Chapter Four
Allison was beautiful.
It was what Quintus had been thinking since the first moment he stepped into the room. Gorgeous with her long brown hair pinned back behind her head and large green eyes. Like a little deer in the woods.
Quintus watched her silently from the couch. He knew instantly that the hum in his chest wasn't just excitement from meeting a beautiful woman. He could feel her draw from the deepest part of his soul.
He wasn’t like some of the men. He believed wholeheartedly in the truth of the Vestals, and all the men finding theirs since moving to the area only further proved how real the idea was.
Allison was his Vestal. The one woman meant to be with him. The woman who would complete him.
Fuck.
Accepting the truth didn’t mean he had to like it, though.
It certainly hadn’t been what Quintus was expecting. He wasn’t looking for his mate like Vitus. Quintus just wanted to do his part for his fellow hybrids.
He glanced around the office, taking in the surroundings to get his mind off the woman. It was a simple room not containing much. Just the couch they sat on, a desk with chairs on either side, and a few pictures on the desk. A couple of filing cabinets completed the room.
Quintus didn’t recognize the people, but there was no mistaking the family resemblance to the slightly older woman in one of the pictures.
Another picture had Allison smiling happily with her arm around another woman who didn’t look like a family member. She wasn’t wearing a ring, but he couldn’t ignore the chance that she was already married.
The irony of her maybe being unavailable after finally finding her struck at him. He kept his face impassive, but the worry was really there. Vestals were supposed to be a matter of fate. He hoped his fate wouldn’t be so capricious.
His gaze landed on a piece of paper pushed to the side of her desk. On it she had circled several of the names under a header note about “possible handymen” and another note about “remember to ask about carpentry skills.”
It seemed that she needed a person to come and do work on her house. He almost smiled. All of the hybrids following Rem had at least a little skill with tools. They couldn’t trust outside humans, after all. It might be stretching things to say he had carpentry skills, but he knew the right side of a hammer and saw.
This was his opportunity to get in with Allison and find out just what it was that she knew about the Glycons. It would also be a chance to find out if she already had someone in her life.
Allison nodded and pointed to a chart on one of the papers. “And these are the only costs?”
Veronica nodded. “It’s all off-the shelf gear that requires only some minor modifications by me. The hard part was figuring out the relevant frequencies. I already have enough to begin, and I can order the remaining equipment I need and get it here within a day.”
"Well, this is well within our budget for animal control. Let's get these devices installed as soon as we can," Allison said. “I’ll make sure all the necessary permits are expedited. Normally, this might take a lot longer, but this is a public safety issue, so I want this done ASAP.”
Some of the tension left Quintus’s shoulders. To her credit, Veronica was a pro. Despite how worried she had been about the situation, it had gone relatively easy despite all the ways they had pictured it going wrong.
"I'll start work on this first thing in the morning," Allison said, and stood.
The mayor nodded. Both Quintus and Nero stood as well.
He needed to make his move. Quintus stepped over to the desk. Allison jumped at his presence.
"I happened to see you are looking for a handyman with carpentry skills,” he said.
He watched as her eyes went from him to the paper and then back to him again. "Are you a handyman? Can you fix a hole in the floor and keep out the bugs?"
Bugs? Quintus shrugged. "I have my moments, and I know my way around a hammer and nails.”
Allison surveyed him from top to bottom. He wondered just what she thought would make a good handyman. When she nodded after a moment, he found himself relieved that he passed muster.
"My place tomorrow," she said. "First thing in the morning since it’s the weekend. You can pick up my address from Celine."
Quintus nodded.
His group headed out the door, and when he stopped to get the address, the others made their way out. Tiny scrap of paper in hand, he found Nero standing just outside the car, his body still as he watched a woman across the street.
"What's wrong?" Quintus asked.
Nero shook his head. "I thought I just saw…" His words trailed off. “I’m just letting my imagination run away with me.”
Quintus glanced around, but all he could see was the back of a woman as she entered the town hall they had left.
“Don’t worry about it.” Nero shook his head again. "It couldn't be," he mumbled.
Quintus wasn't quite sure just what was going on but was glad to have fulfilled his purpose. Now he just needed to figure out how to repair flooring.