Page 189 of Magical Moonbeam
And as he looked at me, eyes still glowing faintly, I saw it again.
That look.
That choice.
He’d fought like that, not for glory.
But for me.
And as I rushed toward him, heart in pieces, footsteps echoing down the battered hall, I knew we’d won this round.
But the war?
Had only just begun.
Until—
“Maeve! Maeve! You’re going to want to see this!”
Twobble’s voice shot through the magic haze like a pebble skipping across water. Sharp, high-pitched, and distinctly goblin-y.
I spun toward the corridor from which his voice came. Stella turned, too, still on edge. Her wand pulsed, ready to react to the next ripple of dark magic, but Twobble’s voice didn’t carry danger.
It carried something else.
Excitement.
And Skonk’s blur zipped above us an instant later. “Hurry up! You’re missing the whole sparkle-twinkled moment!”
“Twobble—” I called, moving fast now, my boots skidding slightly on cracked stone. “What is it? What’s happened?”
He popped out from behind a toppled sconce, breathless and jittery, cheeks glowing green with the effort it took to keep still.
“We didn’t want to interrupt,” Twobble said, eyes darting back toward something behind him. “What with the whole epic showdown, moonlight flaring, curses humming, wolves and warlocks clawing each other to pieces… Skonk tried to tell you earlier, but…”
“Twobble,” I said sharply. “What. Happened?”
Skonk dropped from the ceiling like a puffball caught on a breeze and landed beside him with a huff. “He means we found something. Or rather, someone.”
And that’s when Twobble’s already wide eyes glistened, and his grin stretched ear to ear.
Everything around me dropped away. The stone. The shouts. The sound of my heartbeat pounding through my ears.
“What?” I whispered.
“He’s here,” Twobble said, stepping aside now. “And he’s not barking anymore.”
The little goblin puffed out his chest, like he’d been guarding something precious behind his small frame.
And there, just beyond them, standing in the warm, flickering light of a cracked stained-glass window, was a man.
Tall.
Familiar.
Eyes the same bright green as mine, weathered and kind.
He looked both strange and entirely right. Like someone who’d been missing from every family photo, every memory, and finally stepped into his rightful place.
