Her laughter was broken and jaded. "I have to learn to live with it and make sure that those men don't take anything else from me ever again."
She used to make throwaway comments like that all the time when we were together at the White House. Back then I hadn't known the specificity of the events she was referring to.
Now I did.
I knew everything—learning it all had been one of my tasks during the time we were apart.
I'd killed the men who raped her. I'd taken them apart, piece by fucking piece, and by the time I was done with them, their own mothers wouldn’t have recognized them.
I'd saved the three little girls in their "care" as well, and I hoped that they would be as strong as Justice, moving forward in whatever way they could.
"I'm going to share my story with you," she said softly, no doubt confused by how quiet I was. She probably sensed the rage building inside, because even though I’d killed those men, I couldn’t take back what they did to her. I couldn’t return what they stole.
My rage would be eternal.
"I want to know everything about you," I said roughly. "But for the sake of full transparency, I did some research about your past. You kept making those comments about the men and your life and it ate away at me."
I wouldn't lie to her. No relationships could be built on lies, even if I wasn’t sure how she’d take the news.
Justice dragged her heels just as a massive estate came into view—her home.
"You researched me?" she finally asked, and I couldn't tell if she was pissed or not.
I nodded. "I looked into your past because I couldn't fucking sleep not knowing what happened to you."
She slowed even more, and from my angle I saw her squeeze her eyes shut. "Did you learn everything?” she whispered.
"Yes."
"Fuck," she whimpered. "And do you think less of me now that you know I was raped as a child? Now that you know how broken I am?"
She was fucking lucky I'd learned how to control my energy at this stage; otherwise the ruby city would be nothing but dust.
"I think you're a goddamned warrior," I told her truthfully. "You fought battles and wars that no child should have to, and you came out the other side stronger. You're not broken, Justice, you're rebuilt. Into someone strong and formidable. Don't forget your past, for it made you who you are, but don't downplay your future. You're a bright star, shining on all, drawing us to you with warmth and power." Her lips started to tremble, and I cupped her face in my hands, needing to fucking touch her or I would lose it. "They didn't break you," I said fiercely, believing every word, "and I’ll tell you that every single day until you believe it too."
And they’re dead, so they can never hurt you or anyone else again.
She was crying now, silent tears that slipped down her cheeks. I caught them with my thumbs, brushing them away.
"I tried to find them," she said, her voice calm despite the tears. "Because when I managed to escape, the task force couldn’t track them down, even with all my evidence. So I searched, knowing that they’d do it again to some other child, one that wouldn’t be strong enough to survive. I couldn't let that happen." She shook her head against my hands. "I never did find them. That's the worst part of all. They're still out there … those disgusting, evil fucks."
"I found them."
Her eyes went super wide as she opened and closed her mouth, so stunned it was almost comical. But there was nothing comical about this topic at all.
"You found them? How?"
Thank the gods her tears were drying up. Saved me having to kill someone else to make her happy.
"I have a lot of contacts in the supernatural world, and many of them have connections in the human world. It actually took me longer than I thought. Those two were adept at hiding, and had managed to escape and rebuild their identities many times over the years, but I was more fucking determined than they ever could be."
"Where were they?" she whispered.
"Mexico City," I said simply. "They'd been in that corner of the world for a few years from what I could tell. Working for some of the human traffickers down there."
I released her as she wrenched herself backwards, turning to vomit in a nearby garden. I wasn't sure if she wanted me to touch her or not, but I did anyway, one hand gathering her hair from her face and the other rubbing her back.
"What did you do with them all?" she asked when she could finally stand, her hand pressed against her mouth, wiping at it almost unconsciously.
