Changed (The Hunters #1) (23 page)

All three Nephilim looked at her. No
one knew what to say.

Jason agreed with Madeleine. He had
often thought about rebelling against the archangels, but his
father knew his secret. It was too dangerous for him.

“
What you’re saying
doesn’t make any sense,” said Philip. “And the idea is
crap.”

Madeleine smiled
charmingly.

“
Do you think so, Philip?”
She walked up to him and stopped before him. She fixed her eyes on
his.

“
Why don’t you dare to
rebel against the archangels? Are you afraid of them?” she asked
softly, her eyes sparkling.

Philip glared at her. “I’m not
afraid!” he growled.

Her smile turned to a grin. She came
up very close to him. Their faces were only a few inches apart, and
she put her hand on his cheek.

“
How does it feel,
Philip?” she asked. “How does it feel when a girl touches
you?”

Jason stared at Madeleine.
He had a premonition, that somehow Madeleine knew Philip was
gay.

But from who?

Except for him and Marco,
no one knew Philip was gay, and it was supposed to stay that way.
If Archangel Michael would find out, Philip would be dead, just
like Jason would if his secret were revealed. They both had a
secret that would bring their death.

Philip struck Madeleine’s hand, and
looked at her angrily.

“
What the fuck?” he
hissed. “How do you know?”

His golden eyes flashed angrily. If
Madeleine provoked him further, Philip would lose his temper. Jason
knew this, so he intervened. He stepped between Madeleine and
Philip.

“
What’s your point?” Jason
asked her.

Her eyes darted to him. A smile
reflected on her lips.

“
He has a secret that
Michael isn’t allowed to know.” She looked him straight in the eye.
“Just like you, Jason.”

There was silence. It seemed as if the
earth stood still. Jason looked Madeleine in the eye. She was still
grinning.

“
How do you know?” Jason
asked angrily.

She clicked her tongue. “That’s not
important. What’s important is that you can be blackmailed by your
father because he knows about your secret.”

“
How do you know that?”
Jason repeated his question between clenched teeth. He had to know
she knew.

She rolled her eyes. “Let’s say a
little bird told me.”

Philip loomed before her, his face
contorted with rage. “What game are you playing here, you bitch?”
he hissed.

Madeleine backed away from
him. “I’m not playing any games with you. I’m just stating facts.
You can’t let them oppress you both.”

Anger rose in Jason. “Oh yeah? Do you
think that it’s so easy to live with a secret that could lead to
your death?”

She winced slightly. Jason realized he
was shouting. He took a deep breath, trying to calm
down.

“
You don’t know how it s
to live every crappy day with the knowledge that at any time your
secret could be come out.”

She opened her mouth to say something,
but Jason did not give her the opportunity.

“
No, you can’t!” All the
anger that had been building within him, exploded.

“
No one can!” he shouted.
“Do you think I like how my father exploits me? He represents me as
an asshole, though he is the asshole! All of this is because of a
mistake I made, and he constantly has to rub it in! This makes my
life a living hell!”

Jason had clenched his hands into
fists. His muscles were tense. The anger boiled in him. He had to
get rid of his anger before he hurt someone. He took a chair,
throwing it with full fury against the wall.

This whole thing was out of control.
They were here to get the people. Where are they now?

“
You’ve not even been here
one day, and think you know everything; acting like you know
everything.” he said to Madeleine. “As if we don’t know that we’re
exploited. As if we had any other choice.”

With these words, Jason left the hut,
and walked along the beach. He was angry with Madeleine, but he was
angry with himself, too. He had allowed Madeleine to goad
him.

I
’
m a
jerk
, Jason thought.
I should not let her get to me, aggravating
me.

With a deep sigh, Jason sat
cross-legged on the sand and looked out to the ocean. The sunset
dyed the sky in hues of red and yellow, as the water shimmered in
the golden light.

He touched the sand, letting it
trickle between his fingers, inhaling the salty air.

Could he turn back the time, and undo
his mistake? He would do anything if he could.

“
Jason?” asked a voice
from the side. He looked up and saw Marco.

“
Are you okay?”

Jason looked out over the
sea.

“
Yes, everything is fine,”
he sighed, although nothing was fine.

Marco sat down next to him, but said
nothing. He allowed time for Jason to calm down and start talking,
when he when he was ready.

“
How did she know all of
that?” Jason began. “Do you think my father told her?”

Marco shrugged. “I don’t know, but I
can’t imagine that he would do this. Although he’s a jerk, he
wouldn’t do this to you.”

Jason looked at his friend. “Why not?
My father hates me.”

He shook his head. “No,
Jason. Gabriel does not hate you. It’s just that you disappointed
him. I think he cannot believe that his son had broken a
rule.”

Jason could not believe Marco. “I can
understand that he’s disappointed, but does he have to treat me
this way? Don’t I deserve a second chance?”

“
Of course you deserve it,
Jase. Everyone deserves it. Why doesn’t he forgive you? Well,
that’s something you need to ask him. Only he can give you the
answer.”

He snorted. “When I want to talk to
him, he blocks off.” Then Jason sighed and rubbed his
face.

“
If you knew my secret,
Marco, I think you would understand why my father doesn’t forgive
me,” he muttered.

Marco and Philip did not know about
his fault, and his friend respected Jason’s wish not to tell
them.

Marco laid his hand on Jason’s
shoulder. “No fault is unforgivable, Jason; and for me, it wouldn’t
matter what you did. You’ll always be my brother, and so I would
always forgive you.”

Jason smiled at his friend. “Thanks,
bro.”

“
Always.”

“
Do you think Madeleine
would tell Michael about it?”

Marco licked his lips. “I don’t know.
I was wrong about her. I thought she would be nice, but … you know.
It is difficult to measure what she might do.”

Marco was right. Madeleine was
inscrutable. Where he thought she would be nice, he was convinced
of the contrary.

Marco stood up and wiped the sand from
his pants.

“
Come on, bro. Let’s go in
and finish our task. The faster, the better.”

Jason nodded.

“
Ouch!” Rosa groaned as
she bit her tongue, and tasted blood in her mouth.

“
Stay still, Rosa! I’m
almost finished,” said Valerie, and pulled out the next
thread.

After Rosa spoke to Matt, she went to
Valerie to the stitches from her wound. The wounds were healed, but
there would still be scars. She tried to ignore them.

Colin sat beside her, holding her
hand. Rosa didn’t need anyone to hold her hand, but Colin had
insisted, and Rosa had consented.

“
I’m going to pull out the
last one,” said Valerie.

Rosa nodded before she flinched as a
throbbing pain shot through her chest, when Valerie pulled out the
last stitch. She sat up quickly.

“
Finished,” Valerie said
and put down the tweezers.

“
Thank you, Val,” said
Rosa, pulling her top over her head. She didn’t look at her chest
now. She would do it at home.

“
Everything alright,
Rosa?” Colin asked her. Of course, he had noticed something had
happen.

She managed a smile. “Yep, everything
is fine. I have to talk to Andrea now.”

Rosa wanted to go, but Colin grabbed
her arm, stopping her. “Rosa,” he began.

“
Yes, Colin?”

“
What did Lord Constantine
want from you?” he asked.

“
Nothing,” she lied,
feeling the heat creeping up her neck. “He just asked me if I knew
why the Nephilim are here, and if I had figured out their
plan.”

He raised his eyebrows wary. “Nothing
else?”

“
What? He should tell me
more?”

Colin just shrugged.

Rosa sighed. “Colin, he hasn’t told me
anything else.”

She hated to lie to her best friend,
but she didn’t want to tell them how she would be punished because
of her betrayal. They would be worried about her, and maybe even
disappointed that she had committed treason.

He nodded, but she saw that he did not
believe her. “Okay, whatever you say, but I don’t like the idea of
you going to Vancouver on your own,” Colin said, looking at her
anxiously.

Colin didn’t attend the same school as
Rosa, so they didn’t get to watch each other’s backs. In fact, she
was the only hunter in her school. She felt a little
alone.

“
I have to, Colin. They
expect me to find the talisman, and if I don’t find it… Well...”
Rosa didn’t finish the sentence. They knew what would happen
then.

If a hunter didn’t obey the orders of
Lord Constantine, it meant death. Yes, in the Hunter clan
everything ended with the death, which was against the rules. But
this was only a strategy to prevent the hunters from breaking the
rules.

“
I don’t like it, either,”
Valerie said.

Rosa smiled at them both. “I know you
care, and I appreciate your concern, but I can take care of myself.
I have always done so, and will continue. You don’t need to
worry.”

Colin and Valerie looked at her
skeptically. Rosa knew her friends would always worry about
her.

“
So, guys. I have to go.
See you later.”

“
See you later,” Colin and
Valerie said.

Rosa left the room. She
didn’t like to keep secrets from her friends, especially not from
Colin. He knew everything about her and vice-versa.

It made her feel guilty.

She
shook her head.
Don’t think about it. You
have to do a lot more important things.

Rosa knocked on the door and opened
it. Andrea was not alone. Shane was with her. She sighed. She
didn’t want to deal with Shane. A wide grin spread on Shane’s face
when he saw Rosa.

Rosa held her hand up straight.
“Shane, don’t even try to talk to me. I don’t want to talk to you,
and I won’t talk to you.”