The answer from below did not come as a voice. It came as a pressure wave so subtle that, for a second, Fang thought he had imagined it, until the fine hairs on his arms lifted and the crystal veins in the passage gave a faint, bruised glow.
Ren's shoulders went taut beside him.
He did not step back. He only narrowed his eyes at the dark opening, as though staring hard enough might force the hidden system to reveal its workings by sheer defiance. Fang knew better than to interrupt that look. It meant Ren had already started building the problem in his mind, piece by piece, and was now deciding where to apply force first.
Pax remained at Fang's other side, one hand lifted slightly as if he could already feel the shape of the chamber through the floor. Wolf, behind them, had gone very still, the sort of stillness that usually meant he was one second away from violence.
