Сергей Лукьяненков - Last Watch

I looked in the rearview mirror and didn’t like what I saw.

I didn’t see Edgar. But I did see the thing that he had thrown around my neck-a silvery strip of fur. It didn’t look much like a decorative neckpiece; there was something predatory about it…as if there were lots of tiny teeth hidden under that gray fur.

And I also saw Gennady Saushkin, sitting on the right side of the backseat. The vampire’s face was composed and impassive.

“What’s on your mind, Edgar?” I asked.

“That’s none of your business,” Edgar replied with an ominous laugh. “Don’t even think of withdrawing into the Twilight and don’t try any spells. That little ribbon around your neck exists at every level of the Twilight…at least as far down as the sixth. And it will rip your head off if you use even a trace of magic.”

“I won’t test it,” I said. “So now what?”

“Maybe you’d like to invite us back home?” the invisible Edgar asked.

“Surely you don’t think that I’d give you Nadya,” I said. I didn’t feel afraid, I was simply astonished by the question. “You can kill me.”

“I wasn’t really counting on it,” Edgar said, “but Gennady insisted on the question being asked-he’s very keen to make use of your little daughter.”

“The way he made use of his own son?” I asked, unable to resist, and I was rewarded with a vicious scowl that erased everything human in the vampire’s face.

“Quiet now,” said Edgar, nudging my shoulder. “Don’t get carried away, or I won’t be able to hold Gennady off. He’s very upset with you. Can you guess why?”

“Yes. Why don’t you make yourself visible? It’s not a pleasant sensation talking to empty space.”

“Drive out of the lot,” Edgar said, laughing. “I wouldn’t like your bodyguards to notice us… We’d finish them off before they even knew what hit them. But Svetlana’s a different matter. I’m afraid she might prove too hot to handle.”

Gennady scowled again, demonstrating that he had a full set of teeth and his four canines were larger than the average human size.

“I’m sure she would,” I said quite sincerely. I stepped on the gas and drove the car gently out of the parking lot. Maybe I should crash into a post? No, that won’t rattle them, they are prepared for tricks like that… “For Nadya’s sake she’d grind you into dust.”

“That’s what I think too,” Edgar said as politely and peaceably as ever. “The last thing we need is a rampaging woman on our trail. And whether or not your daughter can get through to the seventh level of the Twilight still remains to be seen. The chances are no better than if we give you a good shaking up.”

I snorted. “I’m afraid I’ll disappoint you there. I can’t do what’s beyond me. I’m a Higher Magician, but not a zero-point one. You have to be Merlin to get through to the seventh level.”

“I told you we have to take the girl,” Gennady said in a quiet voice. “I told you he couldn’t do it!”

“Cool it!” Edgar reassured him. “He can. He’s just not motivated enough yet, but we’ll help him, and he’ll manage just fine.”

“Try it,” I said. “But where should I drive?”

“Sheremetievo, where else?” Edgar laughed. His invisibility was gradually peeling away and he was appearing by stages, first as a transparent outline, then acquiring colors. Gennady still hadn’t fully revealed himself and I could only see him in the mirror. “I think the quickest way will be around the ring road, right? And try not to waste any time. We have a flight to Edinburgh in an hour-I think we’ll get there before anyone misses you. I don’t really want to waste the last charge in my Minoan Sphere on a portal to Scotland. But bear in mind that if you’re late for the plane, we will go through a portal.”

“I assume that Arina’s waiting for you in Edinburgh?” I asked.

“You just drive,” Edgar ordered. “And in the meantime I’ll explain why you’re going to help us.”

“Very interesting,” I said. There was a cold sensation spreading through my chest, but there was no way I was going to show any fear. But what difference did that make? Vampires can sense fear instinctively. It’s hard to shield yourself from their perceptions, even with magic.

“You’re going to do your best for your daughter’s sake, of course,” said Edgar. “For your daughter’s and your wife’s. That wouldn’t work with a Dark One, but it’s just the trick for Light Ones.”

“You’d never get to my family.”

“Perhaps I wouldn’t-on my own. Gesar and Zabulon would fight with everything they’ve got. I counted six bodyguards. How many do you know about? The two young fools on the staircase?”

I didn’t answer.

“I expect there are at least eight, or even twelve,” Edgar said thoughtfully. “There’s no point in guessing: Both the old farts have decided to play it safe. But if there was an explosion beside your house…not an ordinary explosion, but a nuclear one…Then even any Higher Magicians there would be killed. Hiroshima demonstrated that quite clearly.”

“You wouldn’t go that far, Edgar,” I said. “You’re a Dark One, but you’re not a psychopath. An atomic bomb in the center of Moscow? Just to kill my wife and daughter? How many people would be killed? And what if somebody panics and decides it’s a nuclear attack, and it starts a world war?”

“Right! That’s the most important point.” Edgar laughed. “Even if Gesar senses that something’s wrong and moves your family far away from Moscow, to some secure vault in Ufa, for example, that won’t fundamentally change the situation. Your actions will still decide the fate of hundreds of thousands or even millions of people. Not bad incentive for a Light One, is it?”

“Edgar,” I asked. “What’s happened to you?”

“Nothing,” said Edgar with a nervous, unnatural laugh. “I’m just fine!”

“Have you lost someone, Edgar?”

The question was a shot in the dark. But when Edgar didn’t answer, I knew I’d hit the target. I’d finally begun to understand something about what was going on.

“My wife,” he said eventually. “Annabel.”

“You said you were in Crete with her,” I recalled.

“I was. Exactly a year ago. We were walking to the beach from the hotel…There was a truck driving past us. The driver lost control and ran into her at eighty kilometers an hour. There was no time for me to do anything.”

“You loved her,” I said, amazed.

“Yes,” Edgar said, nodding. “I loved her. I’m not Zabulon, I can love. Or I could.”

“I’m very sorry,” I said.

“Thank you, Anton,” Edgar replied in a perfectly normal voice. “I know you really mean that. But it still doesn’t change anything…in the way things are between us.”

“Why did you turn against everyone? Why did you involve people?”

“People? What difference does it make how we use them, Anton? We live off their energy. Why shouldn’t we use them as cannon fodder too? And as for why I went against everyone…that’s the wrong way of putting the question. I’m not against them, I’m for them. For all Others, if you like. Dark Ones and Light Ones. When we achieve our goal, you’ll understand. Even you’ll understand.”

“That’s not what we agreed,” said Gennady.

“I remember what we agreed,” Edgar snapped. “We do what we planned. And then you challenge Anton to fight. That’s right, isn’t it? You wanted an honest duel?”

“Yes,” Gennady said rather doubtfully.

“Well, if you’re so certain that I’ll understand,” I said as I turned onto the ring road, struggling with the temptation to swing the steering wheel hard and throw the car off the over-pass, “then you could tell me what it is you’ve planned. And then maybe I’ll help you voluntarily.”