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I looked to the side to see Isaac’s face illuminated by the golden glow shimmering off of my body. He had wrapped one arm around my shoulders, while the other had firmly anchored itself around the crook of my knees. We were both sprawled across the floor.
“Isaac,” I said breathlessly as my chest heaved. What was he doing here? Our interaction from earlier made me think he didn’t like me, but now he was grinning like a child on Winter Solstice.
He smiled, and those famous dimples came out. In one completely unexpected motion, he raised his hand and cupped my cheek. “I’d ask if you are all right, but I am starting to think it’s impossible to hurt La Chica Dorada.” His thumb stroked my cheek, and a wave of heat slammed through me.
He started sitting up just as I rolled off of him. No sooner than I landed flat on my ass, I looked up to see Antonio standing next to Ivan. Both of them were watching me. Ivan’s eyes were wide and Antonio’s arms were crossed over his chest. His expression was about as close to indifferent as was possible to convey.
Ivan leaned over to murmur something to Antonio, and though the turned down corners of his mouth didn’t change, fire danced behind his eyes.
Suddenly, I felt self-conscious. I tugged at my clothes and willed the gold to disappear.
“Nunca pensé que algún día veré esto…” Ivan dramatized, and splayed his fingers over his chest. There was something fervent, like the people calling me a princess outside. It was jarring to see the different reactions to my presence.
I started standing up, and brushed my sweaty, golden palms across my pants. I wanted to tell Ivan that I didn’t think I would see myself turning gold ad nauseam in public either, but I settled for smiling. It wasn’t much longer before the heat that came with the magic started leaching out of me steadily.
My gaze dropped to my now perfectly healed hands. “Well, that was about as good as can be expected for my first time. What next, A—” Shit. I cut myself off with a cough, hoping it didn’t sound like I was about say his first name. “Señor Castillas?”
The uneasy silence that followed told me I had once again fumbled. Badly. Ivan had mentioned rumors about a relationship between us. One way to make sure those rumors continued to propagate would be to start acting like we were friends.
It was Isaac who broke the silence. “This was your first time climbing? Really? Apparently, other countries don’t have the same talent for shaping their rising generation into powerful, versatile citizens,” he chatted endlessly.
Ivan’s entire expression changed. The older man nodded understandingly, and the tension inside of me subsided. Suddenly, Isaac’s fingers laced with my own, sending red-hot lightning across every inch of skin. “It’s fortunate that you have such natural talent,” Isaac said with a wink. Without warning, he twirled me around.
“One more look at the lovely Renata,” he said, and let out a delighted laugh.
My feet moved instinctively, but I gawked at him. It didn’t matter. He was unfazed by the mess of the entire situation. When I looked at him, there was something under his eyes that told me he was helping me out. Rescuing me. It was a total change from the rudeness he’d exhibited downstairs. Maybe he felt bad? People could say they were sorry with their actions just as well as they could with words.
That had me smiling back up at him with a shyness I wasn’t used to. “With that kind of praise, I’ll never get any actual training done,” I breathed.
Ivan laughed, and all the harsh judgment that came from his first impression of me melted away as the last hint of gold glimmer faded. Perhaps it was partly because Isaac had somehow made me acceptable in his eyes, but I was getting good at recognizing gold lust. Who cared if I was a troll as long as I turned valuable?
Antonio was watching the entire exchange with the same tense jaw and pursed lips he’d worn all morning. He said nothing.
“All right, Isaac. Enough flirting for tonight. I can see that the two of you working in the same center is going to be an exercise in self-control.” The man pointed sternly at both of us, but his expression had lost all of its bite.
For a second, my heart squeezed, and I was feather-light. It was wrong, but he had despised me upon first meeting. If I could win him over in such short time, surely I could do the same with the rest of Arrebol.
It was good to know I was making the right moves.
“I’m afraid he’s right. We will see each other again,” he said with a genuine smile.
Isaac slowly tugged my hand up toward his mouth and kissed it. It was a quick peck, but I flushed from head to toe in less than a second. He grinned, and then he let go of my palm and started walking away.
I felt like the tail of a snake, constantly being thrashed this way and that. But, I had to admit, this shift felt pretty exceptional.
It wasn’t until I looked back at Antonio that I realized I was still smiling after Isaac. It was obvious from the waves of displeasure emanating off him that he hadn’t stopped observing me.
“I think that’s enough for tonight. We will go on a survival test next week, and I need you to gain as much strength as possible between now and then.”
My smile evaporated. “A survival test? This is the first I was hearing about it.” I hated how in the dark I constantly was. Snow had dusted the tops of the mountains. It was getting cold out. “But we barely—”
“We will have time tomorrow, Renata.” With that, Antonio turned away and headed toward the entrance.
Luckily for me, I was tall and could easily keep up with him. “Thank you for teaching me how to climb,” I blurted out.
He didn’t look at me when he said, “It’s part of my job as your mentor.”
We breezed past the receptionist without more than a grunt of a goodbye, and then we were back into the chilly night air.
