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the world and a good reputation, and I had a degree diploma that I'd bought, a petty job working under him and
chronic idleness. That was the reason I fixed things so that he would be accused of embezzlement and kicked
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out of the firm . . .'
They're all the same, these people and these Others who are desperate for glory, money or blood and have
discovered that the shortest path is always the Dark one.
There's always somebody who was getting in their way and somebody who was to blame . . .
Probably when Gennady Saushkin wanted to save his little son he really was trying to do good. He didn't have a
soul, but in his mind and his heart he simply couldn't accept Kostya's death. Just as he didn't want to accept it
now. And the Dark way had proved so simple and so short. . .
For a long time he had teetered on the very brink, if a vampire still has that option open to him. He hadn't killed
people. He had even tried to be honest and kind, and he had managed it. He had even managed to bring Kostya
up almost as a human being.
But what makes the short roads different is that you have to pay a levy for using them. And on the Dark roads
they like to announce the charge at the end of the journey.
'Are you satisfied with his explanations?' I asked.
'I'm disappointed,' Edgar replied. 'But there's nothing to be done about it now.'
'There are some things that you can't put right,' I agreed.
But to myself I added: 'And there are some that you can.'
The Twilight customs counter at Edinburgh was empty. There were some forms lying there, and even a search
amulet, glowing an even, milky-white colour. The last Other to pass this way had been a Light One. There were
no Others on duty.
Edgar pulled me into the Twilight. I still couldn't use magic, with that damned Schrodinger's Cat squirming on my
neck and occasionally sticking its claws out. I took one look at Gennady and turned away. He was an appalling
sight. What was it that Zabulon had said about human children playing at vampires? They ought to be shown
what a vampire really looked like. Cheeks eaten away by ulcers; earthen-grey skin; vacant, cloudy-white eyes
like hard-boiled eggs with the shell removed.
We walked past the counter and through a door that was closed in the real world, into some kind of service
corridor. We went into a small room that was either a poorly furnished janitors office or a store for lumber that was
already worn out but not yet written off. Chairs with their backs torn off and broken legs, shelves full of dusty
boxes and jars, rolls of murky-coloured flooring material.
Edgar jerked me by the shoulder and pulled me back into the real world. I sneezed. It was definitely a temporary
store for junk. I blinked as my eyes grew accustomed to the dim lighting - the windows were completely shut off
by blinds. I laughed. Well now, I could award myself another point in this game.
Sitting in a chair that was better preserved than all the others was a beautiful woman with black hair. The simple
everyday clothes - trousers and a blouse - seemed entirely inappropriate on her. She ought to have had a long
dress that emphasised her femininity, or something light and airy, white and transparent, or nothing at all.
But she would have made any clothes look good. Even a hobo's old suit.
I admired her once again. Like that first time when our paths had crossed.
'Hello, Arina,' I said.
'Hello, sorcerer.' She held out her hand, and I pressed my lips to the palm.
Even though I had seen her in her Twilight form.
Even though I knew that this magnificent body, so healthy and overflowing with vitality, only existed in the human
world.
'You're not surprised,' said Arina.
'Not a bit,' I said, shaking my head.
'He knew,' Edgar put in. And from the way he spoke I suddenly realised that he was not the most important
member of the trio.
Maybe Edgar was the one who had stirred everything up in the first place, and he had supplied the Last Watch's
battle magic, but he wasn't the most important one there.
'Svetlana guessed?' Arina surmised.
'We decided together,' I said. 'By the way, you're a Light One now, aren't you? Pardon me, but I won't risk looking
at your aura - I've got this little kitten dozing round my neck . . .'
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