And I also sensed there was at least one more Light One somewhere outside the room. Probably somewhere else on the same floor, or by the lifts. He was obviously covering the Others’ backs, and he had shielded himself really well for the job. I only spotted him, you might say by accident. But I don’t think that Shagron and Edgar had any idea he was there.
I frowned. The Light Ones had the numerical advantage – there were twice as many of them. And the two of them that I was seeing for the first time were very powerful magicians, almost certainly first grade. In any case, the two of them together would be stronger than Shagron and Edgar. And Anton was no pushover either – he could give Shagron a good fight, or even Edgar. Plus the girl – she was a warrior. And that unknown one somewhere nearby. The balance of forces was not good at all. They’d grind us to dust, grind us as fine as powdered vanilla.
Meanwhile the Light Ones had finished their scanning. The one in glasses came up to me and enquired with emphatic indifference:
‘Tell me, did you really need to use a protective spell of such power?’
‘Well, why do you think I would have used so much power?’
The one in glasses and the other one I didn’t know exchanged a quick glance.
‘We demand to see your things.’
‘Stop, stop,’ Edgar put in hastily. ‘On what grounds, exactly?’
The one in glasses smiled bleakly – only with his lips:
‘The Night Watch has reason to suspect that a forbidden artefact of immense power has been smuggled into Moscow. You must know that such actions contravene the terms of the Treaty.’
My Dark colleagues looked at me doubtfully. They were apparently expecting some unambiguous response. But what was it? On this occasion my internal magical helpline chose not to prompt me. But on the other hand, I knew perfectly well that there weren’t any forbidden artefacts in my bag. And so I gestured magnanimously and said:
‘Let them look! All night long if they want.’
‘I protest,’ Edgar said quietly, and without much hope, it seemed. ‘You don’t have your chief’s authority.’
‘The protest is rejected,’ the one in glasses parried inflexibly. ‘I’m the boss here. Show us your things, Dark One.’
I didn’t have to be asked twice. I neutralised the remains of the magical defences with a single gesture and opened the door of the safe, where my bag was lying on its own, apart from a pair of clothes brushes. The logo seemed to gaze out at us reproachfully: ‘Fuji’. I imagined a bored, squeaky voice pronouncing it ‘phooey …’
I took the bag and tipped its contents out onto the bed. The Light Ones didn’t take much interest in my things, but the sight of the final plastic bag put them on their guard – the second unknown magician even grasped the amulet in the pocket of his jacket.
When I shook the money out onto the bedcover, everybody looked at me. Both my own side and the Light Ones. As if I was some kind of psycho. An absolutely hopeless case.
‘There,’ I said. ‘That’s all I have. A hundred thousand. Actually, a bit less now.’
The magician in glasses stepped towards the bed and rummaged disdainfully through my things, glancing into the plastic bags. But I realised that what he really wanted was tactile contact.
He wasn’t even satisfied with remote scanning.
Good grief, what did they suspect me of? Probably some cretin really had tried to bring something forbidden into Moscow, and since I’d overdone it a bit protecting my miserable heap of bucks, now they suspected me of everything. That was really funny. And it was getting funnier all the time.
The one in glasses spent about a minute sniffing at my baggage. Then he gave up.
‘All right. There’s nothing here. We’re declaring this suite off-limits. You’ll have to change rooms.’
The girl shape-shifter started and gave him a puzzled look. He spread his hands and I understood the gesture. There was nothing to charge me with. No grounds at all. The shape-shifter tensed, but the other magician put his hand on her shoulder, as if he was warning her not to do anything rash.
‘Ye-es?’ Edgar drawled insinuatingly, and something Estonian finally came through in that ‘Ye-es’ of his. ‘Change rooms? In that case we request official permission for a seventh-degree intervention. In order to avoid unnecessary questions from the hotel management.’
The Light Ones were annoyed by that – but then, they were already all annoyed in any case.
‘Why? We can influence the staff without any psychic correction.’
‘But you have a habit of declaring any influence a violation,’ Edgar explained in a very innocent voice.
‘I will per—’ Ilya drawled slowly and then broke off. ‘No. I won’t permit it. Anton, you go with them and do it all yourself. Try to make sure they move him as far away from here as possible, so that … Anyway, just do it.’
Edgar sighed in disappointment.
‘Okay, if you say no, then it’s no. But tell me, dear fellow, do you have any more questions for our colleague?’
Edgar’s tone was so prim and polite that I was afraid the Light Ones might decide he was mocking them. But they clearly knew Edgar pretty well. And maybe this caustic, biting politeness was normal behaviour between the two Watches.
‘No, we can’t detain him any longer. But let us remind you that until our investigations are concluded, he is forbidden to leave Moscow, in connection with these three cases.’
‘I remember,’ I put in, as innocently as I could.
‘In that case, permit us to take our leave. Colleague Vitaly pack your things.’
I shoved all my bits and pieces into the first plastic bags that came to hand, put the plastic bags into the large bag, picked up my jacket from where I had dropped it on the armchair and stood up. Edgar pointed to the door in invitation.
We went out into the corridor and took the lift down to the lobby, where Edgar suddenly turned to the Light One with us.
‘Anton, our colleague is not going to stay in this hotel any longer. We’re taking him with us. If you need him, you can enquire at the Day Watch office.’
The Light One seemed to have been taken by surprise; he glanced uncertainly at the hotel administrator sleeping behind his counter, then nodded indecisively. And we set off towards the exit.
I didn’t put my jacket on, because I’d already spotted the familiar BMW parked outside the door of the hotel – I’d only been able to see it because I was an Other.
It was warm and cosy inside the car. And roomy too – my knees didn’t press against the back of the front seat. I made myself comfortable and asked:
‘And where am I going to stay now?’
‘At the Day Watch office, colleague. Or, rather, in the office hotel. You should have gone there in the first place.’
‘If only I’d known where to go,’ I muttered.
The BMW went darting off, turned smartly out of the car park towards the entrance, raced under the barrier almost before it had time to rise high enough and eased into the sparse flow of traffic on Peace Prospect.
Shagron might not be the most powerful of magicians, but he could drive extraordinarily well. Peace Prospect flashed past and came to an end, followed by the arc of the Garden Ring Road. And all I saw of Tverskaya Street was an endless row of shop windows with tinted glass. But then, it wasn’t really endless after all.
We got out of the car very close to the Kremlin. The magicians left their BMW at the kerb, without even bothering to lock it. I decided to take a look at it through the Twilight, simply out of curiosity and a desire to take a look at the protective spells. So that I wouldn’t overdo things again.