I lifted my eyebrows. “You found a job you could hold?”
He winced a little.
“Sorry,” I said. “But… I know you’d had so much trouble.” Specifically, he’d been subjected to the amorous attentions of various fellow employees who had been drawn to him to such a degree that it had practically been assault. Being an incubus was probably easier at night clubs and celebrity parties than at a drive-through or a cash register. “You found something?”
“Something without people,” he said. He smiled easily as he spoke, but I sensed an undercurrent of deception in it. He wasn’t telling me the whole truth. “I’ve been there a while.”
“Yeah?” I asked. “Where?”
He evaded me effortlessly. “A place down off LakeView. I’ve finally earned a little extra. I just wanted to pay you back.”
“You must be getting all kinds of overtime,” I said. “As near as I can figure it, you’ve been putting in eighty- and ninety-hour weeks.”
He shrugged, his smile a mask. “Working hard.”
I took another sip of beer (which was excellent, even cold) and thought it over. If he didn’t want to talk about it, he wasn’t going to talk about it. Pushing him wouldn’t make him any more likely to tell me. I didn’t get the sense that he was in trouble, and while he had one hell of a poker face, I’d lived with him long enough to see through it most of the time. Thomas hadn’t ever supported himself before. Now that he was sure he could do it, it had become something he valued.
Getting out on his own was something he needed to do. I wouldn’t be doing him any favors by interfering.
“You sure you’ll be okay?” I asked him.
Something showed through the mask, then—embarrassment. “I’ll be all right. It’s past time for me to get out on my own.”
“Not if you aren’t ready,” I said.
“Harry, come on. So far we’ve been lucky. The Council hasn’t noticed me here. But with all of your Warden stuff, sooner or later somebody’s going to show up and find you rooming with a White Court vampire.”
I grimaced. “That would be a mess,” I agreed. “But I don’t mind chancing it if you need the time.”
“And I don’t mind getting out on my own to avoid making trouble for you with the Council,” he said. “Besides, I’m just covering my own ass. I don’t want to cross them, myself.”
“I wouldn’t let them—”
Thomas burst out in a brief, genuine laugh. “Christ, Harry. You’re my brother, not my mother. I’ll be fine. Now that I won’t be here to make you look bad, maybe you can finally start having girls over again.”
“Bite me, prettyboy,” I said. “You need any help moving or anything?”
“Nah.” He finished the beer. “I just have one box and one bag. Cab’s on the way.” He paused. “Unless you need my help with a case or something. I’ve got until Monday to move in.”
I shook my head. “I’m working with SI on this one, so I’ve got plenty of support. I think I can get things locked down by tonight.”
Thomas gave me a flat look. “Now you’ve done it.”
“What?” I asked.
“You predicted quick victory. Now it’s going to get hopelessly complicated. Jesus, don’t you know any better than that by now?”
I grinned at him. “You’d think that I would.”
I finished my beer and offered my brother my hand. He gripped it. “If you need anything, call me,” he said.
“Ditto.”
“Thank you, little brother,” he said quietly.
I blinked my eyes a couple of times. “Yeah. My couch is always open. Unless there’s a girl over.”
Outside, wheels crunched on gravel and a car horn sounded.
“There’s my ride,” he said. “Oh. Do you mind if I borrow the shotgun? Just until I can replace it.”
“Go ahead,” I told him. “I’ve still got my .44.”
“Thanks.” He bent over and swung the heavy footlocker onto one shoulder without effort. He picked up the sports bag, slung the strap over his other shoulder, and opened the door easily with one hand. He glanced back, winked at me, and shut the door behind him.
I stared at the closed door for a minute. Car doors opened and closed. Wheels crunched as the cab drove away, and my apartment suddenly seemed a couple of sizes too large. Mouse let out a long sigh and came over to me to nudge his head underneath my hand. I scratched his ears for a minute and said, “He’ll