"When we get out of here, I'm going to rip Carlos apart," Richie says with absolute conviction.

"Get in line, buddy," Seth mutters.

"And then I'm going to kill that little bitch of his."

"Santanico?" Kate asks.

Silence hangs in the air momentarily before Richie's threatening growl fills the space around them. "Scott. He has to die, Kate. There's no way around it."

"What are you talking about?"

"He's working for Carlos. Don't tell me you still don't get that."

"No, I don't," she bites out. "I need to talk to him. I have to hear him out."

"You need to let him go."

"Fuck you, Richie!" she snaps. "Would you let Seth go?"

"Seth didn't sell us out!"

"Really? Because I remember he agreed to work for Santanico to save you."

"Yeah, and look how great that turned out," Richie counters.

"Stop talkin' about me like I'm not here!"

Kate ignores Seth's terse words. "I'm not going to assume the worst about Scott when it's Carlos making the accusations. He's a liar who likes to mess with our heads. Why the hell should I believe anything he has to say about Scott"

"She has a point, Richie."

Even though it's pitch dark in the room, she sends Seth a grateful smile.

Richie's voice is laced with agitation when he speaks again. "What the fuck? You too?"

"Hey, all I'm saying is give the kid a chance to defend himself before we plot his death."

"Fine. But if he so much as looks at you guys the wrong way all bets are off."

She purses her lips, seething with anger that Richie's not willing to give Scott the benefit of the doubt. He'd do anything to protect Seth and her, but his generosity doesn't extend to Scott, her brother, the only remaining family member she has left - and that hurts. As much as she loves Richie she can't trust him with her brother's life, but she can trust Seth. "Seth, promise me you'll keep Scott safe."

"Don't get yourself worked up over this, Kate. Richie's not going to do anything stupid, right?"

"What are you doing, Kate?" Richie asks. "Trying to pit us against each other?"

"I'm trying to look out for my own because you won't. I can trust Seth, but obviously I can't trust you!"

"Are you fucking kidding me?" Richie demands angrily.

"You don't give a shit about what's important to me. Scott's the only family I have left but that doesn't matter to you, does it?"

"He's not your fucking family. He's a slimy bitch trying to get us all killed. Open your goddamn eyes!"

"Enough! Both of you calm the fuck down!" Seth roars. "Jesus Fucking Christ. I can't believe I'm the only sane one in this hellhole right now."

A frustrated sob escapes her lips as she struggles to keep calm. In the last few hours her entire world seems to have collapsed. Again. This isn't anything new, but each time her universe flips over it feels like fresh new catastrophe designed to take her out.

"So that's it, huh? You're done with me because I'm the only one willing to make the tough call? Is that how it is?"

Hurt saturates Richie's voice, his insecurities out in full-force. Although there's a small part of her that yearns to comfort him, she's too furious to offer him any solace. "You want to kill my brother and you expect me to tell you it's okay? Fuck you!"

"Kate, that's enough!" Seth interjects, always ready to defend his brother. "The only bitch going down is Carlos and his goddamn minions. That's it."

Refusing to argue when they've ganged up against her, she remains quiet.


Kate wakes up to Carlos' smug face staring back at her, the warehouse now lit up.

"Sleeping Beauty is finally awake."

She spits in his face, and he retaliates with a hard smack across her cheek which leaves her reeling. Only when she regains her bearing does she realise the room is empty save for Carlos and one of his minions. "Where's Richie and Seth? What did you do to them?"

"Los Hermanos Geckos are being prepped for the ritual."

"When I get my hands on you-"

"It seems to me you have your hands full with both of the brothers. Which one is your favourite? You must have one."

"Go to hell!"

"No, mi amor. That's what you'll be doing."

While the henchman moves behind her and starts to undo her binds, she prepares herself to attack. Carlos grabs her legs in one fluid motion but not before she gets a rough kick in, hitting his chest. Unfortunately his minion overpowers her easily to pick her up and throw her over his shoulder. They follow behind Carlos, and Kate tries her best to figure out their surroundings. Nothing about this place is familiar, although she's not exactly in the best frame of mind being upside down and all.

After what feels like forever, the burly minion finally throws Kate down on the ground.

"Gentle with her," Carlos chastises. "She needs to be protected for what's coming."

"What's coming is your fucking death," Kate mutters, glaring up at Carlos.

He merely smiles.

A voice yells out her name from some distance away and her heart soars when she spots Scott running towards her. He wraps her up in his arms, hugging her tightly. "Are you alright?"

Tears run down her cheeks. "Yeah, I'm fine. Are you okay? Did he do something to you?"

"I have no reason to hurt your brother as long as you cooperate with us," Carlos replies with a sneer.

"You just have to do what he says, Kate. He'll let us go then," Scott urges.

"You can't trust anything he has to say!" she reminds him. "He's a lying rat."

"Look, I know him. He's a selfish bastard but he has more to lose by killing us than letting us go."

"What the hell does he want?"

"He needs your blood, just a little bit of it."

She shakes her head vehemently. "I'm not doing this with him here. I want to talk to you alone."

Scott catches Carlos's gaze and gives him a silent nod.

"Five minutes. That's it," Carlos says before sauntering away with his minion.

Every instinct in her body flares up. Few hours ago Carlos was threatening Scott's life and now he's listening to her brother, like they're buddies or something. "You're working with him? How can you do something so stupid?"

"Because he promised me he wouldn't hurt you."

She exhales an exasperated groan. "And you believe him? Come on."

"I told you. You're valuable to him, you and those asshole brothers."

"Where are they? Where's Seth and Richie?"

"Carlos didn't want to keep you guys all together in case you started plotting something against him."

"He better not have hurt them."

"Why do you care so much about them? If it wasn't for them, we wouldn't be here!"

"According to your best buddy, this was destiny. So you can't really blame them, can you?"

Scott shrugs his shoulders. "I don't give a shit about them."

"Carlos says he knew mom."

"Oh, he knew her alright."

"Don't be like that."

"She knew everything, every scary thing that existed out there and she didn't tell us anything."

"Scott, she was sick!"

"No, she wasn't sick. She was a fucking coward!"

"How can you say that?"

"Mom knew this was gonna happen," Scott yells, his voice cracking under the weight of unshed tears. "But instead of prepping for it she took happy pills and shut the visions out. If she'd done her job, we would be fine right now. Instead, she took the easy way out and left us to deal with her mess."

Kate remembers the lively, vivacious woman her mom once was, full of joy and happiness, and then the illness took over and changed everything. In the months before the accident Jennifer had been paranoid, irrational, easily angered - was this why? Did her mom know what was to come? Had she really had visions of the future?

"Kate, you're my sister. I'm not going to let anything bad happen to you. Carlos just needs a bit of your blood for the ritual and he promised me he'll let you go after."

"How can you trust anything he has to say?"

"'cause he's never lied to me."

It breaks her heart to see the absolute certainty in her brother's eyes even as her doubts grow stronger. "What does he get out of this ritual?"

"He gets to be the most powerful vampire in the world, more powerful than the lords themselves."

"You think that's a good thing?"

"As long as we're safe, I don't care."

"I can't trust him."

"Then trust me. Please. Trust me, Kate. I'm your brother. We're still family, right?"

Her stomach is twisted up in knots, every nerve in her body struggling against what she's about to say. "Fine. I'll do what Carlos wants but I have a few conditions."


Hey all! I thought my muse had gone on a permanent holiday but all the lovely emails and comments brought her running back to work! As always, thanks for reading and supporting the fic.