The Twilight Saga Collection part 2(238)

I nodded to Leah and Seth, too, as I cruised up the Cullens’ driveway. It was starting to get dark, and the clouds were thick on this side of the sound, but I saw their eyes glitter in the glow of the headlights. I would explain to them later. There’d be plenty of time for that.

It was a surprise to find Edward waiting for me in the garage. I hadn’t seen him away from Bella in days. I could tell from his face that nothing bad had happened to her. In fact, he looked more peaceful than before. My stomach tightened as I remembered where that peace came from.

It was too bad that—with all my brooding—I’d forgotten to wreck the car. Oh well. I probably wouldn’t have been able to stand hurting this car, anyway. Maybe he’d guessed as much, and that’s why he’d lent it to me in the first place.

“A few things, Jacob,” he said as soon as I cut the engine.

I took a deep breath and held it for a minute. Then, slowly, I got out of the car and threw the keys to him.

“Thanks for the loan,” I said sourly. Apparently, it would have to be repaid. “What do you want now?”

“Firstly… I know how averse you are to using your authority with your pack, but . . .”

I blinked, astonished that he would even dream of starting in on this one. “What?”

“If you can’t or won’t control Leah, then I—”

“Leah?” I interrupted, speaking through my teeth. “What happened?”

Edward’s face was hard. “She came up to see why you’d left so abruptly. I tried to explain. I suppose it might not have come out right.”

“What did she do?”

“She phased to her human form and—”

“Really?” I interrupted again, shocked this time. I couldn’t process that. Leah letting her guard down right in the mouth of the enemy’s lair?

“She wanted to… speak to Bella.”

“To Bella?”

Edward got all hissy then. “I won’t let Bella be upset like that again. I don’t care how justified Leah thinks she is! I didn’t hurt her—of course I wouldn’t—but I’ll throw her out of the house if it happens again. I’ll launch her right across the river—”

“Hold on. What did she say?” None of this was making any sense.

Edward took a deep breath, composing himself. “Leah was unnecessarily harsh. I’m not going to pretend that I understand why Bella is unable to let go of you, but I do know that she does not behave this way to hurt you. She suffers a great deal over the pain she’s inflicting on you, and on me, by asking you to stay. What Leah said was uncalled for. Bella’s been crying—”

“Wait—Leah was yelling at Bella about me?”

He nodded one sharp nod. “You were quite vehemently championed.”

Whoa. “I didn’t ask her to do that.”

“I know.”

I rolled my eyes. Of course he knew. He knew everything.

But that was really something about Leah. Who would have believed it? Leah walking into the bloodsuckers’ place human to complain about how I was being treated.

“I can’t promise to control Leah,” I told him. “I won’t do that. But I’ll talk to her, okay? And I don’t think there’ll be a repeat. Leah’s not one to hold back, so she probably got it all off her chest today.”

“I would say so.”

“Anyway, I’ll talk to Bella about it, too. She doesn’t need to feel bad. This one’s on me.”

“I already told her that.”

“Of course you did. Is she okay?”

“She’s sleeping now. Rose is with her.”

So the psycho was “Rose” now. He’d completely crossed over to the dark side.

He ignored that thought, continuing with a more complete answer to my question. “She’s… better in some ways. Aside from Leah’s tirade and the resulting guilt.”

Better. Because Edward was hearing the monster and everything was all lovey-dovey now. Fantastic.

“It’s a bit more than that,” he murmured. “Now that I can make out the child’s thoughts, it’s apparent that he or she has remarkably developed mental facilities. He can understand us, to an extent.”

My mouth fell open. “Are you serious?”

“Yes. He seems to have a vague sense of what hurts her now. He’s trying to avoid that, as much as possible. He… loves her. Already.”

I stared at Edward, feeling sort of like my eyes might pop out of their sockets. Underneath that disbelief, I could see right away that this was the critical factor. This was what had changed Edward—that the monster had convinced him of this love. He couldn’t hate what loved Bella. It was probably why he couldn’t hate me, either. There was a big difference, though. I wasn’t killing her.