Day Watch

"That's just the point," Tolik exclaimed gloomily. "When he came in, he looked exactly like an ordinary magician, maybe third or fourth level. Like me and Anton."

Anton didn't say anything-strictly speaking, Tolik was incorrect, but in essence he was right. Gesar had called Anton a second-level magician, but Anton's powers had only risen to that level on a few occasions. It would be more honest to admit that for the time being he was still third level.

"But as soon as I tried to probe him," Tolik went on, "that was it. A blank wall. He's definitely more powerful than me. Anton. Did you try to probe him?"

"No."

"Looks like he's first level…" Tolik, said with a sigh. "If it comes to it, we'll have to call in Ilya…"

"I'm afraid we might even have to call in Olga and Sveta and the boss," Anton remarked. Nobody answered him. Nobody liked the idea of asking the Higher Magicians for help.

Tiger Cub started squirming about, making herself more comfortable on the seat. "There's no way he's not co

"But did he definitely arrive on Saturday?" Tolik asked.

"Definitely," Tiger Cub assured him. "I didn't like the look of him, you know? I even found the train he was on and sca

"And do we have anything on him?"

Anton thought he caught a hint of concealed hope in Tolik's question: "Compromising material, you mean? Not a thing. Not a single violation. He doesn't need any licenses, he's not a vampire or a shape-shifter. And he was only initiated fairly recently, just seven years ago… Like me."

Tolik nodded thoughtfully. "There aren't many Others in Nikolaev. So the Watches are small as well, only twenty or thirty agents…"

"Okay, when we get back, I'll dig a bit deeper," Anton promised. "Did you lock up your station wagon, eh?"

"What's going to happen to it?" Tolik asked with a shrug. "Yes, we'll have to phone the boss after all. Or will we be able to handle this on our own?"

He was obviously feeling uncomfortable. Tolik had been in charge of the IT department for more than a year now, since Anton made the move to operational work. But no member of the Night Watch has the right to let his qualifications slip- and the time had come around for Tolik's month of field duty.

And on the very first day there was an unpleasant incident like this…

"We'll probably have to tell him," Anton decided.

"Then there's no point in putting it off…" Tolik sighed.

Tiger Cub eagerly held out her cell phone, but before Tolik could even touch it the phone started chirping the tune of "Midnight in Moscow."

Anton was about to take the phone, but he restrained himself. You never know… It was obviously one of their own calling, but he couldn't sense the tense, nervous energy of a work call. Maybe it was simply some member of the Watch calling Tiger Cub? Everybody had a personal life, even the members of the Watch.

Tiger Cub took the call. Most of the time she just listened, and once she said, "I don't know."

"It's Garik," she explained in a voice filled with quiet alarm. "Andriukha's disappeared."

"Tiu

"Yes. Garik thought he was with us."

"The last time I saw him was this afternoon," Tolik told her. "He was pla

"His phone's not answering. Garik can't sense him either- and he's Andriukha's mentor…"

Anton turned toward Tiger Cub: "After Saturday he was like a man possessed. What did that Dark One say to him in the alley?"

Tiger Cub shrugged. "Nothing special-I've told you a hundred times already. He called him a detective. But Andriukha really had screwed up-it was obvious straightaway that the Dark One was no vampire. I explained that to him myself."

"He doesn't have to be a vampire," Tolik declared in a bored, didactic voice. "This Dark One could quite easily be the organizer of the whole grisly mess. And it goes without saying that his organizational talents are clearly above average!"

"One of Zabulon's pawns," Anton mused. "Yes, it's possible. Perfectly possible."

"Aim a bit higher. Not a pawn, not even a knight or a rook. A bishop. A serious piece. Maybe even a queen…"

"Tolik, don't exaggerate. Without Zabulon there's no way the Dark Ones can match us. And Zabulon's not in Moscow."

"That's what the Dark Ones say. But who knows what the truth is…"

"Zabulon hasn't shown his face much at all recently," Anton put in.

"That's just it. He's been keeping quiet, pla

"If they are co

"No, say what you like, but they're co

"Why bother thinking about it?" Tiger Cub asked. "Since Svetlana appeared we've had a substantial advantage. The Dark Ones have yielded one position after another-remember how the boss put the pressure on Zabulon at the last round of negotiations? And Zabulon gave way-what other choice did he really have? It looks as if the Dark Ones have launched an operation to restore the balance. But the timing's terrible-just before Clean Week…"

"For the Dark Ones that's the best possible time," Anton growled. "They know we won't start anything serious without a good reason. But so far there doesn't seem to be any reason."

"Be careful what you say…" Tolik told him in a pained voice.

The Zhiguli flew on along Leningradsky Prospect, overtaking the advancing dawn.

They drove the rest of the way to the office without saying another word. Either no one wanted to predict the worst, or they all felt they were in for something serious.

Garik was standing outside the entrance, shifting nervously from one foot to the other. And Ilya was there beside him, short of sleep and squinting out from behind his spectacles.

"Right," Tolik said cheerlessly. "Brace yourselves."

Ilya and Garik quickly got into the car, squeezing Tiger Cub from both sides, and Anton immediately realized why they'd got in like that, and what the pale, furious, and therefore very restrained Garik would say next…

"The Cosmos Hotel. Andriukha's dead, guys…"

Tolik slammed the accelerator to the floor, but even the most powerful car isn't fast enough to overtake death. Tiger Cub jerked feebly, squeezed tight between her friends, and then froze.

"How did it happen?" Anton asked in a dull voice.

"That Dark One-Vitaly Rogoza-just phoned. He said he'd found the body of an Other in his room."

"I'll personally bite his throat out," Tiger Cub promised in a hoarse voice. "And don't you try to stop me!"

"I phoned Bear just in case," Ilya said in a very neutral tone. "I think he's already in the Cosmos."

Anton got the idea that his colleagues had understood everything in advance and come to terms with the fact that a fight was inevitable. He secretly stroked the pistol in the holster under his armpit-the weapon that had never been any real use to him even once.

I had a nagging feeling that the events of the night were still far from over. I felt I was just begi

Alarm, trouble, disaster, danger-that was what the night had in store for me. At first I thought I would wait for the Dark Ones downstairs, beside their BMW outside the entrance, but then I realized I shouldn't do that. I shouldn't enlighten them as to… well, as to my total ignorance. Let them think that I really was playing a game. The chief of the Day Watch was out of town, and the others didn't seem to be any competition for me…