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Then I thought about the Ash. He’d relapsed because of me, and had only come to this room because of me.
We had killed him together.
“Isaac,” I pleaded once again. “I’m telling you the truth. I never intended to hurt you—I cared about you, too. Please, don’t leave me. Do not leave me here!”
I pulled myself up to my knees and flung myself across him.
Blood soaked my hands and dripped onto my dress as I sobbed.
Grief consumed my body and soul. I didn’t hear the soft clink of metal or the scrape of wood as the knife was once again retrieved from the floor. I paid no heed to the footsteps coming close to me.
“Maldita Chica Dorada,” Martina glowered. “You will die this time.”
I looked up as time slowed. I saw the knife plummeting down towards me. Then, the once still-air moved, like a dormant tree branch disturbed by the launch of a bird. My body was frozen in place, covered in the metallic stench of blood.
I felt the blade slice into my leg and I screamed. Each breath sent a shiver through my body and an involuntary jolt of pain through my spine, amplified by the wound in my leg.
It took seconds for me to turn golden. I eased the knife out with a wince as Martina grabbed a fire poker from the basket next to the glowing fire.
I took a deep breath and gagged.
The air was my enemy; it carried the scent of Isaac’s blood and his skin. Peppermint and eucalyptus filled my nostrils and intoxicated my senses.
“I will not die, Martina,” I said, standing up as she circled me like a predator cornering its prey. The warm gold glow that came from my magic illuminated the entire room with brilliant light.
Martina’s hair was a mess, and her pale pink dress had been dyed rust-red. She was a nightmare wraith, the culmination of every villain in every child’s tale. The hag living in the woods and murdering travelers. She wavered for a second, taking in the beautiful gold with glinting greed. “You will. You will die of all the misery and suffering you have caused me and my son. You don’t even know who you are! You will die a thousand deaths for all the lies and for the way you stole him from me, for the sins of your family. And the world will thank me for disposing of you.”
“What family, Martina?” I bawled, “You said it yourself, I am a bastard!”
I took one more look at Isaac’s body, letting the agony of his body laying still on the ground fuel me.
There was too much death.
Maybe the only way to stop death was with more of it.
Martina came at me with the poker high above her head. Her maniacal face twisted as she swung it down. I ducked, but it still hit me in the side of my head.
It was excruciating. I cried out and then felt her hands in my hair and on my neck. She pulled my head so far back I was sure my neck would snap.
The knife was still in my golden hand.
I finally understood what others had been telling me for months.
Killing was necessary for survival.
“Don’t you understand, Carmen?” Martina hissed. “This is not your world. The time of your kind is over. We killed you once, and we will do it again.”
Two phrases floated through my consciousness.
A female voice shouted,No te rindes,while a male voice whispered,Don’t get mad, get revenge.
With all the force I possessed, I shoved my hand backward.
I felt it pass through layers of fabric, skin, and tissue. Right into what I thought was Martina’s stomach.
“I will not die,” I repeated as she released me and staggered back. “But you will.”
Her Blood Magic would kick in soon, so I needed to work quickly.
