Page 60 of Magical Mischief

Make his mane half the size

But don’t let him rise.

If a bark happens

Let it spark,

Until the end when he

Appears

I stared at my dad, waiting for something to happen.

A bark, a roll, a tree lick, and…nothing happened.

His big eyes met mine, and disappointment filled me to the brim.

“It’s okay, Dad. We’ve got this. I’ll try again.”

But before I could start again, my phone buzzed in my coat pocket.

My stomach flipped at the sight of the message.

Celeste calling.

My daughter rarely called me at 11:00 a.m. unless something was seriously amiss.

Probably just a small meltdown over dad’s girlfriend or flight disaster.

I answered the call and held up a finger to silence Twobble, who was mid-lecture.

“I’ll take this. Be right back.” I stepped away from the group, pressing the phone to my ear.

“Hey, Cel,” I said softly, hoping my voice sounded calmer than I felt.

“Mom?” Celeste’s voice came out in a hushed but frantic tone. “We have a problem here. Dad is… well, he’s barking.”

I blinked. “Barking? Like… at a dog?”

“No,heis the dog…barking.” Her voice was high with alarm. “On all fours in the living room, barking at the sofa in the B&B. I think he just tried to bite it. His girlfriend got so freaked out, she ran out the front door, screaming.”

My heart nearly leaped out of my chest. “He’s…but…”

I swallowed, put the phone on speaker, and returned to my friends.

Oh no.

My mind raced when I remembered what had accidentally popped into my head during the incantation.

Or should I saywhopopped into my mind?

Could I possibly have tethered my ex-husband to this spell?

Celeste didn’t know about any of this magic, so I couldn’t exactly relay what might have just happened.

Although she’d probably get a kick out of it. We had the same sense of humor, and this was funny, right?

“M-Mom?” Celeste whimpered through the phone. “He’s, like, howling at the ceiling. I tried to talk to him, and he growled at me. He can’t speak words. He’s doing… dog noises.”