Kaden heard himself whimper. He wanted so badly not to believe it. He wanted to grip onto denial and hope with every last bit of his strength. He wanted to concoct some complex fantasy where Marcie was only saying this because someone had a gun to her head and was forcing her.
But all he could see was the dark bruise spreading across Tragos' face as he lay asleep or unconscious in Marcie's bed. Kaden remembered standing over him and being scared by how small he looked, and how breakable, and how for a moment Kaden felt like he was the older brother, and that for a night he and Marcie had been a team to look after Tragos, which never happened. Tragos was always the one protecting him.
Had died protecting him.
"Marcie," he said he name like a cry of pain. "Marcie why - why'd he do that?"