Be Careful What You Wish For

Chapter Twenty-Four

1 People at the hotel are gonna die, Leah had objected when they were talking over their infallible plan at the beach house.

They're doomed, anyway, Jasper had countered. They've all been infected by the Borg Queen. Their fate was sealed the moment the little trio of freaks walked into that hotel.

You don't know that, jackass!

He'd given her an unmistakeable bitch-please look. Honey, you don't seriously think that dear Nessie would entrench herself in that place without making sure everyone within reach is hers to command, right?

I know what I saw, Maria had added cheerily, although fuck if Leah knew whether this was a genuine sentiment or not. It was so hard to tell with vampires. Maria had been sitting to Jasper's left on the big couch, Bell-Bell to his right. I'm afraid they're all lost.

Leah had shot a look at Demetri and seen all confirmation she'd ever need. Fine. So they're as good as dead. Jacob-

Doesn't know that, Bella had cut in. He doesn't perceive Renesmee as a threat or as dangerous. He can't. She's his imprint. If anything, he probably believes that we want to take her away from him. I'm positive that he thinks we'll want to ensure the human hostages' safety. He'll try to use them as leverage.

And so we sacrifice dozens of people, Leah had said snidely, and snorted derisively. Nice. Really, that's just fucking charming.

There's no other way, Demetri had said. Maria is right: they are all lost and will have to be eliminated, anyway. It would, however, make sense to use that inevitability to our advantage.

Juggling with lives to further one's agenda had seemed very much vampiric in nature to Leah, but she'd agreed (grudgingly) that the leeches were spot on the money about that one. If dozens of innocent people had to die, anyway, to keep the horror from spreading, then at least they should die for a good cause. It wasn't as if their demise was up for debate. Damn it. Damn it, damn it, damn it.

In theory, though, everything always sounded much more straight forward than it ended up being. The plan was simple enough: Bell-Bell was going to poison Jacob with a dose of her venom. Jasper, Maria, and Maria's minions would position themselves in an extended perimeter around the hotel, but far enough away not to be smelled or seen by their targets; they'd also start a number of fires. Fires. In a huge city filled with innocent people. Fire as a diversion. Anyway, Leah and Demetri would, accompanied by a number of other leeches, storm the hotel. Four of them would attempt to get to Rosalie and the demon baby and Charlie, while the others...yeah, they'd do the clean-up job regarding the rest of the patrons.

Better not to think about that.

The green area and little park behind the two silvery towers of the hotel were on fire. From the front, the setting sun reflected off the metal and windows in bright red and orange. From behind, flames flickered, drenching the huge buildings in dark shadows. Black smoke was billowing into the only partially overcast evening sky. Only the most dramatic reveal of dying sunlight for the most dramatic event of their lives! At least nature had a sense of propriety. From the distance, sirens could be heard. Passers-by were staring and simultaneously running away from the mayhem. Cars were stopping in the middle of the road. The ambient noise was unbelievable – the smell of things burning to a crisp, too.

Nobody was exiting the hotel.

Getting lost in all the chaos, Leah and her leech posse (dibs on the band name!) pushed through the doors into the lobby.