Chapter 18 Into the Fire

Chapter 18 Into the Fire
Dante's POV

I stepped into hell wearing jeans and a torn shirt.

The moment I crossed through the painting, reality shifted. The town square looked normal but felt wrong. Too quiet. Too still.

Twelve demons surrounded me in a perfect circle.

"Brave or stupid," the leader said. His eyes burned red, skin shifting like smoke. "Hard to tell with ex-Cupids."

"Where are the children?"

"Safe. For now." He gestured, and suddenly I could see through the school walls. Forty-three kids huddled in the gymnasium, terrified but unhurt.

"Let them go. Your fight is with me, not them."

"Our fight is with this entire town. But I'll make you a deal." The demon stepped closer. "That painting you created? Pure love magic. Give it to us, and the children go free. Refuse, and we drain every drop of life from those kids while you watch."

My stomach turned. "The painting is still in Maya's studio."

"Then call her. Tell her to send it through." He pulled out his phone, showing Maya standing in front of our canvas. "The doorway goes both ways."

He snapped his fingers.

Inside the school, a little boy suddenly gasped, clutching his chest. His skin went pale. He collapsed.

"Stop!" I lunged forward, but demons grabbed me.

"That's just a taste," the leader said. "I can kill him in thirty seconds. Then I'll start on the next child."

Through the bond, Maya felt my anguish. Dante, what's happening?

They're hurting a child. They want the painting.

Then we give it to them.

No! If they get that magic, they'll spread to other towns. Millions will suffer.

But if we don't, that little boy dies.

She was right. I looked at the boy dying on the floor, thought about Lily, about every person in this town.

Love wasn't about grand gestures. It was about choosing to save a stranger's child even when it meant losing everything.

"Fine," I said. "Maya, send the painting through."

But I'm coming with it, she whispered in my mind.

"No! Maya, don't—"

Too late. The air ripped open. Maya stepped through carrying our canvas. Golden light made the demons hiss and step back.

"You wanted the painting?" Maya's voice shook. "Here it is. Now let those children go."

The demon leader smiled. "I will. Right after I kill you both."

He lunged.

Maya threw the canvas at him. It exploded with pure golden light, blasting outward. Demons screamed, burning away like paper.

But the leader survived. Damaged but furious.

He raised his hand, forming a spear of solid shadow.

He threw it at Maya.

I moved without thinking. Threw myself in front of her.

The shadow-spear punched through my chest.

Cold spread from the wound, freezing everything. I saw my blood—human blood, mortal blood—pooling on the ground.

"Dante!" Maya caught me as I fell. "No! Stay with me!"

"Had to," I whispered. Blood filled my mouth. "Couldn't let him hurt you."

The demon leader laughed. "How romantic. You both die here."

But golden light was still spreading from the destroyed canvas. It poured across town, into streets, through buildings. Demons screamed from different directions—all twelve, dying in the light.

The leader tried to run. The light wrapped around him like chains. He screamed as his body burned away, dissolving into nothing.

Silence. The demons were gone.

Through the school walls, I heard cheering. The children were safe.

"Dante, please." Maya pressed her hands to my chest, trying to stop the bleeding. "Please don't leave me."

"Tell Lily..." I could barely keep my eyes open. "Tell her you deserve someone who makes you smile."

"You make me smile! Don't you dare die on me."

I wanted to answer. Wanted to tell her I loved her.

But the world was fading.

Then a voice I didn't recognize spoke. "No. This is not how your story ends."

A woman appeared above us—floating in mid-air, eyes pure white, burning with authority.

The Council leader.

"This mortal sacrificed himself to save strangers," she said. "That deserves better than dying in a parking lot."

She pointed at me. Silver light poured into my chest.

The shadow-spear dissolved. The wound closed. The cold retreated.

I gasped, air flooding back into my lungs.

"You're healed," the Council leader said. "But there's a price."

"What price?" Maya demanded.

The woman looked at us with terrifying eyes. "The magic you created is too strong to contain. In three days, on Valentine's Day, it will peak. Every person in Rosewood Falls will experience their deepest wish about love—good or bad."

"What does that mean?"

"People who wish for true love will find it. But people who wish for revenge, for control?" She smiled coldly. "They'll get that too. This town is about to become a mirror of everyone's heart."

She vanished.

Maya and I stared at each other.

Phones across town started buzzing. News alert.

We looked at a nearby TV. Breaking news showed people appearing on streets—golden projections, perfect matches created by each person's deepest wish.

Some were beautiful. Others were nightmares.

The town's magic was showing everyone exactly what they wished for.

And some of those wishes were very, very dark.