Page 23 of Waking Her Dragon

Garrett sank back against the freezing stone floor beneath the crushing weight of the impossible choice. The weight of Aodhan’s words pressed down on him with a suffocating, magnanimous gravity.

There were no good options left. He was trapped in the center of a cosmic vice. If his heart stopped, the seals of the Abyss would shatter and unleash a primordial nightmare upon the world. If he kept breathing, he remained the perfect bait to lure his Mate into a Demon Lord’s evil machinations.

The warmth of Sydney’s Light was completely gone from his consciousness. She had deliberately closed off the Mating Bond, leaving him floating alone in a paralysingly freezing amnesia. Garrett closed his eyes, forcing his shattered mind to embrace the hollow ache behind his ribs.

“Good,” he thought, a bitter, protective resolve locking down inside his chest. “Stay gone. Forget me. Stay safe.”

Then, something tiny shifted in the dark.

It wasn't a voice. It wasn't a flare of Dragon Magic or a flash of light. It was a microscopic, rhythmic vibration traveling straight up the invisible golden thread of the Mating Bond.

Thump-thump.

Garrett’s breath hitched. Was it his own failing pulse? No. Was it Aodhan flaring his energy to maintain the shield? No. It was a phantom cadence, impossibly soft, bleeding through the total blackout of the Void from thousands of miles away.

Then, slipping right past the safety net of the Demon Lord, came Sydney’s whisper.

It wasn't a string of actual, physical words. It was an emotional impression–a raw, concentrated wave of fierce, unyielding love and unwavering defiance that crashed through his mental fortress.

“Hold on.”

Garrett froze. His telepathic voice was trapped in his throat. She wasn't supposed to be able to reach him. The black stone walls were built to dissolve a soul, yet her intent had just pierced the veil like a localized sunbeam.

Before he could even process the shock, Han moved. The Dragon King didn't wait for Garrett's command. He reached out with his colossal, glittering grey presence, grabbed the baseline rhythm of their shared life force, and forcefully punched a response back through the tether.

Ba-bum.

The message traveled down the wire, a resonant, reassuring echo sent directly to the woman on the other side.

Garrett’s mental space erupted with a violent, panicked fury. “Why did you do that?!” He roared at the Dragon King with whom he shared his soul, his thoughts lashing out against the golden entity. “Why did you answer her? I just agreed to let you burn every damned memory I have of her so they couldn't find her, and you handed her a tracking beacon!”

The Dragon King remained silent for a long time. His massive form was shrouded in the deep recesses of their shared soul, letting Garrett's frantic anger burn itself out against the darkness.

“I told her to run!” Garrett screamed, his physical eyes burning with unshed tears as he stared at the frozen ceiling of his cell. “I used my last breath to tell her to flee!”

And then, Garrett felt a sudden, unmistakable wave of honest-to-the-Goddess amusement ripple outward from his Dragon King. It wasn't a smug, malicious taunt. It was a low, exhausted rumble of profound respect for an immortal soul.

“She did not listen,” Han replied, the words vibrating with a god’s great, quiet pride.

Garrett’s stomach dropped into a bottomless, icy void. “What?”

In the pitch-black sanctuary of their shared consciousness, the colossal Dragon King slowly shifted his weight. Aodhan opened his magnificent, swirling silver eyes, cutting through the amnesia and the darkness like two burning stars.

“She is coming,” the Dragon King whispered.

6

Sydney bolted upright, her heart hammering against her ribs. For one disoriented second, the high ceilings and unfamiliar shadows of Carrick and Ginnie’s guest room made her panic.

“When did I fall asleep?” she mumbled.

Wiping her eyes, she gasped, “Garrett!”

Her hand flew to her chest, fingers clenching at the fabric over her heart. Her raw instinct was to rip open every single one of her mental shields and blindly barrel down the Mating Bond.

She pulled a fistful of fabric into her hand, gripping it so fiercely that her knuckles turned white and her fist shook. Time stood still. Her mind was awash with thoughts, emotions, and… fear.

“Do it. Don’t do it. Do it. Don’t do it…” She thought the words aloud. It was like a demented game of He loves me. He loves me not. And it was driving her right out of whatever mind she had left.