Mated To My Mate's Worst Enemy (ARIA) novel Chapter 254

Chapter 254

Chapter 254

ARIA

I watched in amazement as golden shields manifested around Ivory, deflecting the creatures’ attacks with power that clearly wasn’t coming from her. The shields weren’t just barriers—they were alive somehow, responding to threats before they materialized, positioning themselves perfectly to intercept claws and teeth and whatever else the creatures were using to try to reach

And they were inscribed with runes. I could see them now that I was looking more carefully- ancient markings that flowed across the golden surface like liquid, constantly shifting and reforming. Blessing marks. The kind that dormant deities placed on mortals they’d chosen to protect.

I’d read about these in the old texts my mother had collected. Blessings that lay dormant for years, sometimes decades, before activating in response to specific triggers. Usually mortal danger. Sometimes extreme need. Occasionally just the passage of sufficient time.

But they were rare. Incredibly rare. You had to do something significant to earn one-save a life, complete an impossible task, demonstrate virtue or capability that caught the attention of beings who normally didn’t notice mortals at all.

“It’s a blessing!” I shouted over the sounds of creatures slamming into golden barriers.

“Someone blessed you! One of the elders probably-this is divine protection activating in response to mortal danger!”

Ivory was deflecting another wave of attacks, her movements automatic despite her clear confusion about what was happening. “I know!” she shouted back. “I just remembered—Aryada blessed me eight years ago! After I saved her life.”

Aryada. The name sent ice through my veins despite the heat of combat surrounding us. The same elder who’d been trying to kill me. Who’d sabotaged our trials. Who wanted me eliminated from the Luna position and from existence.

Her blessing was protecting us. Her magic was keeping us alive.

The irony behind this was overwhelming. How could someone who hated me enough to orchestrate my murder also provide the protection that was currently saving my life? It didn’t make sense. Unless-

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Unless the blessing didn’t care about Aryada’s current intentions. Was operating on its own programming, activated by threat rather than by conscious choice from its source. Aryada might not even know it had manifested. Might be furious if she found out her gift to Ivory was now protecting me by extension.

A creature broke through a gap in the shields-or tried to. The golden light shifted

immediately, sealing the opening, sending the thing flying backward with force that cracked the chamber wall when it hit.

“How long will it last?” I called to Ivory, watching her face as she processed the same questions I was wrestling with. “The blessing-how long can it hold them off?”

“I don’t know!” Ivory’s hands were moving in patterns I recognized from combat training— defensive forms, as she tried to control how it moved or its intentions, getting attuned to it. “I can feel it draining me, though. Using my energy to power the shields. They’re not infinite. Maybe an hour of protection if the attacks stay at this intensity. Maybe less if they figure out how to coordinate better.”

An hour. We had an hour before the blessing failed and we were back to being vulnerable prey in a chamber full of creatures that had already demonstrated their willingness to hunt us.

And the exit tunnel was on the opposite side of the chamber. Maybe thirty feet away but might as well have been miles given that the creatures were actively blocking it, positioning themselves between us and escape.

The creatures seemed to realize simultaneously that they couldn’t penetrate the shields through direct assault. They pulled back, regrouping near the tunnel entrance, their bioluminescent eyes glowing with intelligence that was deeply unsettling to witness.

The speaking creature emerged from the mass again, its twisted features arranged into something that might have been contemplation. “Cannot kill you now,” it acknowledged, its ruined voice carrying clearly despite the distance. “Golden light is too strong. Too old. Too connected to powers we cannot touch.”

“Then let us leave,” I said, trying to project confidence I didn’t feel. “We passed your trial. We earned passage. The blessing proves we’re worthy of protection. Let us go to the next section and we’ll leave your territory peacefully.”

“Can wait,” the creature said, as if I hadn’t spoken. “Blessing will fade. All blessings do. Then you feed the earth like all the others. We are patient. We have time.”

The casual certainty in its voice made my skin crawl. They were going to wait us out. Trap us in this chamber until the blessing failed, then attack when we were vulnerable again.

“We can’t stay here for an hour,” I said quietly to Ivory. “Even if the blessing lasts that long, we

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can’t afford to lose that much time. The timer-we have less than ten hours left and three trials remaining. If we waste an hour waiting for these things to let us pass-”

“We don’t wait,” Ivory interrupted, her mind clearly working through options. “We run. Full sprint. Use the shields to clear a path but don’t stop to fight. Just get to the exit tunnel and hope the trial transportation activates before they can follow us through.”

It was risky. Probably reckless. But also our only real option unless we wanted to gamble on the blessing outlasting the creatures’ patience.

e,” Ivory said, positioning herself toward the exit tunnel. “One. Two. Three-”

ne shields manifested ahead of us like a plow, golden light knocking creatures aside as we charged through the mass of transformed humans. They clawed and grabbed but couldn’t penetrate the barrier, couldn’t slow us down enough to matter.

Twenty feet. Fifteen. The exit tunnel was close now, the glowing runes marking it clearly visible.

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