Changed (The Hunters #1) (25 page)

“
Nothing. Forget it,” he
said.

Rosa sighed. She had known it would be
difficult to learn the plan from Jason.

“
So, why didn’t you tell
him you don’t want to do what he asks?” she wanted to
know.

He sighed deeply. “Because he knows
that I screwed up, and he blackmails me with it.” Jason looked at
her. “What can I do, Ice Princess?”

Rosa leaned back and shrugged. “I have
no solution for your problem, but I admire it.”

Jason laughed again.
“That’s a very good answer.” He went to fill his glass with vodka
again, but Rosa stopped him.

“
Jason, that’s enough.
You’ve had almost the whole bottle.”

Jason regarded her. “You’re not in the
position to tell me what to do, girl.”

Rosa rolled her eyes. “Now you’re this
asshole Nephilim again,” she muttered and put the bottle and
glasses in the kitchen.

Jason followed her, stumbling. He was
drunk, and Rosa hated drunken people.

He leaned forward, so his body pressed
against her. Rosa could smell the vodka. She shoved him
away.

“
Stay away,” she said
annoyed.

Jason looked at her amused. “What? You
don’t like to be touched, babe?”

“
I don’t like to be
touched by you, Nephilim. So stay away or—”

Jason interrupted her, “Or your dagger
lands between my legs. Yeah, I know.”

Rosa smiled. “Good that you
remembered.”

He leaned forward, but didn’t touch
her. “I remember everything you say.”

“
Well, everything I say is
remarkable.”

“
You’re
remarkable, baby,” he
whispered softly.

Her heart jumped. “Jason, you’re
drunk.”

His lips curled into a smile. “Not so
drunk. Would you marry me, Ice Princess?”

Rosa laughed. So much for his “Not so
drunk.”

“
If you were the last man
in the world I wouldn’t marry you, Nephilim.”

“
Why are you so mean to
me?”

“
Because you’re mean to
me,” Rosa explained.

Jason didn’t answer, so she turned
around. He looked pale and was at the point of throwing
up.

“
I think I’m going to
vomit,” Jason said, laying his hand on his stomach.

Rosa said, “The bathroom is the second
door on the right.” He nodded and disappeared into the
hallway.

Rosa filled the water kettle with
water so she could make Jason some tea. She had told him not to
drink too much, but no, he didn’t listen to her.

Ignorant
Nephilim.

Rosa took a cup, placed the tea bag in
it, and filled the cup with hot water. She heard Jason come back
into the kitchen.

“
I think you need a new
toilet,” he croaked.

She took the tea bag from the cup and
went back to Jason. He did not look good. His face was paler than
before and strands of hair were stuck to his sweaty
forehead.

“
Come, lay down on the
couch,” said Rosa, and led him to the couch. He plopped down on the
couch and moaned.

She sat down beside him and handed him
the cup.

“
Here, drink this. It’ll
soothe your stomach,” she said.

He shook his head and grimaced. “No,
I’ll throw up again.”

Rosa looked at him angrily. “You will
drink this now. No back talk!” she railed.

Jason
smiled weakly. “Okay,
mother
.” He took the cup and drank a
sip.

“
You’ll drink the whole
cup.”

Jason took another sip of tea. “Thank
you.”

Rosa nodded. “You’re
welcome.”

Jason drank the rest of the tea and
stood up. “I better go,” he said.

“
Are you crazy? You can’t
drive when you’re drunk!”

Jason grinned. “Who said anything of
driving? I will fly home. I can fly, you know.”

Rosa rolled her eyes. “I know. But you
can still cause an accident. Not with the car, but with a bird, or
you can ram against a building. I won’t be responsible for
that.”

“
So, should I sleep here?”
he asked, raising his eyebrows up.

Rosa nodded. “Yes.” Jason
smiled. She didn’t like his smile.

“
On the couch, of course,”
she added quickly.

“
Of course,” he
agreed.

This time, Rosa had the rules of the
hunter clan in mind, and she knew there wasn’t a rule stating you
could not let your enemy sleep in your house.

“
I’ll get a pillow and a
blanket,” said Rosa, and went to her room. She took a blanket and a
pillow from her closet and brought it back to the living
room.

By the time she got there, Jason was
already asleep on the couch. Rosa sighed. She wanted to talk with
him, but now she would have to wait until tomorrow.

Rosa went to Jason and put the pillow
gently under his head. Then she covered him with the blanket. This
evening did not go the way she had planned.

Rosa yawned. She was too
tired to take a shower now, so she’d wait until morning. She went
to her room and shut the door behind her. She wore jogging pants
and a tank top, and just to be on the safe side, Rosa took another
sip from her spell. Then she climbed into her bed and snuggled into
the blankets.

Rosa closed her eyes and fell asleep
after a while.

Rosa dreamt that her father was
standing before her. She was surrounded by darkness and a cold
breeze made her shiver.

“
Rosa,” she heard her
father saying.

“
Dad,” Rosa whispered and
tried to take a step forward, but her legs did not obey her. Panic
set in as she tried desperately to move her legs.

“
Rosa,” her father said.
“My daughter. Rescue me. Please.”

“
Dad,” she cried. “I’m
coming! Wait.”

But her legs would not
move.

“
Rosa, rescue me!” Her
father’s voice faded, as if he were getting farther and farther
away.

“
No, Dad!” she shouted.
“Wait, please! I’ll rescue you!”

A sad smile appeared on his lips. “You
can’t save me, my little girl.”

Frustration cracked through
her chest. She couldn’t let her father die.

Then Rosa heard voices, who were
whispering something she could not understand. Hands, many hands
grasped her and tore at her clothes.

“
Dad!” Rosa cried and
thrashed around. The hands were everywhere, hurting her. The
whispers turned into screams.

Her father was gone, nowhere to be
seen.

“
No!” Tears were running
down her face and her breathing was fast and heavy.

“
Shh. Everything is
alright,” a soothing voice whispered in her ear.

The screams disappeared, and strong,
warm arms embrace her from behind. The warmth of the embrace chased
the cold of her nightmare away.

“
I’m here.”

Rosa mumbled and snuggled into the
embrace. She didn’t want it to go away.

“
Sleep,” the voice said
softly, touching her cheek gently with his warm hands.

She let the sound of his
heartbeat lulled her back to a dreamless sleep.

When Rosa awakened by the
chirping of birds, the warmth was gone.

She opened her eyes. Bright
sunrays were shining from the open windows in the room making it
bright. Her hand touched the other side of her bed, but didn’t find
the warmth of the other body.

Rosa sat up and frowned. The nightmare
was one she had started having after her father was killed. Every
time they left her empty and sad, but not this time.

This time she did not remember the
dream, but she remembered the voice that had soothed
her.

The voice that belonged to
Jason.

Rosa took a deep breath and slipped
from her bed. She could not believe that Jason calmed her down
after the nightmare.

Why did he do it? Why did he try to
help her come out of the nightmare?

Rosa didn’t know and didn’t want to
know. As long as Jason wouldn’t address it, she
wouldn’t.

The clock said it was seven o’clock in
the morning. Well, today she would not be late to
school.

Rosa walked to her vanity, taking a
sip of the paralysis spell, before sprinkling a little of the
glamour on her mark. Rosa put the bottle in her drawer, and then
walked into the kitchen. Jason was still asleep on the
couch.

The image of him holding her flashed
through her mind, making her heart beat faster. What surprised Rosa
was she was not mad at him. She had liked sleeping in someone’s
arms after so many years of sleeping alone in her bed.

But she would not tell this to Jason,
or anybody else, for that matter. It was troublesome that she had
such thoughts about Jason.

Forget it, Rosa. You have
to concentrate on your job.

Rosa turned on the coffee maker and
walked over to Jason.

“
Hey, Jason. Wake up,” she
said. But he didn’t move.

She sighed and shook him. “Wake
up!”

Jason moaned, and finally opened his
eyes, blinking. His bright blue eyes fixed on hers, fascinating
Rosa. His eyes were beautiful, and she asked herself how his eyes
would look without the blue contact lenses.

The look on her face told him she knew
he had been in her bed, holding her, comforting her during her
nightmare.

He raised his eyebrows as if he were
waiting for her to say something. Did he want her to thank him for
holding her through the night?

Rosa tore her gaze away from him and
said, “Get up. We have to go to school.”

His eyes focused on her for a moment
longer then he replied in a lazy drawl, “Good morning to you,
too.”

“
Just get up,” she said,
avoiding eye contact with him.

He grimaced and rubbed his neck. “Man,
I’ve got a hangover.”

“
That comes from drinking
too much,” she said.

She felt his gaze on her. “I should
have listened to you.”

Rosa nodded. “Yes, you should have
listened to me. I made coffee. You can drink some if you want it. I
have to take a shower.”

Jason stood up. “Coffee would be
great.”

Rosa nodded again and then went into
the bathroom. Her bathroom was decorated in black and white. The
tiles and the walls were black, so it looked very dark in her
bathroom even with the sun shining through the window.

She undressed and then walked into the
shower. Her body relaxed immediately as the hot water pattered down
on her skin.

After ten minutes, Rosa turned off the
water and wrapped the robe tightly around her body. When she pulled
back the curtain of the shower, Jason stood in the doorway, his
arms across his chest.