Chapter Thirty-Three

1 Leah was standing in that stupid security room at the resort and watching the two screens that showed what was going on at the beach. Of course, she felt like a total dumbass for it. Actually, she mostly felt like a dumbass for saying nasty things about Bell-Bell in front of her freaking father, which had been a bit of a low; okay, it had been abysmal and insensitive and stupid, stupid, stupid. She'd mumbled a dull apology, but Charlie had every right to be mad at her.

Foot, meet mouth. She'd rather sacrifice herself in a grand gesture than admit that she'd been wrong or simply out of line. Sometimes, it was to despair.

She was standing in the room with the two vloggers and Billy, feeling angry and powerless and like a complete moron. Demetri had of course been right about stopping her from charging down to the beach like a drunk and rabid rhino, and without considerable backup. Phasing back in Mexico to save him from Jacob had nearly killed her. If she did it again, the wound would most likely rip open, and who knew if her body would find the strength to mend itself, then. Also, how the hell was she supposed to stay objective when her little brother was getting his brains melted by Renesthulhu? It didn't matter that he resented her even on his best day, and she angrily brushed aside the gnawing fear that his mind might be gone for good. Fuck that albino leech for not tying up the hell-spawn properly! Fuck Creepula for coming up with the brilliant idea of stealing the spawn from the actual expert, Demetri! Fuck Bell-Bell and her delusions of grandeur that lead to her being responsible for all this bullshit in the first place!

Leah nearly added one for herself and her dumb lashing out at Charlie at the worst possible moment. Yeah, she wasn't exactly Little Miss Sunshine all year 'round, and she had also contributed to the shitfest they were currently enjoying. It was important to keep that in mind. It was important to shoulder some damn responsibility. Otherwise, she'd just be a dumb hypocrite like the Cullens had been, and she didn't believe that she could stand the thought.

"I can't help but feel a bit sorry for the girl," June Cassidy said calmly, monitoring the live-feed on her laptop, her forehead creased. Her cheery outfit and bright-red New Wave hairdo matched her attitude, but seemed weirdly at odds with the gravitas of the situation.

"I don't," Leah replied sourly. "She ate my brother's brain and is directly responsible for the deaths of dozens of innocent folks, including friends of mine."

June glanced up, exchanged a look with her skinny tech-wizard pal, and focussed on her computer again. She'd parked it on one of the desks right under the security monitors. At least the technical stuff was going according to plan, even if the rest was forcing them to improvise. "That's awful. I'm sorry."

"You've got a bit of a bleeding heart issue, methinks," Leah said, knowing that she was being unpleasant on purpose. "The little monster needs to snuff it, no matter what Charlie said."

"I think he knows that," Billy said.

After her little outburst, Leah didn't feel like looking him in the eye at the moment. She squinted at the monitors. "What the…" The sentence petered out pathetically as she watched Bella run through the flames, catch fire like she was drenched in gasoline, and then get put out by Charlie. Leah and the others watched Charlie wrap his daughter in his jacket, watched Bella take her own daughter into her arms, listened to her apologise to the girl…

…and stared in muted horror as Bella threw Renesmee into the blazing flames.

A deep, throaty rumble shattered across the beach, resounding so loudly that the cameras' microphones screeched a whiny feedback. The ground shook. The fires – all of them – turned red and roared up into the sky, spewing white and orange sparks and black smoke. In the inner circle, the vampires all woke and huddled together, trying not to burn to death. Charlie, Bella, and the wolves tottered, backed away, but remained on their feet. Seth was still unconscious.

Demetri fell to his knees, pressed his hands against his temples, and screamed.

"Oh, shit," Leah said. It came out uncharacteristically subdued. She didn't have to think twice. Immediately, she spun around and marched to the door.

"Leah, don't!" Billy called after her.

"Think about what Demetri told you," June added, doing an admirable job of keeping it together, even though her voice had grown a little shaky and high-pitched.

Standing in the doorframe, Leah shot them a glance over her shoulder. "I have to go. I can't just stay here. They need me."

Billy started, "If you phase-"

Leah cut in, though, saying, "I won't – not unless absolutely necessary. You guys stay here and monitor the feed." After a moment's hesitation, she added, "Great idea, by the way, and great job." Without giving the others a chance to protest or reply to her awkward compliment, she closed the door behind herself and broke into a run. Her still healing wound burned, her heart started hammering immediately, and acid sloshed in her stomach. She saw stars. It didn't matter. Maybe this evening would be her last, but if she did die, at least she'd die trying to save good people.

2 She could hear the horrible, deep yet screechy, rumbling noise coming up from the beach before she could see anything but the orange glare the fires cast on the starry sky. Gnashing her teeth, she sprinted across the street and sidewalk and onto the sand. Her breathing was ragged, her blood battery acid being pumped through her veins. Her still not fully healed wound was thumping dully. She was shaking, barely keeping herself from turning into a wolf. The moment she reached the beach, part of her wished she hadn't. The several circles of flame were roaring, the ground trembled, and the wind was blowing sparks and sand around. Right up front burned the highest fire of all: Renesmee, standing smack in the middle of the dark-orange flames, screaming. That sound, though, wasn't her voice, because she obviously didn't have one anymore; it was in Leah's head. It was in all their heads, save for the three Children, Charlie, Bella, and Jasper. There was a terrible smell in the air: a stench of rot and decay and, weirdly, of cloying sweetness.

Leah gagged, spat bile, wiped her lips, and steeled herself. How the fuck was she supposed to do anything? Well, whatever she chose to do, she wouldn't leave her friends to die horribly. Balling her hands into fists, grounding herself in reality by focussing on the sting of her fingernails biting into her palms, she pushed against the wind and marched forward.

"Leah!" That was Charlie. He was grabbing Bella's shoulders and trying to pull her back from the edge of the flames, but Bella was paralysed, expressionless, as if under a spell. Ah, the famed vampire-stress-freeze. How utterly useless. "We need to-"

"Yes," she said, dropping to her knees next to Seth. He was alive, at least. His face and shirt were all bloody, but he was unconscious and breathing steadily. Small blessings. She wanted to pick him up; he was too heavy. Pain stabbed through her wound. She drew in a sharp breath, let go, fell on her butt. For fuck's sake! Why couldn't her body do what she wanted it to?

A relatively short, but muscular person hunkered down next to her; it was Ariel, the Israeli werewolf. "Don't kill yourself," he said, grabbed her by the armpits, and pulled her back a little. Before she could protest, he and the other one – Grace – picked up Seth and hurried to carry him a little farther away.

It was hard to take her eyes off the spectacle, but Leah had another important person she needed to look after. She scrambled over to Demetri, who was writhing in agony, eyes rolled back so that they only showed the whites. He didn't seem to notice that she was there. It was like he was having the mother of all seizures. "Damn it!" She couldn't see through all that fire and sand if the same thing was happening to the other vampires, but frankly, she had zero fucks to give about them.

"Time to back up, everyone!" Blake shouted, dodging a shower of sparks.

"This is so bad," Grace said, her eyes wide, her dark, sleek, relatively short hair blowing wildly in the gusts of wind. "At least the kid is-"

The ground shook again, stronger than ever. Everyone was knocked off their feet. The rumbling, booming, growling shriek in Leah's head was so loud, she crushed her fists to her head and bit her tongue. Sharp pain shot through her mouth. Blood welled. It tasted metallic and sweet and salty and disgusting. She spat, blinked, couldn't see straight.

From the fire walked a small, thin figure, wreathed in red flames, stretching out burning arms. Leah could hear her in her own mind. There were no words, just primal fury and bottomless sorrow. Why wasn't she dead? Was she dying? Didn't look like it. Damn it! Damn it, damn it, damn it!

The fires started spreading. Was the demon-spawn doing this? Did it matter? Charlie wasn't letting go of his stupid daughter, Seth was a vegetable, Demetri was getting his brain fried. This wasn't happening. This wasn't happening!

Leah's whole body was trembling. Her chest wound burned like hell, her heart thundered, her innards roiled. She was sweating and chilled to the bone at the same time. Her eyes were watering. Her mind felt as if hit by a tidal wave of acid. She spat bile and blood. There was nothing for it. She couldn't rely on anyone else to do her job for her. Bella had done all she was willing to do, it seemed. The Children would only phase in about two hours, and only if they had no other choice. It was up to Leah. There was no pushing the responsibility away. A knot formed in her throat. Her breath hitched as she pushed herself up to her cramping, tottery legs. Her stomach roiled. She spat again. God, this was disgusting! Hard to breathe, too. Didn't matter.

She closed her eyes, concentrated, tried to ignore the commotion and the pain and the fear. Just centring on herself, she felt it: the familiar heat, rising up through her body and spreading. There it was. Despite herself, despite Seth, despite everything, she had to smile. Sucking in a shaky, sharp breath, Leah opened her eyes and just let it happen. She phased into a wolf and jumped.

3 Bella was petrified. She'd done her part; she'd been brave and pro-active, and she'd thrown Renesmee into the fire – the fire that would surely consume her. Except it didn't. The girl erupted into flames, and the flames did clearly affect her, but they didn't kill. Fire killed a vampire, but it didn't end the life of a dhampir – the perfect child. Bella's child. The ground shook, the fires burned high, and the air smelled foul and charred and sweet, like burnt sugar. It was horrible. Still, Renesmee just refused to die; she stood there like a child-sized torch, mouth open, holding out her arms. Demetri went down in the sand, screaming. From the centre of the fire, there were more screams. Oh, no. What to do? Why couldn't someone just tell her what to do? She'd done her part! Now, someone else had to find a solution. The fire was weakening the girl, so maybe someone could just jump in and rip her head off? Not Bella, of course. She was way too flammable. But who-

Leah came jogging down the beach, panting, sweating, bleeding. Bella only noticed this peripherally, as her eyes were fixed on her daughter. She felt Charlie's hands on her shoulder and briefly pondered biting him, now that he was distracted, but all this stress was making her throat flare in pain, again, and she wasn't at all sure she'd be able to stop drinking his blood in time. No, that must not happen. But what to do? This was all so awful and not what she'd expected when she'd come up with her heroic plan! This was supposed to be over, now! They were all supposed to be safe, thanks to her selfless and caring act. Now, they were all going to die, and there was nothing anyone could do about it. They were doomed. It was over.

That was when it happened. To her right, Leah laboriously got to her feet, swaying like she was drunk. Her cotton shirt was stained with blood. She looked like a ghost, but also fierce and somewhat intimidating when a grim smile curved up the corners of her mouth. What was she doing? She couldn't possibly think that she, a mere werewolf, could do something against the most powerful creature in the world! If a vampire couldn't end Renesmee's life, then how-

Leah's body shook violently. Without warning, she exploded into her wolf form and pounded on Renesmee, right into the fire.

4 Inside the security room, the little group of humans watched the scene unfold, thunderstruck. From the looks of it, the whole beach was on fire – good thing the place had been evacuated, and that from afar, it'd look like bonfires or something similar, at least. The cameras couldn't catch what was going on with the vampires in the circle, anymore, but they were definitely screaming. Demetri was screaming, too, writhing on the sand like someone was stabbing him through the eyes. Everyone else was petrified or simply unsure how to proceed. At least they weren't running for the hills. That would have even worse consequences than standing there, alert, waiting for what might happen.

"Oh, Leah," Billy said lowly, and balled his hands into fists. His face was greyish. Well, small wonder.

June cast Jerry a nervous little look, before returning to monitoring the live-feed. This mattered. Everyone had their task, and by God, she was not going to chicken out. If the people on the beach could stand their ground, then so could she. "We, uh…we're still catching all this," she said, feeling stupid, but unable to suppress the urge to at least say something. When she realised what Leah was up to, she felt sick. Her eyes grew wide. "Aw, dang it."

Leah's very human body literally exploded into a massive grey wolf. She bared huge fangs, snarled, and hurled herself into the flames, right on top of Renesmee.

5 Leah immediately caught on fire. Her body connected with Renesmee, knocking her into the sand. It felt as if she'd jumped against a wall. The shrieking inside her head grew louder and louder, until it became a howling agony that drowned out every other sensation in Leah's body – physical pain, queasiness, fear. She couldn't see. She heard nothing but the screaming in her mind. Renesmee closed her arms around Leah's neck and squeezed, but the fire was draining the little monster, making her weak. It was make or break, now. Leah herself didn't have long. With a final effort, she raised her head, closed her teeth around the dhampir's neck, and bit, as hard as she could.

It was hideous. Sickeningly sweet blood gushed into her mouth. Skin broke sinews snapped muscles ripped blood vessels popped bones crunched but she kept biting sinking her hangs in her teeth tearing ripping breaking shredding killing. The ground shook hard. The scream in her mind felt like a sword being driven through her brain. Sharp fingernails tore into her sides, gashing her skin open. Then, it was done. The head was off. Leah stumbled away. The numbness went away, and…oh God the pain burning scorching blistering holy fuck this was oh God-

She was on fire. She was on fire!

Yowling, she scrambled backwards, hit at her face with her paws, but it wouldn't go away just got worse oh God this was awful horrible agony oh please oh no she just wanted to make it stop make it oh sweet Jesus it-

Something covered her skin, put the fire out. She drew in a breath, reverted to her human form, and lost consciousness.

6 From one second to the next, the pain just went away. It was all gone. Demetri bolted upright in the sand. His eyes flew open. "What happened?" He saw Charlie standing there, holding the fire extinguisher in his hands, a horrified but determined look on his unnaturally pale face. At his feet lay Leah, naked and bleeding and covered in horrible burns. "Oh, no. Oh, no!" He hurried over to her, dropped to his knees, turned her on her back, and pressed his fingertips against her carotid artery.

She still had a pulse, but it was erratic, and her breathing was shallow and irregular.

"Is she still alive?" Blake knelt down beside him.

"Yes, but barely," he said, feeling as heavy as the whole world. "She shouldn't even be here. Why is she here?"

"She was the only one who could kill the… the…the girl," Charlie said, still holding onto that fire extinguisher as if his life depended on it. "We can handle the vampires, but not that kid in the fire. That thing was something else."

"Bella could have." Demetri's voice was cold and disdainful. For the first time in a long time, he didn't even try to mask his contempt. He shot Bella a black look. "If Leah dies, it'll be on you. Not that you'll care."

Bella just returned his look levelly and said nothing in reply.

All around them, the fires started receding, but they did not die out – not yet. In the innermost circle, the remaining vampires stood still as stone, visibly shaken, but very much alive. Undead. Reanimated. Whatever one might call it. It didn't matter.

Caius looked more upset than the others, who just seemed relieved that they hadn't ceased to exist. He stared at Demetri with unmitigated hatred. His almost white hair was wild and dishevelled, his red eyes narrowed, his clothes partially burned and covered in soot and sand. The scarf was gone, and the knotted mess of scars on his pasty throat was clearly visible. He kept scratching at them, as if he could just peel them off his body. Quite frankly, he finally looked like the madman he was. "If those abominations weren't here, I would tear you apart over and over again for this," he said, his voice shaky. "You'll die soon enough, you miserable little traitor. You murdered Renesmee! She was gonna save all of us! Can't you see?" He clawed at his own face and groaned. "I'm gonna rip you to shreds in her name!"

"I don't think you will," Grace the werewolf said calmly, letting go of Ariel's hand and walking right up to the outer ring of fire. Her tone of voice was kinder than Caius deserved. The wind had died down, somewhat, and there was no more need for shouting. "In less than two hours, we'll turn, and then we're gonna rip you to pieces. That is, if you don't lay off the threats."

"You murdered the most precious thing in the universe," Caius whispered, clearly unaware of the fact that his companions were staring at him in abject horror. They were backing away from him, too, as if he were contagious.

Knowing what he did about those who'd been bound to Fiora, Demetri understood their reaction all too well. He frowned down at Leah, stood up, and looked in direction of the cameras, hoping they were still intact. "We need some help down here for Leah," he announced, loud and clear. "It's safe for now. They won't try anything with the Children on the loose – not even Jasper."

"I'm many things," Jasper said, sounding much more unfazed than he looked, "but I am definitely not suicidal."

Demetri shot him a disgusted look and then faced Caius through the flickering flames. "I'm really sorry about what happened to you. What the dhampir did to you was not your fault. I wouldn't wish this upon my worst enemies. However, trying to lure me into a trap and to paint me as a traitor so you would have an excuse for genocide? That is entirely your fault. I'm not the traitor, Caius; you are. You betrayed everything our coven stands for, and you don't care that this would put all of us in danger – apart from the fact that killing innocent people is just wrong, no matter how you spin it."

"You consort with not one, but two types of werewolves, and you accuse me of treason?" Caius's voice was barely more than a tremulous whisper. His hands were balled into fists. His face was a contorted mask of pure fury. "How dare you?"

"How dare I?" Demetri's eyebrows shot up. "How dare I? All I've ever done was my duty, and that includes protecting innocent lives. I stood by and watched you carry out your vendetta against the Children of the Moon long enough – no more. They're not hurting anyone. Their nature is not their fault, much like we aren't to blame for being what we are. We, however, claim a right to exist as long as we don't murder. Why don't they have the same right?" He slowly shook his head. "I won't let you kill them. You wanted me to make a decision, and I have. I'll do what I should've done centuries ago: the right thing."

There was silence for a moment.

Finally, Jane said, "You can't get away with this. Even if you run away, once Aro hears about what happened, he'll have Caius's version and not yours. He-"

"Still has the ability to sneak up on you lot when you're distracted, apparently."

Everyone spun around to the source of that voice – that sonorous, beautiful, unique, captivating voice.

There he was, wearing a black three-piece suit and a red tie as usual, his dark mop of hair dishevelled and contrasting starkly with his pasty-white skin. The fire was being reflected in his red eyes, and he was smiling broadly, warmly. It was so mesmerising that it was hard to focus one's attention on anything else. "Hello, dear ones," Aro said, and looked from one to the other. He motioned to his left, to the tall and blonde vampire woman by his side – Irina.

The three Children backed away a little, even though they didn't seem like they even realised this.

Charlie stepped in front of his inert daughter, clutching the fire extinguisher like one would a weapon.

Demetri didn't even try to refrain from cracking a smile. "Oh, you're all right. I'm so glad to see you."

"Of course we are all right, and thank you," Aro said, made his way to him, and held out his hand. "I apologise for our tardiness, my lad, but we really could not have made it any earlier; we left Volterra as soon as you called."

"Thank you so much for being here." Demetri took his hand. He felt as if the weight of the world had been removed from his shoulders. "I know how reluctant you are to leave home. This means everything to me" – He quickly looked about himself – "and to all of us."

Now that he had touched Demetri's hand, Aro had all the information he needed; not that it was necessary under the circumstances, but better safe than sorry.

"Whatever he's thinking and remembering, Aro, it's all lies!" Caius sounded slightly panicky, now. His eyes grew wide. He was obviously itching to get out of the fire-ring, but couldn't – not yet. "If you could touch my hand, you'd see that he is the traitor! You'd see-"

"That you're the one who kept the dhampir alive, even though I ordered it executed at once when we spoke on the phone. You're the one who planned to lure Demetri – one of my most trusted agents – into a trap and murder him. I also ordered you to collect a few infected people, whom you were planning to kill, as well." Aro chuckled, shook his head, and beheld his co-leader with incredulity. "And now, here you are, brother, corrupted by a monstrous half-breed and guilty of attempted genocide. To think of the many times I reminded you that a lack of conscience is a weakness, not a strength, and to know that it was all in vain. I must admit, it frustrates and vexes me quite a bit. Tell me: what should I do with you?"

Caius was clearly close to panicking, now. "It's all lies, I'm telling you! I-"

Aro held up a black cell phone. "I was watching it all over the internet." Although he was still smiling, it looked frozen, somehow – angry. Really angry. "Do not lie to me." He said this slowly, emphasising every single word.

Everyone backed off from him just a little.

"Thank heavens the Wi-Fi is great around here, right, guys? Who would've thought?" The voice came from up the beach; it was June Cassidy, carrying a first-aid kit. She was deadly pale, too, and somewhat shaky, but putting up a brave front as she walked into the midst of vampires and werewolves. "Hey, everyone. Don't mind little ole me. I'm just the nurse." She dropped to her knees next to Leah and started taking care of her burns.

If Caius's eyes got any bigger, they'd tumble out of his skull. "You…"

"Yes. Both of us, in fact," Aro said, and touched Irina's shoulder. "Courtesy of young Miss Cassidy, I believe, and her intrepid cameraman."

"You believe correctly," Demetri said, earning himself a nervous little smile from June.

Irina was tense, but not because of that. Her eyes kept wandering to Renesmee's charred body. "Is she…"

Aro gave her a sympathetic look, though Demetri could tell from centuries of experience that the sentiment wasn't actually genuine. "Dead? I'm afraid so, dear girl. Fire and decapitation are the only things that can permanently kill a dhampir – both combined, of course."

"Good to know," Charlie said.

"Yes, it is," Irina said quietly. She pressed her lips together and squinted through the fire at the vampires in the circle. "Are they all infected?"

"Only Caius," Chelsea hurried to assure. "The rest of us are fine."

"I…" Caius's mouth dropped open. He blinked a few times, as if that would have any effect. "I'm not…I…"

"We hoped that we could get here earlier," Aro said, shaking his head. He slowly looked at each person present again. "The reason I brought Irina is that she's the only hope for those whose minds have been corrupted by a dhampir." Everyone stared at him, wide-eyed and confused. He smiled again. "She cured Fiora."

"What?" Demetri took a step back. He felt as heavy as the world, and at the same time, light-headed. Had the temperature dropped? It was so cold, suddenly.

"It's true," Irina said softly. "I managed to silence her powers. Maybe I can silence them forever."

"Atenulf was cured, as well." The expression on Aro's face was wistful. "If only we'd known about Irina six centuries ago. We could've saved so many of us…my sister, for one."

That was…that was…there were no words. No words. "You…" Demetri started, but trailed off, completely at a loss. "A cure for…oh, God. What…where…I mean…"

Aro's smile broadened, crinkling the skin around his eyes, lighting up his whole face. It made the world seem warmer again. Everyone but the Children relaxed a little. "I unchained Fiora…well, she's secured now, again, as long as I am abroad. However, once we've established that her powers can be kept muted permanently – and I am confident that they can – I'll allow her to leave her cell. I have no desire to see her or any of her kind suffer needlessly, and she has no desire to inflict suffering upon anyone else, either."

"But you hate her," Caius said, incredulous. "You hate all of them. That's why you wanted our Renesmee dead – our perfect miracle." His shoulders slumped and he leaned his face into his hands. He looked like he was in physical pain. His whole body was twitching. There were cracks on his hands and wrists and throat. It had begun.

Demetri knew that this was only going to get worse, now that the dhampir who had infected him was dead. He was going to slowly disintegrate, under great agony, whilst losing his mind and identity bit by bit. All the while, he'd remain conscious, as the pain got worse and more and more pieces of him started to crumble. This was quite inevitable. Every single vampire who'd got infected by a dhampir underwent the same process exactly once that dhampir was dead. There was no escaping it. The others could only watch in horror – that, or they could mercy-kill the poor wretches before their misery got too great.

Until now. Now, all bets were off. They'd found a cure; Aro had found a cure after six centuries of searching for one. This was a revolution. Demetri had known that the supernatural world needed to change, that it was changing, but he'd had no idea that the transformation of everything he knew would be this radical. It was amazing.

The look Aro gave Caius was almost pitying – almost. "I came to the conclusion that I can't hate someone for what they are, only for what they do. Do you want to know why?" He waited, but no-one said anything in reply. "Because I looked into Fiora's mind, into all of her memories, and I saw that she doesn't hate me. She hated what I did to her, and she was in pain, but she doesn't hate me." Chuckling wryly, he added, "She wants me to love her, despite everything that happened. She can't help it. That's not her fault. It's not anyone's fault." Solemnly, he faced the three Children of the Moon, who were standing together in front of the unconscious Seth. "She's right not to hate, and so is Demetri. If we keep warring each other because of what we are, then we are digging our own graves, as it were. My job has always been to protect the vampire world and to protect the world from vampires. Being your enemy makes no more sense as long as you are willing to keep the peace."

"We've kept the peace for many years," Blake said, her strong voice trembling a little. Her jaw was set, her posture straight. "You and your people have hunted us almost to extinction. We won't stand for it any longer. We won't allow any leech to ever hurt one of ours again – or one of the Quileute wolves, either. That's something you need to get through your marble skull."

The smile returned to Aro's face. It was dazzling and lovely, but would have no effect on the Children. "I give you my word that from now on, you and yours have nothing to fear from us." His eyes wandered to Charlie, then June – who was doing her best to just keep on taking care of Leah without coming across as too nervous – then to Demetri. "That includes these humans."

"You can't be serious!" Caius bellowed, making those in the circle with him – all except for Jasper – flinch. "They know about us! They have to die! All of them have to-" A hand touched his neck. Unceremoniously, he went down like a sack of potatoes.

Jasper wiped his hand on his trouser leg and grinned. "Sorry about that, but he was starting to get on my nerves, so I decided it was nap-time for the little warmonger that could."

"Good call," Grace said. "You're still an asshole."

Both her werewolf friends nodded in agreement.

"Hm," Aro made, watching the scene with a mix of curiosity and amusement. "What a fascinating gift you have, Mister Whitlock. I wonder if it'll work on me." He didn't sound like he was actually wondering that, though. Vampire powers had a tendency not to affect him, because his powers were simply too overwhelming. He wasn't the boss of all vampires for nothing. "As for my dear brother's objections: yes, we have a rule of secrecy, and we have it for good reason. However, I've been following the recent developments closely, and I understand now that we need to adapt our behaviour in order to survive. Times are changing, and quickly. Without allies both human and supernatural, we don't stand a chance. Just look at what can be achieved through friendly cooperation." He motioned about with a wave of his arm. "Vampires are no stronger than anyone else – not anymore. Allying with other species has its risks, of course, but if we choose our friends" – He smiled again – "wisely, then that makes us stronger and more resilient, not less. Therefore, none of you have anything to fear from either me or my people. That is a promise." He glanced at Corin, Alec, Jane, Chelsea, and Jasper; they all nodded their acquiescence. "You may not have any reason to trust me, but you do have reason to trust Demetri, and he knows that I never break my word."

"It's true," Demetri said. The immediate danger having passed, he knelt down by June's side to help her bandage Leah's cleaned wounds.

Leah was breathing more deeply, now, which was good, but the chest-wound was bleeding again.

"As a show of good faith, I'd like you to let Irina help the poor Quileute boy," Aro said, pointing at Seth. "She's the only one who can."

The Children huddled closer together, standing protectively in front of the kid.

"Please," Irina said, raising her hands in a defensive gesture. "Just let me try. If I can't help him, he's as good as dead."

"Don't trust them," Ariel said, frowning, shaking his head at Blake. He cradled his mangled hand to his chest.

At first, she returned his look wearing the exact same expression, but then, her features softened. She blew out a heavy breath and nodded curtly at Irina, stepping aside.

"Blake, I don't know about this," Grace said.

"I don't either, but the uber-vamp is right," Blake said, trying and failing to smile with encouragement. "Call it a leap of faith."

"Thank you," Irina said, walking up to Seth, moving deliberately slowly. The three Children remained on edge, but allowed her to kneel down. "Don't be frightened; I have to bite him. It'll-"

"What?"

"It'll hurt, but I'm sure it'll help him. It's the only chance he's got." When no more protest came, although the wolves were definitely reluctant, she bent down and sank her fangs into Seth's throat.

Immediately, he started convulsing and groaning. He turned on his side, curled up, hugged his arms around himself, and vomited into the sand.

"What have you-"

"Easy, Ariel," Blake said, holding him back with one arm. "I don't think she harmed him."

Irina dashed back to Aro's side. "He should regain consciousness soon, I believe, and then we'll see."

That was when Leah woke and sat up so suddenly, she nearly collided with the startled June, who cried out in surprise.

Leah's eyes darted from her to Demetri. "Where's my little brother?"

7 Leah's consciousness returned with a bang. Before she knew it, she was sitting upright, asking about Seth. She was…oh, everything was hurting. Her skin was refashioning itself exceedingly quickly, and it was on fire. Her chest felt as if someone had punched through it. She was horribly cold despite the burns.

"Leah, calm down." That was Demetri, right next to her.

Oh, thank God! He was okay. Did that mean…

…yes. She had bitten off the hell-baby's head. Christ on a cracker.

"Here." He took his jacket and dressed her in it.

It hurt, to say the least. She sucked in a sharp breath through her nostrils, as her teeth were firmly gritted. When he was done zipping it up, she was panting and sweating profusely. Her skin was screaming. How was she still alive? The bandage on her chest was soaked in blood, but the damage was not as bad, since the wound had been almost healed when she phased. She'd set her healing process back a while, but she was tougher than she herself had believed. That was good…probably, depending on whether she would, in the future, decide to take better care of herself or use this as an excuse to throw herself into danger at every opportunity. Right now, though, there were more pressing matters at hand. "Seth?"

A strangled groan answered her.

Her eyes went wide and she meant to stand up, but Demetri and June held her down.

"It's okay, hon," June said, brushing some of Leah's tangled and filthy hair from her face. "He's being healed."

"What?"

"Look around you," Demetri said, smiling slightly. He looked…happy. Seriously? Yup, he was happy – giddy, even. Okay, then. "We won."

"We won?" she echoed dully, but then, she did look around. Oh…oh, wow. What…all right.

A little ways down the beach, to her left, lay Re-name-me's charred, headless body. Just remembering how she'd ended up this way made Leah queasy. She had the most disgusting taste in her mouth; her breath must smell abysmally. Yikes. Behind her, as she saw by glancing over her shoulder, were two red-eyed vampires. One was a relatively short, thin white guy in a suit – Aro, presumably – who couldn't stop smiling and who...who was strangely attractive. Huh. Wow. Fancy that. She shook her head. What the hell? The other vampire was Alaska Blonde. Charlie was shielding his daughter. The fire extinguisher in his hands told her that he'd been the one to put her out. That warmed her heart. Charlie was so awesome.

Had their dastardly plan really worked? And what the hell was going on with Seth?

"Seth…"

"Will be fine," Alaska Blonde – no, Irina said.

When Seth whimpered and vomited loudly, Leah's own stomach panged. "Did you bite him?"

"To cure him," Demetri told her. He was holding her by the shoulders and beaming at her. It was a pretty sight, not because all vampires were pretty in an uncanny valley way, but because it was clearly a genuine emotion. It shone out of him like sunshine. Like this, it didn't matter that he wasn't human. He looked alive, and that was beautiful. That was who he was, despite his nature, despite his eerie symmetrical face and the bloodless skin and the cold he emanated.

Leah couldn't help but snicker, despite her pain, her nausea, and everything else. She felt alive, too, which was also beautiful. "You're serious."

"I am. In a few hours, we'll see how Seth's responding. It'll be fine. It'll all be fine."

"Help me up…please." She saw that he meant to protest, but that he then changed his mind like a good boy. Wordlessly, he repositioned himself, put his right arm around her shoulders, took her by the wrist, and very carefully hoisted her up to her feet. It felt as if her skin were about to slough off. She saw stars. Her legs were made of rubber. She leaned heavily against him. The chill that radiated off of him felt like heaven. As if he could read her mind, he turned her around to face Aro.

"The illustrious Ms Clearwater," he said cheerily, as if this were a cocktail party. He had a very nice voice and spoke the same Queen's English that Yuppie Vamp used. That was cute. It was…

…aw, damn, the guy had supernatural charm. She remembered. This was the televangelist. "Yes – and no, you can't touch me and read my thoughts."

The look he gave her was thoroughly entertained. "I would never do that without your consent."

"Sure." She coughed, flinched, gasped. Sweet Jesus, had someone shoved broken glass into her wound? Dear Lord. After half a minute, she was able to talk again. "Hell-spawn's dead, your bro's caught in a ring of fire. You sure you're not gonna change your mind and annihilate us all once the commotion dies down?"

He chuckled. "Ah, yes, of course. Vampires are prone to revenge, sadly. I understand your trepidations. There is no reason to worry, though, dear girl; you've got nothing to fear from us. We will help clean up the mess and then we'll leave. You have my word."

"That's enough, of course," Demetri said suspiciously quickly, obviously anticipating protest. "Thank you for listening."

"Of course."

Leah cleared her throat and made herself look away, because the last thing she wanted right now was to like this guy just because he could charm and read people against their will. "What about Creepula? He killed my friends. He set Re-name-me free. He betrayed Demetri, and therefore, you." She coughed again, flinched again. Good thing Yuppie Vamp was steadying her. They really were a not-too-shabby team, weren't they?

"I will deal with every vampire who's committed a transgression, but no-one else will die because of tonight's events. There's been enough death to last us for decades, wouldn't you agree?"

She bit down on her tongue, shook her head, ignored the pain. Heat rose in her, and her body started shaking. No, this wouldn't do. She could not fursplode again so soon. Her vision grew blurry. Names and faces popped up before her mind's eye: Jared. Embry. Jacob. All the little kids who died. There were those who were dead whose faces and names she didn't know: all the humans Creepula and Bell-Bell had drained and carelessly tossed aside like garbage. Why should they live, when good people were rotting in the ground because of them? Fuck that. She shook her head again and bit her lower lip.

"It's for the best, Leah," Demetri said quietly, but she could hear how unhappy it made him. "Trust me."

Of course this would make him unhappy. Jasper knew he couldn't hide from the most powerful tracker in the world, and so he had tried to outmanoeuvre him by getting him killed via Caius and posse. Now, this scheme had fallen flat, he was exposed for the self-serving psychopath he truly was, and what was going to happen to him? Nothing. Zilch. Nada. Zero. In fact, he was probably getting a promotion by being accepted into the vampire government. Well, fuck this.

The worst thing about it was the fact that there was absolutely nothing she could do about it – nothing at all. Her hands were tied.

Demetri had warned her that something like this might happen. Jasper's powers were just too valuable to waste.

"Everyone lives," she said, through clenched teeth.

Aro spread his hands, and echoed, "Everyone lives," solicitously.

"Fine, as long as I don't have to see these dumb assholes ever again, and yes, that includes Bell-Bell." Leah cleared her throat. "No offense, Charlie, but your daughter and I are never gonna see eye to eye."

Charlie stepped in front of Bella. Somehow, that was heart-breaking. "None taken, but you leave her alone."

"Sure. Everyone lives, remember?" That was when her legs finally gave.

Demetri picked her up effortlessly into his arms. "I'm sorry, but you're very hurt." Looking at Aro, he said, "I'm going to take her to the hotel. She needs to rest and recuperate."

"Good. We should all go there and talk this through," Aro said, now all work and no play. He looked from Leah to the Children, to Irina, and then to the vampires in the fire-circle. "Things must change so they can stay the same, as trite as this may sound. I've made up my mind. If you have anything to object, speak now."

No-one did, of course. Even if they didn't agree, no-one would dare cross the emperor.

He smiled; now, that was like pure sunshine. Wow. Seriously, wow. It wasn't as if he were super gorgeous, or anything, but there was something about him that just made him so…how to put it? Appealing. Captivating. Attractive.

Good God.

Leah closer her eyes – they were aching, anyway – and leaned her head against Demetri's shoulder. Suddenly, she was just so, so tired. Let the others talk for hours or days or whatever about the particulars of their new deal. Let someone else put out the happy bonfires.

Let Charlie call his police and FBI buddies and give them a detailed account of the Cullen crime ring that extended to Mexico, about his kidnapping, about Bella's death, about the Cullens' deaths, and about the threats made against the entire Quileute tribe. That was his contribution to everyone's well-being in the supernatural world, and probably the most important one, in the long-term. Let others worry about Bell-Bell and Creepula and their psycho bullshit. For the moment, Leah had done her part. She'd slain the dragon, hadn't she? Well, all of them had, together. In any case, she felt like she deserved a good night's sleep.

"Hotel sounds good," she said lowly, yawning, her voice already low, her words slurring. "Hotel sounds mighty fine." Her eyes were closed, but she felt Demetri set into motion. "Seth…who will…"

"Blake and the other wolves will take him to Mister Black. He'll be fine. Don't worry. He'll be just fine."

"Good. That's good." Man, did she feel sluggish. The pain was fading, and her whole body was starting to feel relaxed and pleasantly heavy.

"You saved me again," he told her, as the noises from the fire and the ocean started fading into the background. The air smelled cleaner, too. It was nice and cool; he was nice and cool. "Thank you."

"Anytime, Yuppie. You deserve it," she mumbled, yawned, and drifted off into a deep and black sleep.