Page 109 of The Hyena’s Guardian

The whispers had stopped. That silence terrified Matt far more.

Baptiste moved beside Theron and studied the symbols across the doorway. “Blood seal.”

Theron’s jaw tightened.

“Oh, absolutely not,” Matt said.

Vale looked between them sharply. “Open the door.”

Matt stepped closer before Theron could move. “No. We are officially done with the ancient blood magic plan.”

Another statue stepped from its pedestal. The entire chamber trembled beneath the impact. One of the younger agents swore under his breath. “They’re getting faster.”

The nearest statue was thirty feet away now, its stone claws scraping across the floor. When its head tilted toward Theron, recognition struck Matt so violently that the hyena surged beneath his skin again.

Protect him.

The thought hit hard enough to hurt. Before anyone else could react, Matt grabbed Theron’s wrist and pulled his hand away from the seal. Silver-blue light flashed beneath their joined hands. The symbols across the doorway answered, brightening in a widening pulse before fading again.

Matt stared at the seal. It had not reacted to Theron alone. It had reacted to both of them.

The understanding arrived with the hyena’s certainty rather than his own. The seal did not want Theron’s blood by itself. It wanted the bond anchored to it. A fracture split down the center of the doorway, then widened as black rock sheared free and crashed onto the floor.

Silver-blue lines branched through the walls and floor as ancient mechanisms shifted behind the stone.

Behind them, the statues roared.

The sound did not resemble living voices. It sounded like stone mountains tearing themselves apart.

“Door’s opening!” one of the agents shouted.

Cracks spread rapidly across the surface of the doorway as chunks of black stone broke loose and crashed against the chamber floor.

Matt jerked his hand back instinctively. The skin across his palm looked burned now, silver-blue lines glowing faintly beneath the blood.

Theron caught his wrist. “What did you do?”

Matt stared at the glowing marks spreading faintly beneath his skin. “Great question.”

The bond surged again the instant Theron touched him. Harder this time. Matt felt it tear through both of them like a live current. For one disorienting second, he caught flashes that did not belong to him.

Stone corridors drowned in blood. A throne buried beneath roots and bone. Golden eyes opening in darkness. Theron staggered beside him. He had seen it too.

Matt looked at him sharply. “Tell me that wasn’t just me.”

Theron’s expression had gone pale beneath the dust and blood streaking his face. “The seal recognized the bond.”

“That sentence feels deeply concerning.”

“It should not have been able to.”

Another statue stepped from its pedestal behind them. Then another.

The floor shuddered beneath the combined impact of their movement. Massive stone wolves advanced down the center path with terrifying purpose, their carved weapons dragging sparks from the floor as they moved.

Vale backed toward the opening doorway with her rifle raised. “I need everybody through that door now.”

One of the statues lifted its head toward Matt. The glowing eyes fixed on him. Then another turned.