The big man shrugged and put his shirt back on. “It’s done. But more than anything else, I don’t want the supes to start imagining Diederik as pit fodder, now that he’s got his growth.”

“They could get him away from you?” Joe said.

“If I were dead.”

“So for now he’ll stay here in Midnight,” Joe said.

“Yes. Maybe a few months, maybe a year will see him strong enough, past the dangerous part. If he can make a name for himself doing something else, it won’t be easy to abduct him, force him. He will find a job he can do.”

Joe and Fiji looked at each other. “With the Rev?” she said finally. “You’ve been in the Rev’s house?”

“Yes,” Quinn said steadily. “I’ve seen it’s barren. I was going to ask if there was somewhere else he could stay, though the Rev would be responsible for educating Diederik in the ways of the tiger and instructing him in our history. Of course, I would pay his room and board and other expenses. I understand that you . . . Fiji . . . have been buying him clothes, and I want to pay you back for that. I thank you for your generosity.”

“De nada,” she said, smiling. “If you want to, sure, but I did it to keep him decent and smiling. Kids got to have clothes and lots of food.”

“Do you two have any ideas about who would host him?” Quinn looked from one to the other.

“I guess I could clean out my second bedroom. It’s pretty crammed with stuff,” Fiji said doubtfully.

“You’ve been great for Diederik, and he loves your cooking,” Quinn said. He smiled again. “I can see why, after eating this bread. But you’re also pretty and young, and sharing a house with an adolescent boy at such close quarters . . . well, it might not be ideal.”

Fiji turned red. “Okay,” she said.

“We have visitors,” Joe said regretfully. “So our guest room gets some use.” Chuy kept in touch with his human descendants, though they didn’t know his true nature, of course. Joe did not chide Chuy for the elaborate fictions he fed them about their kinship. Chuy seemed to need the contact.

“That leaves Manfred or Bobo,” Fiji said. “They’re both good men.”

Quinn stood. “I’ll go talk to them after I shower. I owe both of you for your kindness to my son.”

Mr. Snuggly raised his head and said, “Good-bye, big man.”

Quinn seemed taken aback. “Well . . . good-bye, little brother.” He shook his head and left.

“Joe, do you think this can work?”

“I hope so,” Joe said. “This town seems to have adopted a child.”

As he walked back to his apartment, looking forward to his shower, he was still thinking about the hard life Quinn had had, and the loss of the female Tijgerin.