Changed (The Hunters #1) (5 page)

How could the Nephilim be here?
Nephilim didn’t live in Boston, because hunters ruled it.
Therefore, to see them was strange, very strange.

Either hunters, or archangels, but
never both in the same city, dominated every single city in the
world.

Obviously, these Nephilim made it to
Boston.

Rosa looked at the two. One of the
boys had black hair and golden eyes that he had hidden behind brown
contact lenses. He was tall and muscular, like all Nephilim were,
with high cheekbones and full lips. A small scar ran from his right
eyebrow to his lower eyelid, though it did not take away from his
beauty. In fact, it only made him more attractive.

The
other boy had dark blond hair and wore blue contact lenses. Built
like the black-haired boy, his attitude said,
don’t get too close. I do not want you
.

Suddenly
someone touched her arm. Rosa jumped. She didn
’
t like to be touched by people she
did not trust.

“
Miss Petrova.”

Rosa blinked and looked at her
teacher. She was in her mid-forties, slightly overweight, with
stern hazel eyes, and brown hair interwoven with gray
strands.

Rosa shook her head so that her head
was clear again.

“
Sorry
I’m late, Ms. Franklin. I
’ve
overslept,” she apologized.

“
You overslept the last
time, too, Miss Petrova,” Ms. Franklin said in a firm
voice.

Rosa sighed deeply. “Yes, Ms.
Franklin, I have noticed.”

“
And could you tell me
why?”

Rosa smiled at her, “Unfortunately
not, because it’s none of your business.”

Ms. Franklin’s gaze hardened and Rosa
could see the anger rising inside her.

“
May I go to my seat?” she
asked. Without waiting for an answer, Rosa went to her seat and sat
next to Matt, her best Friend. She smiled at him.

“
Hey, Matt,” she
said.

She had been friends with Matt since
childhood. The students didn’t know that Rosa was a hunter, but
they still avoided her. She did not know why. She was an outsider.
She didn’t have many friends other than Matt, Colin, and
Valerie.

Matt
knew that Rosa was a hunter, because she had told him. She had
broken one of the rules of the hunting clan:
No one may know who you really are
.
If a hunter broke any of the rules, the hunter was automatically
suspended, but since Rosa was with the gift of fight, her uncle
Sergei, had forgiven her.

Matt’s blue eyes looked at Rosa. “Hey,
Ice Princess. It seems like you’re in trouble again,” he
replied.

Rosa shrugged. “Tell me something
new.”

“
Miss Petrova, I want to
talk to you after class,” Mrs. Franklin claimed.

Rosa was about to protest, but she
felt Matt’s hand on her knee. She looked at him as his eyes begged
her not to argue. Had it been any other person, Rosa would have
ignored them, but because it was Matt, she listened.

She sighed again. “Yeah,
whatever.”

The class turned their attention back
to the new students. Rosa remembered again that her enemies were
with her in a classroom. She looked at them both.

“
So where was I?” asked
Ms. Franklin. “Ah, yes. These are our new students, Jason and
Philip. They moved from San Diego to Boston.”

San Diego. The archangel ruled the
city.

Why did they send the
Nephilim to our city?

Ms. Franklin turned to Matt. “Mr.
Blair, would you be so kind as to help our new students get
themselves situated in our school?” she asked in a friendly
tone.

Matt was the head boy, so he normally
was stuck with such tasks as showing around new students. Rosa
would usually follow Matt around like a lost puppy during these
times, but today was different. Matt could not show these students
the school. If he did, then that would mean that Rosa would be with
him, and she did not want to spend time with her enemies—she wanted
to kill them.

“
Ms. Franklin, can’t
someone else do it?” Rosa asked. Matt gave her a questioning look,
but she ignored him.

Mrs. Franklin frowned.
“Miss Petrova, I don’t think you are Mr. Blair, or have I missed
something?” she asked.

“
No, you haven’t missed
anything. Matt just doesn’t have time for that.”

“
Is that so, Mr. Blair?”
Ms. Franklin asked him.

Rosa looked at Matt and told him with
her eyes, to say yes. Matt looked at her for a while, then he
looked at Mrs. Franklin.

“
Yes,
Mrs. Franklin. I
’
m currently up to my ears. You know, the graduation is next
month and there is a lot to organize,” Matt explained to her. Rosa
gave him a grateful smile.

Mrs. Franklin nodded. “Yes, okay. Then
Miss Petrova can take the job.”

“
What?” Rosa called. That
was not what she had wanted to happen at all.

“
You will guide our new
students, Miss Petrova,” said Mrs. Franklin with a firmer
voice.

“
I don’t want to do that.
The two are old enough to wander about here alone. They don’t need
a babysitter,” she replied angry.

“
You will do
it.”

Rosa wanted to protest, but then
stopped. She laid her head on the chair and groaned. Matt patted
her shoulder comfortingly.

“
Well, gentlemen, please
sit down on the square behind. I hope you will settle here well,”
said Ms. Franklin.

“
Oh, man, I don’t want do
this,” Rosa whispered to Matt.

“
Why did you say that I
shouldn’t do it then?” he asked.

“
Those two are Nephilim,”
Rosa replied quietly, and then showed him her mark. “And I am a
hunter, which makes them my enemies. Do you think I want to spend
time with my enemies?“

God, how
could she tell
that
to the Master? He
woul
d freak out.
He
’
d command her
to kill them, but she did not want to kill them right away. They
had to have had a plan. Why else would they enter the enemy’s city
voluntarily? There was more behind it. Rosa was
certain.

Matt raised his eyebrows, surprised.
“They are Nephilim?” His eyes went briefly to the two boys, then
again to Rosa.

“
Yes,”
she replied. “They have hidden their eyes, but you know I
can
feel
my
enemies.”

Matt nodded knowingly, and then he
smiled. “Well, Rosa, you wanted to prevent something, but
ultimately have involved yourself with it more. And what have we
learned from this?”

Rosa looked at him, “What?”

“
You should take things as
they are and not try to change them.”

“
I see. That was really
very wise.”

“
I’ve decided to be wise
from time to time. I have to give a speech and cannot write just
anything. I mean, I can’t just say, ‘Hey, bitches, don’t be greedy.
Take what your life throws to home plate, and don’t change things
you can’t help, otherwise you sit deep in the shit.’”

Rosa laughed. “Yes, you can’t write
that.”

“
Mr. Blair, Miss Petrova,
stop talking and pay attention to the lesson,” Ms. Franklin
admonished them.

The rest of the lesson both spent
silent.

When the bell finally rang, everybody
packed up and left the classroom— except Rosa, Matt and the new
students.

Rosa looked at Matt. “Matt, could you
please accompany both to the next lessons. I have to talk with Ms.
Franklin.”

He nodded. “Sure.” Then he turned to
the boys. “Come let us go. Mr. Black hates it when we’re late.” The
three left the classroom and Rosa and Ms. Franklin were
alone.

“
So, what did you want to
talk with me about?” Rosa asked impatiently.

All the teachers knew of the hunters
in their schools. It was something their leader had believed was
necessary. He wanted them to know who these kids really
were.

Ms. Franklin leaned forward
and looked into her eyes. “Miss Petrova, I hope you can behave nice
towards our new students, even if they are your enemy,” she
told.

Rosa looked at her incredulously. “How
do know that they are Nephilim?”

She sighed. “I recognize
the Nephilim. They are unlike the rest of us, and apparently, my
guess was right.”

Rosa was surprised that Ms. Franklin
had a good sense of Nephilim. In general, Nephilim weren’t
recognized by humans.

“
Do you
know what you’re asking for? You are requesting me to be nice to
my
enemies
. What
would be the point of being enemies with them?” Rosa
interjected.

Ms. Franklin sighed again. “I know
that sounds weird, but can’t you do it? “

“
Even if I personally do
it, the hunter clan won’t. You know that.” Then something came to
mind.

“
Do you know why they are
here?” she said.

Ms. Franklin shrugged. “I have no idea
why they are here. I also wondered that.”

Rosa frowned. They were
risking their lives by entering the city, and did not seem to care,
but why? Why would they risk their lives? Rosa had to find out.
Suddenly, it did not seem like such a bad thing that she would be
showing them around. All she had to do was keep the secret that she
was a hunter–then she could learn from them what they were doing
here.

Rosa looked at Ms. Franklin. “Is our
conversation finished?” she asked.

“
Not really, but you don’t
seem to care anyway, so it’s over. You can go,” she
said.

Rosa smiled. “Have a nice
day.”

She left the classroom and went to
math. “Excuse me, Mr. Black. Ms. Franklin wanted to speak to me,”
she said to her math teacher. He nodded and went on with his
lessons. When Rosa went to her seat in the back, she saw Matt had
not left a seat for her, but was instead sitting beside the
dark-haired enemy.

She eyed Matt warily. “What’s this?”
she asked.

“
Rosa,
just sit down,” Matt whispered as he turned away.
He can
’
t do this to me,
thought Rosa.

“
Miss Petrova, please sit
down,” she heard Mr. Black say.

Rosa sighed and sat down. The boy
smiled at her. Rosa smiled back weakly.

“
I’m Philip,” he
introduced himself, offering her his hand.

Rosa did not accept it. The reason
wasn’t that he was her enemy. The reason was her gift to fight that
she possessed since birth. He was the enemy, and when she came into
physical contact with her foe, her mark on her wrist would glow
red, releasing adrenaline and an overwhelming need to kill the
target.

If the gift had Rosa under
control, she had to kill someone - that was the downside. Rosa had
never learned to keep her gift and the bloodlust under control. Her
goal was to kill the enemies, and her gift helped her.

Rosa ignored his hand, and instead
nodded her head toward him.

“
I’m Rosa,” she said as
she looked at Philip. His eyes lingered on his hand, before letting
it drop. He continued to smile at her, but now it was
forced.

“
What happened to your
face?” he asked Rosa. Instinctively, Rosa touched her face with her
fingertips. She could feel the slightly puckered skin along her
cheek where the half-demon had snagged her with his
claws.

“
Ah, nothing. I just
fought with my cat, and she scratched me,” Rosa said. Philip
nodded.

She held her hand tighter over her
mark, trying to hide it better. Next time she would have to wear a
glove of some sort, so they wouldn’t be able to see it so easily.
She would also need to obtain some of the paralysis magic, in order
to cripple the effects of her gift. After all, she knew someday she
would encounter the Nephilim.