OF THE NIGHT ∘ Seth Gecko

10 | The Backup

CHAPTER NINE
THE BACKUP

The ruins of the Titty Twister's furniture are still lying around and Santanico stands in the middle of them. Her expression is blank, but something about her tells me she isn't calm. I stare at her for a few moments. She might be very beautiful, yet nothing about her gives the feeling of a demi-goddess, at least not in this place. This is an interesting choice of life for someone like her - dancing for men before ripping them apart and drinking their blood. Or maybe she didn't choose this for herself.

"Pardon?" I ask her, still confused.

"I've been waiting for you to recover from your dream with your full powers," Santanico explains.

The frown on my face stays at the mention of the nightmare that I've been through. "How..." I start asking as I try to connect the dots in my head. "Why were you waiting for me?" I ask eventually.

"You're my backup plan and I need your help," she says simply.

It seems that she knows a lot about me without actually knowing me, which I assume is a part of being a demi-goddess. I, however, know absolutely nothing about what she's talking about and I don't like the disadvantage that I obviously have.

"You'll have to be more specific than that to get anything from me," I reply.

A hint of a smirk appears on Santanico's red lips before Seth speaks up. "Look, I don't know what the hell you're talking about, but, first of all - June's not going a part of it. Second of all, I have a plan. I get my brother back and then we get the hell out of this goddamn place."

With that, he walks to the side, picks up his weapon and loads it with a wooden stake. Santanico and I watch him as he also picks up a bottle of liquor and murmurs something. She is glaring at him and I can't help but wonder what the hell did I miss when I was out.

"This is your fault," she states as she walks towards him.

Seth chuckles and puts down his weapon to open his bottle. "Yeah, that's... that's rich," he says and tosses the bottle's cap aside. "That's just... that's just beautiful."

Quietly, I watch the conversation from near the door, my gaze moving between the two of them. The situation reminds me of Seth's conversation with Jacob after we arrived here, aside from the fact that Santanico's power and position make me tense during the conversation. Seth isn't known for being careful with what he says.

"You wanted to leave without the money," Santanico continues.

"Yeah, I did. You wanna know why? Because it's my money," Seth says and pours himself a glass of whatever it is he's holding.

"You're so caught up in your own greed, you can't even see what just happened," she accuses. "And you can't decide for June, she's her own person."

Before the attention can move to me, Seth begins to talk with her about Carlos. Santanico has been betrayed by the said man, apparently, along with the people who imprisoned her here. Even though she must feel bad about it, I find a certain comfort in the fact that I was right - she's not here out of her own free will. She might be just as trapped and miserable as we were.

The conversation takes a dangerous turn when Seth accuses her of turning Richie into a slave. Her voice rises as she replies that Richie isn't a slave and mentions that she has been one her entire life. My attention then is drawn to Santanico as I try to make up my mind about her. I want to dislike her for locking us here and killing people, but the new layer of her that is exposed by this conversation makes me indecisive. Then, her eyes turn into ones of a snake as she clarifies to Seth that she is no one's victim. Instinctively and stupidly, I walk closer to them, ready to try and save Seth from trouble or to try and calm them down.