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"Throwing a tantruet uard

"Where have you been?" She whirled to glare at the tall red-headed god

"I was busy" Brigid walked past Ree and looked down at the re bits of her statue "I kind of liked that one Solike me"

"Why didn’t you protect the people on this island?" Ree spit the words out, barely able to keep froe

"We were preoccupied" Brigid narrowed her eyes and Ree felt very small

"Preoccupied?" Ree asked "Too busy to come down and save the people that put their trust in you?"

"Preoccupied," Brigid asserted Loki and Ares made sure we couldn’t coid’s eyes flashed with fire "Once the Council of Gods is called, we cannot leave Not for anything"

"Then how did Loki and Ares rip down the shield?" Ree tried to keep hold of her anger, but it wouldn’t listen to reason "Why is some council more i it was Loki or Ares that caused the shield to collapse" Brigid placed her hands on her hips "It is not your place to question how the council is run" She turned and leaned over to brush so a seat She folded her long legs in front of her and stillyour position, I can understand your frustration"

Ree felt a sliver of relief at her last sentence Maybe she would finally get some much needed answers "If it wasn’t Loki and Ares then who else could it have been? Could it have been another god that has joined theods could just as easily have attacked this island while ere in Council However, I cannot rule out Loki He hasinhis skill set"

"You want to keep this planet, right?" Ree looked at Brigid, her et uarded eyes

"Then you need to forget all of the rules you have in place for gods No one else is paying attention to the id, not showing a reaction when a heated wind ripped through the clearing, causing the goddess’s hair to whip angrily

"Do you kno hard it is to keep all of the gods fro the Earth theid stood up and walked toward Ree, her eyes flashing with lightning "You od You have no right to tell s"

"I’m the Alastriana" Ree ey clashed with the soddess "You made me to protect your planet To protect the people of this world" She took a step forward and felt her energy oddesses’ power "You created , devouring and absorbing the goddess’s power The green energy began to pull at the goddess’s feet, feeding on the substance that id looked at Ree with narrowed eyes "You were created by us You are ours" Suddenly, Brigid’s power disappeared and her eyes softened "Because we need you" She sighed and brushed away some of the dirt on the root next to her and ry, furious with everything that had happened in the last feeeks, she could barely keep froo of the power and tried to s so slow steps, she claiainst the trunk of the tree

"Then why aren’t you helping oddess

"I know it doesn’t see everything we can to id leaned back next to Ree and folded her hands in her lap For just a oddess lost some of the otherworldly sheen and looked like a tired woht It doesn’t seeers "It feels like you guys are set onthat makes me human"

"You aren’t huid looked at her and frowned "Many of the gods only see you as a tool But a few of us are working toyou need Try to understand that for a long ti was on their same level They will always think they do not need hu up the mess with Roland and Paden; to not point out all of the times they could have helped or intervened but hadn’t Thankfully, Brigid kept speaking, so there was no ehts

"The fact is, we can’t be seen intervening We can’t do anything the dark gods could use to try and overthrow the final verdict We have to maintain our stance that the battle reuys are getting an awful lot of help Froround and turned to face the goddess "I’uys need to step up and start working to protect the innocent I have enough on my hands that and I shouldn’t have to worry about the safe zones not being safe I’ to fight with everything I have insure I have so to be able to function if you keep letting our families be murdered On your land" She stood up and rubbed her hands on her jeans "Step up and fight back You ask that ofthe at you At your laws and the lack of conviction you are showing If you want to keep this planet and its people the way it is, then you need to act like you care"

Brigid stood up and looked down the trail leading to the house "I ork to keep the island protected Leave it to ht and focus on your plan"

"You knohat our plan is?" Ree let her hands hang limply at her side "You think it ork?"

"I think it’s s you her kin if you didn’t have a brain for strategy" Brigid looked back at Ree with an a Don’t break any " With that, the goddess snapped out of existence Ree sat back down on the root and looked at her boots The soft sound of feet running down the path brought her attention away from the dirt on her shoes

Paden rounded the bend with a frantic look on his face As soon as his eyes landed on her, relief washed over him He slowed dohen he took in her expression and came to sit next her He braced his elbows on his knees and leaned forward, turning slightly so he could look at her

"I felt Brigid come to the island" His voice was steady and even, but she could feel the worry just underneath the surface "Looks like you ritty residue of the statue

"You could say that" Ree snorted and leaned back against the tree "We… had words"

"Ah" Paden looked down for a minute "Are you okay?"

"I’m fine How is Melanie’s mom?" Ree sat up and looked at Paden She wasn’t fine, but she didn’t want to talk about herself

"She’s going to be fine" Creases deepened near his eyes and mouth for a minute "They are really upset about Ellie"