Nightwatch

«You have no right to make such proposals,» I said firmly.

«I shall have!» Alisa shook her head and took a deep breath. «Zabulon!»

I waited, clutching the little combat disc in my hand.

«Zabulon, I summon you!» Her voice had become a high-pitched screech. I noticed the human shadows around us begi

Would her summons reach the head of the Dark Ones again?

Like that time at the Maharajah restaurant, when Zabulon had almost killed me with Shahab's Lash?

But he hadn't killed me. He'd missed.

Even though the whole operation had been pla

Did that mean he'd already had other plans in mind for me?

Or had Gesar intervened, secretly and unobtrusively, diverted the streaks of lightning away from me?

I didn't know. As always, I didn't have enough information for analysis. I could have come up with thirty-three different explanations, all contradicting each other.

I was almost hoping Zabulon wouldn't respond. Then I'd be able to pull Alisa out of the Twilight, call in the boss or one of the operatives, hand the fool over to them, and receive a bonus at the end of the month. But what did I care about bonuses right now?

«Zabulon!» There was genuine supplication in her voice. «Zabulon!»

She was crying now, without even realizing it. The mascara had run under her eyes.

«Don't waste your time,» I said. «Let's go.»

Just at that moment a Dark Portal opened only two meters away from us.

First there was a blast of cold that chilled me to the bone, and I started thinking fondly about the heat in the human world. The moss burst into flames and burned all the way down the street. Naturally, Zabulon hadn't set it on fire deliberately; it was just that the opening of the portal had spilled so much Power that the moss couldn't assimilate it all.

«Zabulon,» whispered Alisa.

From out of the paving stones about five meters away a ray of violet light shot up into the sky. The flash blinded me and I automatically squeezed my eyes shut. When I looked in that direction again, there was a bluish-black bubble hanging in the gray mist, with something looking vaguely like a man clambering out of it, bristling with spiny scales. Zabulon had responded to the summons by traveling through the second or third level of the Twilight. The time we were moving in would have seemed as slow there as human time did to us.

I suddenly had the old feeling of powerlessness that I thought I'd come to terms with a long time ago. The abilities that Zabulon or Gesar used so casually were so far beyond me that I simply couldn't comprehend them.

«Zabulon!» Still holding her hands behind her back, Alisa dashed toward the monstrous creature and pressed herself against it, burying her face in the bristly scales. «Help me, help me!»

Of course, Zabulon hadn't appeared in demonic form just to make an impression on me. In human form he wouldn't have survived a minute in the deep layers of the Twilight. And he'd probably have to travel for hours, if not days.

The monster cast a baleful glance at me from its narrow slits of eyes. A long, forked tongue slithered out of its mouth and slid across Alisa's head, leaving a trail of white slime on her hair. A scaly hand with long claws took hold of Alisa by the chin and gently lifted up her head. Their eyes met. The exchange of information was brief.

«Little fool!» the demon roared. The tongue withdrew into the mouth and the jaws clacked shut, just missing it. «Greedy little fool!»

Well. So much for my right to a third-level intervention.

The demon's short tail lashed Alisa across the legs, tearing the silk dress and knocking her to the ground. The monster's eyes flashed; the witch was enveloped in a blue glow and she froze.

So much for the help Alisa had wanted.

«May I take my prisoner away, Zabulon?» I asked.

The monster stood there, swaying on its crooked paws, with the claws on its toes sliding in and out. Then he took a step and stood between me and the motionless young woman.

«I ask you to confirm the legality of the arrest,» I said. «Otherwise I shall be obliged to summon help.»

The demon began transforming. The proportions of its body changed and its scales disappeared, its tail was drawn back into its body, and its penis stopped looking like a club studded with nails. Finally clothes appeared on Zabulon's body.

«Wait a moment, Anton.»

«What should I wait for?»

The Dark Magician's face remained inscrutable. Presumably in his demonic form he felt far more emotions, or at least he didn't feel any need to conceal them.

«I confirm the pledge made by Alisa.»

«What?»

«If this matter is not made official, the Day Watch will accept any magical intervention you make, up to and including the third level.»

He seemed to be absolutely serious.

I gulped. A promise like that from the head of the Day Watch…

Never trust the Dark Ones.

«Any intervention up to and including the second level.»

«Are you that eager to avoid a scandal?» I asked. «Or do you need her for something?»

A tremor ran across Zabulon's face.

«I need her. I love her.»

«I don't believe you.»

«As the head of the Moscow Day Watch I ask you, watchman Anton, to settle this matter amicably. It is possible, since my ward Alisa Do

A faint trembling. A rumbling under the ground, the roar of an approaching hurricane. A tiny black ball appeared on Zabulon's open palm, spi

«What do you say?» asked Zabulon.

I ran my tongue over my lips and looked at Alisa's magically frozen body. She was a real bitch, no doubt about it. And I had a personal score to settle with her.

Maybe that was why I didn't feel like settling this business with a compromise? Maybe it had nothing to do with the danger of an agreement with the Darkness? Alisa had tried to use the prism of power to extract part of the life energy from humans. That was third– or fourth-level magic. I'd be able to perform a second-level intervention, and that was a very, very big deal. A genuinely massive intervention! A city without a single crime for a whole day. A brilliant and unequivocally good intervention. How many times in the history of the Night Watch had we needed to make a third– or fourth-level intervention but didn't have the right, and we'd had to just go ahead and risk it, terrified by how the other side might respond?

And now I could have a second-level intervention for free, or as good as.

«May the Light bear witness to my words,» I said, and held my hand out to Zabulon.

It was the first time I'd ever called on the primordial powers to witness anything. I only knew it didn't require any special incantations. And there was no real guarantee that the Light would deign to become involved in our affairs.

A petal of white flame flared up on my open palm.

Zabulon winced, but he didn't take his hand away. We sealed the agreement with a handshake, the Darkness and the Light coming together. I felt a stab of pain, like a blunt needle piercing my flesh.

«The agreement is sealed,» said the Dark Magician.

He frowned too. He had also felt the pain.

«Do you hope to gain from this?» I asked.

«Of course. I always hope to gain. And I usually do.»

At least Zabulon wasn't obviously delighted with the deal we'd made. Whatever he might be hoping for as a result of our agreement, he wasn't completely certain of success.

«I've found out what the courier brought to Moscow from the East and why.»

Zabulon smiled gently.

«Excellent. I find the situation upsetting, and it is a great relief to know that now my concern will be shared by others.»

«Zabulon, has there ever been a single case when the Night Watch and the Day Watch collaborated? Genuine collaboration, not just catching violators and psychopaths?»

«No. In any collaboration one side or the other would be the loser.»

«I'll bear that in mind.»

«You do that.»

We even bowed politely to each other. As if we weren't two magicians on opposite sides, an agent of the Light and a servant of the Darkness, but two acquaintances who got along perfectly well.

Then Zabulon went back to Alisa's motionless body, lifted it up easily, and threw it across his shoulder. I was expecting him to withdraw from the Twilight, but instead of that the leader of the Dark Ones gave me a condescending smile and stepped into the portal. It remained visible for a moment, and then began to fade. I was going a different way.

It was only then I realized how tired I felt. The Twilight likes it when we enter it, and it likes it even more when we're agitated. The Twilight's an insatiable whore, glad to take on anyone.

I chose a spot where there weren't many people and tore myself out of my shadow.

The eyes of the people walking by swung away in the usual way. You meet us so often during the day, you humans… Light Ones and Dark Ones, magicians and werewolves, witches and healers. You look at us, but you're not allowed to see us. May it always be that way.

We can live for hundreds and thousands of years. We're very hard to kill. And for us the problems that make up human life are no more than a primary-school pupil's distress at his bad handwriting.

But there's a downside to everything. I'd gladly trade places with you, humans. Take this ability to see the shadow and enter the Twilight. Take the protection of the Watch and the ability to influence people's minds.

Give me the peace of mind that I have lost forever!

Someone jostled me to get me out of the way. A tough-looking young guy with a shaved head, a cell phone on his belt, and a gold chain around his neck. He looked me up and down disdainfully, muttered something through his teeth, and swaggered on down the street. The girlfriend clinging to his arm made a rather unsuccessful attempt to imitate his glance, the kind that petty gangsters use for jerks who are a «soft touch.»