«I won't go out!»

«When she uses the Call, you'll go. You'll understand what's happening, but you'll still go anyway.»

«Can you… can you tell me what to do? Anything?»

Egor had given in. He wanted help, any help he could get.

«lean. Trust us.»

He hesitated only for a second.

«Come in.» Egor stepped back from the door. «Only… Mom will be back from work any moment.»

«What of it?»

«Are you going to hide? What should I tell her?»

«That's no problem,» I said dismissively. «But I…«

The door of the next apartment opened cautiously, just a crack, on the chain. A wrinkled, old woman's face peeped out.

I touched her mind, lightly, just for an instant, as carefully as possible so as not to do any more damage to a reason that was already shaky…

«Ah, it's you…« the old woman said with a beaming smile. «You, you…«

«Anton,» I prompted her politely.

«And there was I wondering who the stranger was, wandering up and down,» said the old granny, taking off the chain and coming out onto the landing. «The times we live in, the outrageous things people get up to, they just do whatever they like…«

«It's all right. Everything's going to be all right. Why don't you watch TV, there's a new series just starting.»

The old woman nodded, shot me a friendly glance, and disappeared into her apartment.

«What series?» asked Egor.

I shrugged.

«I don't know. There must be something. Isn't there always some soap opera or other?»

«And how do you know our neighbor?»

«Me? Her? I don't.»

The boy said nothing.

«Just one of those little things,"' I explained. «We are the Others. And I won't come in, thanks; I have to go away now.»

«What?»

«There'll be different guards here to look after you, Egor. And don't worry—they're far more professional than I am.»

I took a glance through the Twilight; two bright orange lights were just approaching the entrance of the building.

«I… I don't want them,» said the boy, panicking immediately. «I want you to stay!»

«I can't. I have another assignment.»

Down below the entrance door slammed and there was a clatter of footsteps on the stairs. The action heroes disdained the elevator.

«I don't want them!» Egor grabbed hold of the door as if he'd decided to shut himself in. «I don't trust them!»

«You either trust all of the Night Watch or you don't trust anybody,» I told him strictly. «We're not supermen in red and blue cloaks who work alone. We're just employees. The police of the Twilight world. What I say goes for the Night Watch.»

«But who are they?» The kid was beginning to accept it. «Magicians?»

«Yes, but highly specialized ones.»

Tiger Cub appeared below me on the bend of the staircase.

«Hi there, guys!» the girl exclaimed cheerfully, bounding up an entire flight in a single leap.

It was a superhuman leap. Egor winced and took a step backward, gazing watchfully at Tiger Cub. I shook my head: The girl was clearly poised on the very edge of transformation. She was enjoying it, and just at that moment she had good reason to be feeling frisky.

«How are things over there?» I asked.

Tiger Cub sighed loudly and then smiled:

«Oh… a laugh a minute. Everybody's in a panic. You get going, Antoshka, they're waiting for you… So it's you I'm looking after, right?»

The boy looked her over without saying anything. To be honest, the boss had made a great choice when he decided to get Tiger Cub to protect him. Everyone, from young children to old folks, liked her and trusted her. They do say even some of the Dark Ones have sometimes been charmed by her. But then, that was their mistake…

«No one's looking after me,» the boy answered at last. «My name's Egor.»

«And I'm Tiger Cub,» said the girl, already inside the apartment. She gave the kid a friendly hug around the shoulders. «Show me around the battlefield! Let's start preparing our defenses!»

I started down the stairs, shaking my head as I went. In five minutes Tiger Cub would be showing the kid how she got her name.

«Hi,» Bear rumbled as he walked up toward me.

«Hi.» We shook hands quickly. Of all the Watch agents, Bear was the one I was leery of.

Bear was a little bit taller than average, strongly built, with a face that gave absolutely nothing away. He didn't like to talk a lot. Nobody knew where he spent his time when he wasn't working, or where he lived, except maybe Tiger Cub. There were rumors that he wasn't even a magician, but a shape-shifter. They said that first he used to work for Day Watch and then, during some mission, he suddenly switched over to our side. But that was all a load of nonsense. Light Ones don't become Dark Ones, and Dark Ones don't turn into Light Ones. But there was something about Bear that made you stop and wonder.

«Your car's waiting,» the field agent told me without bothering to stop. «The driver's a real ace. You'll be there before you know it.»

Bear had a slight stammer, so he kept his sentences short. He was in no hurry; Tiger Cub was already on guard. But I had no time to hang around.

«Are things tough over there?» I asked, walking faster. The answer came from above me now:

«Worse than that.»

I bounded down several steps at a time and dashed out of the entrance. The car was standing there all right—I slowed down for a moment to admire it. A classy maroon-colored BMW, the latest model, with a flashing light carelessly stuck on the roof. Both doors on the side facing the building were open. The driver was leaning out of the car, hastily smoking a cigarette, and I could just make out the bulge of a holster under the flap of his jacket. Standing by the back door was an absolutely monumental middle-aged man. Under his open coat he was wearing a very expensive suit, with a Duma deputy's badge glinting on his lapel. The man was speaking on his cell phone:

«Who is he anyway? I'll get there when I can! What! What damned girls? Have you gone crazy? Can't you do a single thing on your own?»

The deputy squinted at me, cut short his conversation without saying goodbye, and got into the car. The driver took a deep drag, tossed his cigarette away, and grabbed hold of the wheel. The engine howled softly, and I barely had time to get into the front seat before the car moved away. Icy branches scraped across the outside of the door.

«You gone blind, or something?» the deputy barked at his driver, though I was the one to blame for what had happened. But as soon as the owner of the car turned to face me his tone changed: «You need to get to Perovo?»

It was the first time I'd ever taken a ride with a representative of authority. And this guy was either a top man in the militia or a gangland boss. I realized in theory that there was no difference as far as a Night Watch agent's powers were concerned, but I'd never tried to experiment before.

«Yes, back to where the guys came from. And make it quick…«

«Hear that, Volodya?» the deputy said to the driver. «Step on it!»

Volodya stepped on it so hard I started feeling a bit queasy, and I even glanced into the Twilight to see if we were going to get there.

It seemed like we were. Only not just because of our driver's skill or because, like any Night Watch agent, I have an artificially elevated success coefficient. It looked like someone had gone through the probability field, weeding out all the accidents, traffic jams, and overzealous traffic cops.

The only person in our department who could have done that was the boss himself. But what for?

«I'm feeling a bit frightened too,» whispered the invisible bird on my shoulder. «When I was with Count…«

She stopped short, as if she'd realized she was speaking a bit too freely.

The car drove through a red light at an intersection, following an incredible twisting course, dodging between the saloons and station wagons. Someone at a bus stop waved a hand in our direction.

«Like a sip?» the Duma deputy inquired amiably, holding out a small bottle of Rémy Martin and a throwaway plastic cup. It looked so funny, I poured myself thirty grams without even thinking about it. Even at that speed the car was providing a smooth ride; the cognac didn't spill.

I handed back the bottle, nodded, took the Walkman earphones out of my pocket, put them in and started the disc. Out came this really, really old song, «Sundays»—my favorite.

It was a small town, no bigger than a child's toy,

There'd been no plagues or invasions there since long ago.

The cannon rusted in silence on its fortress tower,

And the travelers' roads passed it by.

And so year after year, no holidays or working days—

The whole town slept,

Dreaming dreams of lands with empty cities

And dead cliffs…

We came out onto the main highway. The car just kept on picking up speed; I'd never traveled that fast in Moscow before. Or anywhere else, for that matter… If the probability field hadn't been cleared, I'd have made them slack off, but it was pretty terrifying anyway.

The music sounded among the cold cliffs,

While the town slept…

Calling to where?

Calling to whom?

That no one knew…

I couldn't help remembering that a member of the Romanov royal family was an Other. Only he wasn't initiated; he'd been spotted too late… They'd offered him the chance, but he'd refused.

That's one option.

I wondered how often he heard this music in the night.

All who left their windows open in the hot night Are gone now.

Gone away to seek a land where life is full of life,

Following the song…

«Like some more?» The deputy was Mister Conviviality himself. I wondered what suggestions Bear and Tiger Cub had implanted in his mind. That I was his best friend? That he was eternally in my debt? That I was the president's illegitimate, but favorite, son?

But that's all nonsense. There are hundreds of different ways of making people trust you and like you and want to help you. The Light has its own methods, but unfortunately the Darkness has plenty as well. It's all nonsense.

The question was: What did the boss need me for so badly?

Ilya was waiting for me beside the road, standing there with his hands stuck in his pockets, staring up in disgust at the sky through the flurry of fine snowflakes.

«You took your time,» was all he said after I'd shaken the deputy's hand and got out of the car. «The boss is getting impatient.»

«What's going on here?»

Ilya grinned, but it wasn't his usual cheerful smile.