When he jumped off the train he must have started to transform straight away, without taking all his clothes off.

"Hi," said Kostya.

The music stopped, breaking off in mid-note.

I nodded.

"Hi. You flew here very quickly."

"Flew?" Kostya shook his head. "No… flying that kind of distance as a bat is too hard."

"Then what did you turn into? A wolf?"

This absurdly genteel conversation was summed up by a remark from Kostya. "A hare. A huge gray hare. I hopped all the way…"

I couldn't help giggling as I pictured the giant hare running through the truck gardens, forging streams in massive leaps and hopping over fences. Kostya shrugged. "Well… it really was funny. How are you feeling? I didn't hit you too hard, did I? Have you still got all your teeth?"

I tried to smile as broadly as I could.

"I'm sorry about that," said Kostya. He really did seem distressed. "That's because it was all so sudden. How did you realize I had the book? Because of the cocktail?"

"Yes. The spell requires the blood of twelve people."

"Now how did you know that?" Kostya mused. "There isn't any information available on the Fuaran… but that's not important. I have something to say to you, Anton."

"And I've got something to say to you," I said. "Turn yourself in. You can still save your own life."

"I haven't been alive for a long time," Kostya said with a smile. "I'm undead, or had you forgotten?"

"You know what I mean."

"Don't lie to me, Anton. You don't believe it yourself. I killed four Inquisitors!"

"Three," I corrected him. "Witezslav and two in the train. The third one survived."

"Big difference." Kostya frowned. "They've never forgiven anybody even for one."

"This is a special case," I said. "I'll give it to you straight. The Higher Ones are frightened. They can destroy you, but the victory will be too costly. So the Higher Ones will go for negotiations."

Kostya just stared hard at me without saying a word.

"If you give back the Fuaran and turn yourself in voluntarily, they won't touch you," I continued. "You're a law-abiding vampire. It's the book that's to blame. The balance of your mind was affected…"

Kostya shook his head. "There was nothing wrong with the balance of my mind. Edgar didn't take what Witezslav said seriously. But I believed him. I transformed and flew to the hut. Witezslav didn't suspect a trick… he started showing me the book and explaining. When I heard about the blood of twelve people, I realized this was my chance. He didn't even object to an experiment. He probably wanted to make sure the book was genuine as quickly as possible. It was only when he realized I'd become stronger than him that he dug his heels in. But by then it was too late."

"What's all this about?" I asked. "Kostya, this is insanity! Why do you want the power to rule the world?"

Kostya raised his eyebrows. He looked at me like that for a while and then laughed. "What are you talking about, Anton? What power? You don't understand a thing!"

"I understand everything," I insisted. "You're trying to get to China, right? A million magicians under your control?"

"You idiots," Kostya said in a quiet voice. "You're all idiots. There's only one thing you ever think about… Power… I don't want that kind of power! I'm a vampire! Do you understand? I'm an outcast! Worse than any of the Others! I don't want to be the most powerful outcast. I want to be ordinary! I want to be like everybody else!"

"But the Fuaran won't allow you to turn an Other into a human being…"I objected.

Kostya giggled. He shook his head. "Hello! Anton, switch your brain on. They've pumped you full of Power and sent you here to kill me, I know that. But think first, Anton! Understand what it is I want!"

The door squeaked behind me and Las came out. He gaped at me in embarrassment, then squinted at Kostya.

Kostya shook his head.

"Not a good time?" Las asked, taking in the situation. "Sorry. I'll be going…"

"Stop," Kostya said in a flat voice. "This is a very good time."

Las froze. I hadn't caught the note of command in Kostya's voice, but it must have been there.

"A natural experiment," said Kostya. "Watch how it's done…"

He shook the briefcase. The locks clicked, the briefcase opened and out flew a book, moving ponderously through the air.

The Fuaran.

The book really was bound in skin-it was a grayish-yellow color, and the corners were bound in triangles of copper. In addition there was a cunning lock to prevent the book being opened.

Kostya caught the book in one hand and opened it with incredible agility-as if he weren't manipulating a volume that weighed about five pounds, but simply opening a newspaper. He let go of the briefcase and it clattered against the concrete.

"Most of the stuff in here is just padding," Kostya laughed. "A record of unsuccessful experiments. The formula's at the end… it's really very simple."

With his free hand Kostya took a metal flask out of the back pocket of his jeans. He twisted off the top and poured a drop of liquid straight on to the open page.

What am I waiting for?

What is he going to do?

Everything inside me was crying out-attack! While he's distracted-strike with all your Power!

But I waited, spellbound by the spectacle.

The drop of blood was disappearing from the page. Melting away, evaporating in a brown mist. And the book… the book began to sing. A strangled sound, like throat music-it sounded like a human voice, but there was nothing intelligible in it.

"By the Darkness and the Light…" said Kostya, looking into the open pages. He could see something there that I couldn't.

"Om… Mrigankandata gauri… Auchitya dhvani… By my will… Moksha gauri…"

The voice of the book-I had no doubt that it was the book that was making that sound-became louder. It drowned out Kostya's voice and the words of the spell-both the Russian ones and the other, ancient ones in which the Fuaran was written.

Kostya raised his voice-as if he were trying to shout down the book.

I could only make out his last word-om again.

The singing broke off on a sharp, dissonant note.

Behind me Las swore "What was that?" he asked.

"The sound of the ocean," Kostya chuckled. He bent down, picked up the briefcase and put the book and the flask in it. "An entire ocean of new possibilities."

I swung around, already knowing what I would see. I half closed my eyes, catching the shadow of my own eyelashes with my pupils.

I looked at Las through the Twilight.

The aura of an uninitiated Other was quite distinct. Welcome to our happy family…

"That's how it works on people," said Kostya. There were beads of sweat clinging to his forehead, but he looked very pleased. "So there you go."

"Then what is it you do want?" I asked.

"I want to be an Other among Others," said Kostya. "I want all this to stop… Light Ones and Dark Ones, Others and people, magicians and vampires. They're all going to be Others, get it? Everyone in the world."

I laughed. "Kostya… you just spent two or three minutes on one person. Just how good is your arithmetic?"

"There could have been two hundred people standing here," said Kostya, "and they would all have become Others. There could have been ten thousand. The spell works on everybody in my field of vision."

"But even so…"

"In one and a half hours the next crew of the International Space Station takes off from the Baikonur Cosmodrome," said Kostya. "I think the space tourist from Germany will have to let me take his place."

I said nothing for a second as I tried to make sense of what he had said.

"I'll sit quietly by the window and gaze at the Earth," said Kostya. "The way a space tourist is supposed to do. I'll look at the Earth, spread the blood from the flask on the paper and whisper the spells. And way down below the people will become Others. All the people-do you understand? From the little infants in their cradles to the old folks in their rocking chairs."