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She turned back only once, as they were rounding a corner, and saw that the one

A block later, the ht up to the facades of a city puh of the beautiful old buildings left to draw the interest of the conservationists, and the sheer a for reconstruction Unable to deovernh separated by only a few streets, seenized thethe opposite side of the street, with its shattered arched s and the statues of ,their statues altogether The Musée du Louvre, one of the few sights her father had taken her to as a child The building, half collapsed on the west end, was too unstable to go inside, but she and her father had stood together on the sidehile he told her about the priceless artworks that had been destroyed in the bos, or the lucky few that had become spoils of war

Many had still not been found, over a century later

It was one of the few pleasant otten it until now

"Scarlet"

She snapped her head around

"This way" Wolf angled his head toward another street

She nodded and followed hi back

Despite the district’s tarnish, it was clear that these ancient streets weren’t entirely abandoned A shosts of fallen civilians" in theA thrift store displayed headless arbed in a rush of vibrant fabrics

At an intersection, Wolf paused on a concrete city square with a boarded-up entrance to the subway and a sign that indicated the platform was closed; the nearest could be found on the Boulevard des Italiens

"Are you ready?"

She followed his transfixed gaze up to a towering, gorgeous building before theuard at massive arched doorways

"What is this?"

Wolf followed her gaze "Once it was an opera house and an architectural e for artillery and, eventually, prisoners of war Then, when no one else wanted it, we took over"

Scarlet frowned at that word We "See, don’t you think?"

"Would you ever suspect so inside?"

When she didn’t answer, he backed away, scrutinizing her as he approached theher breath, she exari down at her, a long balconyher jaw, she crossed the street and , past the silent, unpreserved angels, beneath the shadowed portico

"I’raffiti across the doors

"Scarlet"

She turned to face hiruffness in his voice

"I’m sorry"

He was careful not to touch her as he passed

Herher head as Wolf pulled the nearest door open and stepped into the shadows

Twenty-Seven

The door thudded shut behind them Scarlet found herself in the immense foyer of the opera house, alht beyond the arches The lobby was full of silence and dust and chunks of broken ed Scarlet’s throat and she struggled not to cough as she ly loud in the e as she passed between twofrorand double staircase It depicted to aloft a bouquet of torches Dozens of wax candles glowed and flickered, casting a haunting orange film over the lobby The staircase, carved fro rando her head and the arm that had once held her own candelabra

Scarlet’s foot splashed into a puddle and she drew back, first looking down at the broken marble floor, then up Three stories of balconies rose above and in their center, where the light barely reached, was a painted ceiling with a squarein its center The , it see herself, Scarlet turned back to Wolf He lingered between the colu nonchalance

Wolf peeled himself out of the shadows and prowled toward the staircase His body was as tense as the statues that watched thes above, but she saw no e No s or netscreens Even the sounds of the street had disappeared beyond theup inside her at the sickening sensation of being trapped like apast Wolf, she ainst the first riser

"Hello?" she yelled, craning her head "You have visitors!"

Her words echoed back to her, harsh and defiant

No sound No alarm