Her vision began to haze, a light-headedness coming over her. Her heartbeat sped up so fast she could hear it in herears. Heavy thumps accompanied by the rushing of blood. She lowered to her knees, her fingers wrapping tightly around the railing in a death grip—and she knew there was nothing and no one that could get her to let go.
“How long doesit take to do a full circuit of the skywalk?”
Jace only half listened to Jake’s question. He itched to turn around and go back to Elle.
She hated heights. She’dalwayshated heights.
Dammit, she was stubborn.
“Anywhere from half an hour to an hour, depending on how fast you walk,” Jace finally answered. “But I’ve had a few tours that’ve taken longer. Usually people who like to stop and take a lot of photos on the way.”
“Has it been busy?”
“Yeah, really busy. I’ve had a few teenagers who I’ve had to yell at for being idiots and doing things like hanging over the railing or rocking the walk.” Of course, it was only the lookouts, like the one they were coming up to, that could be rocked.
Jake scoffed as they stepped onto the lookout path. “I bet you scared them enough that they don’t do it again.”
Hell yeah, he did. Safety was important and part of his job here. No one would be getting hurt or killed on his watch.
He glanced up at Hendrix to see him lightly pushing Nikita.
“Feel good being back?” Jake asked.
“It’s different. I haven’t been back much since high school, and while I feel completely changed from the person I was the day I left, this town feels the same.”
Jake laughed. “Must be a small-town thing.”
Jace just opened his mouth to respond when Hendrix grabbed both sides of the railing and started shaking it from side to side.
For fuck’s sake.
“Hendrix! Stop rocking it!” When the asshole didn’t listen, Jace stormed forward. “Stop.Now!”
Finally, Hendrix turned, a shit-eating grin on his face. “Come on, I was just playing around.”
Nikita joined them, frowning as she looked behind Jace. “Is Elle okay?”
He turned—and his chest pulled too fucking tight at the sight of Elle crouched low, knuckles white as she held the railing with her eyes scrunched closed.
And the fucking lookout was still swaying.
“No one move,” Jace growled as he walked over to her. He kept his steps slow so he didn’t shake the skywalk anymore. When he was close enough, he lowered beside her. “Hey, Tink, you okay?”
She didn’t move and her eyelids didn’t so much as flicker open. All he could hear were her panting breaths.
She couldn’t hear him. She was having a panic attack.
Shit.
He inched closer and gently touched the small of her back, then placed his mouth so that his lips just touched her ear. “Tink, you’re safe. I’m here.”
For a moment, her chest stopped moving. The air stopped rushing between her lips. There was a second of silence before she whispered, “Jace?”
“Yeah, Tink, I’m here. You’re safe,” he repeated, in case she hadn’t heard him the first time. Or in case she just needed it repeated.
“Safe?”
“Yes. I’d never let anything happen to you.”
