Here Be Dragons by Christine Pope

Some sacrifices demand everything. Some guardians become the fire that saves them all.

Sidney Lowell might have saved Silver Hollow from shadow stalkers and DAPI’s weaponized physics, but the cost of victory has shattered the balance she fought to protect. The portal network — stable for more than 150 years — no longer obeys the lunar cycle. The veil between dimensions has worn paper-thin, and something vast is stirring beneath the town.

Ignis Aeturnus. The Dragon. Ancient, powerful, and waking after centuries of sleep.

When billionaire Julian Gregory arrives with drilling rigs and electromagnetic weapons, intent on harvesting the Dragon’s energy for profit, Sidney realizes her telepathic abilities and merged phoenix nature have made her a beacon for forces she can’t control. The Dragon sees humanity as an infection rotting the dimensional network — and he’s given Sidney until the winter solstice to prove otherwise, or he’ll cauterize the wound by destroying everything she loves.

With Ben’s conduit scars tying him to her survival, her father Finn returning after seventeen years of surveillance and secrets, and her mother and grandmother still trapped beyond the portal, Sidney faces an impossible choice. She can gather an international council of guardians and attempt diplomatic solutions while Gregory’s mercenaries lay siege to her home…or she can do what guardians have always done: become the sacrifice that protects everyone else.