'He has become a Higher Vampire,' Gesar declared. 'The youngest Higher Vampire in Europe. If you translate that into our terms, that means . . .'
'Third or fourth level of power,' I whispered. 'Five or six lives destroyed.'
Kostya, Kostya . . . I was a young, inexperienced Light Magician back then. I just couldn't make any friends in the Watch, and all my old friendships were rapidly falling apart . . . Others and people can't be friends . . . and suddenly I discovered that my neighbours were Dark Others. A family of vampires. The mother and father were vampires, and they'd initiated their child too. There was nothing really sinister about them, though. No nocturnal hunting, no applications for licences, they respected the law and drank pig's blood and donors' blood. And so, like a fool, I let my defences down and became friends with them. I used to go round to see them and even invited them to my apartment. They ate the food I'd cooked, and praised it . . . and, idiot that I was, I didn't realise that human food is tasteless to them, that they are tormented by an ancient, eternal hunger. The little vampire kid even decided that he was going to be a biologist and discover a cure for vampirism . . .
Then I killed my first vampire.
And after that Kostya joined the Day Watch. I didn't know if he'd ever graduated from his biology faculty, but he'd certainly shed his childish illusions.
And he'd started receiving licences to kill. Rise to the level of a Higher Vampire in three years? He must have had help. All the resources of the Day Watch must have been brought to bear so that the nice young lad Kostya could sink his fangs into human necks over and over again . . .
And I had a pretty good idea who had helped him.
'What do you think, Anton?' said Gesar. 'In the given situation, who should we appoint as the investigator from our side?'
I took my mobile out of my pocket and dialled Svetlana's number.
CHAPTER 2
IN OUR LINE of business you don't often get to work undercover.
In the first place, you have to completely disguise your nature as an Other, so that nothing gives you away, not your aura, or any streams of power, or any disturbances in the Twilight. And the situation is quite simple – if you're a fifth-grade magician, then you won't be discovered by magicians weaker than you, those who are sixth- and seventh-grade. If you're a first-grade magician, then you're concealed from the second grade and below. If you're a magician beyond classification . . .well, then you can hope that no one will recognise you.
I was disguised by Gesar himself, immediately after speaking to Svetlana. The conversation was brief, but painful. We didn't quarrel. She was just very upset.
And in the second place, you need a cover story. The simplest way to provide a cover story is by magical means – people you don't know will gladly believe you're their brother, their son-in-law's father or the army buddy they drank home brew with when they went absent without leave. But a magical cover story will leave traces that any reasonably powerful Other can spot.
So there was no magic involved in my cover story. Gesar handed me the keys to an apartment in the Assol complex – a hundred and fifty square metres of floor space on the eighth floor. It was registered in my name and had been bought six months earlier. When I opened my eyes wide at that, Gesar explained that the documents had been signed that morning, but backdated. For big money. And the apartment would have to be handed back afterwards.
I got the keys to a BMW just to add substance to my story. It wasn't a new car, or the most luxurious model, but then my apartment was a small one.
Then a tailor came into the office, a mournful little old Jewish man, a seventh-grade Other. He took my measurements, promised the suit would be ready by the evening, when, he assured us, 'this boy will start to look like a man'. Gesar was extremely polite to the tailor, opening the door for him and seeing him out into the reception. As he said goodbye, he asked timidly how his 'little coat' was coming on. The tailor told him there was no need to worry. A coat worthy of the Most Lucent