Free Chaos by Lanie Bross

staring at her, almost
into
her, in a way no guy ever had before. She felt exposed and excited all at once. Her breath hitched in her throat. Normally, guys talked to her chest. This guy made her feel like they were alone in the world.
    “Then we’re both looking for something,” she said, deliberately breaking eye contact. She picked her way over one of the collapsed columns, and the buzzing sense that she was close, that she had been here, grew stronger. There was something here—something that would unlock the mystery of the past few days. All of this seemed so familiar, but why? Of course she’d been to the rotunda before, but this was different; something had happened to Jasmine here. Something important. The certainty was like an itch just under the skin that got worse the more you ignored it.
    She started moving pieces of concrete almost automatically, digging through the debris from the base of the toppled column with the toe of her shoe. Then she bent down and pushed aside a large chunk of plaster.
    “Really—what are you doing?” the boy asked. He had come up right behind her.
    “I
said
I lost something here,” she insisted. “Right before the earthquake. It’s kind of important—like a family heirloom.” It wasn’t a total lie. She
had
lost her ring, which felt like a family heirloom, even if it was worth two bucks.
    He squatted and began to help her clear away large chunks of plaster.
    She spotted it after only a minute: a dark hole, anda set of crumbling stairs. Her heart leapt, and the sense that she was on the verge of a great discovery—on the verge of piecing it all together—intensified.
    “Whoa,” the boy said. “Is that like a secret entrance or something?”
    “Or something,” Jasmine said. She hopped onto the fallen column, then carefully lowered her legs into darkness until her feet touched the stairs. Inside, the air felt thick and damp. The sense of déjà vu grew stronger. Had she been here this weekend? At the bottom of the stairs, dull light was shining from some invisible source.
    “This is definitely not safe,” the boy said. But he lowered himself after her, through the opening.
    “Who’s following who now?” she said. “Shouldn’t you be out, you know, helping people and saving puppies?”
    To her surprise, he grinned. God, he was hot when he smiled.
    “I am helping people. I’m helping you.” He was looking at her again, the same way as before, like it was just the two of them in the world.
    She cleared her throat. “Look … about the thing I lost.”
    “The heirloom.” He kept a straight face, but she had a feeling he was making fun of her. She glared at him.
    “It was a ring,” she said haughtily. “But I didn’t lose it. It was … stolen. And I got a tip that it might be stashed around here.”
    “A tip?” he repeated.
    “Yeah.” She forced herself not to blink. She had a feeling, though, that he could read the lie on her face.
    “We’ve met.”
    “I’m positive we haven’t.” And she was. She would remember someone like him.
    They shared a silence; then he shook his head and said, “Let’s go look for it, then.” He moved past her and his body brushed against hers in the tight space. Tiny jolts of electricity rushed through Jasmine. That had never happened when T.J. touched her. “Careful,” he said. “Looks like part of the wall has collapsed.”
    He held out his hand and she took it reluctantly. Not because she didn’t want to, but because she was afraid of what his touch might do to her concentration. His grip was firm but gentle, and his palms were totally dry. Their hands fit together perfectly. Heat roared through her body as they moved carefully down the stairs, avoiding the places that had crumbled away.
    When they reached the bottom of the stairs, Jasmine saw the source of the light. The ceiling had partially caved in, and light filtering in from above illuminated some kind of living space. Most if it lay in rubble,