head.
'Ah, screw them anyway,' Galya declared. And she began slowly leaning down, reaching out for my lips with her own, giving Jean a chance to stare ... I dared not even think at what!
But he stared.
'Get ready,' Galya whispered. The girl's stare was serious and tense. But she still touched my lips ?and sparks of mischief glinted in her eyes.
She transformed herself instantly into a she-wolf. Crudely, horribly, scattering drops of blood and scraps of skin around her, wasting no time on morphing properly. And she flung herself round and leapt at the killer like a shaggy black shadow.
He started to shoot at the same moment that I flung two Triple Blades, one after another.
The first cut off the hand holding the gun and gouged out a chunk of his body. I didn't realise where the second one had gone at first. I leapt to my feet and jumped towards the she-wolf writhing on the floor. Her body had taken all the bullets intended for me. Not very many ?only five or six. If only they hadn't been charmed.
Jean stood up, swaying on his feet. He looked at me with wild, insane eyes.
'Who sent you?' I shouted, hitting him with a Domination, the spell of absolute obedience.
Jean shuddered and tried to open his mouth ?and his head flew apart into three pieces. My second shot had hit him in the head.
The body swayed and slumped to the floor beside the wolf-girl. Blood pulsed out of its arteries.
If she had been a vampire, and not a werewolf...
I leaned down over her, and saw that she was transforming back into a human being.
'Don't you dare! You'll die!'
'I'll die anyway,' she said in a clear voice. 'I don't want to die as an animal...'
'You're not... '
Instantly there was note of irony in her voice.
'Silly... Light One...'
I stood up. My hands were covered in blood and there was blood squelching under my feet. The killer's headless body was shuddering convulsively.
'What's happening here?' Semyon froze in the doorway. He ran his hand over his face and swore.
His other hand was holding two plastic bags. One had bottles in it. The other probably had scarves
'What's happening? Nothing,' I said, looking at the dead girl. 'It's all over.'
I bought the magnet for Zabulon in Edinburgh airport, while Lermont and Semyon were rebooking the tickets. We now only needed two seats in the cabin of the plane and one ticket for an item of non-standard freight ?a long wooden box that had been treated with spells. One of them was to protect the contents against decomposition. Another was to persuade the customs men that there was no need to check the box, since it was being used to transport harmless skis.
The magnet was banal but beautiful: a Scotsman in a kilt, with bagpipes. I put it in my pocket, then stood in front of the display of postcards for a while. I chose one with a photograph of the castle and put it in my guidebook to Great Britain. I didn't have any reason to send it to the girl Lera as yet. But I hoped very much that sooner or later I would be able to keep the promise I had made to Victor's girlfriend.
Semyon was unusually quiet. He didn't reminisce about the way aeroplanes used to look at the dawn of the aviation industry, he didn't crack any jokes. We walked through the customs and pass port checks, and took our seats in the plane. Semyon took out a flask of whisky and glanced at me enquiringly. I nodded. We each took a mouthful straight from the flask, earning ourselves a dis approving glance from the flight attendant. She immediately went off to her little cubbyhole and came back with glasses and a few little bottles, which she handed to Semyon without saying a word.
'Don't feel sorry for her,' Semyon said gently. 'Dark Ones will always be Dark Ones. She would have grown up into a monster. Most likely'
I nodded. He was right, of course. Even a silly Light One like me had to understand that...
I leaned back in my seat and closed my eyes. I realised that I'd even forgotten to check the probabilities to see if the plane was in any danger of crashing. Ah... what difference did it make? People flew all the time without worrying if anything bad was going to happen. I could try that too...
'I checked the reality lines,' Semyon said. 'We leave ten minutes late, but we arrive on