Page 73 of The Gilded Survivor

Antonio took one look at me, frowned, and said, “Enough, Carmen. You need to heal yourself.”

Heal myself?

“What the hell do you mean?”

His nostrils flared. “You are sick. I can practically feel the pain radiating off of you. We just ate, and I think you slept a little, meaning that this is the perfect time to use your magic.”

Themagicwas still uncomfortable for me to operate. Manipulating my blood was wrong.

But, then again, when we were at the training center, I had used the Blood magic to completely heal my ailment.

Suddenly, I felt fatuous in addition to miserable and exhausted. When I blinked, my eyes burned. Cutting myself was still undesirable, but…wait.“Why do I keep getting sick?”

Antonio’s jaw tightened.

¿Qué demonios?

“Why am I sick again?” I demanded.

He let out an exasperated breath. “Heal yourself before you go on another tirade.”

I stepped forward until he was close enough to see the dangerous sweat on my brow. He could smell the ache leaking off my body and into the air.

He looked down at me, and I could tell from how carefully he was keeping his face blank he knew what I was talking about.

“Are you poisoning me?” I asked finally. “Is this about the royalty stuff? I swear on La Doncella, you damned Élites are so full of hatred, you would kill anything that gives hope to the underdogs.” I thought of that girl wearing a crown in the parking lot.

His mouth turned down. “Carmen, you don’t know what you’re talking about.”

I clenched my fists. “Did your mother send Isolda to poison me?”

Antonio didn’t back away. His expression grew more fiery. “Absolutely not, you delusional girl. Now, either you heal yourself or I will make you heal.”

His nose twitched, and I couldn’t help feeling triumphant. I hoped I stunk. I hope he suffered because of me.

In the middle of my sluggish movements, he decided I was taking too long. Rather than asking me again, he grabbed my hand, withdrew his hunting knife, and sliced the heel of my palm.

It happened so fast, and I was gold before I could call him an asshole. He moved away quickly, as if he knew I would try to stab him.

But…

The effect was immediate, as it had been days before. It was incomparable to any other medicine I had tried before, like all the pains and aches leached into thin air.

I should’ve stayed angry, should’ve screamed, but it was the first time I’d felt warm in over a day. Antonio made no sense, but he didn’t seem to want to actually hurt me. If he wanted me dead, I would be already.

As if my thought had summoned him back, he scoffed. I whipped around and found him leaning against a tree. He arched one eyebrow and his arms were folded over his chest. There was something in his eyes. “Feeling better?” A hesitancy that told me he was hiding something, and he didn’t wait for me to answer. “Do you really think I would poison you?”

Silence, followed by a grunt. “What a low opinion you have of me.”

I gritted my teeth. “Maybe you’re not poisoning me, but that doesn’t mean someone else isn’t. I think you know exactly what is happening, so you are going to tell me.”

Antonio scoffed again.

The sound was really grating on my nerves. “Tell me, or I’ll keep asking.”

He hesitated for a second, and even though I couldn’t see his face, I was confident I had said the right thing. Victory wasn’t instantaneous, however, so we started walking again.

A few more minutes passed, and I counting the rhythmic crunch of snow under our boots. I felt better than I had in a long time and I was momentarily struck by the mist lightly blanketing the rising slopes of the mountain.

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