Chapter 16

1 Demetri brought the car to a screeching halt. Leah unbuckled, threw the goddamn fucking door open, stumbled outside, reeled, crashed into the gravel. He was by her side in a flash, grabbed her by the armpits, unceremoniously hauled her to her feet. Bile shot up her throat. She spat, groaned, tried to ignore the waves of queasiness threatening to drown her. Didn't quite work.

There they were: the wolves, howling, snarling, all around them. Another scream followed from the Cullen house – shouting, too. Three wolves surrounded Leah and Demetri, among them a huge, purely black one: Sam. The others, many of whom Leah did not recognise, started charging at the house.

Oh, God. No! "Don't do it! It's a trap!" she screamed, earning herself a deep, threatening growl from Sam. When she reeled again – her head spinning stomach lurching stars and black spots before her eyes – and Demetri again caught her, the three wolves advanced, as the others circled Castle New Money, crashing against doors and shuttered windows, trying to force their way inside. The shouting and the screams had stopped.

"I'm not your enemy," Demetri said, loud and clear yet eerily composed. Vampires. Vampires and their weird nonchalance in the face of almost certain death.

Leah wiped her mouth with the back of her hand, nodded, and decided that it had been a horrible idea, as sharp pain shot through her skull. This was all so stupid. "He isn't. He's here to bring these fuckers to justice. Sam, listen to me!" Sam jumped right in front of her, growling and baring his teeth, but she didn't budge. "I'm gonna phase, now, and you can see for yourself. Please, do not attack!" She stepped free and exchanged a look with her vampire frie…uh, companion. Companion. Colleague. Whatever. "No time for decency, now. Take a step back." Any second now, the young wolves would break their way inside the house. There was no time to lose. She stripped off her clothes, sent a silent little prayer to whoever might be listening, and turned.

It hurt like all hell, but at least it was possible. First, there was silence. Then…then, the voices in her head drowned out her own, shouting, cursing, accusing. But there was no compulsion. It had worked! Thank goodness, it had worked. She faced Sam, who was still snarling at her, and focussed. Everything that usually came naturally to her was so hard right now!

Look inside my head, doofus! I'm not under mind-control, and I am – for the moment – free of Jacob's compulsion.

That was oh so true. Jacob was very obviously in wolf-form, inside the house, screaming bloody murder at her, and she could ignore it just fine – just like the good old days. This was such a relief, it was worth the pain and sickness.

You let the leech bite you? You-

Oh, get off your high horse, Chief Judgmental. It was the only way I could be here and help.

You want to help? Fine. Fight with us – both of you. With his head, he motioned at Demetri, who was really doing a damn good job keeping it cool and non-threatening. They're killing people in there! We need to end them, and we need to end them now.

Frustrated, she howled. Sam, they're fuelled up. If you attack them in their own home, they will have the advantage. They'll kill so many of us! It's what they want you to do. Be reasonable!

"Tell him about my people," Demetri said very calmly, very slowly, not moving as two wolves circled him, ready to strike at any second.

What the hell's he on about?

She glanced at Demetri and then focussed all her attention on Sam again. Same thing he told Billy: he works for the vampire government, who keep murderous assholes in check and get rid of mind-eating half-vamp abominations. They make sure the vampires don't lose control. It was probably best not to mention that little fucker Jasper's offer. First of all, he might've been lying. Second, he didn't deserve a happy end.

They're coming here? Good, then we can kill them, too.

Not fucking likely. There's too many of them, and they'd burn La Push to the ground. If we cooperate, we can get rid of the Cullens and save ourselves. We-

He has red eyes, Leah. What the fuck's wrong with you?

He doesn't kill his prey, but never mind that right now. The question is: do you want to live or do you want to die? I'll help you and so will he, but you have to trust us! Us? Where the hell had that come from? Also, was she actually defending a vampire? Yup. Yes, she was. Huh. Weird.

That was when it all happened at once: Quil and little Brady Fuller broke through the front door, howled, pushed their way inside. Shouts erupted. Screams. The house seemed to shake in its frame. One of the wooden shutters covering a huge-ass living room window quivered violently. Glass shattered.

Despite herself, she thought, Oh, shit. We got to move!

Yeah, we got to move! Sam set into motion, and the other two wolves followed. You and your boyfriend want to help? Kill some Cullens, and then we'll decide if he gets to go on being undead!

God damn it! Why did everything have to go wrong at once? Her hind legs were cramping and she was dizzy, but still, she limped after Sam after casting one little look at Demetri, willing him to understand.

He did. It only took him a second to race past her in a blur and crash into the house.

This was it. Showtime.

2 The confusion inside the house was unnameable. Blood everywhere – human and wolf. Broken furniture. Broken decorations. Broken windows. Broken bodies. Human remains, torn asunder, strewn about carelessly as they'd been discarded. Dead policemen. It was impossible to tell how many at a first glance. Hoping that the wolves had all been instructed not to attack him, Demetri quickly assessed the situation as he forced his way inside the house, ahead of Leah. It would be better if she stayed behind, but he knew that she wouldn't listen if he suggested this.

He headed into the living room. One dead wolf. Blood. A torn-off vampire head. The matriarch. Screams. Heat and smoke from the kitchen. Fire! A flash to his right. He managed to dodge his attacker, spin around, jump them – her. It was the small, skinny, childlike woman – Alice. Not a big challenge. She uttered a piercing scream as she crashed down. He knelt on her chest, grabbed her head as she tried to bite him, twisted it off like a bottle cap. The cracking sound was always repulsive. Couldn't be helped. He grabbed the head by the short hair. Two down, how many to go? Up on his feet, he pushed inside, flanked by two young wolves with light-grey fur and big paws – youngsters. Children.

"Stay close to me," he told them, mindful of Leah, who wouldn't want the kids to get hurt. Where was she? He breathed in. Ah, yes, at the door. Stubborn but admirable – everything about her, really. Pressing on, he ran into the kitchen. There was a fire. He tossed the head into the flames, making them crackle and grow, licking the walls and the ceiling and painting them black. Thick smoke spread. Bad for the wolves, irrelevant to him.

A loud snarl. Something huge and sandy-coloured jumping right at him, faster than him. Damn it! He went down with a heavy thump, cracking the floor tiles, reached up, grabbed the edges of the muzzle trying to maul him. Spittle dropped onto his face. The two young wolves yowled, hesitant. A loud bark. Someone – Leah – crashed sideways into the sandy-coloured wolf, knocking him (her?) off of Demetri. The two huge canines faced off, snarling and baring their intimidating fangs. Oh. It had to be her brother.

Demetri shot up to his feet and headed outside. Edward Cullen and his maker were attacking a wolf they'd singled out. It was a very young one, by the looks of it. Well, that wouldn't do. He gave his two companions (fighting alongside werewolves! What would Caius say?) a look and attacked, jumping Edward and letting the other two take care of Carlisle. Three wolves against someone on an animal diet? Even untrained pups should manage that one with ease.

A loud crash – broken glass loud thud shouts. Two big wolves jumped a huge male vampire (Emmett, his name was Emmett) and threw him and themselves from upstairs, onto the lawn. Good. He was as good as dead, there.

Eyes locked with Edward, Demetri tried not to focus on the sound of a wolf yowling then shrieking then whimpering then silent. Loud, mournful howls. One of the kids had died. He focussed on his opponent. No time for sensory overload now. Funny how that nuisance never ever completely went away. "Edward, you cannot win a fight against me, and even if you do, my people will hunt you down and tear you limb from limb. Stand down."

The three wolves had pushed Carlisle out of the room into the big corridor. He was screaming. Howling and shrieking from a wolf, more screams, then silence and wailing from the two surviving pups. Well, so much for that. Another Cullen down.

Edward briefly glanced toward the corridor, then focussed on Demetri again and snorted derisively. "The likes of you cannot intimidate me with your wanton oppression!" Oh, God. He just couldn't stop being pompous, could he?

"Suit yourself," Demetri said flatly, and jumped him.

Edward tried side-stepping him, but he was too slow, too untrained, too inexperienced, too young. Demetri crashed him into the wall, grabbed him by the hair, hit his head against the wall once, twice, three times. Edward tried to bite him in the throat, but couldn't, tried to get a hold of him, but only caught his jacket and shirt, was thrown down, jumped. A wolf joined them – one of the kids – and bit down on Edward's neck. Demetri almost felt sorry for him as Edward wanted to scream but couldn't. Then, the head was off. The pup backed away. Demetri briefly nodded his acknowledgment and picked up the head to burn it – better safe than sorry.

How many were left? By his count, the most dangerous one: Jasper. Was he fighting for or against them? Hard to tell. He either wasn't using his power at all, or Demetri was simply out of range. Seemed unlikely, though. A loud and tortured yowl caught his attention. Another one, from another wolf. What was this?

Psychosomatic shivers slithered down his spine. Only one reason why one wolf was fighting another down here. He spun around his heels and raced back toward the kitchen. Leah!

3 There are too many of us and too few of you, Seth. Give up! Leah had her little brother backed into a corner, isolated him from his so-called vampire friends. The other wolves gave them a wide berth. All the better – saving Seth had been her primary goal, anyway.

You betrayed us! This is all your fault! I hate you! Just die, already!

She knew that this was the demon-spawn speaking, not her baby brother, but it stung nonetheless. Seth, listen to me: you're being brain-washed. This isn't you. You know that we are your real family, not these undead assholes, and not the little mind-warping freak. You know that! Just settle down. Stay here until it's all over, and it'll be okay; I promise. Please!

His hackles stood on end, and he bared his prominent fangs at her again, growling loudly. You don't know what family even means. All you ever do is hang around where nobody wants you, because you're a hateful bitch whose only purpose is making everybody miserable. People don't like you because there's nothing about you to like! Now get out of my way. I got friends to defend.

Unbidden images bubbled up: Seth, a tiny, screaming baby, placed into his big sister's waiting arms. He'd stopped screaming and had blinked up at her in awe. Seth, eighteen months old, trying so hard to say her name. Seth, making a mess in the kitchen at age five, because he wanted to surprise their mom on her birthday with pancakes.

Stop thinking that bullshit! His mind's voice screamed at her in red-hot outrage. It won't work! Get out of my way or I'll rip your stupid face off!

That hurt more than anything else. Her stomach was lurching worse than ever, she was panting from the exertion of keeping in wolf-form, and it seemed like every damn muscle in her miserable body was cramping. This was a disaster. She concentrated on her brother. Seth, please, listen to me! These leeches are not your friends. They don't give a rat's ass about you. They-

Yes, they do! They care more than you ever did!

Do you see even one of them rushing in here to save you? You're their pawn, their little pet, their servant. They don't give a shit about any of us! You're mind-controlled by the demon-spawn.

Don't you dare call our Nessie that!

Once that thing's gone, you will-

With a thundering roar, he jumped, threw her down, landed on her side. She scrambled, hit him with her twitching paws, tried to shake him off and couldn't. He snatched at her, got her by the back of her neck, ripped through fur and skin. Searing pain coursed through her body. She howled. Seth, for fuck's sake, don't!

He tottered, gagged, backed off a little. What the hell? Then, he vomited.

Leah tried to push herself off the floor, but slipped on her own blood, went down, saw stars. What was the matter with…oh, right. The vampire venom. Must taste really nasty. Just calm down, calm down, calm down! Please, please, please!

Hypocrite! You won't take away my real family! He jumped her again, landing on her back, trying to bite into her open wound.

She buckled, threw him off, slipped again, fell. He was on her. She pawed at him, turned her head, tried to dodge his attacks. There was no way she was going to bite him back! Seth! Stop! Just stop! You're gonna kill your own sister! She was whimpering like a puppy, the back of her neck burning in screaming agony, her fur slick with her own blood. Dark spots danced merrily before her eyes. She was dizzy, her vision blurry. Not much longer. No more strength.

You're not my sister! He hit her in the face with his paw – hard.

Her whole body went slack. This was it. No more fight left in her. Even if there was, there was no living if she was forced to kill her baby brother. How could there be? There couldn't. I love you, she thought. She saw him snarl at her. She saw his fangs close in on her throat. Then, everything went pitch-black.

4 "We need to do something. Anything!" For all her earlier determination to stand up and fight, Bella was now as useless as she'd ever been: upstairs, with Jacob, Rosalie, Renesmee, Irina, and Jasper. Everyone else seemed to be doing pretty badly on the ground floor. There were too many wolves. There was that Volturi tracker. "Edward's dead." What was the worst bit? The fact that she had done nothing to prevent it, or that it didn't even register with her? It didn't – not really. This was all so strange.

"We need to stay right here and stick to the plan," Rosalie said coldly. She was standing in one of the room's corners, by the window but out of sight, holding Renesmee in her stony arms. "Everything else is irrelevant."

"The man you spent the past seventy years of your life with doesn't matter?" Irina said, sounding tired, standing by the door. "Because he just got ripped to pieces."

Rosalie snarled at her. "Don't tell me what matters and what doesn't. I am well aware of Emmett's sacrifice!" She kissed the top of Renesmee's head. The girl was hugging Rosalie tightly. "It's all for the greater good."

Jacob, in wolf-form, huffed his agreement.

Then, there was Jasper. Bella turned to look at him – really look at him. He was by the big bed, standing there as if he had no care in the world, hands in his pockets. This was a little weird, wasn't it? He'd been so eager to fight, and yet here he was, just waiting for the fight to come to him. There was something off about his whole posture, that smug look on his face, his utter lack of anxiety.

"Why are you so carefree?" Bella heard herself saying. Oh. That was happening again. She really needed to watch her reactions, living human blood in her body or no.

"Am I?" he said.

"Yes, you are!" Rosalie snapped at him. "For God's sake, Jasper: everything that matters is on the line, and you can't even pretend that you give a damn."

"I do give a damn," he said, and motioned at the unconscious figure sprawled on the bed – their human hostage. "I'm guarding him, aren't I? Our ticket out of here? As was requested by our Queen Bee."

Jacob growled at him, but he didn't even flinch.

Bella tried not to, but couldn't help looking at the fragile human lying there on the bed, blood soaking the bandage on his head. At least now she was sated, calm, in control again. Otherwise, she'd kill the poor man in a heartbeat, memories of humanity or no.

Catching her look, Jasper smiled a little, and said, "He'll be fine, Bella. You didn't kill him."

"I might, yet."

"You won't. You didn't during your feeding frenzy, and you won't do it, now. Trust me."

"Trust you," she echoed, letting her eyes wander to the human again. The human. The hostage. Her dad. Charlie.

5 "Leah!" Demetri saw her lying on the filthy kitchen floor, unconscious, bleeding, and very much human. On top of her was a sandy-coloured wolf, fangs bared, drool dripping on her bare skin. Oh, no. This was her brother! Damn it! No time for pondering moral dilemmas, though. He tackled the wolf as the wolf was about to bite through Leah's vulnerable neck. The wolf – Seth – growled with obvious frustration, struggled, wiggled, snapped at him as Demetri hugged his arms and legs around him and turned him on his back with a strangled groan. "Stop struggling and I won't hurt you!"

No such luck, though. The boy would've killed his own sister; he wasn't going to listen to a hostile vampire. Where the hell were the other wolves that might give Demetri some leverage, here? A few of them were dead. Others…there was a loud crash upstairs and shouting screaming thumping. A terrible, eardrum-piercing, high-pitched, inhuman scream shook the very foundations of the house. It was as if the whole world held its breath for a few seconds, stunned.

Oh, no. Everyone had their work cut out for them. Demetri had to handle this on his own or die.

The moment the shock wore off, Seth struggled again, snarled, growled, buckled, couldn't free himself of the slower, but stronger opponent. If this had been anyone else at any other moment in time, Demetri would've crushed his bones, bitten him, made him slow down, and then broken his neck. He couldn't do it, though. This was Leah's brother. His people in Italy came to mind. They'd laugh at his sentimentality. Caius might even want to punish him for not only allying with wolves, but saving their lives. It didn't matter. He couldn't kill this kid.

He could incapacitate him, though.

Focussing on his own strength, he crushed the huge canine body with all his might. Bones snapped with a sickening crunch, causing Seth to whimper and yowl. His movements slowed down, though, thank goodness. Demetri tried hard to ignore his nausea, closed his eyes, pressed his face against the side of Seth's throat, and sank his fangs through the fur and into the skin. Seth wailed and shrieked and buckled hard, but Demetri clung on firmly. Finally, the struggling subsided. Demetri shoved the lifeless form off of himself, spat, wiped his mouth, checked the boy's pulse. He was alive, of course.

Two wolves appeared at the kitchen door, snarling at him.

"He's going to be fine. He was trying to kill her. I had to stop him," he said, pointing at Leah, who was still unconscious, who was still bleeding. He skittered over to her, checked her erratic pulse, saw that she was having trouble breathing. One glance at the two young wolves told him that they were torn between guarding him and running away; they were probably being ordered by Sam to get rid of the last remaining Cullen coven vampires. "Go ahead. I'll look after her."

After another few seconds of hesitation, they backed out of the door and raced away – upstairs, by the sound of it. Without wasting any more time, he took off his scarf and draped it around her neck as a temporary, makeshift bandage. Otherwise, she looked unharmed, but the fire in the corner was still burning, and she wasn't exactly immune to smoke poisoning. He scooped her into his arms – she was surprisingly heavy for someone this thin – and ran outside, clearing the house, the smoke, the field of debris. Carefully, he placed her down on the grass, got a first-aid kit from one of the police cars, grabbed her clothes. A few minutes later, he was done stabilising and dressing her, and she was breathing calmly again. Her heartbeat was strong and regular. This was good. This was really, really good.

From his right, Sam approached, human. "She gonna live?"

Demetri got up to his feet and faced him. "Yes. There's a nasty gash on her neck, but it'll heal, even if it'll take a little longer due to the venom."

Sam's handsome and youthful face was a grimace of disgust. He was sooty and grimy, which stood in stark contrast to his clean clothing. "She let you bite her."

"She had to be here, and that was the only way," Demetri said simply, and shrugged.

"Way more stubborn than a mule, that one," Sam said, chuckled wryly, and wiped his forehead with the back of his hand. It left a reddish-black smear. "She'll be happy you didn't murder Seth."

Returning Sam's look squarely, he said, "I promised I'd help."

"How noble of you," Sam said, making a face. "Never mind all that crap. We got ourselves a problem."

Demetri almost asked if this was about him, but when he breathed, he realised that he was the least of Sam's vampiric difficulties. "The child," he said.

"Not only her." Sam exhaled sharply, shook his head, closed his eyes for a moment, cleared his throat, and locked eyes with Demetri again with obvious effort. "You still wanna help? I need you to come talk to someone."

"Yes, of course." Demetri couldn't help but glance at the sleeping Leah.

Sam waved off. "She'll be fine. Come on. Don't make me ask again."

"I would never."

Together, they went back into the house.

6 It all happened so quickly: downstairs, all their allies were dead. Seth's voice had disappeared. Killed? Unconscious? Impossible to tell. Vampires all gone, except for one. Sam's pack was helping him or he was helping them. What the hell? Didn't even matter. They were coming upstairs – Sam and Quil and Paul and two he didn't even know – to get them, to get Nessie.

To get his Nessie and take her away from him.

Cold adrenaline shot through Jacob's veins like acid. His innards were in knots. Oh, no. No. No, no, no, fucking hell, no! He didn't want to fight them, but he couldn't let anyone near Nessie – he just couldn't.

"All right," he heard Bitch Barbie from Hell saying curtly, as she got closer to the window and placed Nessie on the floor, by the corner. "You all know what to do. Protect our child!"

Nessie's sweet little face was pale. Her eyes were huge. Tears were running down her cheeks. "Aunt Rose, hold me!"

"I will, my love, after we kill the bad men," Rosalie said warmly, then added in clipped tones, "Jasper! Irina! Bella! Get to the door!"

Jacob inched closer to Nessie. He couldn't help it.

Jasper smirked at Rosalie over his shoulder and winked. "You wanted to know why I didn't protest when the spawn told me to stay out of the fight?"

"What?" Rosalie frowned at him, confused, apprehensive.

"This is why." Fast as lightning, Jasper stretched out his arms, grabbed both Irina and Bella by their necks, squeezed. Both women gasped and then fell to the floor, unconscious. "There you go, ladies." He spun around to the others, who stared at him in horror.

Nessie screamed. Rosalie hissed. Jacob growled. What the hell was happening?

"What are you doing?" Rosalie shrieked at him.

He tilted his head to the side and shrugged. "Keeping up my end of the bargain. Now, if you'd be so kind and not make a fuss…"

Jacob couldn't help it: his anxiety, fear, fury, it all drained out of him and was replaced by such powerful torpor, he had trouble keeping his eyes open. Hell, he could hardly even remember his own name. What…this was…no, he…Nessie…goddamn traitor, this…leech, he…

Everything went black.

Then, a scream – a high-pitched, warbling, primal scream of pure fury penetrated the thick and syrupy wall of artificial slumber, and Jacob jumped to attention. What he saw was both the most terrifying and fascinating thing he'd ever laid eyes on: by the window stood Nessie, small but feral, eyes shut, mouth wide, little hands balled into fists. She screamed, and it was so horrible, so off, so other, Jacob felt like biting his own head off. He was paralysed, but so were Jasper and Rosalie. Nessie screamed and screamed and screamed. Jasper tumbled backwards, pressing his hands to his ears, his face a grimace of pure misery. The thick glass of the huge window cracked loudly, crashed down. Air wooshed inside. It smelled of morning and forest and smoke and death.

Then, the spell was broken.

"Quick!" Rosalie shouted at Jacob.

He knew exactly what to do. As he raced toward the huge gaping hole in the wall, he only paused for a split second to allow Nessie to climb on his back. Then, he lunged out of the house, flew through the air, landed on the lawn, and ran as quickly as his legs carried him. Behind him, he heard Rosalie, but she wasn't alone: in her arms, she not-so-delicately carried their life insurance policy. In her arms, she carried Charlie Swan.

7 "You couldn't have stopped them, you murderous piece of shit?" Sam yelled. As the leader and the only conscious wolf in human form, he had the floor by default.

They were all outside, now, where the odds were very much on the wolves' side. On the front lawn, in the middle of a circle, stood Jasper Whitlock, Bella Swan, and Irina Horváthová. He was facing Sam with irritating nonchalance, whilst Demetri watched from the side-lines. No, of course they weren't letting him prance about unsupervised. He wasn't about to complain, though, knowing that it had been a huge compromise on their part to fight with him and not against him.

"I tried to stop them," Jasper returned coolly, "but the damn kid broke out the siren and paralysed me. I even tried to get these two lovely ladies out of the line of fire by knocking them unconscious for a moment or two."

That was…amazing. Demetri had to admit that this feat was nothing short of amazing. Jasper was the only mood-altering vampire this powerful that he'd ever met. On an animal diet, he'd been able to dope and basically render helpless dozens of people at once. On a diet of living human blood, he was as close to unstoppable as a vampire got. That wasn't what was amazing about any of this, though. No, Demetri had come across a good number of extremely powerful immortals. What made Jasper stand out from that already select group was his ability to take away a vampire's consciousness. Basically, he could make them sleep. That…oh, there were no words – no words. Not being able to sleep, to ever shut down one's brain, one's thoughts was pure torture. One got used to it, yes, in a sense, but it was a burden that never, ever went away completely.

Now, here he was, not even two centuries old (and a smug little bastard to boot), and able to put a vampire to sleep, able to provide relief in a way that no-one had even believed possible. Here he was, advertising his abilities purely for Demetri's benefit. He wanted to join the Volturi and he knew that what he could do was his golden ticket in. It wasn't as if Demetri could argue with that, but it led them to a bit of a predicament.

"You killed Jared and Embry. You killed those cops. You're responsible for Charlie frigging Swan being kidnapped by that leech and by Jacob." Sam's whole body was tense, wired, trembling. His jaw was set and his hands balled into fists. "I should kill you where you stand."

"Kill us and you'll never get justice," Jasper said, unfazed, as if none of this was about him, as if his fate wasn't about to be decided right there, right then. "I'm immune against Renesmee's mind-control, and Bella here might even be immune against her other, fledgling powers. I got a feeling that that kid is only gonna get more dangerous and more impossible to defeat as time goes by. That isn't your only problem, though: Irina here has a deal with the vampire government that guarantees her safety, or else. Besides, I'm pretty sure that they'll want us to live for a number of reasons. Kill us, and you'll never catch the fugitives. Kill us, and you will all die before the sun sets." He was a distasteful individual, yes, but he did have a point.

Deciding that it was his turn, Demetri said, "He's right, unfortunately. My superiors will wipe your reservation off the map if you kill who they will definitely view as assets. More importantly, the dhampir is only getting stronger, and if it isn't stopped, it will wreak unimaginable destruction everywhere it goes. Trust me, you do not want that to happen."

"We'll track them. We'll find them."

"Maybe you will," Demetri said, "but you won't be able to lift a finger against them – not anymore. All you'll do is add more powerful warriors to her army."

Sam gave him a meaningful look. "Aren't you the drama queen, Shakespeare In The Park."

"No, he isn't." Everyone glanced to the direction from which that shaky yet determined voice had come. It was Leah, sitting in the grass, looking pale and nauseous. She exchanged a look with Demetri, who briefly nodded at her. It was such a relief to see her awake and recovering. "You don't know what that thing is capable of, Sam, and last time I checked, she couldn't shockwave people into a stupor by simply screaming. That one's new."

"Leah-"

"Don't 'Leah' me. I'm serious. My own brother tried to murder me in cold blood, and that little monster had only touched him a few times. She's getting better at being an unholy abomination, and that is very bad news for all of us. Don't be a douche. Listen to the vamps." Judging by the hateful expression on her face, this obviously caused her revulsion, but she still said, "If you kill Jasper, we all die."

Sam pressed his lips together, shook his head, breathed deeply a few times. "Can't kill him, can't kill the blonde one. But Bella frigging Swan?"

Bella herself said nothing and just stood there like a statue, and so Jasper said, "Weren't you listening? She's immune. Also, she's the mother. That has to mean something." He raised his eyebrows at Demetri.

"I don't know; it might," Demetri said, and shrugged. "Her immunity, however, is an asset we can count on." She might be a shield against mental powers. His superiors would want to find out. "Please, let's all take care of this situation together. We'll clean up the mess here, you take your fallen comrades home. When my people arrive, I'll fill them in. We can then decide on the further course of action."

Sam stared at him as if he'd lost his mind. "And all the while, Jacob and his merry band get farther and farther away. Great plan."

Demetri smiled a little. "They can't get away from me – no-one can. I'll track them. You can count on that."

"It's his super-power," Leah said, and yawned. "Sorry. Didn't sleep last night." She ran her fingers through her dishevelled and greasy hair. "Look, let's just do this. Let's take our dead home, take care of the wounded, and regroup. Anything else would be suicide. Besides, I need to check on my mom." Her eyes met Demetri's. "Will we need to tie him up, or something?"

"Yes." There was no use in mincing words. "I'm sorry." Strangely, he was.

"Yeah, yeah, fine," Sam snapped, sighed, and uttered a bitter little laugh. "Let's pack up. We've got families to inform and funerals to prepare."

Without further ado, they set themselves to work.

8 "Hey, could you come over here for a moment?" Leah had tried to help, but was too sick, too woozy, too fucking tired to even stand straight. Therefore, she'd sat down sideways on the backseat of one of the patrol cars, her naked feet planted on the cool, green grass. Walking deliberately slowly – he probably didn't want to add to the already rampant tension – Demetri approached her, stopping at arm's length.

"How are you feeling?"

She shrugged; it hurt. "Okay. I'll be fine. I, uh…" She trailed off, bit her lower lip, tried hard to ignore the burning at the back of her neck, where Seth had bitten her. Seth. Her baby brother. Her baby brother who'd almost killed her. Christ on a cracker. "Look, I know you saved me, and I know you didn't kill my brother when you could have." There was a knot in her throat. The tip of her nose was itching. Her vision grew a little blurry. She sniffled. Goddamn. "Thank you," she said, made herself face him, and failed to smile. "Thank you for all that you did. You're a good guy, you know. It's not your fault that you're a vampire."

That made him smile. It was nice to look at, despite everything and the whole world. "That has got to be the nicest thing a werewolf has ever said to me," he said, and went serious again. "I'm sorry about the kids who died. I'm sorry about the loss of human life. I'm sorry about what happened to your family."

The knot came back. She briefly covered her face with her hands, feeling stupid as her breath hitched in her throat. "Yeah," she finally said, letting her hands drop to her lap after mopping at her eyes, "I know. We got bigger things to worry about, now, and I'm not just talking about the demon-spawn. This mess right here will catch everyone's eye."

"We'll do what we can to control the damage," he said. A few pretty awkward seconds went by in silence. At length, he reached out and patted her shoulder once, before pulling the sleeves of his filthy and torn jacket over his hands again and crossing his arms. "I'll do what I can. I promise you that, even if you probably won't be there to see it."

The fuck? Her eyebrows shot up. "What're you prattling on about, yuppie? I'm so coming with you when you rain hellfire and brimstone on the little demon."

The slightest frown creased up his pale skin. "But what about your brother, your-"

"I'm coming with you," she said sharply, willing him to shut the trap and stop protesting, lest she should start to question her own resolve. "I kind of owe it to you after ruining your scarf by bleeding all over it. You kind of owe it to me after witnessing me at my most exposed not once, but twice. Also, you saved my life. I need to go out and find an opportunity to save yours in return."

Half a minute ticked by during which he just frowned down at her. When she was about to snap her fingers in front of his face, his expression smoothed out, and he said, "All right. In for a penny, in for a pound, then."

"Damn right," she said, feeling as if a huge wave of relief was washing all over her body. Thank God he didn't ask why she needed to do this so badly, why she needed to see it through to the end, be it bitter or sweet; she just had to. "Shake on it?" She held out her grimy hand.

He took it without hesitation and shook it once, smiling. "Absolutely."