Hallows: Pretty Snakes & Devils

Intervention

Highly Suspect- Chicago

B.B.

As I make my way down to the library, I can hear everyone talking in hushed tones. I'd stopped at Delilah's old room to find that the boys weren't in there and David wasn't in my old room either. After helping Vic get all his birria enchiladas over here and eating the best dinner I've ever had, don't tell Lucien that, I fell asleep on the couch and someone carried me to our room. As soon as I walk into the library everyone stops talking. And I mean everyone. The stone is here, my guys, my parents, and all my siblings.

I know they're worried. That's the problem, isn't it? All of them are in my face because they're worried and they're not listening to anything I have to say. As of late, my go-to thing is telling them to f**k off and I am tired of it. I'm tired of having to be the f*****g bad guy. I know their intentions are good ones. Things are just getting out of hand and I don't want them here trying to comfort me when they're the reason I'm f*****g stuck like this.

"Good morning," I greet them.

"How are you feeling?" Stacy asks when no one greets me back.

"I am starving," I admit.

"I'll make your breakfast," James immediately volunteers.

"Are there still leftover enchiladas from last night?"

"Afraid not, Miss," he shakes his head.

"Aww," I groan. My dad steps away from a chair in the middle of the room and taps it. "Is there any way I could avoid this without hurting anyone's feelings?"

"No," my guys immediately answer.

"Okay," I sigh and reluctantly take a seat. "Can I at least hold a baby?"

"Sure," David doesn't hesitate. He offers me baby Dante. I smile at how tiny he is swaddled in his little blue blanket. He's bigger than when I first saw him. His skin has a little more color to it. His little cheeks are rosy. Oh, my god. I'm holding my little brother.

"That's f*****g cute," Vic grins. The guys all try not to look uncomfortable. I bet this image is scary for all of us but these are my little brothers and I've been excited to meet them since David announced their existence. I've always wanted one of these and now I have three.

"This is an intervention," Ashmedai announces. "We all decided that we all need this,"

"All of us or just me?" I ask cradling my brother in my arms. He smells so good. He just has that new baby scent. It's so innocent and pure. I lean in smelling him and just taking him in. I am going to need a turn with the other two.

"That was always my favorite part too," Mom smiles. She's got one in her arms as well. Delilah is holding the third.

"This thing is as big as a football," Del laughs tucking him onto one arm.

"Someone take him from her," I shake my head making my parents laugh. My dad takes him from her.

"B," David starts. "Let's start somewhere simple. Just to get you in a talking mood,"

"That's a great idea," Ash nods. I roll my eyes and urge him to go on.

"How did-No," he shakes his head. "What did you learn in Rionegro?"

"A lot of stuff," I shrug. "Familiar basics, anatomy, combat training, compartmentalizing, dead languages, hunting, and f**k I don't know. A lot of stuff. I was there for a while and I trained under six different reapers,"

"Okay. What you did last night, I've never seen that before. I've never seen any reaper use their familiar as armor,"

"Can I learn that?" Dad raises his hand while rocking the baby with the other. The bundle looks so tiny in his arms.

"Yes, it's not something any reaper can do. Not all reapers are going to be in the same dangerous situations I am and it takes up a lot of essence. I've never used it before because there's never been a Chance-level threat,"

"You did it with Eve as well," Carson says.

"Right, because I've fought with changelings before. Our familiars are here to protect their vessels. Often they're going to have to use their shape in us to make sure their vessel doesn't sustain all the damage I did when Rem left me in Rionegro,"

"How did you know she left you?" Mom asks.

"Originally, I didn't. Everything happened so fast and once we were home I wanted to forget the whole thing. But it never made sense. I was tired, but I was fully in Reaper mode. I had a couple of blood samples from when I brought us back. It shows up in our blood. Our blood becomes thicker in Hallow State. The black stone particles in our blood make it thicker to heal our bodies. It's why our wounds clot faster. Why we don't bleed out the way a mortal would.

"I found traces of Eve but not Remy. Even after our bodies cool down, it takes a while for the blood to simmer down. It's why we sleep or why we need a release. All there was left was Eve's venom and it was a lot of it. Eve tried to compensate for the lack of Remy's presence in my blood and it was the only reason why we survived. She pumped me full of venom and with the adrenaline, I was able to help Stacy,"

"Why would Remy leave you like that?" Lucien asks.

"She wouldn't. I've been looking into Merciful Death through the Reaper Temple scriptures but there really isn't anything. I'm going to try in Russia this winter. The only thing that I did find was that Reapers are not always the same familiar. Before my dad and I, our bloodline shared the same one with the exception of Tobias, Alexandria, and Imelda. The one stuck here with Grandpa. Dad's is completely new. So is mine. It's why he still has his. The rules are different for us and it's a little frustrating,"

"How did you know Chance was the one who called her away?" Ash asks crossing his arms over his chest.

"There are only a handful of beings who can. Death, Lucifer, Lilith, and Chance. One of those is dead. My dad doesn't even know he can. And what the f**k would Lucifer want with my Reaper when he has armies of them at his disposal?"

"How do you know I can do that?" Dad asks.

"What are you doing when you're not up here ruining my life?" I ask him. "Shouldn't you be trying to figure out what the f**k you are?"

"I figured it was the same thing as being a Reaper," he shrugs.

"Seriously?" David looks over at him with a glare.

"What?" he laughs.

"Baby, why aren't you talking to us about this s**t?" Lucien asks. "What is going on with you? You've been really distant and skittish since you got back,"

"She talks to me," Stacy raises her hand.

"I think we all deserve to know that there's something wrong, B.B.," Carson dismisses her. I stand up and offer baby Dante to his dad.

"There's nothing wrong between us," I reassure them. "None of this has anything to do with you guys. This is between Chance and me. Ever since we started all of this we all agreed that our relationships differed to each of us. Personal space,"

"Right, but this-" Vic waves his hand over my body. "Is not one of those things. Chance is not one of us. This thing is dangerous to all of us. Not just you. This is something we need to discuss. Not just the six of us but your parents and the Stone. We have no f*****g idea what that thing wants from us and he's treating us all like f*****g pawns,"

"He's right. We all need to be aware of what Chance does to all of us," Ahsan agrees.

"His attention seems to be solely on her," Ro adds.

"It does," Mom nods.

"Because she's the strongest one," Dad places the baby in a really big bassinet next to the couch. David sets baby Dante next to him. My mom goes over to them as well. "And because she's holding David hostage here,"

"You mean keeping him alive," I correct him. "I thought you out of all of us would be on board with this plan,"

"I was, but that thing keeps coming after you hard because of it. The longer you keep him here the more he's going to f**k with you. It's not like David is going to be gone forever,"

"This isn't just about David and you know that,"

"It is not your job to keep that thing from killing his father," he growls.

"No, it's not but it is my job to make sure that their war doesn't leak out through the gates. How am I supposed to flip the light switch off when our protector is distracted by a war in hell? It's not as simple as handing David over. I wouldn't have killed Mom if I knew that it would f**k everything up. I would rather she be living and hating everything that I'm becoming than letting him f*****g do everything that he is. He doesn't have all the power,"

"Except he does," he growls. "He has all the f*****g power over us. You attacked that thing, B.B. Who the f**k do you think is going to pay for that? Hmm? Did you stop to think about everything waiting for us back in Hell? Our families? Lily, Tony. Kelly Carter, everyone is down there and he can do whatever the f**k he wants to them. He can take that f*****g cuff off your mother's neck and she'd just fade away. You don't stop to think of the consequences when you're at odds with your Reaper, B. There are consequences to your f*****g actions, Pinky,"

"He's not going to hurt them," I shake my head.

"You don't know that,"

"You don't know that he is,"

"I can't," he waves me off and turns to look at my mom. "You deal with this s**t," he starts to walk away and stops at the entrance of the library. "I haven't been getting through to her for a while and I am this close to f*****g her up,"

"Okay, let's all just take a breath," Delilah rubs the back of her neck. "B, this is def something you needed to tell us. You can't keep this s**t bottled up. I know you and Stacy are close but she's always going to tell you what you want to hear. You're taking your place in the stone and we all need to know that you're okay so that we can function properly,"

"You mean like you told us you were going to hang yourself?"

"Exactly. I didn't say anything and you two paid the heaviest price," she points between Stacy and me. "I am never going to be able to take that back, B. No amount of apologizing is ever going to fix my f**k up and that's what Dad is trying to tell you, B.B. You can't take what you did last night back. You stabbed Chance with a f*****g holy relic. He tried to f*****g kill you in front of all of us and we couldn't do a single f*****g thing about it. You lost your f*****g mind," she growls. "You can't be doing that to us. Not to me and not to them," she points at the guys behind her. "I warned you,"

"I'm not going to let him treat me like I'm f*****g nothing, Delilah. I've done everything he's asked. All of it. That thing almost killed her. I-" My eyes get really hot. "When I cut you down from the chandelier there was no blood, Del. It was just you and me. I was f*****g covered in her blood," I wipe the angry tears from my face. "Her little wing was barely hanging onto her body. He f*****g left me to die. That's not okay," I shake my head. "Whatever his f*****g reasons, that's not okay. Mom and Dad are already f*****g dead. She's not. I'm not. I can give less f***s about what happens to them now. I can't care for them because they're on his side. They belong to him. You belong to him.

"Is that what you want me to tell you? Because that's the truth. I understand that the three of you made a choice for me but you signed your lives over to him. All I have left is here in this house. Alive. David. The stone. My guys. And my brothers. Those are my priorities. Everything else is not my problem. We take care of each other. I know they're not going to stand up to that f*****g thing. He wants something from me and so as long as I'm standing between them and Chance, I will never let him hurt any of us again. We're people. What's the worst he can do to a demon that is already in Hell?"

"It's not that simple," she shakes her head.

"Except it is," I sit down feeling my stomach churn. "You don't see that way because you didn't lose anything. We lost you. You are free to do whatever the f**k you want. You can be around them. Just because you're here doesn't mean that all of this is fixed. That we're all okay. None of this is okay. I shouldn't have to put up with his s**t like this. He's not doing me a favor by having the three of you parade yourselves in front of me like this. He's f*****g killing me. That's what he wants. He wants a monster, not a savior. It's that simple. It's you guys who don't f*****g understand that,"

"B.B.-" she reaches for me but Ash stops her.

"She's right, Flower," he says. "It's a psychological tactic used to train new generation high demons. None of them are ever smart enough to catch onto it this early on. Except for Chance himself," he looks back at my dad. "And Dante. The training isn't sticking to either of you and he's escalating things because he knows he's not always going to have control of the two of you. He's pushing for David not just because he wants to start taking out Generals. He wants to fully control your father,"

"He must know that the two of them together are worse," I shake my head.

"Which is why I want him with us," My dad comes back. "He won't be holding David over your head. Over any of us and we'd be able to protect each other properly,"

"What about the boys?" I point at them. "I'm eighteen years old. I don't know anything about raising babies. I can't just hand them off to some nanny and the demons. How f****d up is that? David deserves to have this. You're not just taking him away from them. What about the rest of us? He's all we got left. Rudy has made it clear that he doesn't want anything to do with us. David is teaching us what we are better than any of you ever have. You have Mom. I'm not going to give him up to Chance just because you miss your boyfriend. f**k you, Dad,"

"No one is going to say anything?" Delilah asks.

"It's kind of hard arguing with her logic," Marco speaks up. "She's right. We've been trying to fit everything back to the way it used to be but that way doesn't f*****g work for any of us anymore,"

"None of us have the patience for it. I like my results upfront when it comes down to what we are. I don't want to wait days and f*****g days to finish a hit. I want to work on my art. I want to pay more attention to Marc and Nat. I want to be helping our community. I like the lives B.B. is setting up for us," Dylan nods.

"I've learned more about what I am from David than I have the journals," Lucien agrees. "I like being mean to him but he knows what he's talking about,"

"Every time you guys are around, B.B. is agitated as f**k," Carson shrugs. "I need her to chill so we can all focus. I am not okay with the fact that Chance left her out the way he did. Or how badly Stacy was hurt. I remember being covered in Marc's blood when Chona came after us a couple of years back. I still see that s**t. It's not right that either of them had to be exposed to something that dark. B's thinking about us. It f*****g sucks to say it, Del but you're one of them,"

"This is f*****g bullshit," she growls. "There is no us or them,"

"There was tonight," I remind her.

"You provoked him," she hisses at me. "You f*****g made him snap,"

"Listen to yourself," Natalie points at her. "Listen to what she's saying! She provoked him? She f*****g snapped. I've been around B.B. enough to know that out of all of us, she's not the one that does s**t like that without a reason. Everything she does has a purpose because that's how f*****g crazy she is. I've only ever seen her snap that way at you and that one time at Carson.

"When she first got back after you left. B.B. was happy. She was running around doing her weird s**t in her lab. She was barely ever in the house and when she was it was to be with us. It wasn't until that f*****g Changeling showed up that she started panicking again. It f*****g sucks watching her fall apart the way she does, man. She has enough dead f*****g people in her face. She's right. There is no reason for the three of you to be here with her. You aren't protecting her anymore. We are. She is our Reaper,"

"This intervention was for her," Delilah shakes her head.

"Well, maybe now it's about you three," Lucien shrugs.

"B.B. needs to grieve properly," Vic adds. "I'm with her on this one,"

"Me too," Dec raises his hand.

"Aye," the others vote.

"So, that's it then. f**k us?" Delilah's eyes land on me. "I am part of this stone as well,"

"You don't have to go, but they do," I hold her gaze. "Mom and Dad can't be here. They can't be in my ear about David. I am not giving him up to anyone. He belongs to me. Body and soul until I hand him over to Chance. Dad and I can't help feeding off one another anymore. Our need to be the dominant is too strong and I don't want Ashley here. Take them back to New York with you if you like. I don't care. I just need some peace,"

"And if Chance kills them?" she insists. "How f*****g ridiculous are you going to feel then?"

"I'm not. If he kills them, we all get what want,"

"B.B. you can't just decide to cut us out of your life this way," Dad steps forward.

"Dad, every time you walk through that door all we do is fight. You take something from me. You have my audio drive. You have the key to my study. You took my compact again. It's not up to you to decide what I can and can't do anymore. I know you want to help me carry this but every time I look at you I'm reminded that I can't get too close. That I don't have you here with me. Every time I look at Ashley I see that f*****g smile and I want to throw up. I love you guys. I am never going to stop loving either of you but you're not here with me. I have to move past this. I have to make this choice for us and I want to choose you. I want you to be my dad but not like this. I chose them,"

"Okay," he nods.

"Okay?" Delilah shakes her head. "Don't just say okay, Dad,"

"Delilah, your sister is right," Mom moves over to him. He takes her hand. "She's alive. She's had to relive our deaths more than once and I think we can all use some time to breathe,"

"Take it back," Delilah points at me.

"No,"

"B.B. f*****g apologize to Mom and Dad, now,"

"No, Del. I'm not going to apologize," I sigh. She grabs the front of my sweater and pulls me up to my feet.

"Del," Natalie tries to pull her away. Mun peaks out from under her sweater and hisses at her. Natalie puts her hands up.

"Take it back, B.B."

"No,"

"They gave everything for you,"

"Dad, gave everything for me," I shove her. She stumbles back. "And I am going to make sure he knows that he made the right choice but he doesn't need to be here for that,"

"You are so f*****g ungrateful," she shouts. The boys start crying.

"Keep your voice down," I warn her.

"Or what?" she cries.

"Delilah," Carson and Lucien call out to her. She laughs angrily.

"I always knew you would f*****g do this to us," she points at me. "I knew you'd turn them against me,"

"No one is against you, Delilah. I'm not asking you to leave. You are a part of this Stone but that's it,"

"You mean we're not sisters anymore?" she nods and looks over at Stacy. "You got yourself one that's not going to tell you the truth, hmm? One you can actually control,"

"She doesn't control me," Stacy wipes her face. "You're just being mean, Del,"

"f**k you," Delilah spits on the floor in front of her. Before I can tell her to stop Natalie punches Delilah in the face. Carson and I grab her while my parents pull Delilah back.

"Don't f*****g talk to her like that," Natalie growls at her. "You have no f*****g right to talk to Stacy like that, b***h,"

"Natalie," Dylan takes her from her.

I step toward my sister and grab her wrist. I take her back to their apartment in New York and leave her there. Ash and Damian both look over at me worriedly. I offer them my hands and they take it so I take them back to her to give her some time to cool off. I can get them in the morning for the funeral.

"I'll be outside," My dad says when my mom goes over to David to help him.

"You should talk to him," Carson whispers in my ear. I nod when he goes over to David. I walk out and take the rocker chair next to my dad.

"I'm sorry," he says taking my hand. Black tears stream down his face. "I didn't realize. I was just caught up in having you in front of me,"

"Me too, but we can't keep this up. It's too hard,"

"Yeah," he kneels down in front of me and pulls me into him. I wrap my arms around him for what I am hoping is the last time in a long time.

"I'm really sorry, Dad,"

"No, no," he pulls back wiping my tears. "You have nothing to be sorry about. I'm the adult here,"

"Since when?" I laugh making him grin.

"I don't know," he shrugs. "But I have to start acting like it," he takes my hands and gives me my things back. "Promise me you won't go looking for my dad until you can see him yourself. Please?"

"Okay," I agree. He kisses my forehead and holds me until my Mom comes out of the house.

"I love you, Pinky. Forever,"