Changed (The Hunters #1) (12 page)

Jason let himself down on the chair
next to Rosa, looking at her.

“
You’re a pretty bad liar,
Ice Princess,” he whispered to her.

Rosa raised an eyebrow. “Can you not
stand it if somebody ignored you?”

Jason leaned against the counter.
“Rosa, my authority is too huge to ignore it. You cannot miss it.
I’m a Nephilim.”

She looked at him. His blue eyes were
like magnets that attracted her.

”
You like my eyes,” Jason
noted and smiled proudly.

Rosa shook her head. “No, I only like
my eyes.”

Jason raised an eyebrow. “Well, now
who’s arrogant?”

Rosa shrugged. She took a long sip
from her drink. When she felt a burning sensation in her throat,
she grimaced.

Jason took her drink and drank the
rest in one gulp.

Rosa looked at him. “Hey, that was
mine!”

He
leaned forward and Rosa could feel his breath on her face. She
couldn
’
t take her
eyes away from his.

“
When is your birthday,
Ice Princess?” he asked, and leaned back. Rosa looked at him
confused.

“
I don’t want any gifts,”
she said, and ordered another drink. She looked at Valerie, who was
not sitting anymore by her side, but flirted heavily with the boy
who was at the pool table. Madison was nowhere to be
found.

“
Who said anything about
gifts?” Jason replied. “I just want to know when your birthday
is.”

She finished her second drink. “Why do
you care?”

He shrugged. “I’m just trying to make
conversation.”

Rosa sighed. She wouldn’t tell him
when her true birthday was, so she made up a date. “The February
31st.”

Jason grinned at her. “Are you really
sure about that?”

She frowned, running through the
months in her head. Then it dawned on her. She gave herself an
inner slap. February only had 28 days.

“
I mean January 31st, of
course,” Rosa corrected as she smiled coyly.

Jason laughed. “You’re really the
first person who doesn’t know her birthday.”

Rosa suddenly felt a pressure on her
bladder. “I have to go to the little girls’ room.”

Jason took her glass and lifted it. “I
miss you already, Ice Princess.” The sarcasm in his voice was
unmistakable.

Rosa snorted but said nothing. She
walked along the dark corridor to the toilet. She pushed the
bathroom door open. The toilet looked amazingly clean for being in
a public place. She went to the toilet and washed her hands
afterwards.

Rosa opened the door and stepped
outside. She wanted to go, when she heard something. It sounded
like a groan and came from the back. She heard it again. Rosa
turned around. Beside the bathroom was a small room. It looked more
like a storage room.

Rosa hid behind a curtain that
separated the back area of the store. She knew that was not right
to stand there and spy, but she wanted to know what the groan was.
Curiosity usually got the best of her.

Peering through the
curtain, Rosa saw Madison. Rosa rolled her eyes. She should have
known. Madison, dress pulled up as she moaned again, was just
having sex in the storeroom with some boy.

Can’t
this girl live without sex?
Rosa wondered.
She wanted to turn away, when suddenly something strange
happened.

The “boy” who Madison had kissed
wildly, went very still. He stood before her and looked at her
without moving. Rosa frowned and she took a step closer, still
hidden behind the curtain.

Madison pulled down her dress and tied
up her hair. Thereby she exposed her neck.

Rosa
froze.
This cannot be
, she thought.

Yet she saw it with her own eyes.
Something small shined brightly on Madison’s neck. It was small
like a pinhead. It glowed of white and red.

That could only mean one
thing.

Madison was a shadow
creature.

And created by the
archangels.

Rosa
tensed every muscle. Her mission was to kill a shadow
creature
immediately
, but how could she? For one thing, if she attacked Madison
now, the others in the bar would hear the fight. And then they
would know Rosa was a hunter. Jason would find out and she could
not let that happen. For another, Rosa never killed somebody she
knew. That had never happened to her.

But Madison was another
case.

Could Rosa kill her?

Rosa firmly clutched the curtain. She
asked herself what Madison was?

A witch? A Half demon? Or a vampire?
There were very few vampires in the world. The archangel didn’t
create vampires, because they thought vampires would be dangerous
to humankind. As if the angels were interested in the human race!
The real reason was that the angels were afraid that vampires could
be as strong as they were, and seize the power.

Madison pushed the boy against the
wall. He looked directly into her eyes and opened his
mouth.

Her implant shone brighter. This only
happened when the shadow creatures used their supernatural
power.

Then Madison stood still before the
boy, during which the boy was getting flaccid.

Rosa knew that she should intervene,
but the whole scene had her shocked—paralyzed. She had never
thought that Madison was one of those creatures.

Rosa
still couldn
’
t
figure out what she was exactly.

She
smashed her head,
what could Madison
be?

Then Rosa understood. Her mouth
dropped open.

Madison was a mermaid.

Mermaids were water spirits that could
change their shape and appearance at will. They could sometimes be
seductive, sometimes dangerous, and sometimes vicious. Mermaids
were said to take on their true shape at night, and lived in the
water.

In addition, they fed on human
souls.

Now Rosa understood why Madison was
standing open-mouthed in front of the boy. She sucked out his
soul.

Rosa dropped the curtain and went back
to the bar. What she had seen confused her. Rosa didn’t know what
she should do. Thoughtfully she sat down next to Jason.

“
What
took so long, Ice Princess?” he asked. He sounded slightly drunk.
“Did you fall in?” Rosa didn
’
t answer.

“
Is everything alright?”
Jason asked her, now a little worried. Rosa looked at
him.

She remembered that conversation that
Jason had with Madison in the gym. They had arranged for this
evening. Jason could not go to Madison, or she would suck his soul,
too.

It should not have bothered Rosa so
much, but Jason needed to be alive for her to know why he was in
Boston. Besides, she wanted to be the one to kill him, and become a
full member of the hunter clan.

First,
she had to convince him not to go to Madison.
But how?

Should she just tell him the truth,
that Madison was a mermaid? If she did, he would surely be
suspicious if he weren’t already. Most people didn’t know about the
shadow creatures. She could tell him and then claim that she knows
about the creatures, because one of her friends was a
mermaid.

Rosa didn’t know which option she
should choose. Then she decided simply to warn him. Rosa would kill
Madison before she met with Jason.

“
Ice Princess?” Jason’s
voice brought her out her thoughts. She looked at him.

“
Jason, you can’t meet
Madison,” Rosa warned him.

He frowned. “And why not?”

“
Don’t ask the why. Just
don’t go to her. It’s for the best.”

“
Ah, Ice Princess, don’t
be jealous. I will have time for you, as well. There is no reason
to worry,” Jason said, grinning.

She shook her head. “Jason, I’m not
jealous.”

“
Sure you’re not,” he said
wryly.

Why am I
actually bothering to warn him
?

Rosa saw out of the corner of her eye
that Madison was coming toward them. She looked fresh and
happy.

The poor
boy
.

“
Jason,
let’s go. I can
’
t
wait any longer,” she said, stretching out her hand to him. He
finished his drink and stood up.

“
Jason, don’t go,” Rosa
warned him again.

He winked at her. “When this is over,
I have time for you, Ice Princess.”

Rosa
sighed deeply. It was not good that he
now
went to
Madison.

Rosa had to kill Madison in her
apartment when Jason was nearby, so there was a chance that Jason
would find out that she was actually a hunter.

Very good.

Madison und Jason disappeared through
the door. Rosa stood up and walked over to Valerie.

“
Valerie, I must go,” Rosa
said.

She turned towards her. “Rosa, I’m
talking,” she said, making it clear that this was not a good
time.

Rosa did not want to lose any time.
“Okay, good. Then you stay here. I have to go.”

“
Who should drive me home
then?” she asked.

“
Me,” the boy next to
Valerie said.

“
Well then. Bye, Rosa,”
said Valerie and waved to her. Then she turned towards the
boy.

Rosa smiled and left club. The sun had
already disappeared and the evening drew on. She had spent more
time in the club as she had intended.

She climbed into her car
and drove off. She had to fetch the paralysis spell before she
headed to Madison.

Madison closed the door to her
apartment.

“
Do you live here alone?”
Jason asked her.

“
No. I live with my
parents, but they’re not home,” she answered.

The apartment seemed expensive and
large, yet simple in whites and browns. Jason immediately went to
the counter and poured himself a glass of whiskey. He was a little
drunk, but one more drink would not hurt. Madison threw her bag on
the couch and came over to Jason. She sat down opposite
him.

Jason
looked at her. He didn
’t
know why Rosa told him he
shouldn
’
t meet
her. He didn
’
t
believe that Rose was jealous, but she was different when she came
back—as if she
’
d
seen something that had shocked her. Could this have something to
do with Madison? If yes, what was it?

He regarded Madison. What could happen
when he was with such a beautiful girl?

“
And how it´s to be an
angel?” Madison asked.

Jason took a big gulp from his glass.
“What’s it like? Well, you are stronger than men are, and prettier,
too. It’s okay.”

“
I would be happy to be an
angel.”

Jason grinned. “Madison, you’re
already an angel.” She giggled as she came over to him and stood
behind him. She wrapped her arms around his neck.

“
You’re a real charmer.
You know that, Jason?” she asked him softly, her hands beginning to
open his shirt.

“
I know,” he said. Jasmine
came to his mind, and he felt guilty. He was amusing himself with a
girl while his sister was missing.

Don’t think about it now,
Jason. A little break cannot hurt.

Madison
laughed and pulled off his shirt and started to kiss his
neck.
Man, this girl knows how to seduce a
man,
Jason thought.

She stopped kissing him and he gave a
frustrated sigh. He did not want it to stop. She took his
hand.