Twilight Watch

Svetlana nodded in agreement. "Not a very pleasant prospect. What if Edgar himself used the Fuaran? And now he's acting out a comedy, just pretending to search. He didn't get along too well with Witezslav, he's crafty… he wanted to become the most powerful Other in the world…"

"But then what does he need the book for?" I exclaimed. "He could just have left it where it was. We wouldn't even have known that Witezslav had been killed. We'd have put it all down to protective spells that the vampire failed to notice."

"That makes sense," Svetlana agreed. "That's right, the killer isn't after Power. Or not only Power. He wants the book as well."

I suddenly remembered Semyon.

"There's someone the killer wants to make into an Other!" I exclaimed. "He realized that he wouldn't be allowed to use the book. That's why he killed Witezslav… it doesn't matter now exactly how. He performed the ritual and became a very powerful Other. He hid the book… somewhere here, at the station. And now he's hoping to get it out."

Svetlana reached out to me under the table and we shook hands triumphantly.

"Only how can he get it out?" Svetlana queried. "The two most powerful magicians in Moscow are here right now…"

"Three," I corrected her.

Svetlana frowned and said, "Then it's four. After all, Kostya's a Higher…"

"He's a snot-nosed kid, even if he is higher…" I muttered. Somehow I just couldn't get my head around the fact that this kid had killed ten people in just a few years.

And the most disgusting thing was that we gave out the licenses…

Svetlana realized what I was thinking about. She stroked my hand and said in a quiet voice, "Don't get upset. He couldn't go against his own nature. What could you have done? Except kill him…"

I nodded.

Of course he couldn't have acted differently.

But I didn't want to admit that, even to myself.

The door of the cafe opened gently-and in came Gesar, Zabulon, Edgar, Kostya… and Olga. From the lively way they were all discussing something, Olga was already up to speed.

"Edgar agreed to call in reinforcements…" Svetlana said in a low voice. "That's bad news."

The magicians walked across to our table and I saw their glances slip toward the compass. Kostya went over to the counter and ordered a glass of red wine. The woman behind the counter smiled-either he had used a little bit of vampire charm, or she just liked the look of him. Hey, lady… don't smile at that young guy who rouses your maternal, or maybe even womanly, feelings. That young guy can give you a kiss that will leave you smiling forever…

"Kostya and the Inquisitor have searched every inch of the baggage rooms," said Gesar. "Not a trace."

"And we've combed the entire station," said Zabulon with a good-natured laugh. "Six Others, all clearly not involved."

"And an uninitiated little girl," Olga added, smiling in reply. "Yes, yes, I was the one who spotted her. She'll be taken care of."

Zabulon smiled even more broadly-we had a whole smiling competition going on here. "I'm sorry, Great One. She is already being taken care of."

In an ordinary situation that would only have been the begi

"That's enough, Great Ones!" Edgar barked. "We're not concerned with just one potential Other here. This is a question of our very survival."

"That's right," Zabulon agreed. "Will you give me a hand, Boris Ignatievich?"

He and Gesar moved another table over to ours. Kostya brought over some chairs without saying anything-and there was our group, all sitting together. Nothing out of the ordinary-people going off on vacation or a business trip, passing the time in the station cafe…"

"Either he's not here or he can conceal himself from us," said Svetlana. "In any case, I'd like to ask permission to leave. Call me if I'm needed."

"Your daughter's perfectly all right," Zabulon growled. "I give you my word."

"We might need you here," said Gesar, backing him up.

Svetlana sighed.

"Gesar, please, why not let Svetlana go?" I asked. "You can see it's not Power we need right now."

"Then what do we need?" Gesar asked curiously.

"Cu

Gesar shook his head. He glanced at Olga and she gave a barely perceptible nod.

"Go to your daughter, Sveta," said Gesar. "You're right. If you're needed, I'll call you and put up a portal."

"Okay, I'm gone," said Svetlana. She leaned over to me for a moment and touched my cheek with her lips-then vanished into thin air. The portal was so tiny I didn't see it.

And the people in the cafe didn't even notice Svetlana disappear. We were invisible to them; they didn't even want to see us.

"She's powerful," said Zabulon. He reached out toward Kostya, picked up his half-empty glass and took a sip. "Well, you know best, Gesar… What next, Mr. Inquisitor?"

"We wait," Edgar said curtly. "He'll come for the book."

"He or she," Zabulon added. "He or she…"

We didn't set up an operational headquarters. Just sat there in the cafe, ate a bit, drank a bit. Kostya ordered steak tartare- the counter lady was astonished, but she went ru

Gesar ordered a chicken Kiev. The rest of us made do with wine, beer, and various small snacks like dried squid and pistachio nuts.

I sat there watching Kostya wolf down the almost raw meat and wondering about the behavior of our unidentified criminal. "Look for the motive!" had been Sherlock Holmes's advice. If we found the motive, we'd find the criminal. He had already become the most powerful Other in the world-or he could do so at any moment. But if that wasn't his goal, what was it? Blackmail? That would be stupid. He couldn't impose his will on all the Watches and the Inquisition-he'd end up like Fuaran… Maybe the criminal wanted to set up his own, alternative organization of Others? An organization of "wild Others" had been crushed that spring in St. Petersburg, hadn't it? But crushed with great difficulty. A bad example was infectious, someone might have been tempted. And the worst thing was that even a Light One could have been tempted. Tempted to create a new Night Watch. A Super-Watch. To wipe out the Dark Ones completely, break the Inquisition, and lure some of the Light Ones over to his side…

If that was the way things were, it was bad-very bad. The Dark Ones wouldn't surrender without a fight. The modern world was bristling with weapons of mass destruction and nuclear power stations, and a strike at them could wipe out the entire planet. The time was long gone when a violent solution could lead to victory. And perhaps that time had never even existed…

"The pointer," said Edgar. "Look!"

My compass had stopped pretending to be a ventilator. The pointer spun more slowly, then froze, quivered-and began turning slowly to indicate a direction.

"Yes!" Kostya exclaimed, leaping out of his chair. "It worked!"

And for just a split second I saw again the boy-vampire who had still not tasted human blood and was certain he would never have to pay a price for his Power…

"Let's move, gentlemen." Edgar jumped to his feet. He looked at the pointer, then followed its direction and stared hard at the wall. "To the trains!" he said in a determined voice.