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Her eyes finally fluttered open completely, but she still looked like she was going to throw up. Her dark eyes, which were normally wide and alert, looked glassy and unfocused. I helped lay her down on the bed and lifted her legs onto the pillows, just like Victor had suggested.
“Thanks,” she said breathlessly, looking up at me.
I brushed her hair away from her forehead and placed a hand on her shoulder to steady her.
“Do you have anything salty?” Victor asked.
I shook my head. “I don’t have any food here really,” I replied. “There’s a vending machine in the lobby if you think that’ll help?”
“Yes,” Victor said. “I’ll be right back.”
Sofia was coming to as Victor left my apartment. He made sure to close the door behind himself gently as Sofia tried to prop herself up on her shoulders.
“What happened?” I asked gently, wanting to make sure she was okay.
She shook her head, then winced, a hand suddenly on her head. “I’m not sure. What did happen?”
“You fainted,” I said, sitting down beside her on the bed. “Are you okay?”
She nodded slowly, but I could tell she wasn’t. “I just need a minute,” she said, closing her eyes again.
I continued to watch her, concern etched on my face. It wasn’t like Sofia to faint. Sure, she could get overwhelmed and stressed easily, but she was always able to keep herself together.
“Jace?” she asked, her voice raspy.
“Yeah?” I said, leaning closer to her.
“I need to tell you something,” she said, her eyes still closed.
My heart started pounding. Whatever she was going to say couldn’t be good. “What is it?” I asked, trying not to sound too worried.
She hesitated for a moment before speaking. “Sara Garcia was my mother’s name,” she said finally.
“What?”
“This person who is contacting Olivier,” she said bitterly. “They know things about me they shouldn’t know. And now they’re impersonating my mother...”
I could see the hurt and anger in her eyes, and I couldn’t help but feel the same emotions bubbling up within me. I couldn’t begin to imagine what it must feel like to have someone impersonate your dead mother. Even hearing my mother’s name still brought me close to tears and she had died years ago.
I couldn’t imagine how she felt, considering the way her mother had died.
“We’ll find out who this person is,” I promised her firmly, placing a hand on her shoulder. “And we’ll make sure they pay for what they’ve done.”
She looked up at me, her eyes wide. For the first time since I had met her--yes, even when she had been tied up, bruised and brought to HQ unwillingly--she looked like she was about to burst into tears. “What the fuck, Jace,” she said. “This is so messed up.”
I didn’t know what else I could do. I knew I was going to find whoever was stalking her and when I did, it was going to hurt. But for the time being, I couldn’t. The only thing I could do was wrap my arms around her and bring her close to me in a hug.
She resisted for a second then gave in. It took me a second to realize that her shoulders were shaking and she was crying in my arms.
I held her tightly, not caring about the tears that were soaking my shirt. I just needed to be there for her, to make sure she knew that she wasn’t alone. That we were going to figure this out together, no matter what it took.
“It’s okay,” I whispered into her hair as she continued to cry. “I’m here. I got you.”
I didn’t know how long we stayed like that, with her crying in my arms. It could’ve been minutes or hours, but it didn’t matter to me. All that mattered was that I was there for her when she needed me. At some point, Victor must’ve slipped back into the apartment, because when I looked up, he was there.
He didn’t disturb us. He didn’t move.
He just waited until Sofia was done crying. Her hair tickled my face but I didn’t want to move. I didn’t want to stop her from getting it all out and she clearly needed to. Eventually, she pulled away from me and wiped at her eyes. “I’m so sorry,” she said, her voice hoarse. “I don’t know what came over me.”
