Unbound

Beneath the streets of Cairo lies a city that has never appeared on any map.

Layla Ashraf survived the awakening. She found the bond, named the dragon, and learned what the fire she carried was capable of. Now she has to figure out what to do with it.

The element she carries does not destroy. It remembers. Five hundred years of Al-Asfal's history, encoded in the bond between her and Naar, a dragon who waited half a millennium for the right Guardian to find her. That memory is the most powerful weapon the hidden city has ever possessed - and the most dangerous secret it has ever kept.

Someone outside Al-Asfal has known about the fifth element for centuries. They have been patient. They have been building. And now that the fire is awake and bonded, they want what it knows.

Layla has three problems: a faction inside Al-Asfal that wants to control her bond, an ancient organization outside it that wants to absorb it, and a Commander who has spent four months managing his expressions very carefully and is running out of reasons to keep doing so.

The fire has a name. Now it has a purpose.

And Layla Ashraf, PhD student, Guardian, and arguably the most thorough researcher in two worlds, is done waiting for better data.

The Hidden Flame: Unbound is Book Two of the Hidden Flame series - epic fantasy set in the hidden heart of Cairo, where ancient magic meets modern scholarship and the oldest fires are just beginning to wake.