Page 24 of Waking Her Dragon

“Young Sydney would have plunged into the dark without a second thought,” she grumbled. “But this Sydney… me, well, shit, I have had to learn so many things the hard way.”

“And because of all the trial and error, this Sydney… you,” Kara paused and tilted her huge head to the side. “… know that reaching out recklessly could expose both of us to the very enemy holding him captive.”

“Yeah, yeah, yeah,” Syd sighed. “Go back to sleep. Sorry I woke you.”

Waiting until she was sure Kara had gone suspiciously quiet, Syd sat in the middle of the bed, quieted her breathing, and leaned into the tether. It took so much longer to find it. She’d almost given up… then there it was. Just barely hanging on. No words. No images. Not even a stray emotion. Just a tiny, fragile, warm pulse of existence.

He was alive. And after the chaotic Magic that had exploded right before she crashed into sleep, she knew either Garrett or Aodhan had answered her.

“You’re still there,” she whispered into the quiet room.

“Of course he is,” Kara chimed in, her mental voice dripping with sleepy smugness.

Sydney furrowed her brow. “You weren’t asleep.”

“I never said I was.”

“Do not start.”

“I didn’t say anything.”

“You were thinking loudly.”

Kara’s brief amusement faded, her presence turning suddenly serious. “Something changed when we touched his energy, my girl. The connection is stronger.”

Sydney’s stomach dropped. She knew exactly what that could mean. If the bond was stronger for them, there was every chance whatever had detected her before could sense it more clearly, too.

The grim reality sobered them both instantly. The bond was a lifeline, but it could also become a target.

Then, cutting through the heavy tension, Sydney’s nose twitched. Sighing blissfully, she whispered, “Ahhhh, coffee.” Then she frowned and huffed, “Time to face the people downstairs.”

The scent of dark roast led Sydney straight into a tactical war zone disguised as a kitchen. Books with crumbling leather spines stacked high on the counters. Yellowed parchment and handwritten notes covered every square inch of the oak dining table.

At the center of the chaos sat Carrick, a steaming mug cradled in his calloused hands. His jaw was shadowed by salt-and-pepper stubble. His eyes were bloodshot. Beside him, Ginnie was aggressively sorting through a stack of modern printouts, her brow furrowed in deep concentration.

Sydney stopped at the threshold. “Did you sleep?”

Carrick looked up. His expression was completely blank.

Sydney glanced at the sea of research, then back at his face. “Stupid question, huh?”

A faint, tired smirk touched Carrick’s lips, offering a microsecond of normalcy before the gravity of the room once again crashed the party. He set his mug down with a heavy thud. “Gunnar got back to me an hour ago.”

Sydney froze. “What did he find?”

“Whatever he sensed where they’re holding Garrett, it isn’t just a cage,” Carrick said, leaning forward. “Whatever Gunnar sensed has two completely distinct Magical signatures. One is designed to hold something– or someone– immobile in Space and Time. The other is a dormant trigger. It’s designed to activate, open, or release it.”

Ginnie looked up from her papers, her finger tapping a translated text. “I’ve been comparing Gunnar's readings to everything we know about ancient tethers and blood-bound seals. It’s a dual-mechanism lock.” She met Sydney's eyes. “An anchor and a key.”

The air left Sydney’s lungs. She went entirely still. Across from her, Carrick’s eyes narrowed, his gaze locking onto her face as he felt the sudden shift in the room's energy.

Deep inside her mind, the constant, background hum of the Dragon Queen vanished. No warmth. No light. Only total, chilling silence.

“Kara?” Sydney thought, her mental voice spiking with panic. Nothing.

“Drakara!”

After an agonizingly long beat, the first Dragon Queen finally spoke, her tone stripped of all its usual theatricality and smugness. It was hollow. Terrified.