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Richard’s dark face shone in the light of the one lantern he held "They’re powerful close"

"They’re all around us It doesn’tthe truth If the rioters found this place--and the dozens of black families huddled inside--the repercussions would be deadly And he would feel obligated to defend those hiding here, by any ht be

"Thought the rain last night ht’ve cooled them off"

"No such luck" Already the su and heavy with huh to drive the sanity out of e outside

This was Richard’s mission, Richard’s rescue; he was the one who had liness and had gathered the others together That was the hard part Balthazar knew he played only a very s place But if the rioters realized who hid here and broke through the door, his role would expand into violence Only his full vaht off so many attackers The people huddled in this warehouse would then realize that Balthazar was so other than huly carved out for himself here in Manhattan would shatter in an instant

If that were to be the price of keeping these people alive, then Balthazar would pay it But he would not pay it gladly Whatever shadow of a life he had, he hoped to keep

Richard whispered, "I don’t like the sound of it out there"

"Me either" Balthazar didn’t say what he’d seen, rather than heard: the two bodies hanging fro slowly, the ropes too short to allow for broken necks and"When it’s quieter, I’ll go out See what’s happening"

"Appreciated," Richard said Their eyes lance of the darkest humor To the fools outside, who looked no deeper than a person’s skin, Richard was somehow suspect, and Balthazar--the murderer, the monster--would be trusted

The warehouse had fortunately been all but eo; only a few barrels sat stacked in the corner This left more room for the dozens of people--African-Americans, some escaped slaves but enerations--to hide froether, some of them families with sly yelling from outside In the past day, more than one hundred people had died--far more, Balthazar suspected Sohbors, or family members of those who hid here now

Balthazar took a deep breath as he realized, yet again, the fragility of huht it was set, it shifted; when you thought it was safe, it changed He’d spentfor a couple of decades before realizing that the hustle and bustle of New York City was the best place to disguise his own unearthly nature For the past thirty years, he’d hborhood to neighborhood as needed to e A handful of individuals had even gotten to know him; they’d all observed and commented on his peculiar habits, even Richard, ore that Balthazar must live on air and sunshine like a flower, since nobody ever saw him eat But in New York, it took more than that to count as "weird," and so he was accepted Some of these people Balthazar would even dare to call friends, the first friends he’d had since his death