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Swearing violently, Balthazar rose to his feet, kicked Redgrave once in the face to make himself feel better, and ran toward the nearest exit Soet out, but they were cra one another; others, dazed and frightened, sies of the dance floor as if numb He’d seen this in hu still as if to keep a predator fro them That same instinct could kill the one of the light arrays suspended over the dance floor to hang slightly above eye level From there he could reach down and rip the door away froainst several people and heard the was that the exit was now clear People began rushing out in earnest, and even the stupefied ones reacted once they saw clearly what they needed to do

He looked up through the shts upon the ceiling--and searched for Redgrave and Charity They were nowhere to be seen

"Redgrave!" he shouted, furious at the lost chance But already he could hear fire engine sirens wailing--probably the police, too, if anybody had reported his attack before Charity turned to arson--and it was ti lot was chaos By now the discotheque was ablaze, tongues of orange fire leaping into the sky Balthazar ducked through the crowd, hoping the soot that now coated his skin and hair wouldto suffer the consequences of killing Redgrave in public--up to and including years in prison, execution in the electric chair, and the long, rave they’d have buried hirave still lived

He’d done his best Taken every risk And he’d failed

Wearily he walked to his red Mustang GT Fastback to find a note on the windshield, tucked beneath one of the wipers He kneho it was from and was only mildly surprised to realize that they’d been able to determine which was his car Probably he shouldn’t have left a pack of cigarettes on the dash Or at least he should’ve switched brands

The handwriting was in Redgrave’s elegant script, each letter flourished the way it would have been in a note penned centuries ago:

Balthazar--

As long as you wish to be human, you will never be able to defeat me

When you finally accept that you are a ain becorave

Balthazar crumpled the note and let it fall to the asphalt Behind hihtclub burned, and somehow the music played on and on

Chapter Twenty-seven