Mated to My Intended's Enemy novel Chapter 103

Chapter 103: Chapter 103 Guardian Trees

Victoria

The next morning arrived with an urgency that made my skin crawl. Leo had been up since before dawn, coordinating with Tiny and Carson via encrypted channels while I worked in the greenhouse, refining my connection with the plant guardians.

"The latest intelligence isn’t good," Leo said as he found me communing with a particularly aggressive thornbush I’d just awakened. "Marcus has accelerated his timeline. Carson intercepted communications suggesting the ritual will happen tonight, not in two days as we thought."

My blood chilled. "Tonight? But we’re not ready—"

"We have to be." Leo’s voice was grim but steady. "The good news is that your plant scouts have been incredibly effective."

I closed my eyes, reaching out through the network of consciousness I’d established with my green allies. Three small vine creatures I’d sent out at dawn were now positioned around Marcus’s compound, hidden among the natural foliage.

Through their senses, I could see the Moon Temple clearly for the first time. The ancient structure had been defiled with dark symbols carved into its stone walls. Black candles burned at regular intervals, their smoke creating an oily haze that made my plant scouts recoil instinctively.

"I can see the temple," I murmured, sharing the vision with Leo through our mate bond. "It’s... wrong somehow. The darkness is affecting everything around it. Even the grass is dying."

"What about your mother?"

I directed my scouts closer, their woody bodies blending perfectly with the surrounding forest. In the temple’s central chamber, I glimpsed a figure bound to an ornate altar—my mother, pale and motionless but alive. I could sense her breathing through the enhanced awareness my fairy blood provided.

"She’s there," I whispered, relief and fear warring in my chest. "Unconscious, but her life force is strong."

"Guards?"

"At least twenty that I can see. Mix of hired mercenaries and rogue wolves." I paused, sensing something else through my scouts. "Leo, there’s something else. The trees around the temple—they’re not natural anymore. Marcus has corrupted them somehow."

Leo’s expression darkened. "Can you counter that?"

"I think so." I reached deeper into the plant network, seeking the ancient presence Thomas had mentioned. "If the Sentinel Grove is really there."

And then I felt them—massive, ancient consciousnesses slumbering in the deep forest around the temple. Trees that had stood for centuries, witnesses to the rise and fall of countless generations. Mother had indeed touched them, left a piece of her essence in their heartwood, waiting for this moment.

"Guardian trees," I breathed, making contact. "Ancient ones, I am Elisabeth’s daughter. Will you answer my call?"

The response came like a rumble of distant thunder, transmitted through root networks spanning miles.

"Little sapling," came a voice old as stone, "we have waited long for you to claim your birthright. The corrupted ones pain us with their presence. We would see them cleansed."

I opened my eyes to find Leo watching me intently. "They’re willing to help, but they’re angry about what Marcus has done to their corrupted brothers. This won’t be a subtle operation."

"Good," Leo said grimly. "Because Marcus just made it clear that subtlety isn’t an option anymore."

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