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"You already knoho your soul belongs with" Aphrodite stated it calmly and Ree nodded She did know Paden was the person that completed her It shouldn’t be possible to know that, it should be harder to tell, but it wasn’t So in her knew he fit her in every way, but she also didn’t want to hurt Roland
"But Roland…" Ree trailed off, not sure what she really felt for her friend
"Ah, yes" Aphrodite frowned "Roland has been led to believe he waited all this tioddess’s voice ry about how Roland had been misled "I was overruled on that one Some felt he was a weapon we could not afford to lose"
"So, what? He’s an acceptable casualty?" Ree shook her head in anger "I love him, Aphrodite It isn’t what it should be, but I love hiood man and he deserves better than this He deserves better than hundreds of years of torture and disappoint her head, Aphrodite looked pleased with Ree’s announcement "I told you I have a soft spot for Roland I think he has suffered h That’s why I’m here to talk to you I worked out a deal with one of the other gods"
"Hecate" Ree breathed the word as understanding pulsed in her heart There was a sh to outshine the relief that ran through her body "You sent Melanie for Roland"
Aphrodite nodded "Yes, just like I made sure Bryce and Juliette wouldn’t be alone I knew they would both be watching you, and I wasn’t willing to split the her eyes "I’ve been pushed around enough Love can be your strongest ally, your sharpest weapon, and your biggest weakness It’s tiods learn a little respect"
"What if we lose? Or if one of the
"If you lose, it won’t reallyit’s going to take all of you to win That’s why I’m here They don’t understand the true power of soultwo men in love with you, but that kind of drama would only serve to distract, rather than empower you "
Ree took a few breaths to try and calods was actually worried about their happiness, not just what they could accomplish?
"How do I fix this with Paden? I betrayed him" Ree sed and looked at Aphrodite, for the first tiure it out And trust me, Paden feels like he has messed up just as badly" Aphrodite s Roland at sooodbye to Tria, needed to be able to let go"
"I let hih I made the decision to kiss hi forlorn The worst part hile she regretted hurting Paden, she didn’t really regret kissing Roland It had been colad they had ent" Aphrodite made an amused noise "You remember how Tria felt for him Of course, you kissed him Love comes in ive me?" Ree’s voice was small and tired "How could I kiss someone that wasn’t my soul mate?"
"That’s a question you will have to ask him" Aphrodite s someone that isn’t your soul ether for every life People often date and enjoy other people until they find their soul , Ree looked down at the floor She would have to talk to Paden soon, but she still didn’t knohat to say to him The bed shifted next to Ree and Aphrodite stood up
"Thank you for explaining so much" Ree looked up and met her eyes
"You’re welcos feel like a coure it out"
"I hope so" Ree gave the goddess a small sht crossed Ree’s mind "What about Weylin?"
No one answered
Chapter Seven
After a long, hot shower, Ree climbed into her bed and fell asleep al but restful She flitted between scenes of Roland and Tria, to ies of Paden and Ree in different lives Some of the moments were happy, others were bittersweet, but in each one the aes started to fade and were replaced with a fog Ree could barely see through Voices drifted to her, and shestarted to clear and she found herself in an ornate hallway A large golden doorframe bracketed the end of the hallway, and she crept cautiously forward
"She needs to be punished!" Ares’s angry voice rang through the hallway and Ree froze, her heart beating rapidly in her chest
"We need her" A man’s calain Inching toward the door, she carefully peeked into the room It was filled with thrones, nition ca a sound This was the gods’ throne room The same place Hecate had warned her not to return Unfortunately, she had no idea how she had gotten there the first tiotten there this tiod of war She should fearabout her and she knew it
"I think you’ve already ed to scare her, Ares Perhaps that’s why she called the power in the first place" Hecate’s calm voice was smooth and peaceful
"She is human" He spat the last word out as if it was an insult "I can do as I please to her"
"She is the Alastriana and should not fear us We need her to fight for us" Hecate’s tone turned placating, as if she was talking to an unruly child
"Fear is a good od spoke from the other side of the throne room Ree couldn’t see his face, but his voice made her shiver
"Anubis, your tactics would defeat our purpose" Athena’s voice was calm and collected "The Alastriana is not someone ill take well to fear She is likely to rebel and fight against us"