The sting of a forceful slap knocks Kate awake. She's momentarily stunned, thinking this must be a dream because Scott is standing in front of her, but the sharp stench of the warehouse brings her crashing back to reality. "Scott?"
"About time!" Scott gripes, circling around her. He starts jiggling with the handcuffs.
"Are you okay?" she asks, yearning to wrap her arms around her little brother and kiss him.
"We can do the whole hugs thing later. Right now I have to get you out of here."
Her arms are finally free, but sore. When she tries to stand up her knees buckle; luckily, Scott is there to catch her.
"You stink!" he groans in her ear.
She starts laughing even as her eyes brim with tears. He's real, he's actually real. This isn't some kind of a dream or hallucination. She hugs him so tight he starts squirming in her embrace.
"We don't have time for this! Santanico is gonna be back any minute."
"I know. I'm sorry. I'm just so happy to see you,"
Physically she's fine, but she holds on to her brother for support anyway. "Where's Richie and Seth?" she asks as Scott leads her through the darkened hallway.
"Who gives a fuck?"
She grips Scott's arm, urging him to stop. "We have to find them, Scott! We can't leave them here!"
"Why the hell not! You think they'd waste any of their time looking for you?"
She doesn't hesitate to argue. "Yeah, they wouldn't leave without me."
"After everything you still want to risk your life for them? You know Seth is working for Santanico, right?"
Remembering Santanico's pointed words, Kate feels the harsh flash of betrayal once again. However, she buries the anger deep down. Now is not the time to lash out. "That doesn't matter right now. I need to find them."
"I'm not risking my ass to save those fuckers!"
"Okay, fine. Then just tell me where they are and I'll get them."
"Why must you make things so difficult, Kate?"
The abrupt change in Scott's tone suddenly fills her with dread. She stares at her brother intently only to realise she's been deceived. "You're not Scott."
The man in front of her continues to wear her brother's face, giving her a sly smirk. "You are too clever for your own good, Niña."
"Who are you?"
"If I knew how special you were, I would have kept a closer eye on you."
His face, body morphs into a familiar presence, a man she hasn't seen in years. "What the hell do you want, Carlos?"
His eyes dazzle with malicious intent as he swaggers forward. When he extends his hand to touch her face, she smacks it away. If the smile on his face is any indication, the gesture only amuses him further.
"The Lords are clever with their secrets. They were careful not to tell me how valuable you are."
"What are you talking about?"
Carlos circles around her, scrutinizing her carefully, and her skin crawls with disgust at the way he leers at her.
"Beautiful," he remarks to himself, like she's not even there. "Your powers, it shines out of you."
She has no idea if what Richie suspected about her is true or not. Maybe she is a vampire, maybe not, but right now she's grateful for whatever it is that makes her a quick healer. Few minutes ago she could barely move, now she's filled with strength and resilience, and her brain starts working overtime to figure out how to get out of this situation. As if reading her mind, Carlos narrows his gaze onto her. Before he can attack, however, she kicks him in the crotch.
Culebra or not, they all go down when kicked in the balls.
Taking advantage of the opportunity, she starts running back to the room where she was held but Carlos is quickly back up on his feet and leaping up in the air to block her path. He kicks her hard against the stomach and she's thrown against the wall.
"I'm going to have to teach you obedience, Kate."
"Too bad for you, I was never a good student," she snarks back, groaning in pain.
"That's not what I've heard from your little brother. Scott says you were always the teacher's pet."
"You don't know anything about Scott."
Carlos comes to a stop in front of her. She looks up at him. From the corner of her eye, she can spot a vial of something green laying on the floor. She suspects it's some kind of venom - or hopes it is. In an attempt to keep Carlos distracted, she continues to taunt the fucker. "My brother wouldn't have anything to do with the likes of you."
"Your brother worships me."
"Yeah, and he also worships overweight men who like to wrestle for fun. Not exactly something to aspire to."
Carlos picks her up by the throat, squeezes her neck hard as she starts to panic, finding herself unable to breathe.
"When the Lords want something, they will do whatever it takes to get it."
She spits at him, trying to kick him.
"And they want you, Kate. I wonder what kind of a reward they will give me for you."
"Fuck. You."
He slams her down on the floor and the move knocks the breath out of her lungs. She sees black for a few seconds, her head pounding. Fear spreads through her like wildfire when Carlos leans on top of her.
"Don't flatter yourself. I have no desire to take you. You may be special to the Lords, but you mean nothing to me. The only woman I want is Santanico."
"Too bad she dumped your ass."
He's too busy slapping her to notice her hand inching towards the vile of venom. One second he's punching her across the face, the next she's grabbed the vile and smashed it into his mouth. Green ooze spills into his mouth and in a matter of seconds he's knocked out, falling on top of her.
It takes every inch of strength she has to push him aside. She gets up, picks up a few more vials that are on the table nearby and runs out. She's almost at the exit when she spots another room, the door closed. Pushing it open, she finds Richie tied to a table, his body and face covered in the venom. His shirt has been ripped open, and there are welts all along his skin. It hurts to look at him, but she can't give into that kind of emotion. Instead, she focuses on how to get him out of here. "Richie, wake up!" she urges.
When he doesn't, she slaps him across the face repeatedly until, finally, he opens his eyes.
"Didn't think you were into S&M, babe. Not sure I like this side of you," he groans in a hoarse voice.
Even when battered and bruised, Richie can't help but taunt her. The comment brings a smile to her face until she remembers Carlos can wake up at any moment now. She starts to untie the knots holding Richie and realizes the rope feels slimy, like it's been laced with some kind of chemical or something. Probably the green venom which seems to knock out the culebras.
"We have to get out of here, Richie."
"Where's Seth?"
She takes a quick glance around the room. "I don't know, but I don't think he's here."
"You're bleeding," Richie says, reaching out to touch her face once his hands are freed. "What the fuck did they do to you?"
"Probably the same thing they did to you." She helps him to his feet, and despite the awkward height difference between them, she shoulders his weight and manages to get him moving. "I sprayed Carlos with that green ooze stuff. Not sure how long he'll be out."
"Did he hurt to you? I'm going to kill him."
His voice is cold, and Kate knows from previous experience how dangerous Richie can be when he gets like this. The last thing she needs is for him to go after Carlos when they should be escaping. "No, we're going to get out of here first."
"We can't leave without Seth."
"He's not here. This is the only other room in the place and he wasn't kept where I was."
She opens the door marked exit and, suddenly, the harsh ray of sunlight is beating upon them. Right away she can feel Richie's skin heating up. Immediately, she steers them to the parked cars nearby.
Before she can break open the window, Richie knocks his elbow through the glass. "Get in," he orders, as if he'd been the one to rescue her.
She shoots him an irritated glance. "You get in the passenger seat. I'm driving."
"You have to hotwire the car to get it started."
"Thank you, Einstein. I figured that out on my own."
He levels her with a stern look but does as he's told.
She gets in and starts doing what Seth taught her years ago, a nifty little trick that's come in handy numerous times over the years.
Soon they're out on the road, speeding away.
"You're pretty good at that."
Hearing the pride in Richie's voice, she casts him a small smile. It disappears as soon as she sees that his body isn't recovering from the wounds. His face is set in a painful grimace, he's in agony. "We'll stop soon, I promise. I know you need to feed."
"I'm fine," he mutters before closing his eyes and lolling his head back on the seat.
"We'll find Seth," she reassures, recognizing that Richie is feeling the same deep, gnawing ache as her at the thought of Seth and Scott being out there with their enemies.
"Yes, we will. And I'm going to make Carlos and Santanico pay for everything they did. They're never going to lay a hand on you again."
There it is again, that cold, calculating control Richie exerts that makes her blood run cold. He's terrifying when he's like this because she knows, without a doubt, he'll stop at nothing to get what he wants. "Not until we find Scott first. He's with them."
"How do you know?"
"Because Carlos told me."
Richie cocks his eyebrow, gives her a mocking glance. "And you believe him? He's using Scott's name to gain leverage over you. He knows your brother is your weakness."
Irritation surges through her at his condescending tone. "I'm not an idiot. I know when they're lying to me."
"Are you some kind of a telepath now?"
She purses her lips. "They told me Seth is working for Santanico. Is that true?"
"If you really believe that, I've given you a lot more credit than you deserve."
"Seth will do anything to protect you, even if it's working for Santanico. If I kill her, then that means everyone she's turned dies. Including you. Did you know that?"
Silence fills the air, a thick blanket of palpable tension that's ready to explode any second.
"Looks like you have a choice to make, Kate."
"Do I really, Richie?" she lashes out, glaring at him. "If anything happens to you, I couldn't live with myself. Neither could Seth. So it's either I let the woman who ruined my life get away with everything she's done or destroy the two men I love. So, tell me. What would you do? What the fuck would you choose?"
He doesn't say anything.
"My brother's not my only weakness. You should know that by now," she reminds him in a quivering voice.
Richie reaches out to hold her hand, squeezing it gently.
A/N - Thank you to those who gently nudged me to continue. I appreciate all the comments and emails because they, combined with the new season, brought my muse roaring back. Once again, thank you for being so generous with your time :)
