they came to be. She was part of our life and we were supposed to take care of her.

"What's this?" he asks holding my right arm up. He pulls my sleeve up. "Did they brand you?"

"No, no. It was a weird thing. I marked them and our essence got tangled up. Please, don't make me explain it in detail. These are our marks. They appeared on all of us,"

"Is that why Chance was here?"

"Yeah, uh," I look down at my arm. I remember me clawing at myself from the pain. The others tried to stop me but they were in the same situation as me. I would have chewed through my arm if I had the strength. "When it started, it hurt like hell and I just wanted it to stop. He helped us,"

"Are you okay?" he asks.

"Yeah, I'm fine. We all are," I reassure him. "Where is my mom?"

"She was called. She said she'd be back later today," he turns his attention back to the boys. "Do you want to meet them?"

"Yes," I nod excitedly. He smiles and taps on the glass to get the nurse's attention. She comes out and helps us with scrubs, hair nets, masks, and gloves. "Thorough,"

"Pre-mes," he nods. They're so much smaller than they seemed on the other side of the glass. The nurse excuses herself.

My stomach feels tight as I approach. David stops at the first incubator. On the little card that identifies the babies the name Dante ii Helsing is written in his pretty handwriting. The second reads, Ellis Van Helsing. The last one says, Ambrose Ash Helsing. They're tiny and perfect. All of them swaddled in their baby blue blankies and their little blue and white swirly beanies. I take their gift out of my purse and offer it to him.

"These are for them," I tell him. He grins and opens the box.

"B," he shakes his head holding up one of the pacifiers.

"They're my brothers. They deserve the best."

I had ordered these as soon as he told me what their names would be. The first pacifier is gold plated with the initials D.H. The chuppie is replaceable. The second one is white gold plated with the initials E.H. The third is silver with the initials A.H. The guys thought it was cute that their initials are ah and eh.

"Thank you," he pulls me into a side hug.

"How long are they going to be in there?" I ask him.

"There's no issue with either of them. They're just really small. Maybe a few days. A week tops,"

"Is there anything us-related going on with them?" I ask. He takes a deep breath and nods. He opens the little round hatch to little Danny's incubator and gently turns him on his side. The pulls the blanket down to show me the first mark of a hunter on the back of his neck. It's not like the one I removed from him, it's a different symbol. "Do they all have the same one?"

"No, they're all different," he shakes his head. "Do you know what it means?"

"That's the Hellian symbol for Truth," I nod. "Show me the others," he puts the baby back the way he had been and shoes me, Ellis. "Persuasion," Ambrose. "Dominance,"

"Why would they have Hellian symbols? Why would they be marked at all?" he asks.

"I don't know. Did Vanessa tell you what they did to her when they did the procedure?"

"She said she arrived and that they immediately put her to sleep. When she woke up it was already done," he shakes his head.

"How hard would it be to get into those records?"

"Very. This program technically doesn't exist," he sighs looking his sons over.

"The good news is that they can't be killed," I take his hand again and put the other on Ambrose's incubator. "The marks are authentic and I can feel them protecting them,"

"The bad news?"

"That I don't know jack s**t about other hunting marks. They're all designed to do different things. The one you and the others had were absolute obedience. That's what I focused on and the other journals are gone. When my dad came for Nirvana and took her with him, she destroyed a lot of research. Do you know if my parents are both coming back?"

"Yeah, Danny said Chance asked him to keep an eye on you guys when we went to check on all of you Saturday,"

"Okay, I have to get my dad back in the house so that I can talk to my grandparents. Hopefully one of them knows what's going on,"

"I thought you didn't like seeing them,"

"I don't but this is more important. Worst case is they don't know anything and they annoy me for a few hours," I shrug.

"Thank you, B.B." he lets out a sigh of relief. My phone buzzes in my pocket.

"I'll take this outside," I point at the door. He nods. I struggle to get out of my scrubs and by the time I'm out in the hall the phone is ringing a second time. It's Lucien. "Hey, sorry. I was in the N.I.C.U.,"

"Uh, we have a problem," I turn around to look at David.

"What kind of problem?"

"David's house is extra crispy. His apartment was cleared. Someone took every f*****g thing and no one is talking,"

"Where are our hunters?"

"That's how it came to our attention. Car and Ahsan are stitching Liam up,"

"An assault? In the middle of the day? In the middle of Hellbourne and none of our guys saw what happened?"

"That's why I'm calling, Baby. How is he holding up?"

"Not good," I groan. "Okay, I'll have my room and Delilah's cleared for him. They're linked and he'll have easy access to them. The doctors estimate a week's stay for them. We have eyes on the hospital right?"

"Yes, David has shadows on him twenty-four-seven. He's on Vic's side so the birds are always watching him too," he answers. I pat my pockets and find my pocket knife. "Car says maybe you should put wards up around the nursery,"

"I was just thinking the same thing," even if they get to the boys, I'd be alerted and I can just pop in. "Do I tell him?"

"He's going to notice, Baby. He'd probably want to hear it from you than anyone else,"

"Okay,"

"Stay there. I'm on my way,"

"I love you,"

"I love you more. I mean it, B. Stay there," he repeats and hangs up.

"Everything okay?" David steps out of the room.

"Umm, that was Lucien," I tuck my phone into my pocket. I look around and move closer to the frame of the protective glass. "Someone blew up your house,"

"What?" he asks alarmed.

"And your apartment was cleared,"

"By who?"

"That's what the guys are having a problem with. No one knows,"

"How is that possible?" he shakes his head. "What about the hunters?"

"Liam got shot when he went after whoever got your house. Lucien is on his way,"

"What are you doing?"

"Warding the room. If anything that isn't supposed to be here steps through, I'll know and well, I've got cool popping powers," I shrug. I prick my palm and smear my blood on them. Four. One on each corner. I do the same to the door that goes into the changing room and the door that goes into the nursery. I go into the room and carve the same ones into the bottom of their incubators.

"What about your parents?"

"Same blood or essence. The guys can also walk through here without a problem. Here," I carve my favorite ward on his wrist. "Now you,"

"Where did you learn this?" he smiles.

"Rionegro. There were witches in the vecindad near the compound. Villanuevas,"

"Holy s**t," he smiles. "And they knew who you were?"

"Yeah, I took out some of the cartels and gave their s**t to the people. Stacy is their favorite. She showed them how to make bank on the Internet after I stole it from some of the big ass mansions up there. One of them gave me the tattoo on my back. They called me La Santa Muerte,"

"You just bring joy wherever you go," he smiles sadly.

"Mercy," I correct him. "Sometimes all people need is a little mercy,"

"Is that what this is?" he asks.

"I haven't been very nice to you lately have I?" I sit down on the chair next to Ambrose's incubator. "No, mercy would be killing you, David. Mercy would be trapping your soul in my house so that Chance or everyone in hell you f****d over wouldn't be able to get you even in death. It would be the closest thing to peace you'd ever get,"

"Do you think about it a lot?"

"Do I think about you a lot?" I smirk. "Yeah, you destroyed my life, man. My dad's and my mom's. Their futures and everything they ever accomplished. Whether it was what you wanted or not. You still did it. The same way I killed Ashley. I destroyed us both and even if I apologize or she apologizes. It doesn't change anything.

"You're not entirely at fault but you aren't innocent either. I can hate you. It would be so easy for me to make you out to be the bad guy, but what's the point? I'd be doing the same thing the hunters did to me and then they'd suffer," I point at the boys. "My little brothers. My kids. Damian's, my stone's. It's an endless f*****g cycle. It's not that hard to offer something to anyone. Being kind to someone doesn't cost me a single f*****g thing. It's people like you who usually need it most,"

"People like me?"

"Yeah, people stuck in their parent's bullshit. It may not have anything to do with you. You might not even believe in it but it's all you know and I hear it's not easy to break bonds like that. Just try to be better. For them. My dad wasn't the best but he never subjected me to anything he was caught up in. Delilah chose the life she did. She lives for that stuff, but my dad didn't force it on her. She had options the same as me. He's still giving his best for us from beyond the grave. You're not Dante Blackstone but you're not David Helsing either,"

"Thanks," he smiles. "I don't want to be David Espinosa either,"

"So, evolve. You can take my father's name. David Blackstone. Husband extraordinaire,"

"I like the sound of that," the door behind him opens and my dad walks through it.

"You'll be the new Mrs. Blackstone," I laugh.

"And just like that, she's your daughter again," David grins.

"You tell her?" Dad asks him.

"Yeah," he nods.

"Do you know what it is?"

"Yes, we need to get you back to the house. Also, you only have your weird poem room now. Del's taking the master bedroom so that we can give ours to Dead,"

"Dead?"

"That's what she's calling us," David rolls his eyes. "David, Ellis, Ambrose, Dante,"

"Aww, that's cute," my dad pulls me into his side with a big smile on his face. "Are you okay?"

"Me?" I ask.

"Yeah, Chance isn't one to crawl out of his hell hole for no reason,"

"Seven deadly sins," I pull my sleeve up. "Why aren't you dressed to be germ-free?"

"Dead," he points at himself and then takes my arm. "f**k," he sighs. "I can't believe he branded you,"

"He didn't do this to us," I pull my sleeve back down. "It was kind of my fault,"

"Kind of? These are Hellian marks. Ashmedai and Lucifer's generals have these," he growls.

"Guys," David scolds us.

"Sorry," we say at the same time.

"Exactly. That's what we are to Chance and yes. Kind of. We got a little carried away with stuff," I say in a hushed tone.

"What stuff?" he demands."You better not be f*****g with the grimoires,"

"It had nothing to do with the grimoires," I shrug.

"What stuff?" he growls lowly.

"Danny," David shakes his head trying not to laugh. "Drop it,"

"Dad, stop,"

"What stuff, Belladonna?"

"f*****g. Okay?" I blurt out. He flinches like I just slapped him across the face. "I f****d them all the same day and then I gifted them my essence because it was just that good. Then the f*****g marks appeared on us and Chance showed up to make sure we didn't destroy the town. Happy?"

"I told you to drop it, man," David laughs. Lucien takes this opportunity to knock on the glass outside the nursery. Carson is with him. "This just gets better and better,"

"Get out of my face," my dad growls.

"So, this is what it feels like to see someone else being their punching bag," David laughs.

"Shut up, David," my dad rolls his eyes at him. "I'll let them in here,"

"Shutting," David grins and turns to the boys.

"I have to go take care of some stuff for my little brothers. But I need you to go to the house later so I can talk to your parents," I tell him.

"Why?"

"Because you and Nirvana f****d up some of the journals that I now need and I'm hoping they can help us,"

"What about the boys?"

"Someone blew up their house and shot my favorite hunter. I want answers and I'm upset so I'd like to watch Lucien kill someone while we're at it,"

"Get the f**k out of here," he shakes his head.

"Laters, Dad squared. Don't worry about the house,"

"I'm more worried about what you're going to do," he smirks. I remove the protective stuff and walk out to meet the guys. Carson reaches for me first. He tucks me into him so my back is pressed to his front.

"Liam is going to take a minute to recover," he holds up two bullets. One of them has a little gap in the middle. It looks like a capsule. The other one didn't hit anything hard enough to break it. There's a neon pink liquid in it.

"What's this?" I ask.

"No idea. Hoping you'd know or maybe Dumb Helsing," he looks at the glass.

"Holy s**t, there's three. They're so small. Can I see them? Please, B?" Lucien is all but stuck to the glass.

"Yeah, tell David to come out here," I laugh.

"Yes," he rushes inside excitedly.

"What the f**k just happened?" Carson shakes his head.

"I think Lucien likes kids," I watch as he goes into the room in his scrubs and tells David to f**k off. My dad laughs but also shushes Lucien. The two of them approach the incubators while David comes out.

"Two babysitters," he smirks.

"Are you sure you him to watch them?" Carson shakes his head. "Seems dangerous,"

"Tony was so good with you guys. The only reason Delilah became an iPad baby was because of f*****g Carter. No matter how much Tony tried to get her off that thing the damage was done. He'd buy her the updates as they were coming out," he looks over at me. "Let me see,"

"Team Dead in the house then?" Carson asks me.

"Yeah-" I press the speaker box next to the window. "Lucien don't you dare open that box," I growl lowly. He turns to look at us and throws his arms in the air. "Don't. We don't know if they're finished yet. You can't hold them,"

"Fine," he mouths and turns back around to stick his hand through the little hatch.

"Dad, seriously?" I glare at him. He flips me off.

"This explains why no one saw a thing. Vampire hunters. Sneaky f***s know how to get into places undetected. Who got shot with this?" David asks.

"Liam,"

"He'll be down for a bit. This is a Holy Light bullet. Deadly to vampires and dhampires. Some lower-class demons. Poisonous to all Hallows. If you guys get hit just spin your essence inside of you as fast as you can. It purifies the effects. From using them myself, they seem painful," he warns.

"We can do that?" both Carson and I ask at the same time.

"You guys really need a basics class at the Fringe," he glares at the two of us. "Yeah, the same way you pass it on to each other. Just don't let it go anywhere. That trick is good on poisons, paralytics, and zero-gravity spells. If you spin it around a wound it stops the bleeding. You can do that to the others. You don't stop until you can get the wound shut. Trap air bubbles in it and you can breathe underwater or raid gas. You guys can do all kinds of neat little tricks. Not everything is going to be turf wars,"

"I could have used that information a few times," Carson scoffs. He taps on the glass and waves Lucien out. "We have to go, Mayor Espinosa. Anything else we need to know about the vampire hunters?"

"If they got what they were looking for, they're long gone. No traces. That was Melodty's specialty. I'll see what she can dig up,"

"I'll call her. She's in Cali right now," Carson says.

"Ready," Lucien comes out of the room. David goes back inside. The three of us watch as both my fathers loom over the incubators.

"Does that make anyone nervous?" Carson asks pointing at them. "David and Dante together again? Just one of them running around here is crazy,"

"Mom's got them," I shrug.

"Damn right, I do," she walks out of the elevator. She hugs the three of us and turns to look through the window. "Tiff got a call from the new director in Italy,"

"s**t. How long do we have before they start the investigation?"

"It's started," she tips my chin. She's almost taller than me. What the f**k? "Tell James,"

"Yeah," I agree. She looks back into the room and sighs. "We're going to be fine," I take the file I was going to give David before my dad showed up. "These are the nannies we've lined up. James picked the top six. You guys choose,"

"Nannies," she groans taking it. "I was never fond of the f*****g nannies,"