Richard. I hope you burn in hell.

His eyes snapped open. He lay there for several moments before sitting up, reaching for his glasses, though he didn't need them and swinging his legs over the edge of the bed. His watch indicated that it was just after six in the evening, the sun would be just about ready to drop.

Richard stood up and walked to the vanity and scrutinized his reflection.

He looked like hell, he knew it and the few hours' sleep he got hadn't seemed to help.

He gave himself a mental shake as he moved to his bathroom and went about his routine of getting showered and dressed, all the while thinking about his dream.

It was the same as all the others. Kate lying on her back in the desert. Her abdomen riddled with bullet holes and her face a mask of fear and anguish. He wanted to turn her, make her pain go away but, she refused and he didn't have the heart to go against her wishes. She looked at him with pure hatred. Had he been so blinded by his heart's desire that he failed to see the bigger picture? If you asked him the night that Kate died, Richard would say no. He was fighting for what he deserved and Kate had foolishly gotten in the way. But now? He wasn't so sure anymore.

There is no love left. She had said. What did she mean? Richard had felt a certain amount of tenderness towards Kate. When they first met in Texas she had been confused, scared and grieving the loss of her mother. Richard knew those emotions well enough to sympathize and yet there was a strength in Kate that he found fascinating. She was pure in a way that he couldn't fathom and yet she was selfless. Why hadn't he told her that when she lived? Now it was too late and the memory of her was still haunting him a year later! Wasn't it enough that he had to look her brother in the face and know deep down it was almost entirely his fault that Scott's only family was dead?

Stepping out of the shower Richard pushed all thoughts of Kate and the dreams from his mind. He had a business to run and a brother to keep in line.

Seth and Richard had spent the last year running the truck stop and keeping the local Culebra's in check. Not to mention moving merchandise through the border and making sure that the local cartels knew who was in charge now that Movado was dead.

It had been a busy year since he and Seth had taken over. Santanico hadn't been back since the night they killed Carlos but, she kept in touch. The last time Richard had heard from her she was set up somewhere in California. She was enjoying her freedom away from all the chaos. The loss wasn't a great one for Richard. He had come to terms with the fact that he had never been in love with her but, he did care for her on some level.

Scott Fuller had stayed with the brothers helping to manage the truck stop, work in the adjoining gas station and occasionally playing guitar with the band. Seth had taken the kid under his wing and even though Richard found him annoying at times, he too felt a little brotherly affection for the boy.

The local Culebra's had not taken Richard ascension as a lord well. In the first month Seth and Richard had to fight off several attacks by their rivals. Some came to fight for the throne that had been given to Richard while others came to bully the new lord into submission. They were either reeducated or convinced that Richard would not stand to be made a fool of or they were made an example of. They either stood with the Geckos or against them. There was no other way.

"It's not easy being King," Richard whispered under his breath as he fixed his tie and walked out into the hallway.

When he had taken over the truck stop he and Seth were fortunate. Movado it seemed had converted the back end of the building into seven separate living courters. Almost like a hotel most likely for the many guests he seemed to have. Richie had made it a point to have them remade into more modern accommodations. The rooms were window less to begin with but, other than that they needed some dire remodeling for they resembled nap rooms in a low budget horror film. New paint, tiles, toilets and beds. Top of the line sheets and carpeting inserted into each room. He took the biggest at the far left while Seth's was across the hall. Then there was a room for Scott but he usually stayed in the basement lodgings with some of the other employees.

When he entered the bar he spotted his brother, standing in his usual place, holding a drink and watching the crowd.

Over the year Jackknife Jed's had also been remodeled now resembling a nightclub. Ironically it reminded Seth of the Titty Twister. They removed the gas station from the whole building and placed it closer to the road.

"Brother," nodded Richard as he came to stand beside Seth. Seth nodded and proceeded to watch the band on stage.

"Did you order the booze this afternoon?" asked Richard. He signaled to the bartender, Ashley, for his usual drink.

Seth nodded.

"How about the kitchen orders?" asked Richard taken a swig of his drink.

"Yeah and I talked to the cartel. They'll be by in a week with the delivery," replied Seth.

Richard nodded and took a scan of the room. Several culebra's sat watching the band on stage, while there were plenty of humans on the dance floor as well. Richie had made it clear that mass feeding in his bar was forbidden. Every once in a while you had a new culebra come in and try to test the patience of the Geckos but Seth usually dealt with them quickly and quietly. They needed to stay hidden in the shadows. It was the only way for their race to survive.

"You ok? You look like shit," said Seth. He was scrutinizing Richards face.

Richard finished his drink and put the glass down on the table.

"Yeah. Just didn't sleep too well," he replied.

"Maybe you should try sleeping more than once a week," replied Seth. Just then a big biker culebra with a fat belly, long beard and plenty of tattoos walked in the door and nodded to Seth.

"Who is that?" asked Richard. He had never seen the guy before but, Seth seemed to recognize him.

"A friend," Seth replied meeting the guy at the door. The two men spoke for a moment in hushed whispers before the biker nodded and left. Seth followed him outside and Richard fought the urge to follow. He knew his brother could handle anything but, he didn't like when Seth was being evasive. Instead of following his brother Richard turned and headed to his office. He would wait for Seth there.

Seth followed David, out to his bike where the two could talk privately.

"Ok so tell me, what about our friend, sex machine?" asked Seth as David leaned up against a mean looking Harley. He had met David six months before and essentially paid him to keep an eye on Aiden Tanner, a creepy professor turned Culebra who had been working with Carlos and essentially would've killed the Geckos. He had gone "undercover" as a human with the name "Sex Machine," to throw off the Culebra's at the Titty Twister. Low and behold he wanted to be one of them. Seth knew the professor might get it into his head to start searching for Carlos remains or even challenge the brothers on his own and Seth wanted to stay one step ahead of him.

"Same as always. He is moving through Mexico, looking for others to recruit," David replied with a shrug.

"That's it?" asked Seth incredulously. "What the hell am I paying you for?" Seth snapped. David shrugged.

"Look man, it's a dead end. Sex machine doesn't care about you guys or that Carlos," replied David. Seth sighed in frustration. Things had been slow lately and he had been hoping that Tanner was up to something. It didn't seem likely that the snake would just lose interest so suddenly.

"Nothing out of the ordinary? Nothing that came off as odd to you?" asked Seth.

"Come on? With Tanner, everything is odd," replied the biker with a chuckle.

Seth paced for a moment and when he turned back to David he saw the biker had an odd expression on his face.

"What," asked Seth?

"Nothing, just something Tanner said the other night," replied David. His brow furrowed as he tried to remember the conversation.

"Yeah?"

"Some bullshit about seeing the blood god rise and he kept rambling about some chick," said the biker as he fumbled with his bike.

"Santanico?" asked Seth.

"No. Katerina Tarta I think. I don't know man look I better head back. If anything new comes up I'll let you know," David replied swinging his tree trunk leg over the Harley. Seth shoved an envelope with cash into the bikers hand and moved back as the biker rode away.

Such a damn waste!

Thought Seth as he lumbered back into the bar. He needed to talk to Richard.

"So, who is the leatherhead?" asked Richard without looking up.

"I hired him months ago to keep an eye on sex machine. Don't need that idiot screwing things up for us," replied Seth. Richard nodded with a grin.

"And here I thought you were spending thousands of dollars on hookers and booze like normal people," he chuckled. Seth gave him a dark look.

"How is are blond friend?" asked Richard.

"Ugh David said he is just moving around a lot with no direction. I think I am gonna let David go. Seems wasteful to keep him tailing this guy for nothing," replied Seth sitting across from his brother.

"No, keep him on," replied Richard after a pause. It was a smart move to have someone watching out for the completion.

"Said something about a Katerina Tarta whatever the hell that means," said Seth.

Richard looked up at Seth with a quizzical expression.

"Katie Cakes?" he said in no more than a whisper. "That's what that means in Spanish," Richard said.

Seth shrugged none committedly. He didn't like talking about Kate especially with Richard. Though their relationship had been somewhat mended it was still obvious that Seth blamed Richard for Kate's death. Richard accepted this and respected his brother's feelings by never bringing it up.

"Who knows? Could be Tanner has finally gone off the deep end. I'm gonna head back out to the bar," Seth said. He got up and walked briskly out the door.

Richard sat and stared at the empty space that his brother once occupied. How long he sat there he wasn't sure but, for the first time he felt frightened.

Richard.

He jumped as visions of Kate's dead body entered his mind. He forced the images away and bolted out the back door of his office and into the fresh night air. He needed to feed. That's all this was. Stress from lack of sleep and lack of food. He got into his car and sped away from Jed's, praying he could find enough blood to satisfy his needs for a few nights.