Chapter NineteenDespite the freezing temperature and the dreary brown slush on the sidewalks, I walked to work the next morning. The sky was heavy with imminent rain, the smell of damp air mixed with vehicle exhaust. On the opposite sidewalk, a vendor screamed something indistinct. A man shouted obscenities at a pickpocket who ran away, but no one tried to stop the thief. It was a lousy place to live, yet I was beginning to make a place for it in my heart.
Two blocks away, Zantry Akinzo fell into step beside me.
I gave him a sideways glance. The man was dressed in black slacks and a heavy wool coat, hands tucked inside the pockets, two inches of black hair sticking out from a watch cap, brushing the coat collar.
He gazed up at the tall buildings, eyes clear and vivid, and inhaled a lung
