Zavulon nodded reluctantly.

"If we accept even for one moment that the Fuaran really was here…" Gesar shook his head. "If all the rumors about this book are true…"

Zabulon nodded again.

Both Great Magicians froze, looking at each other. Either they were simply trying to stare each other down or, despite all the defenses around them, they somehow managed to conduct a magical conversation.

I walked over to the vampire's remains and squatted down.

A disagreeable sort. Disagreeable, even for a vampire.

But still one of us.

An Other.

Behind my back Edgar was burbling something about the need to bring in fresh reinforcements, and how catching Arina had now become a matter of vital importance. The witch was out of luck. An old violation of the Treaty, even on a grand scale, was one thing. But killing an Inquisitor was something else altogether.

And all the facts were against her. Who else was powerful enough to take out a Higher Vampire?

But somehow I didn't believe Arina was guilty…

For some reason, I didn't find Witezslav's remains disgusting. There was obviously nothing human left in him at all, there wasn't even any trace of bones. Gray dust, like the ash from a slightly damp cigarette, maintaining its form, but absolutely homogenous in structure. I touched something that hinted vaguely at the form of a clenched fist-and was not at all surprised when the ash crumbled away, revealing a crumpled piece of paper.

"A note," I said.

A deathly silence fell. Since there were no objections, I picked up the piece of paper, straightened it out and read it. And only then looked at the magicians.

All their faces were as tense as if they expected to hear me say, "Witezslav wrote down the name of his killer before he died… it was you!"

"Witezslav didn't write this," I said. "It's Arina's writing; she wrote the explanatory note for me…"

"Read it aloud," Edgar ordered.

"Dear Inquisitors!" I read in a loud voice. "If you are reading this, it means that you are still pursuing issues from the past. I suggest a peaceful settlement. You get the book you have been looking for. I get a pardon."

"So you were looking for it, then?" Gesar asked in a very calm voice.

"The Inquisition tries to locate all artifacts," Edgar replied calmly. "Including those that are classed as mythological."

"Would she have gotten her pardon?" Svetlana asked unexpectedly.

Edgar looked at her in annoyance, but he answered:

"If the Fuaran had been lying here? It's not my decision to make, but the answer's probably yes. If it's the genuine Fuaran."

"I'm inclined to think now that it is the genuine article…" Gesar said in a quiet voice. "Edgar, I'd like to consult with my colleagues."

Edgar merely shrugged. The Inquisitor probably wasn't too keen on being left alone with Zabulon and Kostya, but his expression remained imperturbable.

Svetlana and I followed Gesar out of the secret room.

The Inquisitors greeted us with suspicious glances, as if they thought we'd killed all the Dark Ones. But it didn't bother Gesar.

"We're withdrawing for a conference," he said casually, heading for the door. The Inquisitors glanced at each other, but they didn't argue-one of them just walked toward the secret room. But we were already out of the witch's house.

It seemed as if morning hadn't arrived yet here in the dense heart of the forest. All around there was a mysterious semi-darkness, like the very first hour of dawn. I glanced up in surprise, and saw that the sky really was unnaturally gray: It was like looking through a pair of dark glasses. Apparently that was the manifestation in our world of the magical defenses erected by the Inquisitors.

"Everything's falling apart…" Gesar muttered. "Things are really bad…"

His gaze shifted rapidly from me to Svetlana and back, as if he couldn't decide which of us he needed right then.

"Was the Fuaran really there?" Svetlana asked.

"Apparently. Evidently the book exists." Gesar pulled a wry face. "This is bad, really bad…"

"We'll have to find the witch," said Svetlana. "If you want…"

Gesar shook his head. "No, I don't want. Arina has to get away."

"I understand," I said, taking Svetlana by the hand. "If they catch Arina, she might confess who that Light One was…"

"Arina doesn't know who that Light One was," said Gesar, interrupting me. "That Light One came to her in a mask. She can suspect and surmise, she might even be certain-but she doesn't have a single fact. It's something else that's the problem…"

That was when I understood.

"The Fuaran?"

"Yes. That's why I ask you…"

Before he could finish, I hurriedly put in, "We don't know where Arina is. Do we, Sveta?"

Svetlana frowned, but she nodded.

"Thank you," said Gesar. "That's the first thing. Now for the second. We have to find the Fuaran. At any cost. They'll probably put together a search party. I want Anton to be our member of it."

"I'm more powerful," Svetlana said in a quiet voice.

"That makes no difference at all." Gesar shook his head. "Not a scrap. Svetlana, I'll be needing you here."

"What for?" Svetlana asked cautiously.

Gesar hesitated for a second. Then he said, "To initiate Nadya if we should need to."

"You're out of your mind," Svetlana said in an icy voice. "No way can she become an Other at her age and with her Power!"

"It might turn out that we have no other choice," Gesar muttered. "Svetlana, it's up to you. All I ask is that you stay with the child."

"Don't worry about that," Svetlana snapped. "I won't take my eyes off her."

"Well that's fine." Gesar smiled and walked toward the door. "Do come and join us, our Council at Fili is about to start."

The moment the door closed behind him, Svetlana swung around to face me and asked in a demanding voice: "Do you understand anything at all?"

I nodded.

"Gesar was unable to find his own son. He really was just an ordinary human being! He only became an Other just recently."

"Arina?"

"Looks like it. She emerged from hibernation and took a look around. Found out who was at the top now…"

"And used the Fuaran to give Gesar a little secret present? She turned his son into an Other?" Svetlana shrugged. "It makes no sense, why would she do that? They're not that close, surely?"

"Why? Now Gesar will do everything possible to make sure they don't find Arina. She took out an insurance policy, get it?"

Svetlana screwed up her eyes and nodded. "But listen, what about the Day Watch…"

"How do we know what she did for Zabulon?" I shrugged. "Somehow I get the feeling the Day Watch won't demonstrate any excessive zeal looking for the witch either."

"What a cunning old hag," Svetlana said, but with no malice. "I was wrong to think so little of witches. And did you understand that about Nadya?"

I shook my head.

What Gesar had said really made absolutely no sense. Sometimes Other children were initiated at the age of five or six, but never any earlier than that. A child who has acquired the abilities of an Other but is unable to control them properly is a walking bomb. Especially an Other as powerful as Nadiushka. Even Gesar himself would be unable to stop the little girl if she got overexcited and started using her Power.

No, I couldn't figure out what Gesar had meant.

"I'll pull his legs off and put them where his arms used to be," Svetlana promised in a perfectly calm voice, "if he even hints that we have to initiate Nadya. All right, shall we go?"

We linked arms-we really wanted to feel close to each other at that moment-and went back into the house.