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He stopped only for a moment to peek around the corner and make sure there weren’t any more black-eyed crazy people When he seemed sure the coast was clear, he took us to the door

I raised aze The door to Cole’s condo still lay ajar Wooden splinters jutted out in all directions where the lock had once been

Jack set ht and left, cautiously I took a step toward the door; and with an exasperated grunt, Jack picked ain, turned around, and placed ile piece of art out of the way of a wrecking ball

"Stay behind me, Becks" His eyes burned

I took in a deep breath The man who had broken in had to have been sos didn’t have black eyes, and he wasn’t a Shade or a Wanderer What if he was still here? What if he wasn’t alone? Jack took care of hi after us If he had had a friend last night

I shook my head violently, but it came off as a mild tilt Jack still knehat I meant His lips quirked up

"I can take care of anything waiting for me in there But you will stay safe"

Jack crept toward the door and stepped lightly over the threshold Despite his size, Jack could ood quarterback

He disappeared into the condo, and the one, the hairs ondark in the shadows of the courtyard caughtunusual Except that the shadows theer and blacker than they should

Was it the direction of the sun that made the shadows feel so out of place? I squinted, still seeing nothing Maybe it was the state of Cole’s condo, butthat eren’t alone

We were being watched

Jack shouldn’t have left er here was no longer inside Cole’s apartlance toward the darkest shadows in the northeast corner of the courtyard, I ducked inside the condo after Jack When I saw the living rooasped Chunks of what had once been Cole’s couch lay shredded all over the floor Someone had broken the coffee table into five or six pieces Whoever it was had ransacked the place, looking for so for that was s of a coffee table?

Nothing longer than a foot in length was left intact Whoever had been here left no object untouched

"Becks!" Jack stood in the hallway that led toward the bedrooms "I told you to stay outside"

I couldn’t put into words the sudden fear that had washed over me in the courtyard, so I took a few shaky steps and buried myself in Jack’s chest What I wanted to say was that I’d just gotten hiain We’d promised each other ouldn’t be apart

As if he could hear hts, Jack wrapped his ar here anyway"

I realized he hispering, and his eyes darted back and forth as if he were expecting so to jump out of the shadows

He heldsome strands of hair out of my eyes "The band’s not here And whoever trashed this place didn’t hold back" Jack grabbedroom and out the door

"What were they?" I couldn’t finish the question, but Jack did

"What were they looking for? I have no idea I didn’t see anything that could give htstand It was shattered" He sighed "Whoever was here did a thorough job, and they probably got what they came for There wasn’t one square inch left untouched"

Thorough job Not a square inch left undisturbed If the intruders had actually found what they were looking for, wouldn’t they have stopped searching at that point? Which would mean that unless they’d found it in the last place available, there would be at least one corner of the condo untouched

Jack seemed to reach the conclusion at the same time I did "They didn’t find it, did they? Whatever it was they were looking for?"

I shookthe ground before I had a chance to right ently on the floor

"I’ to look for a stray hair of Cole’s Just in case"

He leftmoments, which could have lasted seconds or hours, and then returned

"What do they do? Scrub the place down every tihed "I didn’t find any stray hairs Let’s get you out of here"

He carried ently placed me inside He buckled esture

"Hey, I’ to defeat the Underworld only to lose you in a car accident" He got in on the driver’s side and started the ignition I shivered, and he switched on the heater He kept the car in park and shook his head "Cole’s placeit’s the level of destruction that has ainst him and just wanted to trash the place instead of so I h to hide in an alar ss didn’t place very s, such as s weren’t the only ss of value

I’d seen Cole protect one s in his life So had Jack His eyes narrowed, and he becaed one word "Hearts"

"Everliving hearts," he said "Cole’s heart is a pick Max’s is--what did you tell ?"

I nodded

"But ould anyone go after their hearts? I mean, why now?"

Jack had a point The only tis was at the hands of the queen Or when so to take over the throne

I closed my eyes Is that what this was about? Did someone find out what Cole had planned? Did someone find out that I had survived the Feed?

"Jack"

"What?"

I took a deep breath and put together two sentences "What if they weren’t looking for Cole’s heart? What if they were looking for ot a y I didn’t have But the words still came "Don’t worry," I said "Cole said they kept my identity a secret He made sure there wasn’t any connection in the Everneath between him and me"

"But people on the Surface know you’re connected to the Dead Elvises," he said, bitterness lacing his voice

"But s don’t know about the Deads" Cole had told me they made sure they spent most of their time up on the Surface "He wanted to stay anony!" Jack snapped "Someone found him It’s only a matter of time before they find you too"

Jack took his eyes off the steering wheel and glanced atmy face, his stony expression immediately softened

"Sorry, Becks"

"It’s okay," I said quietly "You’re right Of course you’re right Someone has found Cole"