Changed (The Hunters #1) (29 page)

After a long walk, Jason and Madeleine
reached the creek. Madeleine had supported Jason because he
couldn’t put weight on his leg, as it hurt too much.

The creek wasn’t huge and not too
deep, but amazingly clean.

Jason dove into the creek, clothes,
and all. He sat on a stone so the water reached his neck. The cool
water felt good on his calf and on his hands. Sighing in relief, he
closed his eyes and savored the feeling.

Madeleine sat on the stone that stood
beside the creek. She put her chin on her palm and looked over at
Jason.

“
Don’t stay too long.
Otherwise you’ll get sick,” she advised him.

“
I won’t get sick,” Jason
answered without open his eyes.

“
You never know. I thought
that I was born with brown hair, but now I’m blond.”

“
Don’t you like your hair
color?” Jason asked and looked at her. The burning in his calf
eased a little.

“
I don’t like my life,”
she said and sighed ostentatiously.

He frowns. “Why not?”

She pointed in the direction from
which they had come.

“
Because of that! We have
to kill innocent people only because they wanted a better life.”
She shook her head. “I can’t understand how angels can be so
brutal. When I was little I thought they stood for peace and
justice, life, and so on.”

“
Many humans think that.
But the Bible says that angels are the warriors of God. We can
destroy in seconds—wipe out cities and people.”

Madeleine nodded knowingly. “Yes, I’ve
noticed it. Archangel’s already use their children. Why should they
be kind to humans? Sometimes I think I should rebel against
them.”

Jason raised his eyebrows. “Why not do
it then?”

She snorted. “Jason, I’m a Nephilim
and they’re archangels. They can kill me in seconds, and to rebel
alone wouldn’t make any sense.”

“
You shouldn’t have such
thoughts like that. When the archangels hear this, you’re dead,”
Jason warned her

“
I know, but I long for a
free life without war, death, and commands. A life where I can
control everything, but this life is still only a
dream.”

“
For me, too,” Jason
said.

“
We better go now,” said
Madeleine. “Archangel Gabriel will be surprised when he sees that
we’ve found a Fire user.”

Jason snorted. “Surely not! He’ll say
he sent us to the fire user, that he had found him,” Jason replied,
rising from the creek.

The cold water had cooled his leg a
little and the pain was just a slight burning. Now Jason had to
wait until his body healed itself. He took off his wet T-shirt,
squeezed the water out, and put it back on.

“
You’re probably right,”
Madeleine agreed, watching every movement of him.

Jason looked at her. “How do you know
about my secret?” he asked seriously.

She pressed her lips together. “Your
father told me it, while we were talking,” she said.

His forehead creased. “My father told
you about it?”

“
Yes, but
accidentally.”

Jason clenched his fists.
Anger welled up in him. How Gabriel could do this, telling someone
his secret?

“
I won’t, of course, tell
anybody else, Jason,” said Madeleine.

He shot her a dark look. “I hope not,
Madeleine,” he replied, the dangerous undertone was not
missed.

“
By the way, I have to go
back to Germany,” she told Jason.

“
Why?”

Madeleine shrugged. “I don’t know.
They have told me I should come back. There’s something I need to
do.”

“
When are you
leaving?”

“
Tonight.”

Jason nodded. “Then I wish you a nice
flight. Will you come back?”

“
Yes, but I don’t know
when.” They were silent for a moment before she suggested, “Let’s
go back.”

Together they went back to the house.
Madeleine followed him in silence. The closer they got to the
house, the more the burning smell increased.

Marco and Philip were waiting outside.
Philip had a wet towel wrapped around his hands and wore his grim
expression.

“
How bad does it look?”
said Jason, looking at the hut.

“
We’ve stopped the fire.
Not too bad. Luckily, everything is of stone. Only the bars are
melted. The fire didn’t reach the upper floor,” Marco
explained.

“
And where’s
Nick?”

“
In the car. Philip beat
him unconscious. He can’t run anywhere.”

Jason nodded. “Okay. I’ll go inside
and look around.”

“
I wouldn’t do that, Jase.
That’s not a pretty sight.”

Jason knew what Marco said. “It
doesn’t matter,” he said, and went into the hut.

Jason could not see much. The house
was full of smoke. He pulled his shirt up to his nose. He stopped
in front of the burned stairs where the stifling smell of smoke and
burnt human flesh mixed. Jason turned around and went back outside.
He took a deep breath.

“
It stinks in there,” he
said and grimaced.

Marco nodded. “Told you.”

Jason sighed. “Let’s go.”

They started walking to their cars.
“Philip, you’re coming with me,” said Jason.

Philip nodded and climbed
into Jason’s car. “We’ll meet with my father,” Jason said to Marco.
He nodded and climbed into his car, followed by
Madeleine.

Jason got into his car and turned on
the engine. He drove behind Marco’s car.

“
How are your hands?”
Jason asked.

“
Fine,” Philip
answered.

“
Gabriel has told
her.”

“
What? You’re kidding me,
right?” Philip asked incredulously.

Jason threw a quick glance to Philip
then looked at the road again

“
It’s true, Phil.
Madeleine said it.”

Philip growled. “That asshole.” Then
it occurred to him that he just insulted Jason’s father.

“
I’m sorry, Jason. Didn’t
mean it that way,” he said.

“
You don’t need to
apologize. I know he’s an asshole.” Jason said. Philip looked at
him. Concern was reflected in his eyes.

“
Jase, what should we do
if Michael find’s out? We have already seen that your father cannot
shut his mouth. And I do not trust that bitch. I don’t want to
die.”

Jason could hear the desperation and
fear in his voice. He was scared, too. He stopped at a traffic
light and sighed deeply. For a while, Jason said nothing, and then
he looked at Philip.

“
Phil, I won’t let you
die, or allow that to come out—but if it comes out, we’ll die
together. I won’t leave you alone.” Jason would really die with
Philip. They had gone through everything together. This would be no
different.

Philip smiled faintly. “Thanks,
pal.”

Jason
returned his smiled. The light turned green and Jason drove off.
The whole drive up to Gabriel’s house the boys did not talk. Jason
was still feeling anger toward his father. He did not believe that
Gabriel said it to Madeleine
accidently
. Gabriel surely had told
it to Madeleine so she could extort Jason, too. Gabriel was one of
those who used all opportunities to achieve what he
wanted.

Jason parked his car behind Marcos and
Philip tried to open the door with his injured hands, but he did
not succeed.

“
Wait. I’ll open the
door,” Jason said, leaning over to Philip. He opened the door and
leaned back.

“
Thanks,” Philip said, and
got out. Jason also climbed out and walked over to
Marco.

“
We should bring Nick in
the basement, and then wait until he wakes up,” Jason
said.

Marco nodded. “And we should tell your
father about it.”

“
And we should find
something for Philip’s burned hands,” Philip interjected and looked
at them.

Madeleine pointed at Philip to follow
her. “Come on, we’re looking for a cream,” she said. He nodded and
followed her into the house.

“
Philip says he cannot
stand Madeleine, but does what she says. I don’t understand,” said
Marco confused, and looked at Jason.

Jason smiled. “Philip is a complicated
character, Marco. Sometimes he is angry, sometimes not.”

Marco nodded. “Weird boy.”

The door was opened and Gabriel came
out. Jason’s mood fell immediately. His father had a grim
expression.

“
Do you have the fire
user?” he asked. Gabriel somehow always knew when something did not
go as planned.

Marco nodded. “Yes, we’ve got
him.”

“
Good. I need to talk to
you,” said Gabriel and turned away.

Jason and Marco followed the
archangel.

Rosa looked at her drawing. A girl
stood in a large landscape. She had stretched out her hands and
turned to face the sun, but from behind, a thunderstorm was seen,
and a black fog crept around her legs.

Rosa put the brush and the tablet with
the colors away. She was satisfied with her drawing. The pictures
involved many of her. It was clear that Rosa was that girl who
longed for freedom. Longing for a life without the people who
ordered her around, planning her entire life. She longed for a life
where she could make her own decisions, where she could follow her
desires and—most importantly—a life where she was free. The storm
was the end to those wishes. The storm stood for her Uncle Sergei
and Lord Constantine.

They both owned Rosa and did what they
wanted with her.

She could not do anything but obey
them. She owed the hunter clan too much.

Sighing, she looked at the clock. It
was seven. Only one hour left until she had to be at the
academy.

She got up and went to her bedroom
where she undressed her paint-stained clothes, and dressed in clean
black clothes. She tied her hair into a French braid.

Rosa didn’t know what she should take
with her, so she packed a water bottle and her mobile
phone.

Her stomach growled, reminding Rosa
she hadn’t had anything to eat yet. She was so engrossed in her
painting that she had forgotten to eat. She went into the kitchen
and stuffed two cinnamon buns in her mouth. It wasn’t a lot, but at
least she had something in her stomach.

Then she shouldered her bag, and took
the car keys from the counter, as she left her safe
apartment.

The closer she came to the
academy, the stronger her fear and tension. She tried to suppress
her fear, but it didn’t work. The question of what her punishment
would be circled in her mind like a carrousel

You will
know it when you are there, Rosa
, she said
to herself.

Rosa arrived at the academy a little
before eight o’clock. She parked her car and climbed out. Dusk had
taken over the sky, but Rosa knew that it would not be long until
dark.

Taking a deep breath, Rosa walked to
the door. A girl, with black hair that made her face look pale, was
standing in front of the door.

“
Are you Rosa Petrova?”
she asked. Her voice sounded as young as she looked.

“
Yes,” said Rosa.
Meanwhile, her heart beat wildly in her chest.

“
Follow me,” the girl said
and walked around the academy into the forest. Frowning, Rosa
followed her. They walked through the little path. The girl didn’t
speak and didn’t look at Rosa.

Then they stopped at a clearing and
although the sun had not set yet, it was very dark in the
forest.

Rosa immediately saw Lord Constantine.
He was not a person you would miss. He wore a suit, as always, and
his face was a mask. Five other young hunters were standing behind
him. Rosa guessed them to be around her age. There were two girls
and three boys, but she had no time to scrutinize them, because
Lord Constantine smiled and said,