Page 181 of Magical Moonbeam

---

Nova chanted at my side, her staff burning.

Stella’s sigils raced across the floor like flame across a dry field.

Ardetia hovered near the rafters, singing in fae tongue.

And I?

I held the heart of the Hedge.

I cast the final spell, not toward Gideon, but toward thecurse itself.

Endroma Belino.Not to destroy.

But tounbind.

The curse screamed.

Not loud. Not even audibly.

But in the bones of the Academy.

The seal that held it fractured.

And through that break, Ifelt it breathe.

Not collapse. Not yet.

But bend.

For the first time in decades, the curse had shifted.

Gideon stumbled, catching himself on a broken pillar. His eyes were wide. His power sputtering.

“You don’t win,” I said, walking closer. “Not tonight.”

He snarled. “You think this is over?”

“No,” I said. “But we justchanged the ending.”

And in that moment, the last sliver of moonlight returned.

Not in the sky…

But in me.

Chapter Forty-Three

Gideon’s smile broke into something vicious and wild, and before I could even breathe, he lunged.

Not as a shadow this time.

Not as a whisper.

Solid.

Magic and rage poured off him like smoke, curling and burning with each step he took. His eyes were locked on me, pupils like slits, too bright and too empty all at once.

I barely managed to raise my hands when Keegan moved.

---