Page 185 of Magical Moonbeam
Face marred by bruises, shadows trailing off him like smoke, teeth bared in something that was no longer a smile.
Keegan let out a low, guttural growl that reverberated through the stone beneath us.
The air crackled.
Even Gideon hesitated.
“I thought the dog was done,” he sneered.
Keegan snarled in response andlaunched.
The impact thundered.
They collided midair. Gideon with a blade of shadow twisting in his fist, Keegan with fangs bared, claws extended. The wolf slammed into Gideon’s chest, dragging him across the floor and into the shattered remnants of a column. Dust and stone exploded as they hit, and the two of them became a blur of motion, rage, magic, and pure force.
This wasn’t a duel.
It was war.
Gideon retaliated fast, shadow-blades spinning in every direction, but Keegan moved like wind, like instinct given muscle. He ducked, twisted, tore into Gideon’s side with his jaws, and flung him back like a rag doll.
The force shook the walls.
But Gideon was fast, too.
He struck with a spear of night, ramming it into Keegan’s ribs. The wolf yelped in pain, then spun with surprising grace, catching the weapon between his teeth and snapping it with a vicious crack.
They circled now like two predators.
And then, in the middle of it all, Keegan turned.
His amber gaze found mine.
Everything slowed.
The roar of magic dulled. The chaos blurred.
And all I saw was him.
Not just the wolf.
But the man beneath.
The one who was doing this not for glory.
Not just for the Academy.
But forme.
For the truth I carried. The secret I still held back. The life I had only just begun to rebuild.
His eyes burned through me with that wordless vow. That this was his choice, that even if the cost was everything, he’d face it.
For me.
My chest stilled.
My heart cracked open.
