Page 17 of Waking Her Dragon

Sydney opened her mouth to argue, to scream that every second wasted was a second Garrett spent burning in the dark. She turned her thoughts inward, looking for backup.

“She’s right, my girl,” Kara murmured, the ancient Dragon Queen sounding uncharacteristically quiet, her majestic golden form curled tight in the recesses of Sydney’s mind.

“Traitor,” Sydney thought back, a bitter sting of betrayal hitting her chest.

“Our fire is low,” Kara countered, completely unfazed. “Rest. We will need every spark.”

Sydney let out a defeated, ragged breath. She hated them all because they were right.

The next twenty minutes passed in a strange, muted blur of decompression. Ginnie practically forced a plate into her hands. Somehow the Necromancer had known her favorite meal was a turkey sandwich with extra mayo and crisp lettuce, a handful of crunchy BBQ chips, and a small square of dark chocolate. She also knew that Syd loved nothing more than an ice-cold Diet Coke– the bubbles were always just enough to clear the heavy fog from her eyes.

Afterward, she stood under a blistering hot shower, letting the water pelt her aching shoulders until her skin turned pink. She scrubbed the smell of phantom blood and sulfur from her hair, desperately trying to wash away the memory of the weeping black stones.

Dressed in a clean, oversized T-shirt, she finally lay down on the small cot in Ginnie’s study. Pulling the heavy blanket up to her chin, she intended to give herself exactly twenty minutes of darkness.

Closing her eyes, she exhaled deeply and waited for sleep to come.

But it never did.

The quiet of the house was supposed to be a sanctuary, but in the stillness, the universe grew terrifyingly loud. The second her eyelids shut, the darkness behind them didn't feel like a normal room anymore. It felt vast.

Empty.

And right there, vibrating at the very edge of her perception, was the tether.

It was faint—hardly more than a whisper of static, a ghost of a vibration humming against her soul. But it was there. Pulling. Bleeding. A slow, distant ache into her chest.

Garrett.

Sydney’s eyes snapped open, staring up at the dark ceiling as her heart hammered against her ribs. There would be no sleep tonight. The hunter had the scent, and the prey was calling from the dark.

Sitting upright on the edge of the cot, Sydney pulled her knees tight to her chest. In the quiet of the room, the tether hummed. It was a phantom wire vibrating in the dark, pulling at the raw edges of her soul.

Everything inside her screamed to reach back. She wanted to throw her consciousness right down that line, to wrap her Light around Garrett, to tell him she was coming, to tell him he wasn't alone anymore.

But her hand froze over her chest.

“RUN.”

The word echoed in her mind, a stark reminder of the trap they were walking into. Leviathan had felt her. The monster had tasted her fire. If she reached out to comfort her Mate right now, she wouldn't just be sending a message–she would be lighting a beacon in the pitch-black waters of The Abyss, leading the Demon Lord straight to their home, straight to Carrick, straight to Ginnie.

For the first time since the connection broke, Sydney did the hardest thing a Mate could do…

She deliberately closed herself off. She pulled her Magic inward, folding it tight behind her ribs, forcing the Mating Bond to go completely dark. It felt like tearing a piece of her own flesh away, leaving an empty, agonizing ache where Garrett’s presence should be. She had to let him remain alone in the dark. It was the only way to keep him safe.

That was her sacrifice.

A heavy, suffocating silence fell over her mind. Sydney closed her eyes, fighting the hot sting of tears against her eyelids.

“He is still there,” Kara’s voice murmured, breaking the quiet.

Sydney swallowed the lump in her throat, her shoulders trembling. “I know, Kara. I can feel the phantom pain.”

“No, Mo Nighean Shònraichte,” Kara corrected softly, using the ancient, intimate tongue of Dragonkin. “Listen closer. Past the pain. Past the fire.”

Sydney stilled. She stopped breathing. Locking her physical senses, she plunged her awareness into the deepest, quietest well of her soul. She listened to the void where the Mating Bond was supposed to be.

And then, pulsing through the invisible wire... she heard it.