Page 40 of The Hyena’s Guardian

Matt had not believed that was possible.

Matt looked between him and the King's Hand. “Okay,” he said carefully over the growing hum vibrating through the chamber, “I’m getting the impression this is significantly worse than everything else we’ve encountered tonight.”

The King's Hand smiled wider. “You should have left,” it rasped.

Then the first chain broke. The sound cracked through the chamber like a gunshot.

One of the restraints wrapped around the Hand’s left arm snapped apart violently as rusted metal whipped across the platform hard enough to carve sparks from the surrounding stone. The chamber shook harder afterward, and several sections of the ceiling groaned overhead as dust and fragments of rock rained downward.

Theron moved instantly.

He crossed the chamber in a blur of motion and slammed both hands against one of the outer symbol rings carved into the floor. The moment his claws touched the markings, the silver glow brightened violently beneath him.

Matt stared. “Please tell me you know what you’re doing.”

Theron’s growl vibrated low in his chest as he pressed harder against the glowing symbols. “The wards are failing.”

Another chain snapped.

The King's Hand inhaled sharply, and the sound did not belong inside anything remotely human. The air inside the chamber seemed to convulse as pressure rolled outward from the platform hard enough that Matt felt it physically slam into his chest.

The King's Hand lifted its head fully now.

Matt realized with sudden unease that the Hand had not been weak earlier. It had been contained.

His silver eyes shifted toward him again and suddenly stopped.

For one suspended second, the entire chamber seemed to narrow around that stare.

Then the King's Hand tilted his head.

Confusion crossed its expression first, followed by something far more unsettling as recognition settled into its face.

“No,” it whispered.

Theron’s head snapped upward at the word.

The King's Hand kept staring directly at Matt while the remaining restraints groaned under mounting pressure around its body. “That’s impossible,” it said softly.

Matt tightened his grip on the pistol. “I continue to feel very excluded from critical information.”

The King's Hand ignored him completely. Its silver eyes narrowed as it studied Matt with unsettling intensity. Confusion lingered there for only a heartbeat before something deeper replaced it. Disbelief. Then recognition, not of Matt, but of something hidden beneath him.

The Hand leaned forward until the chains stopped him.

His smile widened.

“You carry him.”

The chamber went still. Even Theron froze.

Matt blinked once. “I’m sorry, I carry who?”

The King's Hand smiled again, and this time the expression did not look cruel.

It looked hungry. “The First King.”

A violent tremor ripped through the floor before Matt could respond.