Lavender had gone over to the shop after work to check on 'things'. She desperately wanted to stay away from Nicodemus but she just couldn't without abandoning her friend and his shop. The demon wasn't going to look after it or run the business properly. She still had hope that she could bring him back and he'd be crushed if his business had gone down the shitter while he was gone. He worked so hard for it.
She felt like this was all her fault so she had to try, even if it meant going over after working at the Ministry all day. She told Malachi that Octavius was sick and that he needed her to work tonight. Octavius was going to have to be 'sick' for awhile she feared. Malachi had already thought something was going on between them, but what was she suppose to do?
The demon was threatening to take her baby's soul or her's in exchange. She felt completely on edge and the clock was ticking to find away to exercise Nicodemus out of Octavius. She had to do it right the first time or he'd most likely kill her if she wasn't successful. She really needed to do her research. She really needed Octavius.
No one was at the shop when she got there. Nicodemus had abandoned it for the evening it seemed. She stayed for a few hours, did some cleaning up, looked through some of Octavius's books for help then locked it up. She keep two books of his and slipped them into her bag. She found them in the back room, part of his personal collection. They contained what she hoped was what she needed to get rid of the demon. She still had to do a lot of reading and planning.
She turned away from the front doors to look up at the clear night sky. She just wanted to get home but the stars were out. Maybe it was a sign that she was finally on the right path and she could clean this mess up?