Changed (The Hunters #1) (40 page)

His friend took a few steps back and
raised his hands soothingly.

“
Whoa, Jason, calm down.
We couldn’t have known that you knew her,” he defended
himself.

Jason turned growling to
Rosa. Her face looked terrible, but she still was
beautiful.

He stepped toward her and reached out
his hand.

“
Ice Princess,” he said
softly, wanted to touch her, but she flinched. Whether from pain or
because she was afraid of them, Jason didn’t know.

He turned to Steven. “Where did you
find her?” he asked sharply.

“
In an alley. She had
killed a Nephilim. That’s when we knew that she was a huntress and
we had to capture her,” Steven explained.

“
Did you really kill a
Nephilim?” Jason asked Rosa. She looked at him with her uninjured
eye.

“
Yes,” she answered
slowly, coughing a little at the blood in her mouth.

Something painful flashed along in his
chest. It wasn’t a surprise for him to get the confirmation Rosa
was a hunter. He knew hunters killed Nephilim, but he had hoped
Rosa would not do it, hoping she was different from the other
hunters.

Jason
was filled with hurt and disappointment as he realized she
was
not
as
different as he hoped.

He cleared his throat. “I know the
huntress, and when she dies, it will be by my hand. Do you hear
me?”

Steven and his friend nodded, and did
not dare to question further. Since his father had accepted him as
a son, Jason had an important role in the Nephilim world. The
others knew him and respected him.

“
Now let us alone. I need
to talk with the huntress,” he said. His friends nodded and
disappeared from the room.

Jason took a deep breath and looked at
Rosa.

“
When were you going to
tell me that you are a hunter?”

Part 3

The Rescue

If Tamara had known the evening would
end so terribly, she would never have consented to the
date.

Everything seemed like it would be a
normal day. In California, the morning sun was already shining
bright enough to drench everyone in a layer of sweat.

Tamara was sitting at her dressing
table, getting ready for school. She tied her long brown hair in a
perfect French braid and took her mascara in hand just when her
mobile phone vibrated. She put the mascara away and took out her
phone.

When Tamara saw who had texted, her
heart jumped in excitement. It was from Ren. The boy she was in
love with.

She opened the message.

Morning, Tami. I hope you
had nice dreams. I just wanted to say I'll be waiting for you
before school.

See you later.
<3

The heart at the end of the SMS made
Tamara’s knees go weak. She never thought in her life that Ren
would be interested in her.

Ren was a Nephilim, so strong and
beautiful. He was a heartthrob and each girl in her school dreamed
of being together with him—Tamara, too.

Tamara didn’t feel like she
was special. Yes, she was pretty, with beautiful long brown hair
and green eyes, but almost half of the girls at her school were
pretty.

She was extremely surprised when Ren
had approached her, and asked if she wanted to have drink with him.
Tamara could only nod, having been unable to speak a single word.
Since then, they had met regularly. There was hot tension between
her and Ren, and every girl was jealous of Tamara. Not to mention,
she enjoyed the attention of being Ren’s girl.

“
Tamara! Breakfast is
ready,” her mother called from the kitchen.

“
I’m coming,” she called
back as she applied mascara to her eyelashes. She grabbed her
backpack and headed to the kitchen.

Like every morning, her mother, Elja,
had prepared breakfast for her. Tamara lived with just her mother.
Her father had died of cancer when she was a child. She had no
memories of him, and her mother never talked about him. It hurt her
too much. Tamara respected her mother’s wish, but sometimes she
hoped Elja would realize that not only had she lost her husband,
Tamara had lost her father, also—and that she would have liked to
know more about the man.

Elja was a little over thirty, and was
a beautiful woman with brown hair and green eyes. Everyone said she
looked like her mother, but Tamara didn’t think so. Her mother was
much prettier than she was.

Elja was a good mother. She had
managed to raise a daughter alone, but she was also a strict
mother. Elja always made sure her daughter did not neglect her
school work, and that Tamara didn’t meet too often with Ren. She
wasn’t thrilled that her daughter dated a Nephilim, but she didn’t
prevent it.

“
Sit down and eat
something,” said Elja as she drank her coffee.

Tamara sat down and took a roll. She
cut it in two and put cheese on the roll.

“
Mum, I’m going to meet
Ren tonight,” Tamara told her mother and looked at her.

Elja nodded slowly. Tamara could see
her mother did not like it.

“
Okay, be careful, though,
Tami. And you’re to be back at home by ten.”

She nodded and ate her roll. She stood
up and gave her mother a goodbye kiss, “I’m going to
school.”

“
Okay, sweetheart. Take
care of yourself.”

“
You, too”

Her school was only ten minutes away
from home. When she saw Ren at the entrance, her heart beat
faster.

He smiled his beautiful smile when he
saw her. “Hi, Tami,” he greeted her and gave her a little kiss on
the cheek.

She smiled happily and hugged him. She
felt so comfortable in his arms.

“
Can you come tonight?”
Ren asked her.

She nodded. “Yes, but I must be home
at ten.”

“
That's okay; the main
thing is that I’m with you.”

How
sweet was that?
Tamara couldn’t ask for a
better boyfriend than Ren.

Tamara had opted for black pants and a
white blouse. She didn’t know where Ren would take her. He hadn’t
told her, but she figured you couldn’t go wrong with a blouse and
black pants.

Tamara wore her hair down. She checked
her appearance for the hundredth time in the mirror, making sure
everything was perfect before she went downstairs.

Elja pondered Tamara. “You look
beautiful,” she said, smiling proudly.

Tamara smiled. “Thank you,
Mum.”

The doorbell rang. “I got it,” she
said to her mother and ran to the door. She stopped, breathed
deeply in and out, and looked at herself in the mirror one last
time, before pulling the door open for their visitor.

Ren stood before her, more beautiful
than ever. He was wearing black pants and a white shirt that
emphasized his tanned skin. He had combed his blonde hair back, so
she could see his eyes shine in the light.

“
You look amazing,” Ren
said and smiled.

Tamara made a throwing gesture, but
nonetheless was flattered as her cheeks tinted pink. “I look like
always.”

He nodded. “Exactly. You always look
amazing.”

Tamara knew that her face looked like
a tomato. “I’ll get my bag, and then we can go.”

Without waiting for a response from
Ren, Tamara ran into the living room and took her purse.

Elja was sitting on the couch, reading
a magazine.

“
Exactly ten,” she said
without looking up.

“
Yeah, yeah,” Tamara said,
as she ran back to the door. She stepped outside, and closed the
door behind her.

It was a beautiful evening. The air
was warm and smelled of grilled steaks from the neighbors. Her
stomach began to growl.

“
Where are you taking me?”
she asked, as they walked down the street.

Ren
grinned. “I can
’
t
tell you.”

She gave him a playful slap on the
arm. “Hey! Just say it! Or are you kidnapping me?”

He laughed and put his arm around her
shoulders. Tamara embraced him. He smelled of soap and
sun.

“
It would be worth it, in
any case, to kidnap you, Tami,” he whispered.

Tamara loved it, when he addressed her
with her nickname, as if she was something special.

They walked along a small path,
through a forest. Tamara hoped Ren would take her to eat something.
She was starving.

Suddenly, she was dragged away from
Ren. Someone had grabbed her by the arm and pulled her roughly away
from him.

“
Ren!” Tamara shouted and
stretched out her hand to him. She had no idea what had happened or
who pulled her away from Ran.

“
Tamara!” he shouted and
ran towards her. Tamara turned around. A man whose face was hidden
behind a mask was kidnapping her.

Panic rose in her. What was going on
here? Who was this man?

She struggled against his grip. “Let
me go!” she yelled and punched him.

Tamara turned her head briefly to see
where Ren was and saw that he fought against two other masked men.
Why were they attacking him? What did they want?

“
Let me go, bastard!”
Tamara screamed, and kicked her leg between his legs. He groaned
and let go of her.

“
Ren,” she cried, and
turned to face him.

“
Run, Tamara!” he
screamed. “Run!”

She could not leave him alone! She had
to save him!

Tamara looked at her attacker. He came
slowly to his feet. With a final look at Ren, Tamara ran away. She
had the feeling that she would never see him again.

Tamara ran through the forest. Why was
anybody in the forest? Why did this day have to turn into a
terrible day?

Tamara stopped and looked around. No
one was there. Not even Ren. She hoped that he had defeated the two
men. After all, he was a Nephilim! He was stronger than
humans.

Suddenly, she felt a hand on her mouth
and the other grabbed her from behind. Tamara fought back
immediately, but in vain.

“
I would not fight back in
your place, girl. Indeed, it is meaningless,” said an unknown male
voice.

A man appeared in front of her with a
shaven head and black eyes. Her heart was pounding in her chest.
She didn’t know these men. What did they want from her?

The man smiled. It was not a friendly
smile. “Your Nephilim friend tried to fight, but he didn’t make
it.”

Ren is
dead? No, no, no!
That could not be! Ren
is a Nephilim! He is stronger than the others. He cannot be
dead!

The pain spread through her chest. She
wanted to scream, but the hand was still over her mouth. She fought
to free herself.

“
Stop it, girl,” the man
said, “Otherwise, I will force you to stop, and it will not be
pleasant.”