The door clicked shut behind them, and the house seemed to exhale into silence.
Not the soft, comforting silence Alice usually associated with home. This one felt taut, like a wire pulled too tight.
Alice shifted her weight, suddenly very aware of the way the air tightened when Clarisse and Rowan both looked at her and Hades, then at each other, then at them again. It was the kind of back-and-forth glance that said something happened, but neither wanted to be the first to ask.
Clarisse was the one who finally broke the hush, her voice careful.
"Your guest is still sound asleep, Miss. I checked on her again a few minutes ago." she said gently, though her tone carried that precise crispness Clarisse never shed. "Best not to trouble her until morning."
A small, tight coil of anxiety in Alice's chest loosened just a fraction. "Thank you, Clarisse."
