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I stood up. ”Give me ten minutes,” I said. ”Feel free to look around, but don’t try to leave the apartment. The door only opens for the four of us, but if you did somehow manage to magically get it to open, the building is locked down and there are security cameras everywhere. Look, honestly, I really don’t want to chase you around and you don’t look like you would enjoy running much right now.”
Sofia nodded, looking a little pale. ”Okay,” she said, taking a sip of her water with trembling hands. ”I understand.”
”Good,” I said, walking toward the door. ”I’ll be back.”
As I walked out of the room, I could feel Sofia’s eyes on me. I didn’t like the idea of bringing her into our world, but I didn’t see any other way. We needed someone on the outside investigating the murders and she was the only one who seemed capable.
I walked down the hallway toward the balcony, where the rest of the Blades were gathered. They looked up as I entered.
”What’s going on?” Grayson asked.
”Jace, can you look into her quickly?” I turned to look at him, ignoring Grayson’s question. ”Her name is Sofia Reyes. She works for the Sentinel.”
”Already done,” he replied, looking down at the phone in his hand. ”Her name is Sofia Reyes, never married, lives alone. Pretty sparse social media presence. Her parents died in a car accident when she was twenty-two. She has a brother, two years younger. Samuel Reyes. He’s a policeman, 10th district.”
”Her brother is a cop?” Victor asked, clearly surprised and stopped leaning against the banister. I could feel Sofia’s gaze on us through the clear double doors, though I didn’t turn around to check whether I was right.
Jace nodded, straightening up. ”Yes,” he said. ”She doesn’t seem to have much of a social life. Mostly a workaholic. She’s been working at the Sentinel for a little under five years now.”
”Anything like this in her history?” Victor asked.
”Like getting beaten to a bloody pulp?” I interjected. ”I’m going to make an educated guess here and say no.”
”That’s her public information,” Jace said. ”Do you want me to keep looking into her?”
”No,” I replied. ”I just needed to confirm what I already thought. We need to bring her in.”
The air was sucked out of the room as they all looked at each other. We didn’t bring anyone in. We had people who worked for us, sure, but the core group never changed, and she wouldn’t be someone on our payroll. I wasn’t surprised that it put my men on edge. It scared me too, but I knew there were no other options.
”So how do you want to bring her in?” Victor asked. ”We can keep her here and question her about…”
I held up my hand to stop him from talking. ”I’m going to ask her.”
”What?”
”I’m going to ask her if she wants to join,” I said. ”And if that doesn’t work, then I’m sure I can find other ways to be persuasive.”
Another silent look. Jace, Grayson and Victor weren’t normally quiet, but there was tension in the air. We were all worried about the killings that were being pinned on us and the woman in the other room was the ingredient that could tip the delicate balance in our favor.
Or away from us. She could be working to destroy us.
But I was lost, and I knew I could always just kill her if she tried anything funny. ”Stay here,” I said to the men. I turned around, my fists clenched and my jaw locked. I wasn’t afraid of her, but seeing the blood on her face made me feel queasy.
She was staring out the window, her breath fogging up the glass. Her hair looked matted at the back, her small silhouette blocking the cityscape outside. My gaze slid down her body and my heart clenched in my chest. Whoever had gone after her was definitely, undoubtedly, trying to kill her.
I didn’t think she would’ve been able to fight them off, so I was curious about what had happened.
”Sofia,” I said.
She turned around to look at me. ”Did you think I’d try to run?” she asked, her voice loud, clear. From the way she looked, I could tell she was in pain. God, that spunk. I had to stop myself from smiling.
”No. I didn’t think you were stupid,” I said. ”How are you feeling?”
”A little better,” she said. ”The painkillers worked and I’m, you know, pretty confident I’m not going to die. So that’s good.”
”I can take you to the hospital if you want me to.”
”I don’t want you to,” she replied, her jaw setting as she crossed her arms over her chest. She immediately grimaced from the pain. ”Just…don’t want to deal with the police, if possible.”
