When Cadence woke up the next morning, she was surprised not to see Aaron still sitting on the sofa working. She rolled over and realized he actually had gotten in bed with her. And he was asleep. Although, technically, he was on the bed, not under the blankets as she was, which she found a bit humorous. Clearly, he was concerned with violating her privacy. He had changed clothes into something slightly more comfortable than what had been wearing the night before, and he looked more peaceful than she had ever seen him.

He must have felt her staring at him because his eyes began to flutter, and then he was awake and looking back at her. “Good morning,” he said softly.

“Hi. You slept! I’m so proud of you!” she exclaimed, propping her head up on one arm.

“I know. Me, too. How did you sleep?” he asked, stretching.

She was momentarily distracted, staring at the muscles in his arms as he flexed them in his attempt to fully wake. She shook her head, gathering her thoughts. “I slept well, thanks. And you?”

“Better than I have in a long time,” he admitted turning on his side to face her.

“You were tired,” she reminded him. “See, sleep isn’t such an awful thing.”

“No, sleep’s great. It’s the making up for all of the work that I missed that’s so terrible,” he explained. As if realizing he had a ton to do and that he needed to find a way out of the bed quickly before the situation took a turn, he brought himself promptly to his feet, standing across the bed from her.

Stifling a giggle at his rush to get out of the bed, she reminded him, “Well, that’s because you’re doing the job of two people,” doing a bit of stretching herself. “And two extremely difficult jobs at that.”

“You’re right; that’s exactly why. But until the Hunters elect someone else as Leader, I’m just going to have to do it myself,” he reminded her, walking around the end of the bed toward his computer.

“Well, I may not be my grandmother, but if there’s anything that you think I can help you with, please let me know,” she offered as he opened his laptop.

“Okay, thanks,” he said, beginning to scroll through the information on his computer. His expression revealed he simultaneously checking the messages on his IAC.

Cadence could see that he was very busy, and she didn’t want to bother him. But at the same time, she wasn’t quite ready to leave. “I guess I’m going shopping with Eliza today,” she mentioned, sitting up and attempting to detangle her hair with her fingers. She slipped her feet into her shoes without untying them.

If you spot this tale on Amazon, know that it has been stolen. Report the violation.

He looked up at her, smirking. “Oh? Have fun--if it’s even possible to have fun shopping with Eliza.”

“I know, right? And the meeting with Sebastian is at 8:00?” she inquired, working on a rather obstinate tangle.

“That's right, 8:00. And he’s coming over here. I guess we’ll just bring him in here.” Then he added, “He doesn’t want you there, you know? He’s afraid you’ll lose your temper and kill him. Same for Stormy.”

“I don‘t blame him,” she admitted. “I just figured you wanted us all in the building, just in case something happens.”

“That is probably a wise idea,” he agreed.

“Well, I will go check on my lovely roommate and see if I am allowed to take a shower.” She momentarily considered using his hospitality as an excuse to cross the room and hug him, but she was keenly aware of the fact that her mouth tasted like an old shoe, so she climbed out of bed and headed straight for the door. She continued to run her hand absently through her hair and, pulling the heavy oak door open, she turned and catching his eyes said, “Thanks again.”

She realized she had his full attention, standing there in her crumpled sweatshirt, hair a mess. Cadence hoped he could overlook her disheveled appearance. He stared at her for a long moment, as if he couldn’t really think of anything to say. Licking his lips, he bit down slightly and then managed to cheerily say, “Have a great day!”

Both eyebrows raised at his ridiculous tone, Cadence giggled. “I feel like I’m leaving Walmart.” Crimson began to creep up his neck, but once again he must’ve been struggling for words, so she shouted, “You, too!” and bounded down the hall, determined that she was getting back into her hotel room, one way or another.

* * *

It was 8:37 and Sebastian had not yet shown up. Aaron had been in contact with a messenger off and on all day, receiving updates on Holland and making sure the turncoat knew where to be and when to be there. They were supposed to meet early so that, by the time the nightlife (or afterlife, as the case may be) started their nightly corruption of the City of Lights, his team was well informed and ready to bring Holland down.

Cadence was holed up in her room with Stormy who was polishing one of her guns. She had several, more than Cadence could easily account for, and this one was a custom number Stormy said she relied on heavily. “Is that thing loaded?” she asked, watching Stormy flip it around nonchalantly.

“Always,” the Amazonian woman replied.

“Nice,” Cadence muttered. She had asked Aaron about weapons yesterday, and he assured her they had quite an arsenal and that she would be fully armed. As exciting as that seemed, she’d never even been in a simulator with more than one Glock at a time, and the idea of trolling around Paris with a couple of Berettas or a handgun strapped to every portion of her body was sounding more and more like the backstory for an episode of World’s Dumbest Criminals.

“I think we’ve got a no-show,” Aaron finally admitted at 8:45.

“The first step toward healing is admitting you’ve got a problem,” she replied.

“Sarcasm, very helpful. We’re going to head over to Le Doll, which opens at 9:00, and see if Sabin and the girls know anything more. You want to come?"

“Strip club? You know it!”