Seth’s breathing quickened as he took a step back. No, was all he could think. Ethan Quinn was everything strong and solid and . . . normal. ‘‘You’re lying.’’

‘‘People mostly lie to brag, or to get out of some stupid thing they’ve done. I don’t see the point in either—and less in lying about this.’’

Ethan took his cap off again because it suddenly felt too tight on his head. Once, twice, he raked his hand through his hair as if to ease the weight. ‘‘She sold me to men to pay for her habit. The first time, I fought. It didn’t stop it, but I fought. The second time, I fought, and a few times more after that. Then I didn’t bother fighting because it just made it worse.’’

Ethan’s gaze stayed level on the boy’s. In the harsh overhead lights Seth’s eyes were dark, and not as calm as they had been when Ethan had begun to speak. Seth’s chest hurt until he remembered to breathe again. ‘‘How’d you stand it?’’

‘‘I stopped caring.’’ Ethan shrugged his shoulders. ‘‘I stopped being , if you know what I mean. There wasn’t anybody I could go to for help—or I didn’t know there was. She moved around a lot to keep the social workers off her tail.’’

Seth’s lips felt dry and tight. He rubbed the back of his hand over them violently. ‘‘You never knew where you’re going to wake up in the morning.’’

‘‘Yeah, you never knew.’’ But all the places looked the same. They all smelled the same.

‘‘But you got away. You got out.’’

‘‘Yeah, I got out. One night after her john had finished with both of us, there was . . . some trouble.’’ Screams, blood, curses. Pain. ‘‘I don’t remember everything exactly, but the cops came. I must have been in a pretty bad way because they took me to the hospital and figured things out quick enough. I ended up in the system, might have stayed there. But the doctor who treated me was Stella Quinn.’’

‘‘They took you.’’

‘‘They took me.’’ And saying that, just that, soothed the sickness in Ethan’s gut. ‘‘They didn’t just change my life, they saved it. I had the dreams for a long time after, the sweaty ones where you wake up trying to breathe, sure you’re back in it. And even when you realize you’re not, you’re cold for a while.’’

Seth knuckled the tears away, but he didn’t feel ashamed of them now. ‘‘I always got away. Sometimes they put their hands on me, but I got away. None of them ever . . .’’

‘‘Good for you.’’

‘‘I still wanted to kill them, and her. I wanted to.’’

‘‘I know.’’