Changed (The Hunters #1) (43 page)

The suction pulled Rosa in at high
speed to the top. Suddenly she was out of the water.

For a few seconds, she was weightless,
and flying, as she had always wished.

The flight ended abruptly when she
landed painfully with her back on the cold, wet grass. Immediately,
the pain spread through her body and she had difficulty
breathing.

“
Are you okay?” Ellen
asked concern. Her face appeared in front of Rosa.

Groaning Rosa sat up and rubbed her
back. “Yes. This suction isn’t very nice.”

Ellen helped her get up. “You have to
be accustomed to pain,” she said.

“
That doesn’t mean I
welcome it.”

Rosa would never get used to pain,
although it was a part of her life.

“
So we’ll go back to the
hotel?”

Rosa nodded. She needed a warm shower
and a warm bed. That night had gone in a very different direction
than she had expected.

She was a full member, Jason knew that
she was a hunter, and she had found the talisman.

How could all this happen
in one night? Amazing.

“
Let’s go.” Rosa wanted to
go, but Ellen grabbed her arm.

She smiled. “I can conjure. Remember?
We don’t have to walk.“

Rosa sighed happily. “I love you,
Ellen. You know that?”

“
No, I didn’t. But I do
now. Give me your hand and close your eyes.” Rosa
obeyed.

When she had closed her eyes, nothing
happened at first. She could still feel the rain pattered down on
her, but then she felt a pressure in her head and ears. The rain
was gone. She felt weightless.

A few seconds later Rosa felt the
ground under her feet. She stumbled and almost fell over when Ellen
hadn’t grabbed her arm.

“
Wow,” Rosa said. “That
was awesome!”

Ellen laughed at Rosa’s
enthusiasm.

They entered the hotel. Rosa didn’t
know if Matt was still in the club or in the hotel, or where Jason
had gone.

As they walked through the foyer, they
were leaving wet traces behind them. Rosa wanted to get rid of her
dripping clothes.

“
My room is on the second
floor,” said Ellen, and remained in front of the stairs. She looked
at Rosa with friendly brown eyes. “If you want to come you can.
Today was ... funny.”

Rosa smiled. “Thanks for the offer. It
was fun today.”

Ellen turned around. “Good night,
Rosa.”

“
Good night,
Ellen.”

Rosa waited until Ellen vanished. Then
she turned and bumped into Jason.

Jason saw the shock in Rosa’s face.
Surely, she hadn’t expected to see him.

After she had left the house, Jason
had followed her to see what she was doing.

It had surprised him that Rosa had met
with Ellen, and even more when they simply disappeared into the
lake, and had appeared afterwards. He wanted to know what Rosa had
done. He wanted to know what a hunter was doing in the angel’s
city. And he wanted to talk to her now.

“
Jason,” Rosa said,
stepping back. Her injured eye was healed. Only some bruise was
left. Her red hair was stuck in her face, which looked
pale.

“
How did you healed your
eye so fast?” Jason asked, narrowing his eyes at her.

“
That’s none of your
business, Nephilim,” Rosa replied, looking at him
defiantly.

Jason took a step forward. Rosa
stepped back.

“
Don’t you think that you
owe me some answers?”

She snorted and folded her arms across
the chest. “I owe you nothing, Jason. Okay, you’ve saved me from
the Nephilim, and I’m grateful, but I didn’t ask for
it.”

Jason arched an eyebrow. “But you told
them that you knew me.”

Rosa bit her lower lip and looked
away. Jason knew that Rosa had hoped that he would get her out of
there when she had said his name.

“
Don’t you think that it’s
time we’re honest with each other, Ice Princess?” Jason asked,
closing the distance between them. Rosa couldn’t retreat, as the
wall was already behind her. She refused to look him in the
eye.

Jason was standing directly in front
of her. Her warmth made his heart beat faster. The hot tension
between them at the club was in his mind and Jason still felt her
soft skin under his lips, but he pushed his emotions aside. It
wasn’t the right time for it.

“
Why did you steal the
book from my room?”

He felt
Rosa freeze. So he was right in his conjecture, after
he
’
d discovered
the book was missing.

“
I don’t know what you are
talking about,” Rosa answered, looking at him. Her face was
expressionless, but he knew she was lying.

“
Ice Princess, you cannot
lie. We had that conversation already. So just answer my
question.”

Rosa pressed her lips together and
shook her head. Jason sighed, annoyed. Anger rose in
him.

“
Why did you steal the
book and cheat me?” he asked. “I thought we were
friends.”

Rosa snorted. “Friends?” Her ice-blue
eyes sparkled. “How old are you, Jason? We can be never friends.
I’m a hunter and you’re a Nephilim. We’re destined to be enemies.
Besides enemies can do anything to each other. Steal and cheat.
This is normal.”

Jason’s mood darkened. He had really
thought that he could be friends with Rosa and even more. He should
have known that humans were still the same little bastards. His
feelings for Rosa had made him blind.

Jason nodded and stepped back several
steps. “Okay, if you say that it’s normal to cheat on enemies, then
I should probably go to the archangel, and tell him that a huntress
is in his city.” Jason considered that idea for a moment. “Yes,
that’s exactly what I should do.”

He turned and walked towards the exit.
His anger increased. He would betray Rosa, as she had done to
him.

A hand grabbed him by the arm and
pulled him back.

“
Jason, please,” Rosa
said. “Don’t do it. They’ll kill me.”

Furious,
Jason turned and stared at her. “And did you think about
me
when you stole the
book?” His voice grew louder and workers at the front desk looked
over at them, but Jason didn’t care.

Rosa lowered her head and he got his
answer.

Jason
laughed bitterly. “Of course you didn’t! Why should you?
I
’
m your enemy,
and enemies cheat each other!”

“
Jason,” Rosa said
quietly, looking at him honest. “I’m sorry. I shouldn’t have done
it.” She let go of his arm. “It would be only fair if you did
it.”

Jason looked at Rosa in silence. This
reaction he hadn’t expected. Countless emotions raged within him.
He knew what he was doing now was very wrong for an angel, but he
could not help it.

“
Oh, Ice
Princess, I have a weakness for you,” Jason said wistfully. “And I
can
’
t even hate
myself for that.”

Rosa looked at him with wide eyes, as
if she couldn’t believe that Jason wouldn’t betray her.

“
You know what you’re
doing is wrong,” Rosa replied, looking at him. Her ice-blue eyes
casting a spell over him.

When had he begun to feel so attracted
to her?

When had he started to feel such
strong emotions for her, even when he had thought these emotions
died in him?

“
You want to dissuade me
from not betraying you?” He grinned at her.

“
No! Of course not!” Rosa
laughed. “I thought ... Oh, no clue what I thought.” She put her
face in her hands. “I’m just tired.”

Actually, Jason had intended to talk
to her, but as Rosa stood before her, exhausted and tired—he didn’t
want to hold her up any longer.

I really
have a weakness for her
, Jason
thought.

“
Maybe you should rest and
we can talk tomorrow,” he suggested.

Rosa smiled gratefully. “That would be
a good idea.”

She turned away, but then stopped and
looked at him.

“
Thank you for saving me,
Jason,” she said and smiled. Her smile exploded so many feelings in
his chest.

“
You’re
welcome.”

They looked at each other in silence.
Jason couldn’t tear his eyes from her. He looked at her face, took
in every detail, and wondered how a girl could be so beautiful and
strong. He wanted to step forward, say something, but he
didn’t.

Rosa smiled. “Good night, Jason,” she
said.

“
Good night.”

Jason
looked after her until she disappeared into the
elevator
.

“
Oh, man,” Matt groaned.
“My head is pounding.” Matt laid his head on his palm as Rosa began
to massage his head with one hand.

It was Saturday—the day of departure.
The flight was at three o’clock. Until then she had time to
relax.

“
You shouldn’t have drank
so much yesterday, Matt,” said Rosa, smiling.

They sat on a bench on the roof
terrace of the hotel. The view from up there was beautiful. The sun
bathed the city in a golden light. The air smelled of wet earth and
a cool breeze blew.

After Rosa had showered yesterday, she
immediately fell asleep, and had slept until noon. As Matt had seen
her face with bruises, he naturally wanted to know what had
happened. Rosa told him a lie, which he believed. Rosa didn’t
inform him about what had happened with Jason—not yet.

“
I know,” said Matt and
rose. “But I had such a good time.”

“
I should always take care
of you. Then this wouldn’t happen.”

He grinned broadly. “Maybe you
should.”

Rosa laughed. “That would please you,
wouldn’t it?”

“
And how!”

Even if she didn’t return
his love, Rosa liked it that Matt was in love in her. She felt
special, like she wasn’t only on the earth to obey
orders.

“
Ice Princess, can I talk
to you?”

Rosa turned around and saw Jason
standing behind her. The golden light made his eyes sparkle like
diamonds. Her heart beat automatically, and the warm tingling
spread through her body.

Calm down, Rosa! Don’t
show him that he has such a strong effect on you.

“
Sure.” She stood up as
Matt gave her a quizzical look. “We’ll be right back,” she said,
giving him a kiss on the cheek. She followed Jason out as he led
her to roam around the hotel into a small forest patch. Rosa was
about to ask where he was going, when he stood in front of a
bench.

“
Sit down,” Jason ordered,
gesturing with his hand on the bench. His voice was fierce, and
didn’t tolerate any contradictions.

Rosa took a seat and put her hands
between her thighs. Jason sat down beside her, but didn’t start to
speak right away.