Changed (The Hunters #1) (26 page)

How did
he get into the bathroom? I locked the door.
Then again, a closed off door couldn’t hinder a Nephilim
coming into a room.

Rosa raised an eyebrow. “What are you
doing here?” she asked and wrapped her robe tighter around her
body.

He sniffed. “You smell
good,” he replied.

“
Yes, because I’ve taken a
shower.”

“
Without me?” he said with
a cocky smile.

Rosa sighed. “What are you doing
here?” she repeated her question.

“
You’ve invited me. Have
you forgotten?” he replied.

“
I mean here, in the
bathroom?”

The smile turned into a grin—a grin
that Rosa did not like. He advanced a step. Not knowing what Jason
was about to do, she took a step back and crossed her arms over her
chest.

“
I was bored,” said Jason,
shrugging.

“
Couldn’t you wait until I
was dressed?”

He drew another step closer, his grin
widened as his eyes shimmered with amusement.

“
Why didn’t you tell me
you are a huntwe?” he asked.

Rosa’s heart stopped for a moment.
How? How could he know it?

Rosa tried not to show that
he was right. “A hunter? If I were a hunter, I’d have killed you
the first time I saw you.”

The grin disappeared from his face and
something dangerous flickered through his eyes.

“
Don’t
lie to me, girl. I’m pretty sure that you
are
a hunter.”

“
I don’t have any mark on
my wrists.”

He waved his hand. “I’m not stupid. I
know you can make it disappear easily with a little
glamour.”

Rosa’s heart pounded in her chest.
Jason was not allowed to find out. She had to convince
him.

“
Jason, think about it,”
she said and looked him in the eyes. “If I were a hunter then why
haven’t I tried to kill you?”

He shrugged. “Don’t know. You tell
me.”

Rosa
felt her neck getting warmer. “I haven’t killed you because I
am
not
a hunter.
I don’t have a reason to kill you, and if I were a hunter, I would
never have saved your life.”

Jason pursed his lips. “I’m not sure
if I should believe you.”

Rosa shrugged. “I don’t know how you
came up with this ridiculous idea, but I would like to get dressed.
I’m getting cold.”

“
Then let me warm you up,
Ice Princess.”

Before Rosa could react, Jason pulled
her close and pressed his lips to hers. She was too surprised to do
anything.

Jason’s lips were full and warm. Rosa
remembered the kiss with Matt, which was sweet and gentle. This
kiss was different, not gentle and loving, but hot and
passionate.

This kiss was dangerous and
deliciously forbidden.

A burning sensation spread over her
body and her heart beat so fast she feared it would
explode.

For a moment, she sank into the kiss
until she realized it was Jason, who was kissing her—her
enemy.

Rosa opened her eyes and tried to push
him away, but Jason pressed her against the wall and held Rosa’s
hands in his. She tried to free herself, but Jason was simply
stronger than she was. His mouth moved down to her neck.

Think, Rosa.
Think.

Then she knew what to do.

Jason pressed his mouth back to hers
and this time she returned the kiss, intrusive and passionate.
Arousal rose in her along with a longing for more.

Jason stiffened in surprise, surprise
she returned his kiss and eased his grip around her hands. He
apparently had not expected that Rosa would kiss him
back.

Taking the opportunity, Rosa released
her hands. She punched him with all her strength in his stomach. He
gasped and staggered back.

Rosa pushed him away and ran from the
bathroom to her room to fetch her dagger. She didn’t want to injure
him, just keep him away from her. She ran to her drawer and tried
to open it as a strong hand grasped her by the arm and pull her
back.

It was Jason.

He had a dangerous spark in his eyes.
“That wasn’t very friendly, girl,” he growled.

Without hesitation, Rosa struck out.
When Jason bent down, she rammed her knee into his stomach before
she slammed her fist in his face. He was moaning on the
floor.

From her fighting classes in the
hunter clan, Rosa knew that Nephilim were great fighters, since
they were stronger and faster, but they had the tendency to not
take a fight with a human seriously, and because of that, they
didn’t give their best.

Rosa also knew that men fought
different with women than with a man. They tried not to hurt the
woman too much, which gave the woman the best opportunity to
win.

Rosa took her knife from the drawer,
when suddenly Jason grabbed her foot and drew her back to him. Rosa
lost her balance and fell on the ground. Her dagger slipped from
her hand, landing a few feet away.

She wanted to get up, but Jason sat
down on top of her. He tried to grab her arms, but she was flailing
and swinging them, trying to break away.

“
Ice Princess,” Jason
growled.

“
Shut up!” she hissed at
him. Then she pushed up with her legs, throwing him from her. She
crawled over to her dagger and picked it up.

As she sat up, Jason pushed her
violently against the wall.

A pain shot through her back as she
hit the wall. This was apparently his fighting tactic, but Rosa had
fought once before with him and knew what he was going to do
next.

Before he could catch her arm, Rosa
punched him in the throat. Jason gasped and she shoved him. He
stumbled back and fell to the ground.

This time she was going to win this
fight.

Rosa took her dagger and kicked him in
the stomach. He groaned and didn’t try to stand up.

A wicked smile appeared on her lips.
“Looks like you were beaten up by a human girl,” she said with
malicious pleasure. “How bad for your reputation as a strong
Nephilim, isn’t it?”

“
You know, honey,” Jason
croaked out, his eyes meeting hers with hate and amusement. Rosa
watched one of his eyes begin to swell as he spoke.

“
Other girls would slap a
boy when they were kissed, or even return the kiss—but you,” he
stood up and rubbed his throat, “you want to kill me straight
off.”

She gave him an arrogant glance.
“Well, I’m not like other girls, and I do not like it when someone
kisses me without permission. By the way, why did you kiss
me?”

His face was serious for a moment, but
the usual grin appeared shortly after.

“
You’re just a toy for me,
girl. I wanted to play around with my little toy,” he replied
coolly and winked at her.

Anger rose in her. “I’m not your toy,
and will never be! I won’t let you treat me like you treat other
people.”

“
I would like to see
that,” he said.

She smiled wicked. “I’d
like to see you dead on the ground with my dagger in your
heart.”

In a second, he was in front of her,
his face inches away from hers.

“
And I would like to see
you under me. On my bed. Naked,” he whispered and his eyes
darkened.

Rosa laughed, even though she got
goose bumps. “So you can play with me and throw me in a corner like
a used toy?”

Jason shook his head. “No. So I can
hold you—like last night.”

Her breath caught, and she looked him
in the eyes. There was no teasing glimmer telling her he was making
fun of her. Suddenly she felt a tingle in her stomach.

Jason lifted his hand and it seemed
like he wanted to touch her, but then he shook his hand and took a
step back.

He looked at her. “Did you really want
to kill me?” His voice was serious.

“
Of course not, you idiot.
I just wanted to make sure that you stay away from me,” Rosa
replied.

“
You could say that to me
instead of beating me up.”

Rosa snorted. “As if you would have
listened to me.”

Jason nodded. “You’re right. I
wouldn’t listen to you.”

“
How did your leg heal so
fast?” he asked as an afterthought.

Rosa wrapped her bathrobe tightly
around her body again. “A witch healed me,” she replied.

He looked at her skeptically. “For a
non-hunter, you know many things about the shadow
creatures.”

“
Ellen’s a witch and she’s
in my class. I’ve asked her if she could do it and she said
yes.”

Jason nodded and looked at his
watch.

“
I’ve got to go,” Jason
said and turned around.

“
Wait!” Rosa grabbed his
arm.

He turned toward her.
“What?”

“
Where do you live,
Jason?”

He smiled. “Why do you want to
know?”

“
You owe me a bottle of
vodka, and I’d like to collect sometime.”

“
Nothing is given for
free?”

She shook her head. “Nope.”

“
I thought so. India
Street No. 2. I look forward to your visit, Ice
Princess.”

“
Don’t be too happy about
it.”

“
Will you try to kill me
again?” he smiled, amused.

She returned his smile. “Jason, you’re
such an idiot.”

Jason winked at her then left the
room. Rosa heard the door close and she was alone in her home
again.

Jason walked down the stairs and
opened the door to the outside.

It was another beautiful,
warm morning. He put his glasses on and walked to his car. He
didn’t actually plan to spend the night with Rosa, but he hadn’t
wanted to spend the night in his apartment where he would think
about Jasmine. He needed distraction.

Jason did not know why he had chosen
to go to Rosa. He had never thought she would let him into her
apartment, let alone allow him to sleep there.

Rosa was very different from the other
girls he had met over the years. Yes, he had met girls who did not
fall for his charm and wanted to chase him off, but Rosa was
different.

She had something in her that made him
attracted to her.

Until now, Jason never wanted more
from her than her body and the information, but now his attitude
had changed towards her.

Rosa was a girl with pride and
dignity, who would never let anyone treat her bad.

He was not sure if he should believe
that she wasn’t a huntress, however. She gave him good arguments
that she was not one of his enemy’s, but he still had his
suspicions.

This wasn’t the right time
to think about it. He’d to finish the job his father had given him.
Jason climbed into his car and drove off.

Yesterday, the rebels weren’t killed,
but sent to prison. Today, they would be killed.

Jason had to kill the rebels, though
he did not want to.

After he had passed Boston, he parked
his car near a forest and climbed out. He walked deeper into the
forest and summoned his wings.

He flew the over four hundred miles to
San Diego with ease.

The forest lay out of town and was
huge. No one came into this forest; the perfect place to torture
and kill people.

Jason walked deep in the forest. The
trees were tall and stood close together, only allowing small rays
of sunlight to shine onto the forest floor.

A little wooden hut appeared between
the trees. The building was made of gray stone, and only had four
windows. The door was made of solid metal. Even Jason, with his
Nephilim forces, had problems opening the heavy door. For a human
it was impossible. Jason opened the door with much effort, and then
entered the house.