Mated To My Mate's Worst Enemy (ARIA) novel Chapter 629

Chapter 629

ARIA

"What kind of window," Kael said.

"Two days," Ivory said. "While Cassium is occupied with Sanders on his estate, his security is divided between the meeting's formalities and his usual infrastructure. His regular schedule is disrupted. The specific security configurations he uses for Clara's location are on reduced staffing during formal meetings because the staff is reallocated to the meeting's security."

"Where is she," Jordan said.

"Old Haven," Ivory said.

Jordan's expression did something.

"Where," he said.

"Old Haven," Ivory said.

"The district," Jordan said.

"Yes," Ivory said.

"In Cassium's territory," Jordan said.

"Yes," Ivory said.

"Old Haven," Jordan said again, with the tone of someone confirming a fact they'd been hoping was different.

"Jordan," Ivory said. "I know."

"Old Haven," Jordan said, to the room. "Is the specific district in Cassium's territory that functions as — not to put too fine a point on it — the place where things happen that the rest of the territory pretends don't happen. Crime. Clubs. The specific economy that exists when a powerful Alpha decides some activities are tolerated if they're confined to a specific location and don't cross into his official territory."

"Clara works in the Old Haven," Ivory said. "Specifically in the main club. She's a—" she paused, with the specific pause of someone selecting accurate language, "—call girl."

"She's fifteen," Killian said again.

"She is," Ivory said. "Cassium has her there. The specific details of how she arrived in that position I'll spare for the moment. The relevant information is that she's in Old Haven, she's accessible through the club, and the club is significantly more accessible than Cassium's estate."

"We're going to get her out," I said.

Ivory looked at me.

"We're going to use her," Ivory said.

"We're going to get her out," I said.

"We're going to get what we need," Ivory said. "What happens to Clara after is dependent on Clara."

"She's fifteen," I said.

"I heard you the first time," Ivory said.

"And you had the same information and you're still—"

"I'm still what," Ivory said.

"Planning to use her," I said.

"I'm planning to use the information she can give us," Ivory said. "The original birth certificate that Cassium has in his estate — the one that documents Clara's lineage, his unacknowledged paternity, and the specific dates that connect to the Convention violations. We need the physical document. The copies I have through the healer network are copies — useful, but Cassium can claim forgery. The original has his seal." She looked at the map. "Clara knows where the original is kept."

"The plan," Jordan said, redirecting, because Jordan's instinct for when a conversation needed a different direction was reliable. "Tell us."

Ivory indicated the map.

"Cassium's estate has the document in his private office," she said. "The office is guarded daily by fifty trained security — a specific combination of werewitches and wolves that Cassium has acquired through channels that are themselves violations of multiple Pack Law conventions."

Jordan made a sound.

"Werewitches," he said.

"Yes," Ivory said.

"Werewitches," he said again, at a lower register.

"I know," she said.

"I hate those," he said.

"I know," she said.

"They're worse than nightwalkers," he said. "Nightwalkers are at least — they have weaknesses. Silver, daylight, the usual catalogue. Werewitches—"

"Have all the strengths of a werewolf," Nina said. "And the powers of witches. And none of the weaknesses of either." She looked at the room. "They're called abominations in the official Pack Law documentation. The term is legally loaded — it was chosen specifically to make them easier to suppress politically. They're not abominations. They're just extraordinarily difficult to kill and essentially impossible to contain once they're operational."

"How do you kill one," I asked.

"You have to be extremely angry," Nina said.

"That's not a strategy," I said.