A thought struck her as they reached the door, stopping her mid-step. She turned to look at Sam, Marc, Amanda, Jessica, Tally, and Jack—her Guardians, though she was still processing what that even meant. "Eddie," she said quietly. "What did you tell him?"
The six of them exchanged glances, and it was Sam who spoke first. "The truth he could handle," he said gently. "Dehydration and alcohol. You'd been dancing, the club was hot, you hadn't eaten much before coming out."
"He believed it?" Sophia's stomach twisted with guilt.
"Why wouldn't he?" Jack said, though his expression was sympathetic. "It happens all the time in clubs. And Marc caught you before you hit the floor, so there wasn't any dramatic collapse or anything that would make him think it was more serious."
"We got you up here to Alexander's office on the top floor," Jessica added. "Let you rest, gave you water. By the time Eddie saw you again, you were sitting up and coherent. Just embarrassed."
Sophia pressed her hands to her face. "And he just... went home? He didn't want to stay?"
"We convinced him you'd be mortified if everyone hovered," Amanda said softly. "Told him Marc and Alexander would make sure you got home safely. He was worried, but..." She trailed off, and Sophia understood. Eddie trusted them. He had no reason not to.
"He texted about an hour ago," Tally said, pulling out her phone to show Sophia the screen. "Just checking that you were okay. I told him you were already asleep and that we'd all catch up tomorrow."
The casual normalcy of it—the mundane cover story, the reassuring text message, the friend who went home thinking everything was fine—it made Sophia's chest ache. "I hate this," she whispered. "I hate that we lied to him. That he's the only one who doesn't know."
"I know," Marc said, and the understanding in his voice made her throat tight. "But he's safe. He's home, he's not asking questions that could put him in danger, and he's not a target. That's what matters right now."
"We've all been where you are," Sam said quietly, moving closer. "That moment when you realize you have to lie to people you care about. When you understand that sometimes keeping them in the dark is the only way to keep them safe."
Sophia looked around at them—at the Guardians who'd been watching over her for a year, who'd known what she was before she did, who'd seen her collapse and understood immediately what was happening. They weren't just her friends anymore. They were something more, something deeper. Protectors. Allies. People who understood the impossible truth of what she was.
"He's going to wonder why I'm acting weird," Sophia said, her voice small. "When I see him next. How am I supposed to just... pretend everything's normal?"
"You don't have to pretend with us," Alexander said from behind her, his hand settling gently on her shoulder. "That's why we're taking you somewhere safe. Somewhere you can process all of this without having to maintain a facade."
"Eddie will be fine," Jessica assured her. "We'll handle it. Make sure he doesn't worry too much, doesn't ask too many questions. And when you're ready—if you're ever ready—we can figure out what to tell him. But that's not a decision you have to make tonight."
Sophia wanted to argue, but she couldn't. Because they were right. Eddie was safe. He'd go to sleep tonight thinking his friend had gotten a little too drunk and needed to be taken home early, and he'd wake up tomorrow with nothing more than mild concern for her wellbeing.
He wouldn't know that the world had magic in it. That monsters were real. That his friend was something other than human.
And maybe, Sophia thought as she let Marc guide her toward the exit, that was a mercy.
Even if it felt like just another loss in a night full of them.