and walked back to his colleagues.
Part One EPILOGUE
'You KNOW, THAT'S a really bad sign, to tell someone you fought side by side with that you'll meet again later,' Semyon declared sombrely. 'He hasn't got a single free moment to see me. And we're flying back home, like real ninnies. If we had just a week... we could have gone to the lochs, done a bit of fishing...'
'Semyon, the Inquisition will arrive any minute ?we'd be stuck here for a month.'
'So what's wrong with that?'
'I'm a family man.'
'Oh, that's right... ' Semyon said with a sigh. 'With a little daughter ... Is she walking yet?'
'Semyon, stop playing the fool!'
We stopped in front of the hotel entrance. Semyon chuckled and rubbed the bridge of his nose.
'Er... how much time have we got?'
'Five or six hours. If there are tickets for the evening flight.'
'I'll just drop into a shop and buy a few souvenirs. Shall I get some for you?'
'What, exactly?'
'What sort of question's that? Whisky and scarves. Whisky for the men and scarves for the women. I usually get five of each.'
'Go on, then,' I said, waving him away. 'Only get me a child's scarf too, if you see one. Something bright and cheerful.'
Definitely'
I walked into the vestibule. The receptionist was not at his desk, but there was an envelope lying there with the name 'Anton Gorodetsky' written on it in large letters. Inside there were three first-class tickets ?for me, Semyon and Galya Dobronravova. Foma had acted with incredible efficiency, and he hadn't even forgotten about the wolf-girl.
I knocked on the door of the Dark suite on the fourth floor. No response. I listened, and heard the sound of water flowing somewhere inside. I took Galya's ticket out of the envelope and pushed it under the door.
I found the key in my pocket went into my own suite.
' Slowly-slowly-go-over- to-the-armchair-and-sit-down,' gabbled the young red-haired guy who had introduced himself to me as Jean in the Dungeons of Scotland.
He had positioned himself perfectly. At the window, with the blinding sunlight pouring in through it. My shadow was behind me - there was no way I could plunge into it.
'Start-moving-towards-the-armchair-slowly-slowly,' the young guy rattled off.
He was accelerated, enveloped in the green glow emanating from the amulet on his arm: it looked like an ordinary woven bead trinket, the kind that hippies make. His reflexes now were many times faster than those of a normal human being. And since he was holding an Uzi automatic rifle and its magazine of charmed bullets was glowing bright red, it would have been unwise to object.
'Speak more clearly,' I said, walking to the chair and sitting in it. 'Since you didn't kill me straight away, there must be some thing to talk about.'
'You're-wrong-wizard,' the young guy said, and I noted that funny, childish 'wizard'. 'I-was-ordered-to-kill-you-but-there's-something-I-want-to-ask-you.'
'Ask away.
I needed my shadow. I needed to turn my head, see my shadow and dive into the Twilight. I would be faster than him there.
'Well...' I thought for a moment. 'Do you mean Light Ones or Dark Ones?'
'It-doesn't-matter.'
'Approx... imate ... ly ... one ... in ... every... ten... thousand...' I drawled slowly. Not to be smart, but to try to convince this young guy that he was speeded up too far. But then, was he able to control the effect of the charm?
'Bastards-I-hate-them,' he said. 'I-was-told-to-say-you-betrayed-a-friend-and-deserve-to-die
There was a knock at the door. The young guy's glance darted to the door and then back to me. In a single movement he pulled the tablecloth off the table and covered his automatic rifle, which was still trained on me. He said:
'Open-it!'
'Who's there? It's open!' I shouted.
If it was Semyon, we'd have a chance.
The door opened and Galya walked in. The way she looked simply took my breath away. A short little black skirt, an almost transparent pink top ?she had Lolita smoking nervously in the corner.
Jean was dumbstruck too.
'Hi' The girl was chewing something. She concentrated and blew out a huge bubble of gum. The bubble burst and Jean started. I was afraid he would start blasting away, but the moment passed safely. 'And who are you?' she asked.
She gave Jean a look that made him blush bright red. He managed to jabber and mumble at the same time:
'I'm-just- visiting.'
'Well, friends of Anthony's get a discount,' Galya said, and winked at the young guy. She walked up to me, swaying her hips, and said, 'I left my knickers in your place ?did you find them?'