pattern and the ability to absorb energy, not just give it out like human beings. To absorb, process and perform miracles.
A human aura is smooth, multilayered, integrated. People only give out Power, they don't absorb it. And the smooth membrane of their aura is an attempt to protect themselves, to halt the slow, implacable draining away of life.
Yes, now Lermont looked like a human being.
Almost like a human being...
I looked a bit more carefully and saw the pale needles of his aura. Foma had disguised himself very well, but I had broken through his defence
'I see it,' I said, 'but I didn't look at that young guy so care fully. He could have masked himself
'In that case, your red-headed companion is a Higher Vampire. Or a Higher Magician pretending to be a vampire.' Foma nodded in satisfaction. 'And he was not able to put on a mask while disguising his aura at the same time. This is good, Anton, this is already good. We know his physical appearance: young, red-haired ?there aren't all that many Higher Others in the world.'
'He must have got the cloak from somewhere here,' I said. 'And the false fangs. He heard me coming and instead of running away he came out calmly to meet me ?and invented a cover story on the spot.'
'I think I can guess why he needed the cloak,' Foma said gloomily, glancing at the blood-spattered floor. 'He must have got blood on himself... Send me his image, Anton.'
I closed my eyes and tried to remember the Frenchman as clearly as possible. Then I sent the mental picture to Lermont.
'Aha,' said the Scot. 'Excellent. I'll check out all the files.'
'Perhaps we ought to inform the Inquisition?' I asked.
Lermont shook his head.
'No, not yet. The events have not exceeded the limits of a crime committed by a solitary Dark One. The Day Watch of Edinburgh has not lodged any protests. We'll manage without the Inquisition, Anton. For as long as we can.'
I didn't argue. There's not much fun in calling the Inquisition in to help.
'Is my help still required here?'
'No - go and catch up on your sleep,' said Lermont. 'We won't inform the police: this is purely our business. My lads will try to find some clues, and I'll start checking the Higher Others.'
He grunted as he bent down over the severed head, as if he was hoping to spot some kind of clues carelessly left by the crim inal. Lermont could do with losing that belly.
'Foma,' I asked in a quiet voice. 'What is there in here, in the Dungeons of Scotland?'
'Eh?' he asked without even turning round.
'What are the Dark Ones looking for here?'
'It's a tourist attraction, Mr Gorodetsky,' Foma said coolly. 'Just that, and nothing more.'
'Well, all right,' I said and left.
The killer had not needed to come back. If he had left any clues, they would already have been found - both the ordinary ones and the magic ones.
But he had come back and killed again. In order to anger the Night Watch even more? Nonsense. In order to put pressure on Lermont? Total nonsense.
So there was something he hadn't managed to do the first time around. And he had had to come back again.
What could Lermont be hiding? This place wasn't as straight-forward as it seemed. For example, the blue moss didn't grow here. That was already a significant anomaly. The structure of the Twilight is heterogeneous. For instance, in some places it is harder to enter than in others. I had even heard about zones where it is quite impossible to enter the Twilight. But the blue moss was a universal parasite...
I walked about a hundred metres away from the place and looked through the Twilight.
Aha.
Where I was standing, the moss was flourishing. There were thick garlands of it outside the pubs and cafes. It was thicker on the houses where people lived and thinner on the offices and shops. And there was more moss on the crossroads, where drivers get nervous.
All perfectly normal.
But when I looked towards the bridge, the closer to the entrance to the Dungeons, the more blue moss there was! It was drawn in that direction... And no wonder! The moss got thicker and thicker and then suddenly, ten metres from the doors, it started to dry up, as if it had hit some invisible boundary line.
Strange. If there was some factor that was harmful to the moss, it ought to have thinned out gradually. This had to be something else...