He straightened up with a jerk, like my words had sent an electric shock through him. His eyebrows shot up and his eyes stared wide.
“Killing people?” he demanded.
“What did you think we were talking about?”
He wasn’t trembling anymore. He looked at me with half-hopeful disbelief. “I thought we were talking about your disgust for werewolves.”
“No, Jake, no. It’s not that you’re a...wolf. That’s fine,” I promised him, and I knew as I said the words that I meant them. I really didn’t care if he turned into a big wolf—he was still Jacob. “If you could just find a way not to hurt people...that’s all that upsets me. These are innocent people, Jake, people like Charlie, and I can’t just look the other way while you—”
“Is that all? Really?” he interrupted me, a smile breaking across his face. “You’re just scared because I’m a murderer? That’s the only reason?”
“Isn’t that reason enough?”
He started to laugh.
“Jacob Black, this is so not funny!”
“Sure, sure,” he agreed, still chortling.
He took one long stride and caught me in another vice-tight bear hug.
“You really, honestly don’t mind that I morph into a giant dog?” he asked, his voice joyful in my ear.
“No,” I gasped. “Can’t—breathe—Jake!”
He let me go, but took both my hands. “I’m not a killer, Bella.”
I studied his face, and it was clear that this was the truth. Relief pulsed through me.
“Really?” I asked.
“Really,” he promised solemnly.
I threw my arms around him. It reminded me of that first day with the motorcycles—he was bigger, though, and I felt even more like a child now.
Like that other time, he stroked my hair.
“Sorry I called you a hypocrite,” he apologized.
“Sorry I called you a murderer.”
He laughed.
I thought of something then, and pulled away from him so that I could see his face. My eyebrows furrowed in anxiety. “What about Sam? And the others?”
He shook his head, smiling like a huge burden had been removed from his shoulders. “Of course not. Don’t you remember what we call ourselves?”
The memory was clear—I’d just been thinking of that very day. “Protectors?”
“Exactly.”
“But I don’t understand. What’s happening in the woods? The missing hikers, the blood?”
His face was serious, worried at once. “We’re trying to do our job, Bella. We’re trying to protect them, but we’re always just a little too late.”
“Protect them from what? Is there really a bear out there, too?”
“Bella, honey, we only protect people from one thing—our one enemy. It’s the reason we exist—because they do.”
I stared at him blankly for one second before I understood. Then the blood drained from my face and a thin, wordless cry of horror broke through my lips.
He nodded. “I thought you, of all people, would realize what was really going on.”
“Laurent,” I whispered. “He’s still here.”
Jacob blinked twice, and cocked his head to one side. “Who’s Laurent?”
I tried to sort out the chaos in my head so that I could answer. “You know—you saw him in the meadow. You were there....” The words came out in a wondering tone as it all sunk in. “You were there, and you kept him from killing me....”
“Oh, the black-haired leech?” He grinned, a tight, fierce grin. “Was that his name?”
I shuddered. “What were you thinking?” I whispered. “He could have killed you! Jake, you don’t realize how dangerous—”
Another laugh interrupted me. “Bella, one lone vampire isn’t much of a problem for a pack as big as ours. It was so easy, it was hardly even fun!”
“What was so easy?”
“Killing the bloodsucker who was going to kill you. Now, I don’t count that towards the whole murder thing,” he added quickly. “Vampires don’t count as people.”
I could only mouth the words. “You...killed...Laurent?”
He nodded. “Well, it was a group effort,” he qualified.
“Laurent is dead?” I whispered.
His expression changed. “You’re not upset about that, are you? He was going to kill you—he was going for the kill, Bella, we were sure of that before we attacked. You know that, right?”
“I know that. No, I’m not upset—I’m . . .” I had to sit down. I stumbled back a step until I felt the driftwood against my calves, and then sank down onto it. “Laurent is dead. He’s not coming back for me.”