Seth keeps his mouth shut, growing increasingly uncomfortable as Richie shows Kate how to feed from the local blood whore they hired.

"Take your time," Richie advises, like he's tutoring a kid on math or something. "Taste the blood, sip it."

Seth reminds himself that Kate needs to learn how to survive as a culebra, and knowing how to feed is an important part of that - no matter how disgusting he might find it. Scott may have turned her into a vampire when she was shot but that little prick is now a pile of ashes after the massacre with Carlos and now it's up to Richie to show her the ropes.

"It's okay, sweetie," the blonde coos. "I don't mind. I like it actually."

Kate shakes her head, looking at Richie. "I don't need lessons on how to enjoy her blood. I want to know how to do this without killing anyone."

Seth smiles. That's his girl, a fucking saint even if she isn't human anymore.

"You won't, trust me. Do it the way I showed you and both of you will get something out of it." Richie quirks up an eyebrow. "She might even come."

"Oh, I hope I do."

"Ew," Kate mutters. "This isn't lesbian porn."

"No one's telling you to eat her out, just eat from her," Seth snaps. The last thing he wants is to discuss a goddamn orgasm in front of Kate. It feels so fucking wrong.

Kate shoots him an annoyed glance and turns her back to him. After those three months of living together, he knows firsthand it's always easier to piss her off into doing things than coaxing her. As expected, she wraps her arm around the blonde's waist, and starts drinking from her the way Richie tells her to. The chick moans loudly after a while - hell, she practically purrs - under Kate's touch.

Richie runs his fingers through Kate's hair. "Don't guzzle it. You won't feel her heartbeat then. Slow down, sip it, taste it, and listen to her heart." She does as told and Richie continues to whisper words of encouragement. "That's it, just like that."

Jesus fucking Christ. His brother's probably getting a stiffy from watching this. "Richard. Outside. Now."

Richie pulls away, takes a step back, and locks eyes with him.

"Now, Richie," Seth orders.

His brother grudgingly heads for the door and Seth follows him out of the motel room.

"What the fuck is going on in there, huh?" Seth demands.

"Yeah, exactly," Richie fires back, irritated. "Ease up on her, alright?"

"What the hell is that supposed to mean?"

"I get that you hate us culebras but she needs to learn this shit, and you standing there and scowling at her isn't helping."

"What'd you expect me to do? Grab a pompom and cheer her on?" Seth grumbles. "If you can't tell, brother, she ain't exactly head over heels about this."

"Yeah well, it fucking doesn't matter if she is or not. This is her life now. The sooner she deals with that and accepts it, the easier it'll be for her. And you need to stop being a whiny asshole about this whole thing."

"And you need to stop enjoying it so goddamn much."

Richie purses his lips, glares at him defiantly. Seth knows there's always been something between his brother and Kate, and just like before, he needs to protect her from Richie.

"She's not some booty call, bro. She's Kate, and you're not gonna touch her or fuck her," Seth warns.

"Or what? You'll ground us both?" Richie mocks.

"I'll kick your fucking ass is what I'll do."

"Yeah, yeah," Richie says, rolling his eyes.

Seth follows his brother back into the room but he's not prepared for what he finds in there. The blonde is dead, her body ripped apart, and Kate's rocking back and forth on the floor. "I tried to stop, I tried. But I was so hungry, and she started fighting but I couldn't stop."

Richie dashes towards her and gather her in his arms to comfort her. "It's my fault, not yours. I should have stayed with you, I shouldn't have left."

"I don't want to do this, I can't. I just want it to end."

"Listen to me." Richie grips her chin, forces her to look at him. "This is your fucking life now."

Kate's wet eyes shine with a stubborn glint. "I'm never going to feed from anyone else again."

Richie's eyes narrow. "Yeah, you fucking are."

"She didn't deserve this," Kate reminds him.

"She knew the risks."

Kate bristles. "And you think that makes it alright? How can you be so cold about this?"

"Because it's survival of the fittest. And you need to get on board and adapt if you don't want to end up like her."

"You're a fucking monster," Kate bites out. "I don't want to be like you."

Seth knows where this is going, realises there's nothing but disaster written in Kate's future if she doesn't learn to accept who she is now. "Kate, look at me."

She does as asked, regret and shame washing over her blood-soaked face. It breaks his fucking heart to see her hurting like this because, human or not, she's still the best person he knows and she doesn't deserve to suffer.

He leans down next to her, determined to get through to her. "Richie's gonna teach you how to control this, and you're gonna learn. You're gonna learn so something like this never happens again. You get that, Kate?"

"I don't know if I can."

"You can and you goddamn will," Seth says, peering at her closely.

"I don't want to kill anyone else," she whimpers.

"You won't have to, not for food," Richie says quietly, squeezing her shoulder.

"And you don't have to worry about being like Richie. Two of you ain't anything alike," Seth adds.

She doesn't respond, her eyes still glued to the corpse.

Seth casts a quick glance at his brother and finds him staring at Kate, gripping her hand tightly, like he's trying to take away all the pain that she's experiencing, and it suddenly dawns on him that it's already too late. His brother's fallen hard which means he's not going to leave Kate alone, not at all, and there's nothing Seth can do to protect her from him.

Well, fuck.