“There you are. I was afraid they were going to keep you.”
“The Friedmans weren’t at City Hall when everything went down today, but they had some opinions about it anyway, and they wanted to share them with me. Perks of being an elected official who ran on a platform of being willing to listen.”
She moved past him to unlock the doors, but he caught a brief sideways glance, an up and down look that made him stare. There was longing in it, but he could also tell she was uncertain, off-balance. Even if she knew about shifters, even if she knew about true mates, this was a lot.
“What were you doing today?” he asked as they walked together into the atrium. The displays looked a little desolate in the darkness, the poster boards sagging, the banner proclaimingOur Heroes the Decomposersdrooping towards the ground. Macy smiled and gestured around.
“Well, this, basically. It’s the science fair. The kids were showing off the projects they’ve been working on all summer.We’re hoping to schedule a redo this coming week, if... you know... the snake thing gets handled.”
“We’re going to get it handled,” Luca promised. He wasn’t sure he had ever been so committed to a job before this one. “We can’t let theWonders of the River Basindown.”
“No, Joey Ramirez worked very hard on that. Also I’m going to warn you that if you continue to show this consideration and interest, I’m going to wrangle you into judging next year.”
“Love to, but I—”
He paused, and Macy gave him a curious look.
“What? If you’re going to say you lack the expertise, I’m going to be very surprised.”
“I’ve got a bachelors in environmental sciences, I’m probably qualified,” he said automatically. “But I was going to say that I wasn’t sure where I was going to be this time next year. The job can take me all over the place, depending on what’s needed.”
He wondered for a moment if there was a brief cloud over her face, something soft and vulnerable around her mouth.
“But I know where I’m going to be,” he said quietly. “I’ll be with you.”
It was too much, too soon.Hewas too much, and he winced, trying to find the words that would soften it or make it sound a little less crazy. Luca knew that he couldn’t take it back, but maybe there was a way to ease Macy into this.
To his surprise, however, she grinned at him, reaching over to carefully squeeze his hand. It was a gentle gesture, something she could have done in front of a church bake sale and not gotten any sideways looks, but somehow it felt deeperthan the kiss had been earlier, and it made something inside him shake.
“Well, I’m going to be right here,” she said firmly. “My term doesn’t end for another two years, so I’m staying until reelection at least. Guess that means you’re stuck with the evaluating the—”
She looked around.
“TheExciting Lifecycle of the Termite.Oh wow, those are real termites there. We really should not have allowed that one a live display.”
“They’re well-secured, it’ll be fine,” Luca said. He wasn’t sure why they were talking about termites when his mate was standing in front of him. He wasn’t quite sure why he had spent the previous few hours doing anything but kissing her, telling her how he belonged to her, he would do anything for her.
“Macy,” he started, and then a faint clanging sound echoed through the atrium. Macy’s eyes went wide, and in a moment, they were both running towards the source. They left the atrium, entering the main halls of the offices which ran along the sides of the building. They paused, and the clanging came again, closer this time, and Luca would have run for it, but Macy tugged his sleeve.
“No, this way.”
He blinked when she led him in the opposite direction from where they’d heard the noise, but he followed her down a half-flight of stairs and then up another one.
“Only way to get pointed in this direction,” she said breathlessly, and he would have answered her but there was another clang, and they were running again, finally skidding to astop at the far end of a short hallway that had a fire door to the outside, but none connecting it to the rest of the floor. Macy hit a switch that filled the space with light, but there was no snake to be conveniently found.
“Hmm, maybe in the rooms?” Macy muttered uncertainly, but Luca was already crouched down examining the grates set in the floor. The first one proved to be solid, bolted securely to the surrounding wood floors, but the second one had two loose screws. When he pulled it up and let it drop again, it produced the clanging noise they’d heard before.
“Is the furnace turned on yet?” he asked, and he breathed a sigh of relief when Macy shook her head no. “Good. The last thing that anyone needs is a roasted cerastes.”
He pulled a small pouch out of his gear bag, broadcasting a thin film of white powder around the grate. He started to pocket it before Macy poked it with a curious finger.
“What’s this?”
He blinked, and she raised her eyebrows at him.
“What, trade secret or something?”
“No, not at all. I’m sorry. I suppose I’m not used to having someone along for this kind of thing, let alone be curious what I’m doing.”
