The party wound down well before midnight. All of the guests were tired and eager to return home, having spent the better part of the day celebrating. Those staying in nearby hotels remained a bit later but also began to trickle out in waves.
Nathan left with Regulus Lafaye, which Chase thought was strange. But according to Avery the two men had been spending an inordinate amount of time together. His job had not only been keeping him busy but also very secretive. Avery said that she wasn't even aware of what the two of them were doing, only that it was very important.
Nathan spoke to Chase before leaving, thanking him for watching Avery and also for sniffing out the plot to poison Regulus Asterion. He had no qualms about Chase spending so much time with his fiancée as her bodyguard, at least on the surface. He seemed grateful, restating that knowing she was safe allowed him to focus on his job. He also informed him that Avery's house had been repaired and it was safe to move back there—as safe as any place could be.
Chase cautiously agreed. He didn't completely trust that location, but he knew that Nathan was right. The attacks on Avery had occurred in both predictable and non-predictable places, making all of their options somewhat risky. But given that many of their things were still at the resort—The Amocular—they had little choice but to stay there tonight.
To Chase's surprise, Cadence also expressed her gratitude for what he did for her father. She invited him to come out to see her husband Gavin's lab, and reminded him to take his pill every morning—and to take one immediately. If she held any reservations about the dance, or about him and Avery spending more time together, she kept it to herself.
Before leaving, Cadence spoke briefly to Avery in their native tongue. The only phrase Chase recognized was iratus consilium, which apparently was some sort of conference tomorrow being held by Avery's people. They were both expected to attend.
Avery was too tired to drive, so Chase took the wheel. To his disappointment she fell asleep almost instantly when they hit the road. He had hoped to finally ask her more about her alien heritage. He had many questions, and he finally made the decision to stop running away from them. How had her people found Earth? How did they travel between worlds so quickly? What sort of experiments were they running in Gavin's lab?
By the time Chase pulled in to the Amocular, Avery was awake, though he wasn't sure for how long. When he parked the car, he saw that her eyes were open and watching him from her relaxed position in the passenger seat.
They wordlessly made their way back to the room, both mindful of the fact that they had not been here since the morning Avery was shot. Due to the late hour there were not many people about. Third shift workers performed routine maintenance, and a skeleton crew manned the registration desk. A vacuum cleaner could be heard running somewhere at the far end of the lobby.
Chase let Avery have the bathroom first. He took off his tie and collapsed face down onto his bed, not realizing that by the time Avery came out he would already be in a deep sleep.
He woke to the sounds of paper bags crinkling and the aroma of food. Shifting around to orient himself, he realized that he was under the covers wearing the same clothes as last night.
Avery looked over at him and smiled, setting the small hotel room table with what looked like a breakfast feast. He wondered what time it was, considering she was already dressed and buying food. She wore a tight fitting blue scoop neck top with white horizontal stripes. Her hair was pulled back with a matching white headband, but spilled down her shoulders, still holding the some of the curl from last night.
