Changed by Fire (Phoenix Rising #6) - Harper Wylde Page 0,100

just because of how bad it was and because of him being eighteen, I think. He’ll be out soon.” The room rumbled with growls.

“Why don’t you want to forget it, Nix?” Theo questioned softly, my eyes raising to meet his. There was no pity in them, I realized with relief. Pain, yes. Pity, no.

“Because I didn’t have control then, and I wouldn’t have control now,” I whispered. “Because it’d feel like I let him win. Because I don’t know who I’d be. Because I’m scared that if I take away the bad I experienced, I wouldn’t know how to be good.”

“That kind of stuff doesn’t happen to females here, Nix,” Ryder interjected. “We’ll never let it happen again.” I winced, his statement reminding me of the social workers’ and the cops’ declarations as they’d tried to cover for themselves. You’re safe now. We won’t let him hurt you anymore. He’ll be punished. He’ll be put away forever. All platitudes meant to soothe, but they’d just been lies. His memories hurt. Forever was only a few short years. He’d be out in the next year, and for rape, that had been quite a lengthy sentence for the area.

“That’s not entirely true,” Killian countered, his eyes nearly as red as his hair, his voice gruff. My honest Celt. “It’s rare here, yes. But it does happen. He’s right that we would never let it happen again, Nix. We’d kill anyone who tried.”

“We’ll kill him if he comes anywhere near you,” Damien snarled. “We don’t do jail time here for rapists. I don’t care if he’s already served his damn time. If he shows his face, he’s dead.”

I bit my lip, considering him. I’d wondered that, but I’d been too afraid to ask. “What do you do here?”

“We just kill the bastards,” Hiro spat. “We don’t stand for abusing women or children.”

“That’s only partially true,” Gaspard corrected gently, and Damien gaped at his grandfather.

“Grandpa, you’re going to scare her,” he began, but Gaspard just held out a hand.

“Feel her emotions, Damien, not your own,” he advised with a look. “Lies don’t help her. She’s heard enough falsehoods. She already knows what the Council has started on those islands. Give her the truth.”

“Nix, you’re so damn strong,” Joshua whispered, his eyes wide in his pale face. “God, so strong.” He shot a look at Gaspard before sighing. “Death and castration are the most common punishments for rape here,” he explained softly. “Some of it does depend on class though.”

“For packs, we’re kind of left on our own to deal with it,” Rini interrupted, her voice cracking as she wiped at the tears streaming down her cheeks. “The Council doesn’t step in unless a pack member attacks a mythological or vice versa. They wouldn’t let us kill one of their own.”

“Nix,” Gaspard murmured. “Our laws have loopholes too. If the shifter was incredibly rare, he probably wouldn’t have been put to death. I warned you before about terminations of pregnancies, and I’m not going to hide it from you now. If the female became pregnant, she’d be offered gifts—massive ones—to let the pregnancy continue. Some were put into trances or had their memories altered so they wouldn’t remember it if that was their choice. The child would be raised by the Council or an approved, adoptive family.”

I nodded, slowly contemplating his words. It made sense. I already knew there were issues in this world depending on class and species. It wasn’t the shock I’d expected, but I appreciated his honesty with me. That had been one of the hardest parts as a child. No one believed me at first. Then, when they did, I struggled when I realized he just meant more than I did. I was just a girl. Just a foster child. Disposable. When I was finally told he’d go away forever, he’d never be able to hurt me again, I thought it was finished. To know he’d be out before I turned twenty had felt like a physical blow. Even knowing now that I was older, that I was one of the lucky ones in that regard, that most abusers got no time at all, it was still staggering.

“I don’t understand,” Rini admitted quietly. “I know it would change things. But after everything you’ve gone through, everything you’ve been through, I don’t know if I’d be strong enough to not take what she’s offering.”

“There is another option.” Gaspard’s voice had my head whipping around. “My power doesn’t work in quite the same