Page 144 of Magical Moonbeam
Break the curse.
But first, I had to survive.
We ducked beneath an awning as three more dancers lunged, only to be blasted back by Mara and Vivienne, armsentwined as they shouted a spell in tandem. Their magic crackled like starlight—unrefined, wild, butsoeffective.
Lady Limora stood in the center of the square now, her hands lifted to the sky, drawing down the moon’s light in threads so bright they looked like silk. Her power was older, deeper, woven into the fabric of what held us upright.
I met her eyes.
She nodded.
I knew what she was saying without words,Get to the center of this. Finish what you came here to do.
I turned back to Celeste.
“I have to go to the mansion.”
Her face paled. “Why?”
“Because that’s where this ends. I need you to go with Lady Limora. She will take you to Keegan.”
Lady Limora nodded.
“And please tell Keegan to take my dad out of here and have him return to watch Celeste.”
“Grandpa is alive?”
“Yes. More on that later.”
And in my gut, I felt it. One way or another, this night would finish something.
The curse.
The hold Gideon had on this place.
Or maybe…
Maybe even the secrets I hadn’t dared to face.
I’d whispered instructions into Stella’s ear. Nova had given a curt nod, her jaw tight. They would stay. They would guard her.
And I would run.
Not from fear, but because I had something to finish.
I bolted down the alley.
The shadow dancers gave chase.
I left Celeste in the square to be taken by Lady Limora.
It went against everything I had, every cell in my body screaming to keep my daughter at my side, but emotions didn’t win wars. They got people killed.
Celeste had her back pressed against the enchanted lamppost where Stella, Nova, and Lady Limora had woven protection into its iron base just hours before. A quiet sigil now pulsed just beneath the peeling paint, invisible unless you knew to look.
She was safertherethan anywhere else because the shadow dancers were after me. Gideon had made that so.
Shadowick was twisted, cursed, and shattered by time, but within its core, our spirits were strong.Mymagic was strong. The protections we’d laid down were holding. And out there, beyond the edge of this forgotten mirror village, the curse roamed like an unbound predator.
