but only a fraction as bright as usual. “There we go.”
Her shoulders began to quiver, and her eyes widened, staring at me in abject horror.
“I’m sure it’s nothing,” I assured her like I fucking knew.
She nodded slowly, her entire body shaking.
“Why don’t we sit you down?” I suggested.
She nodded again, and I tightened my grip slightly, taking her weight so she could lower herself to the floor without falling straight on her ass. “S-s-sorry. I don’t do small spaces,” she whispered. “Are we stuck?”
Claustrophobic. This had to be her worst nightmare. “I’m sure it’s just a hiccup,” I said, keeping my voice as soothing as possible. “I’m Jansen, by the way.” Hell, I couldn’t remember the last time I’d introduced myself by my first name, but there it was.
She blinked rapidly, swallowing before she took a steadying breath. “Sterling?” she guessed.
“That’s me.” I slipped my cell from my back pocket, before crouching in front of her. “I’m guessing you must work for the Reapers seeing that you’re headed up to Silas’s little treehouse.”
A smile tugged at her lips. “Treehouse?”
“His office is on the highest floor, accessible by only two elevators, one of which only he has the key to, so I feel pretty safe about calling it a treehouse.” I grinned, hoping it would put her at ease.
“I never. Thought of it. That way.” Her breaths were coming faster.
Shit, she was going to hyperventilate.
“How about I call and see what’s going on?” I said as I quickly scrolled through my contacts and hit the button for Langley’s phone. The Reapers’ publicist—who was also Axel’s wife—was always chained to the damn thing, so I knew she’d pick up.
“Hello? Shit,” she muttered, followed by the sound of something shuffling.
“Langley, it’s Sterling.”
“Hey! Look, I’m glad you’re back, but we just had a power outage—”
“Right, and I’m stuck in the elevator with…” I looked at the blue-eyed woman and lifted my brows.
“London,” she answered.
“London,” I repeated, loving the way her name curled around my tongue.
“Well. Shit. Hold on.”
There was another shuffling sound like she’d covered the mouthpiece, and her words became muffled.
London closed her eyes and started to focus on her breathing. In through her nose and out through her mouth. She might be terrified, but I had to give her all the credit in the world for managing what she could.
“Okay, Sterling, you there?” Langley asked through the phone.
“Yep, if you consider here somewhere between the fourth and fifth floor.”
“Okay, the building manager says the power is coming back right—”
The lights flared to life, brightening to their full level. “Now,” I finished Langley’s sentence, breathing in a sigh of relief.
“Thank God,” London whispered, scurrying toward the panel of buttons and pressing the fifth floor.
Nothing happened.
Fuck.
London stabbed the buttons for every single floor, but we weren’t budging. “This is not happening!” she shouted, pushing them all again.
“Right, so we’re still stuck,” I said to Langley, my chest clenching at how trapped London had to be feeling.
“Awesome. Okay. I’m on it. We’ll get you out of there as quickly as possible. The south elevator, yes?”
“That’s the one.” I hung up with Langley and slid my phone back into my pocket. “They’re sending someone to help.”
London leaned back against the wall, then slid down it, slumping in defeat. “We’re stuck in here.” She stared at the closed doors, her eyes unfocused and her breathing shallow.
“What can I do to help you?” I leaned back, letting my ass hit the floor and bracing my elbows on my raised knees.
“Um. Talk to me, I guess?”
“I can do that.” Happily.
She blinked those glacier-blue eyes at me and sucked in a breath. “I’m not crazy.”
“I would never even think of using that word,” I assured her.
“I just have a small—” She winced. “Okay, a large problem with claustrophobia. I fucking hate elevators.”
“So distract you?” I offered.
“Distraction is good.” She tucked her hair behind her ears and nodded. “Incredibly long story short, I got myself locked in a really small tornado shelter as a kid during a game of hide and seek. The bad news? I was alone, and it took my brother almost twenty-four hours to find me.”
My stomach plummeted. “And there’s good news?” I asked incredulously.
The corners of her mouth tweaked upward. “I won the game.”
I laughed, the sound filling our little corner of the world and earning me a full, but shaky smile out of London. “Well done, but I can definitely see how that would lead to some claustrophobia.”
“It’s something I’ve been working on ever since,” she