Mated To My Mate's Worst Enemy (ARIA) novel Chapter 220

Chapter 220

ARIA

Finished

Ivory was on her feet immediately, knife in hand, her body positioned between me and whatever was coming. The protective stance was instinctive, automatic-exactly what the real Ivory would do.

But then again, a sophisticated construct might be programmed to protect as well as harm. Might be designed to build trust before betraying it.

The creature that emerged from the forest made my breath catch. It was a wolf-or something that looked like a wolf. But it was wrong. Too large, easily the size of a small horse. Its fur seemed to shimmer with colors that didn’t exist in nature. And its eyes glowed with an eerie golden light that suggested magical enhancement rather than normal animal consciousness.

“What-” I started.

“Magically enhanced wildlife,” Ivory said, her voice tense. “The Ghost Council must have enchanted the forest. Made it more dangerous. Turned ordinary animals into threats that can actually harm experienced competitors.”

The wolf-creature circled our camp, its glowing eyes fixed on us with intelligence that seemed almost human. Calculating. Assessing. Determining if we were worth the effort of attacking.

Ivory held her ground, her knife ready, her posture suggesting she’d fought enhanced creatures before and knew what she was doing. “Don’t move,” she said quietly. “Don’t show fear. They can sense it and it makes them more aggressive.”

I tried to obey, tried to stay still despite every instinct screaming at me to run or hide or do something other than sit here being evaluated by a magical wolf the size of a horse.

The creature snarled, showing teeth that looked longer and sharper than any normal wolf possessed. Then it lunged.

Ivory moved with speed I’d only seen during her competition with Kael. Met the creature mid-leap, her knife finding its throat with precision that spoke to years of combat training. The wolf-thing yelped, twisted away, blood spraying from the wound.

But it didn’t die. Didn’t even slow down significantly. Just regrouped and attacked again, apparently unbothered by injuries that would have killed a normal animal.

“They’re harder to kill,” Ivory said, dodging another attack. “The magical enhancement makes them more resilient. You need to hit vital areas repeatedly or they just keep coming.”

She demonstrated by landing three more strikes in rapid succession-throat, heart, brain. The wolf- creature finally went down, its body dissolving into magical smoke that dispersed quickly into the night air.

Just like the duplicate Ivories had eventually dissolved. Confirmation that some of the threats in this forest were definitely magical constructs rather than real dangers.

But that didn’t make them less dangerous. Didn’t mean they couldn’t kill us just because they weren’t

Chapter 220

technically alive.~

49

Finished

Ivory was breathing heavily, her knife dripping with blood that was already fading into nothing. “We need to set up better perimeter defenses,” she said. “If that’s what the forest is throwing at us now, there will be more. Worse. We can’t fight enhanced creatures all night and still have energy for tomorrow’s challenge.”

She was right. But I was useless for this. I could barely sit up, let alone help construct defensive barriers or fight off magical wolf attacks.

“Tell me what to do,” I said, hating how helpless I sounded. “I can’t fight but I can maybe help with other things.”

Ivory looked at me with surprise, like she hadn’t expected me to offer assistance. “Can you identify plants? Their properties?”

“Some,” I said. “Basic medicinal herbs. Common toxic plants. Nothing like your level of knowledge but I know enough to gather materials if you tell me what you need.”

Ivory’s expression shifted to something that might have been respect. “There should be plants around here that repel magical creatures. They hate certain scents, certain compounds. If we can create a barrier using those plants, it might keep them away from camp long enough for us to rest.”

She described what I should look for-specific leaf shapes, particular growth patterns, identifying characteristics that would help me distinguish useful plants from dangerous ones.

I forced myself to my feet, ignoring the way the movement sent fresh agony through my wound. Ignoring the dizziness that came from blood loss and nightshade poisoning. Ignoring everything except the task at hand.

Because this-identifying plants, gathering herbs, using botanical knowledge for practical purposes—this was something I could actually do. Something I was competent at despite being inadequate in so many other ways.

I found the first plant Ivory had described within five minutes. A low-growing vine with serrated leaves that gave off a sharp, acrid scent when crushed. Gathered as much as I could carry despite the way bending over made my wound throb.

The second plant was harder to locate but I eventually found it growing near a fallen log. Small purple flowers that looked delicate but were apparently anathema to magical creatures.

By the time I returned to camp with my arms full of gathered/materials, I was sweating from pain and exertion. But I’d done it. Had contributed something useful. Had proven I wasn’t completely useless despite being injured and suspicious and generally a liability.

Ivory took the plants and began arranging them around our camp perimeter in patterns I didn’t understand but clearly had purpose. Weaving them together, crushing some to release their scents, creating a barrier that was more magical than physical.

“This should help,” she said once she’d finished. “Won’t stop everything, but it’ll deter the weaker constructs and give us warning if something stronger tries to approach.”

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