Anton squeezed his talismanic medallion tight in his hand as he entered the room.
Zabulon was sitting in an armchair and reading the newspaper Arguments and Facts. Wearing a severe black suit, a light-grey shirt and black shoes with blunt, square toes, polished so that they shone like mirrors. He took off his glasses and greeted Anton.
‘Hello, Anton.’
‘Déjà vu,’ Anton muttered. ‘Well, hello.’
Strangely enough, this time he wasn’t scared of Zabulon at all. Maybe that was because the last time Zabulon had conducted his surprise visit in an entirely correct manner.
‘You can take my amulet. It’s in the desk – I can sense it.’
Anton let go of the talisman hanging round his neck, took off his jacket and went across to the desk. Zabulon’s amulet was hidden in among some papers and all the other office clutter that always seems to appear out of nowhere with fatal inevitability.
‘Zabulon, you have no power over me,’ Anton declared in a voice that didn’t sound like his own.
The Dark Magician nodded in satisfaction.
‘Excellent. Allow me to compliment you. That other time you were trembling like a dry leaf. But today you’re calm. You’re growing, Anton.’
‘I suppose I ought to thank you for the compliment?’ Anton asked coolly.
Zabulon threw back his head and laughed soundlessly.
‘All right,’ he said a few seconds later. ‘I see you’re in no mood to waste time. Well, neither am I. I came to offer you the chance to commit an act of betrayal. A small, calculated act of betrayal from which everyone will benefit, including you. Sounds paradoxical, doesn’t it?’
‘It does.’
Anton looked into Zabulon’s grey eyes, trying to understand what trap he’d fallen into this time. Trust a human being halfway and a Light One a quarter of the way, but don’t trust a Dark One at all.
Zabulon was the most powerful, and therefore the most dangerous, Dark One in Moscow. And probably in the whole of Russia.
‘Let me explain,’ said Zabulon, unhurriedly, but without hesitation as well. ‘You already know about tomorrow’s session of the Tribunal, do you not?’
‘I do.’
‘Don’t go to it.’
Anton finally decided to sit down – on the sofa by the wall. Now Zabulon was on his right.
‘And for what particular reason?’ Anton inquired.
‘If you don’t go, you and Svetlana will stay together. If you go, you’ll lose her.’
Anton felt a sudden burning sensation in his chest. It wasn’t a question of whether he believed Zabulon or not. He wanted to believe him. He wanted to very much.
But he couldn’t forget that Dark Ones can’t be trusted.
‘The leadership of the Night Watch is planning yet another global social experiment. You must know that. And Svetlana has been assigned a rather important role in this project. I shan’t try to change your convictions or win you over to the Dark – that’s an entirely hopeless proposition. I shall simply tell you what the danger of realising such an experiment is: the disruption of the balance of forces. Obviously a rather desirable thing for the side that grows stronger. In recent times the Light has been growing stronger and, naturally I don’t like it. It is in the Day Watch’s interest to restore the equilibrium. And you are the one who can help us.’
‘Strange,’ Anton said thoughtfully. ‘The head of the Day Watch asking for help from a Night Watch agent. Very strange.’
‘Well, your help isn’t absolutely necessary to us. We could manage on our own. But if you help yourself in the first instance, then you will also help us. And Svetlana, and everyone else who will inevitably suffer from the next global experiment.’
‘I don’t understand, how can I help myself and Svetlana?’
‘What don’t you understand? Svetlana is potentially a very powerful enchantress. As she grows stronger, so the gulf that separates you grows wider. Her power is the factor that is shifting the balance in the favour of the Light. If Svetlana is deprived of her power for some time, equilibrium will be restored. And there will be nothing to keep you apart, Anton. She loves you – anyone can see that. And you love her. Surely you wouldn’t sacrifice your happiness and that of the woman you love to the Light? Especially since the sacrifice is meaningless in any case. That’s why I’m proposing you commit this little, perfectly painless act of betrayal.’
‘Betrayal is never little.’
‘Sometimes it is, Anton. It most certainly is. Loyalty itself is built up from a series of little, calculated acts of betrayal. You can trust me on that – I’ve lived in this world long enough to be quite sure of it.’
Anton paused for a while before he spoke.
‘I’m a Light One. I can’t betray the Light. By my very nature I can’t do it – and you should understand that.’
‘No one’s trying to make you go against the Light. And what’s more, if you do this, you’ll be helping many people. Very many people, Anton. Isn’t that the goal of a Light Magician – to help people?’
‘And how will I be able to look my colleagues in the eye?’ Anton asked with a bitter laugh. ‘After that?’
‘They’ll understand,’ Zabulon said with an assurance that seemed strange to Anton. ‘They’ll understand and they’ll forgive. And if they don’t – what kind of Light Ones are they after that?’
‘You’re good with the sophistry, Zabulon. Far better than I am, no doubt. But just calling things by different names doesn’t change their essential nature. Betrayal is always betrayal.’
‘All right,’ Zabulon agreed with surprising readiness. ‘Then betray love. Basically you have a choice between two betrayals, surely you can understand that? To betray yourself or to prevent yet another cycle of bloodshed from happening: to forestall the inevitable battles between the Watches or to allow them to happen. Or haven’t there been enough deaths for you yet? You went out on patrol with Andrei Tiunnikov more than once. You were friends with the girl shape-shifter, Tiger Cub. Where are they now? Who else are you willing to sacrifice in the name of the Light? Don’t go to the Tribunal session tomorrow, and your friends will stay alive. We don’t need any more deaths, Anton. We’re willing to avoid conflict. To settle things peacefully. That’s why I’m suggesting you should help everybody. Everybody. Dark Ones and Light Ones. And even simple, ordinary people. Do you understand?’
‘I don’t understand how my absence from the Tribunal session will help restore equilibrium.’
‘You’ve already run into the Dark One from Ukraine, haven’t you? Vitaly Rogoza?’
‘Yes, I have,’ Anton replied reluctantly.
‘He’s not an Other.’
Anton was startled.
‘How do you mean, not an Other?’
‘He’s not entirely an Other. He’s only a Mirror. And he doesn’t have long left to live.’
‘What – or who – is a Mirror?’
‘Definitely “what”,’ Zabulon said with a sigh. ‘Alas, only a “what” … That’s not important, Anton. It’s more useful for you to know something else. If you stay away from the session of the Inquisition, no more blood will be spilled. If you go, a bloodbath is inevitable.’
‘Failure to appear at a Tribunal is punished by the Inquisition.’
‘The Inquisition will regard your reluctance to engage in combat with Rogoza as legitimate. There have been precedents; if you wish, I can even show you the relevant documents. But you can take my word for it. I’ve never deceived you yet.’
‘I don’t like the sound of that “yet”.’
Zabulon smiled with just the corner of his mouth.