Page 46 of Icy Heart, Empty Chest
We weresix and in my backyard. His stuffed horse toy got ripped on the bushes. We came barreling into the house looking for my mother. She put a bandage on his leg while she prepared the sewing kit, smiling. I put my arm around his shoulders as he looked on nervously.
“Believe it or not,the first part is over.”
I opened my eyes and Filla was no longer on the table but opening the case containing his heart. I gasped. It was crimson red but had a sheen to it, a shimmer. It was beautiful.
Filla had a more clinical look at it, frowning.
“One more day and he would have been dead. You were right to bring him when you did.”
She took a deep breath and slowly let it out.
“Now comes the transplant. I will put the heart in and say the words, seal him back up. We’ll give him an infusion of power at the end.”
I nodded again, afraid to say anything still. A stray tingle made me look down at my hands.
They were glowing gold.
“Filla!” I shrieked. My magic had only ever been light blue. She looked up and at my hands curiously.
“Odd. Your magic is having a very specific reaction to him. It’s stronger now.”
I looked around. Not sure what she meant by that but as long as it wasn’t hurting him. I’d have to table it until I had time to think and breathe.
I got a brief glimpse of him and turned my eyes away.
Filla moved to the opposite side of the table and with another hand flick, the book followed her. She started to read while slowly putting his heart back into the cavity. I couldn’t understand her. It was definitely Ancient Fae but much different than the incantation before. It rolled off the tongue easier, sounded lighter.
I felt like I could breathe when I saw the heart push against her hands. It was beating, beating against her witch hands. My heart soared. She did it. She really did it.
“Keep focused till the end, Cora. The heart is in but we have to make sure it doesn’t die or get rejected by the body.”
I didn’t even know those were options.
I got a stabbing pain in my shoulder blades as she started sewing. Her stitches weren’t precise. It was a large curved needle and thick-looking thread, like nothing I had ever seen before.
I got the pain again and called out to her before I could stop myself. “He’s in pain!”
She turned her eyes on me, narrowing them. “Even odder. You’re connected with his consciousness.” She thought for a moment. “Give him a push of your gold magic. Will him to be calm and pain free.”
I took several deep breaths and pushed hard. I saw the gold mix around the blue from the crystals and melt into him. Without looking at me, she continued to glance at his shredded chest. “Remarkable. His ribs are back intact.”
I broke out in a sweat, feeling a bead drip down my face.
“I don’t understand why but he’s quite attuned to your magic’s signature. Try something for me. Focus where my hands are. Give another push.”
I was so tired but I dared not disobey. Like a pitcher winding up to throw a ball, I took another deep breath and pushed. The effort cramped my fingers, leaving them shaking, but I was able to get another large push of my magic off. The magic zipped over his chest and started to seal up the flap. Filla quickly undid the pins as the gold rushed over his chest again and again. I was straining more now, to take a deeper breath. It was starting to hurt, deep cramps in my legs and arms.
“He’s completely sealed now. You just saved me an hour of sewing.”
I looked forward at his chest, shocked. There was no mar on his chest save for a slightly shimmering perfectly linear scar up his breastbone.
She gave me a manic smile. “This has been the easiest dekartios yet.”
I was doing less well. My throat was dry and my voice hoarse. I was so fatigued that it hurt to breathe. My head throbbed and my stomach threatened to revolt.
“He’s alive?”
She frowned at my stupid question. “Yes, little nymph. When we let go of the crystals, we can do nothing more for him. His body will be unconscious for a bit. If the spell worked properly, he’ll be good as new.”
