“That looks… terrible.” My voice was a shaky whisper, but I forced myself into action as Emiliano demanded my hands.
“The blade was poisoned,” he said, his tone sharp with urgency. “She wasn’t holding back tonight-she wanted him dead. Now, place your hands over his chest.”
Without hesitation, I pressed my palms against the wound. Warm blood oozed through my fingers, mingling with the tears spilling freely down my face.
“You cannot use the power of the sun for this, Isabella,” Emiliano instructed, his gaze locking onto mine. “Not this time. You must let your emotions fuel the flames. Close your eyes and give him everything you have. Every ounce of fire, every spark-give him more than he can take.”
I swallowed back questions, knowing time was slipping through my fingers as surely as Leonardo’s blood. Instead, I kept my eyes open, letting them linger on his face. His pale eyes, so full of life even now, locked onto mine with a depth that made my heart clench.
‘I don’t know what’s worse,’ his voice echoed in my mind, raw and unguarded. ‘Knowing you’d die with me… or leaving this world without you.’
The weight of his words unleashed something within me-a torrent of love, fear, and every emotion he had ever made me feel. Around him, every emotion was sharper, more vivid. Even anger and pain had become all-consuming.
Heat surged through me, wild and untamed. It wasn’t the controlled blaze I summoned from the sun; this was a raw inferno, ignited by emotions too overwhelming to contain.
‘You’re glowing,’ Leonardo thought, his words soft and reverent. His fingers twitched, struggling to reach for me. ‘Like the sun itself.’
“Push it through his entire body,” Emiliano urged, his grip firm on my shoulders. “Not just his chest. It’s going to hurt-both of you-but you cannot stop. Not until it’s done.”
“How will I know when it’s enough?” I croaked, my voice trembling.
“You’ll know,” he said grimly.
With a sharp breath, I funneled the searing heat through my hands and into Leonardo’s chest.
The pain was indescribable. Fire raced through my veins, consuming everything in its path. My lungs felt dry, as though the very moisture in them had evaporated. Screams filled the air-his, mine, or both. It didn’t matter. The agony was one and the same, binding us in a torment that felt endless.
Just when I thought I couldn’t bear it a moment longer, the fire began to wane. The blistering heat receded, crackling and snapping as it withdrew into the wound on his chest. A final surge pulled the last traces of poison from his body, and then-silence.
My hands trembled as I finally lifted them. The wound was gone, replaced by a raised scar in the shape of the sun. Relief crashed over me like a wave, leaving me breathless and trembling. Tears streaked down my face unchecked, and I gasped for air as though surfacing from deep water.
“Sit him up, slowly,” Emiliano said, extending a hand to help me. Together, we lifted Leonardo into a sitting position.
His eyes shifted, darting to something across the room. The look on his face-shock, disbelief-made my heart lurch.
“Isabella…” he breathed, his voice heavy with awe and something close to fear. “What did you do?”
“That shouldn’t be possible,” Emiliano murmured, his voice trailing off in stunned silence.
I turned to follow their gazes, my breath catching as I took in the scene around me. The house was in ruins, its walls and ceiling reduced to rubble. Yet, amidst the destruction, my friends were untouched, unharmed.
The magic hadn’t just protected them-it had done something far greater. In my desperation to shield them, it had answered my silent plea, altering the very fabric of who they were.
Chiara, Carlo, and Enrico sat on the floor, dazed but alive. Beneath their skin glowed an otherworldly light, and their ears had taken on a subtle, elongated point. Spirit magic, wild and untamed, had transformed them.
I had given them the means to protect themselves. But at what cost?