Changed (The Hunters #1) (13 page)

“
Come. Let’s go into the
room,” she said, looking at him seductively.

Jason grinned. “I’d love
to.”

Madison smiled and led him to her
room. He wasted no further thoughts of what Rosa told
him.

It was going to be a very nice
evening.

Evening was breaking when Rosa parked
her car in front of Madison’s apartment.

Something in her did not want to kill
Madison, but the hunter in her ordered her to do it. It was her
task. The hunter in Rosa had convinced her. She had to do her job,
even if the victim was someone she knew.

She had the paralysis spell with her,
so when she took a sip of it, her gift would be “paralyzed” for six
hours. She would need it for later to kick Jason’s ass.

Rosa felt the icy hunter rising inside
her. Her hunting instinct filled every inch of her body, every inch
of her being.

She was now herself: a born
hunter.

Rosa put her dagger in her belt, and
the vial of magic in the pocket of her leather jacket. Also, Rosa
used glamour to hide her mark. If Andrea had not remembered to hide
her mark with glamour, Rosa would not have remembered either.
Glamour had the ability to make things invisible. So she had put a
little of the glamour on her mark so it wasn’t visible
anymore.

Rosa got out of her car and went up
the apartment door. Knowing Madison lived on the fourth floor; she
jogged up the stairs and quietly stood outside the door. Looking
around, she quickly took out her knife and began to pick the lock.
It wouldn’t be a good if someone saw her now.

Rosa heard the lock click and she
opened the door. She quickly slipped inside and closed the door
softly behind her. She saw Jason’s shirt lying on the floor and
Rosa rolled her eyes.

They
aren
’
t wasting
time,
she thought.

Quietly, she made her way down the
hall where she approached the only bedroom with a closed door. The
closer Rosa came to the door, the higher her adrenaline rose. She
could hear her blood rushing in her ears, and her heart began to
throb. It pulsated like a powerful drug in her veins. Rosa stood in
front of the door and listened for a moment. She heard
nothing.

That could only mean one thing:
Madison was about to suck Jason’s soul.

Rosa clutched her dagger, kicking in
the door with all her strength, causing the wooden door to
shatter.

Rosa entered into the room, just as
she thought, Madison was about to suck Jason’s soul. She just hoped
she was not too late.

Madison turned towards her. Jason’s
body collapsed to the floor. Madison looked at her in
surprise.

“
I’m
sorry for disturbing you, Madison, but
I
would like to kill Jason,” Rosa
said to her as she rushed at Madison with her dagger
drawn.

However, Madison instantly dodged out
of the way, as Mermaids may not be very strong, but they have
excellent reflexes. Some even knew how to fight.

Madison tried a punch, but Rosa easily
avoided it. Grabbing Madison by her throat, Rosa pressed her
against the wall.

“
I know what you are,”
Rosa hissed, slamming Madison’s head hard against the wall. Madison
screamed.

“
And I will kill you,”
Rosa insisted, and proceeded to slam her head against the wall
again.

Bleeding from the noise,
Madison smiled weakly. “Not if I kill you first.”

Before Rosa knew it, Madison’s foot
hit her violently in the stomach. Rosa gasped for air and staggered
backward. Madison took the opportunity and lunged at her. They both
landed on the floor. Madison hit Rosa twice in the face before Rosa
had collected herself and thrown Madison from her.

Blind rage seized Rosa. She held her
dagger in hand. She wanted to stab it into the side of Madison, but
Madison jumped back and tried to crawl out of the room. Rosa
grabbed her foot and pulled her back.

She slammed her legs so hard that her
ankle slipped out of Rosa’s hand. Madison stood up quickly and ran
from the room. Rosa followed her.

Every muscle was tense in Rosa’s body,
as the adrenaline flowed through her. She ran into the kitchen
after Madison, when suddenly Madison appeared. Without warning,
Rosa suddenly felt a sharp pain in her thigh. She gave a muffled
yell, the dagger dropped from her hand, and her eyes looked toward
the pain where a large knife stuck in her thigh. Slowly, Rosa’s
gaze slid back to Madison.

She smiled a wicked grin.

Rosa growled furiously. Ignoring the
pain in her leg, she rushed at Madison. They both ended up on the
small wooden table, which collapsed under them.

Rosa punched Madison several times in
her face as Madison tried to push Rosa from herself, but Rosa
pressed her entire body weight on her.

Rosa could not stop beating Madison.
Her anger burned inside her. Madison struggled, unsuccessfully, as
Rosa pried her other dagger from her belt.

Without hesitation, she stuck the
dagger into Madison heart. Madison stopped struggling. Her eyes
widened and she gave a short, shrill cry, before her body slumped
lifelessly to the ground. Rosa pulled her knife from her heart.
Blood flowed from her wound with a slightly greenish tint—proof
that she was a shadow creature.

Slowly, Rosa stood, leaning on the
kitchen counter. The more blood that flowed from Madison heart, the
lower her body became until only ashes remained.

Rosa
looked at what used to be Madison, unsure on how to feel. She was
supposed to be happy to have killed a shadow creature. But she had
not
just
killed a
shadow creature— she had killed Madison.

Somebody she had known.

Her feelings were a roller coaster.
Shaking her head, she threw the thought of Madison away. There was
no time for her feelings—she had to go to Jason and see if he was
still alive.

Rosa took the vial and drank from it.
She was sure it would come to skin contact between her and
Jason.

After a sip, she put it back in her
belt and made to put one foot forward, when a sharp pain shot
through her leg. Rosa grimaced and looked down at her thigh. She
had to pull the knife out first. With trembling hands, she grabbed
the handle of the knife and pulled it with a jerk of her
hand.

Rosa clenched her teeth and suppressed
a cry. She took a towel, tied it around her thigh, and watched as
the cloth immediately turned red.

Then she hobbled back to the room
where Jason had been, just as he was waking up.

Rosa
took a deep breath.
Well, he isn’t dead,
so I will kick his ass, because he brought me into this
shit
.

Jason blinked and stood up. He looked
confused before his eyes landed on Rosa. For a while, he said
nothing and simply looked at her. His eyes were glassy.

“
What are you doing here?”
he asked with a croaky voice.

“
What do you think? I’m
here to save your ass!” Rosa hissed, glaring at him.

Jason
blinked repeatedly. “What happened? Where
’
s Madison? And why is your leg
bleeding?”

“
Madison was a mermaid.
She wanted to suck your soul and was at it already. I stopped her,
and then killed her,” she summarized up briefly.

Jason seemed to be speechless for the
first time. “You killed her?”

Rosa
nodded. “I had no choice. I knew what she was.
She
’
d have killed
me otherwise.”

“
Did she do that to you?”
Jason pointed to her bleeding thighs.

“
Yes, she did.”

Jason stared at her now. Then his face
changed. Suspicion now lay in his eyes, and he squinted.

“
You’re a hunter. How else
would you have known that Madison is … was a mermaid.”

Rosa shook her head. “No, I’m not a
hunter.” She could felt the blush rising in her neck, and was
suddenly grateful it was already red from the fight.

He was grinning now. “I have said this
already, Ice Princess. You’re a bad liar.”

She took a step toward him, stretching
out both her wrists. “If you don’t believe me, look at my wrists.
Do you see a mark somewhere?” she asked.

Jason bent forward, taking her wrists
in his hands. Her heart jumped as his hands touched her skin. Rosa
was waiting for her gift to come out, but nothing
happened.

The
spell worked.
I
’
m going to kiss Andrea next time I
see her.

“
You really don’t have a
mark,” Jason said quietly, letting go of her wrists.

“
Told you so.”

“
How do you know about
these creatures, then?” he asked, still suspicious.

Her response to his question? Rosa’s
fist landed on his face. He touched his nose as blood began to drip
from it.

“
What was that for?” he
asked with more anger than pain.

“
For all
I had to do because of you! If you had listened, I would not have
had to kill Madison. Everything is your fault!” Rosa snapped.
“Couldn
’
t you let
your little friend in your pants?”

He
raised an eyebrow mockingly. “How do you know my
little friend
is little,
Ice Princess?”

Rosa growled. She was so pissed off,
wanting nothing more than to hurt Jason.

She took a chair that stood near her
and attacked him with him. It was as if she were attacking a wall.
Jason pushed her back and she stumbled, but retained the wooden
stool in her hand. She kept her balance and attacked Jason again.
When they collided, Jason grabbed the chair and threw it against
the wall.

Rosa had never fought against Nephilim
until now. Now she was able to test whether she was good or
not.

“
Ice
Princess,” Jason said as he dodged her fists and kicks with ease.
“Stop it. You can
’
t win.”

The
arrogance and self-confidence in his voice spurred Rosa even more.
She took the laptop that was lying on the table and threw it with
all her might to Jason. It would hurt him
if
the laptop had hit
him.

It missed. Jason caught it and threw
it against the wall. The laptop broke into small pieces.

Suddenly a well-muscled arm slid
around her throat from behind and began to squeeze.

“
Let me go,” Rosa growled,
trying to get free from his grasp. She knew that she didn’t have
much time before her brain shut off.

“
I should kill you right
now,” Jason whispered in her ear. His voice chilled her
body.

Rosa crouched as low as she could
before she sprang backward, slamming them both into the wall. She
heard a “humph” but Jason didn’t ease his grip. Rosa tried to slam
him into the wall again, but before Rosa even realized it, Jason
pressed her against the wall and his forearm against her throat.
Her hands were unable to fight, so she tried using her good leg,
but it did not help. Her kicks were weak.

Jason sighed and pressed his body to
hers. Now Rosa was completely incapacitated. She tried to fight
against him, but his body was hard and strong.

“
Will you quit fighting?”
Jason asked, his warm breath caressing her face.

Rosa could hear his heartbeat. She
sighed and ceased to defend herself.

“
You suck,” she said with
a dirty look. “And I hate you.”

He
shrugged. “I don’t care, Ice Princess. You think
I suck?
That’s fine. I
don’t wake up every morning to impress you.”

“
I regret saving your
life!” countered an angry Rosa.

“
Why
did
you
save my life?” he asked curiously.