Changed (The Hunters #1) (49 page)

Rosa crossed her arms over her chest,
and looked at him coolly. “Who told you that I was
scared?”

A small smile played across his lips.
“I know you’re not scared. It’s one of the reasons why I fell in
love with you.”

Rosa smiled but said nothing. Even if
she was happy now, she knew that she had to leave Jason
eventually.

“
Jason ...” she started
saying but stopped. Jason grimaced.

“
Are you okay?”

He didn’t answer. “Jason?” Rosa was
just going to shake his shoulders when he blinked and looked at
her.

“
I have to go.” His face
was now hard and serious.

“
Where?”

“
Dad. He called
me.”

Rosa frowned. “Huh? How?”

He smiled. “Mind speaking,” he
reminded her.

“
Oh, yes. I had forgotten.
Okay, see you later?”

“
I’ll come visit you again
to discuss the details.” He went to the door with Rosa at his
heels.

At the door, he turned around and
kissed her again. Fireworks exploded in her body. She kissed him
back hungrily.

Breathing heavily, they broke away
from each other. “We must reduce our consumption of kissing a
little bit,” said Rosa still feeling his lips on hers.

He smiled. “I don’t mind it,
honey.”

Rosa rolled her eyes. Jason put his
glasses on and opened the door.

“
See you
later.”

Then he disappeared.

The Fire Lord looked at Gabriel and
Jason angrily.

He was a tall man with brown eyes and
a shaven head, and his features were hardened.

“
How are you going to
explain killing two of my men?” he asked gruffly.

They all sat at a table. When Jason
arrived at home, Gabriel had him immediately brought to the Fire
Lord.

“
Fire Lord, we could not
know that they were fire users,” Gabriel tried to explain to
him.

“
I do not care,” he
applied. “You should have known it. I do not tolerate the murders
of my men!”

“
I know, Fire Lord. I’m
really sorry. Maybe we can—”

The Fire Lord cut him off. “Your
excuses do not bring my men back.” His gaze was harder and colder.
“I am cancelling my agreement with you.”

Gabriel threw an icy glance in Jason’s
direction. Jason just shrugged. He knew that it wasn’t his fault.
He couldn’t have known it.

“
Please, Fire lord. Give
us another chance.” Jason had never seen his father beg. He
wouldn’t be surprised if Gabriel were to kneel down before the Fire
Lord to get what he wanted.

The Fire Lord shook his head and stood
up. “No, I will not give you a chance. I would like to have the
book again.” He stretched out his hand.

Gabriel surrendered. He sighed and
stood up.

“
Jason, bring him the
book,” he ordered with a tired voice.

Jason squirmed. How could he tell them
that it was stolen?

The book was very important
for the fire users. By giving it to the angels, the contract
between the fire user and angels were made and showed that the fire
users trusted the angels. The book contained very important
information about the fire users, the history, and their
future.

“
Jason, the book,” Gabriel
said impatiently and reached out his hand.

“
Well, the book—” Jason
ran his fingers through his hair. “It was stolen.”

“
What?” Gabriel and the
Fire Lord asked simultaneously.

He raised his hand. “But I know who
stole it, and I’ll get it back today.”

The fire lord stared at Jason in
shock, “How dare you to lose the book, Nephilim?” He almost
cried.

“
I will get it back
today,” Jason reassured him.

Fire appeared around his hands. “If
the book is not in my hands tomorrow, then you will be my
enemy!”

With this, the Fire Lord rushed out of
the room angrily, slamming the door behind him.

Gabriel looked at his son. “Why did
you let someone steal the book?”

“
I didn’t know, father. I
couldn’t take the book everywhere,” he said.

“
But that’s what you had
to do! You are an irresponsible son. I am disappointed once
again.”

Jason stood up. “I’m irresponsible?
Who has been searching for Jasmine for months? Me or
you?”

“
Do not twist the facts,
Jason,” Gabriel growled.

“
I twist nothing! I am
telling you the truth! For months, I bust my ass to find Jasmine.
And what are you doing? Nothing.”

“
Watch your
tone!”

“
And what if I don’t? Will
you tell my secret to Archangel Michael, or what?” Jason stepped
back, stretching his arms. “Okay, do it. I’m tired of you pushing
me around and treating me like dirt. Damn, I’m your son!” The last
words Jason cried out. He simply had enough of it. His body
trembled with rage.

Gabriel face was hard.
“Maybe I should do it, so you would learn something.”

Jason looked at him with pure hatred.
He took a deep breath to control his anger.

“
Then wait for it,” Jason
replied bitterly. “I still have to free Jasmine.”

“
Have you any
clues?”

“
I know where she
is.”

Gabriel’s eyes widened. “Where? Where
is she?”

“
She’s imprisoned in
Boston, and I’ll free her today.”

“
How?”

Jason told him the idea Rosa
had.

Gabriel nodded thoughtfully. “That’s
not a bad idea.”

He would like to say that it wasn’t
his idea, but Rosa’s, but then Gabriel would ask who Rosa was, and
Jason had no desire to tell him that.

Gabriel folded his arms across his
wide chest. “Are you sure that Jasmine is really there?”

All he had to go on was what Milena
had told him.

“
Yes, I’m sure,” Jason
lied. He had to bring Gabriel to believe and help him.

Gabriel looked at him a while through
narrowed eyes. The distrust was written all over his
face.

Jason couldn’t blame him
for not trusting him. After all, he had made several mistakes and
disappointed his father.

“
Okay,” Gabriel said.
Jason breathed a sigh of relief. His father had agreed to help
him.

Now nothing stood in his way to free
his sister.

“
When do we start?”
Gabriel asked.

“
Tonight.”

“
If you continue not to
train, you’ll never be a good huntress.”

“
Maybe I don’t want to be
one!”

Rosa looked at Tamara coolly who only
glared back at her.

After Jason left, Rosa had made her
way to the Academy to begin training with Tamara. Rosa wanted to
finish this as fast as possible.

As if it wasn’t bad enough
that Rosa had to train Tamara. Tamara was stubborn, and didn’t obey
instructions.

So far, Rosa kept a cool head, but
soon her temper would take control of her.

“
Well, you’re here now and
have to be a huntress,” said Rosa. “Make life easier for both of us
and do what I tell you.”

Tamara looked defiantly at
her.

“
And if don’t?”

She just
wants to provoke me
, Rosa thought.
Do not go there. You are older and wiser than she
is. Do not stoop to her level.

“
Then Lord Constantine
will punish you,” Rosa answered and notice a change in her
face.

Tamara was afraid of Lord Constantine.
Who wasn’t?

“
Would he really punish
me?” she asked meekly. All her stubbornness had
dissipated.

Rosa snorted. “Of course! He has
punished me by sticking me in a forest where I was chased by a man
with a knife.”

Tamara’s eyes grew wide and
fearful.

“
Oh God,” she
breathed.

“
So if you don’t want that
happen to you, do what he wants of you.”

Tamara sighed deeply. “How did I get
in this shit?”

“
Don’t know. How did he
find you?”

“
I was with my friend
outside.” Sadness crossed her face, tears glistening in her eyes.
Rosa guessed what was coming.

In a choked voice, she said. “We were
walking. Then we were attacked. They killed Ren ... and then
brought me here.”

“
More you don’t know? Why
does he want you to be a huntress?”

She shook her head.

Rosa nodded and then said, “Sorry
about your friend.”

Tamara breathed deeply in and out. “Me
too.” Then she looked at Rosa. “Are you really satisfied with your
life as a huntress?”

Lately,
not really.
But Rosa wouldn’t say it.
Tamara already had a negative attitude toward the hunter’s life;
Rosa didn’t want to encourage it.

“
Yes, I am,” she lied. Her
neck blushed.

“
A life full of killing,
death, and the fear that you can be killed, could not be
good.”

“
It depends on the viewer.
I like my life like it is.”

Rosa loved to have action in her life,
to feel the adrenalin in her body, but most of the people didn’t
understand this.

To change the subject, Rosa said,
“Come, I’ll show you something.”

She grabbed Tamara’s arm and led her
out of the room.

“
I thought we were
supposed to train,” Tamara interjected.

“
First, I want to show you
something.” Rosa led Tamara up the stairs to the entrance. Then
they headed to the entrance of the dungeon.

Rosa pushed the door open. A guard was
always on duty at the entrance to the dungeons. First, they had to
pass him.

“
Stop,” said the guard,
and stood before them. Rosa knew him, but she never had anything to
do with him.

“
What are you doing here?”
he asked sternly.

Rosa pointed to Tamara. “She’s new
here, and I have to show her the dungeons. You know, scare her a
little, and all that stuff.”

Rosa hoped that he bought her lie.
Apparently he did, because he nodded.

“
Okay, but don’t stay down
there long.”

“
Do not worry; we’ll be in
and out in a flash.”

Rosa smiled at him, and then she went
down the stairs with Tamara. The farther they went down, the darker
it became.

There were two floors with twenty
cells on each floor. Rosa was remembering the night when she was in
the dungeon and the image of the man with the red eyes.

Don’t think about
it.

“
Where are you leading
me?” Tamara asked anxiously.

They were now on the first floor. It
was quiet. Most prisoners only stayed for one or two days, then
they were taken to headquarters in Los Angeles where they would
receive their final punishment. Because of the assault on the
hunter clan, most prisoners were dead or taken to another
dungeon.