Seth takes quick steps towards his brother. "Richie, I swear to god I'm gonna beat your ass down!"

"Richie, look at me," Kate urges, taking in the stake in Richie's hand as it looms over Santanico's heart. "Please don't do this."

"I'm just so tired of this shit," Richie whispers.

His voice is filled with a depth of desperation that breaks her heart, but her resolve strengthens when she notices the amused gleam in Santanico's eyes. "If you kill her, then what? What's that going to accomplish? All that'll do is hurt Seth and me more."

"She won't be around to fuck with you guys anymore."

"Richard, you may be a dumbass but you're not that big of a dumbass. Put that fucking stake down now!" Seth barks.

Kate starts speaking at the same time, hoping Richie will be too distracted to notice Seth circling behind him. "Getting rid of her doesn't mean Seth and I are out of danger. What happens when those Lords come after us, huh? Who's going to help us fight them then?"

"What the fuck are you talking about?" Richie asks, getting angry again.

"Carlos told me back at the warehouse the Lords want something from me. I'm pretty sure they were the ones fucking with my head, not her."

Richie nudges Santanico from behind. "What the fuck do they want?"

Santanico smiles. "What everyone wants."

Richie whirls Santanico around to face him. "Stop being so fucking cryptic!"

Santanico quirks up her eyebrow in defiance. "They want to possess all those who have the power to destroy them."

Those words send shivers down Kate's spine, and an uneasy feeling settles in the pit of her stomach. Suddenly, Seth shoves Santanico away so she's no longer within Richie's grip.

Seth slams his fist across Richie's cheek.

"What the hell, Seth?" Kate screams at the same time as Richie lands on the floor.

"Goddamn asshole!" Richie rages, rubbing his cheek.

"You pull a stunt like that again I'll kill you myself," Seth bellows.

Kate returns her attention to Santanico who stands in the corner, looking simultaneously bored and irritated by the brothers' antics.

"Kate, take this asshole outside for a few minutes, will you?" Seth asks. "I want to get some answers from the vampire fang bitch without having to worry about my idiot brother doing something stupid."

Kate looks back at him hesitantly, worried about leaving him alone with Santanico.

Seth locks eyes with her. "Don't worry, she's not going to kill me. Bitch needs us, remember?"

"I'm getting really tired of you calling me a bitch," Santanico speaks out.

"I don't give a fuck," Seth snaps back.

Feeling agitated, Kate storms out of the room. Although her bruises have healed, she feels broken and busted up, tired and weary. The last few hours have been overwhelming, and she still has no idea how to cope with Carlos and Santanico's revelations. These lords want something from her and she has no idea what, and, frankly, she doesn't care. More than anything else, she just wants to see her brother again. Those precious few minutes when she thought it was Scott in the warehouse had been incredible, and although it had been a mind trick, it reminded her how much she missed and loved him.

"Kate!" Richie grabs her elbow and spins her around. "You can't take off alone!"

"Fuck you!" She shoves him hard. "You don't have a right to tell me what to do! Not after that scumbag shit you pulled in there!" All her anger and frustrations come rushing to the surface and she finds herself shaking all of a sudden, as if her body can no longer contain all her volatile emotions.

"Kate..." Richie tries to hold her but she pushes him away. "I'm sorry."

"I don't care. I don't care about you and Seth! Your brother lied to me and you lied to me when you said you'd never leave again and I can't trust either one of you!"

"What I did in there was stupid, I know-"

"No, you don't know. You don't know what it's like to lose someone, lose your family, to be completely alone. That kind of loss shatters you, and that pain is bone-deep, like a cancer in your soul that just keeps getting bigger." She swipes the tears from her face. "I've lost everyone, Richie-"

"No, you have Seth, me."

She shakes her head 'no'. "You didn't care about that a few minutes ago. You were ready to end everything and leave us forever!"

"I'm sorry."

"I don't believe you."

She tries to walk away but he refuses to release his hold on her. As hard as she struggles against him, he doesn't let go. And then his mouth closes over hers, kissing her possessively, and it's exactly what she needs to distract her from the hurt.

He picks her up in his arms like she weighs nothing, and carries her to a nearby alleyway. Her body is pressed against the wall, the rough surface bruising her skin as he pulls her jeans and panties down. Within seconds she's unzipped him and he's inside her, her legs wrapped around his waist. He fucks her hard, and there are no whispers of love or tenderness, just a mad swirl of frantic passion she can lose herself in.


"Listen, you bloodsucking cunt," Seth approaches Santanico. "You fuck with my brother again-"

"And you'll do what? Kill me? We both know you won't do that."

Seth sneers. "Maybe I can't, but there's nothing stopping me from handing you over to your stalker ex. I bet Carlos can think of a lot of ways of torturing you alive."

"Don't you dare threaten me, you pathetic pig."

"That's a fucking promise, sweetheart, not a threat."

"We had a deal. You get me the Ford ring, and I'll disappear. It's the only way your brother will be safe."

His jaw clenches, and he feels bile rise in his throat. The last thing he wants is to protect the fucking vampire in front of him, but he'll do whatever it takes to keep Richie safe. And Kate. "What the fuck was that shit about the Lords? You never mentioned that before."

"You never asked."

Seth narrows his gaze. "I'm done playing games with you. Answer the fucking question."

"She's pure and innocent , like I once was. And the Lords want that."

"Why?"

"You'll have to ask them." Santanico gives him a cold smile. "You know they're making love out there, don't you?"

Seth takes a threatening step towards her. "Shut your fucking mouth."

"I never took you for the type of man who would share his woman."

He cocks his eyebrow. "You don't know anything about me."

"How do you know who she loves more?"

"What's really bothering you, sweetheart? Is it that my brother dumped your ass?"

Santanico stiffens. "He didn't leave me. I left him."

"Sure you did."

Just then Richie reenters the room, Kate following behind him closely. Looking at her, Seth knows immediately she's been crying. His stomach tightens, the thought of her being in pain. He knows the last few hours has been hell for her, and that shit Richie pulled earlier probably only added to her misery.

"You." Richie points to Santanico. "Let's go. You and I need to get something straight."

"Richie," Seth warns. "Whatever the fuck you're thinking-"

"Don't worry, I'm not going to do something stupid. I just want to talk to her alone."

Seth hears what his brother's saying, both the verbal and non-verbal. Richie's worried about Kate and he wants to make sure Santanico isn't in the room to make things worse. Seth nods. "You." He points to Santanico. "Go with him. If you pull any kind of dumbass stunt, I'll hand your ass to Carlos myself."

Santanico saunters towards the door, swaying her hips seductively. "You look a little flushed, Kate."

"Go fuck yourself, Santanico," Kate snaps back.

Seth smiles, proud of his girl.

Richie leads Santanico outside, leaving Seth and Kate alone in the room together.

"You should take a shower. You'll feel better," Seth says, and then regrets his dumb words. Truth is, he's not sure what to say to her at this moment. He'd kept the truth about working with Santanico from Kate, and knew she had every right to feel betrayed over it.

Kate takes a seat on the bed. "We broke into this room. There are no towels in the bathroom."

"I'll get some for you."

She gets up without a word and heads to the bathroom.

When Seth returns, the bathroom door is open and the shower running. He's dropping the stack of towels on the counter when Kate calls his name.

"Seth?"

He turns back to look at her, sees the anguish on her face. Instinctively, he starts to remove his clothes. Soon he's standing in the tub with her, holding her close in his arms as the hot water rains over them.

"I'm sorry," he whispers, kissing her face, her lips, her body. "I'm so sorry."

"I don't want to lose you. I can't."

"You won't. I promise."

She kisses him with a desperation that makes his heart melt, and his body hard. God, she's fucking beautiful, and amazing, and all he wants in this world is to keep her and his brother safe.

He can feel all his goddamn sins wash away as he makes love to Kate, and she whispers in his ear how much she loves him.

A/N - Thanks for reading and taking the time to comment. I'm really enjoying writing this fic, and I hope you enjoy reading it.