Page 55 of Magical Moonbeam
I stood still for a moment, watching.
This was why.
This was what I was fighting for.
Not just to stop Gideon. Not just to free the Academy or understand my magic.
Butthis.
The future.
Laughter. Learning. Safety. Belonging.
I felt Keegan slow beside me, his hand brushing my elbow, grounding me.
Then a bark cut through the air, low and happy and unmistakable.
I barely turned before my dad barreled toward me, his stout legs flying at full speed. His paws kicked up little puffs of dirt and grass as he galloped, ears up, tongue out.
I dropped to my knees just in time for him to crash into me with all the force of a furry comet.
“Oh, Dad,” I whispered, wrapping my arms around his thick neck. “You found me.”
He grumbled and licked my chin, snorting like he had a list of complaints but was too relieved to voice them.
My throat tightened as I buried my face in his fur.
My dad.
My father.
Trapped in the shape of a bulldog, cursed and silent and waiting. Stillhim—in those eyes, in his warmth, in the way he always found me.
But not whole.
Not yet.
The memory of Shadowick’s twisted buildings loomed in my mind, layered with the mansion, with Gideon’s voice echoingthrough the fog. I pressed my forehead to Frank’s and made a silent promise.
I would end this.
Not just because I was angry. Not just because I was afraid.
But because he deserved more than this. BecauseIdid. Because the girl I’d been before Stonewick, the woman rebuilding herself now,neededher father back.
Not in fur.
Not in fragments.
Whole.
“Three nights,” I whispered to him. “That’s all I need.”
He gave a quiet grunt, like he understood.
Keegan crouched beside us, one hand gently brushing Frank’s back.
“He was waiting by the gate,” Keegan said softly.
