'That won't do you much good,' Svetlana muttered. 'Go into the shed and wait for the field operatives. You can explain to a tribunal why you took the cubs hunting humans.'
But Igor shook his head again, with an expression of genuine concern – and not for himself, which was surprising.
'Wait! Please! This is important! You have a daughter, don't you? A little Other girl, a Light One, two or three years old?'
'We saw where they took her,' the boy with my name said in a quiet voice.
I moved Sveta aside and stepped forward. I asked:
'What do you want?'
We already knew what the werewolves wanted. And the werewolves knew that we understood. The sad thing about it was they could tell we'd be willing to deal.
But there are always little details worth talking through.
'A charge of minor negligence,' Igor said quickly. 'While we were out walking we inadvertently allowed ourselves to be seen by human children and frightened them.'
'You were hunting, you beast!' Svetlana burst out. 'You and the cubs were hunting human children!'
'No!' said Igor, shaking his head. 'The kids got a bit frolicsome and decided to play a game with the human children. I arrived on the scene and pulled them away. It was my fault, I wasn't watching them closely enough.'
His calculations were precisely right. I couldn't have ignored what had happened, even if I wanted to. The facts were already out. It was just a matter of how to classify the incident. Attempted murder almost certainly meant dematerialisation for Igor and intensive supervision for the cubs. Minor negligence meant no more than a report, a fine and 'special supervision' of his subsequent behaviour.
'All right,' I said hastily, so that Svetlana couldn't get in before me. 'If you help us, you can have your "minor negligence".'
I wanted to be responsible for saying it.
Igor relaxed. He'd probably been expecting the deal to take longer.
'Galya, tell them,' he ordered. He explained: 'She saw it . . . Galya's a fidget, she just can't sit still . . .'
Svetlana walked over to the girl. And I gestured for Igor to move aside. He tensed up again, but followed me meekly.
'A few questions,' I explained. 'And I advise you to answer honestly.'
Igor nodded.
'How were you granted the right to initiate three children who weren't yours?' I asked, swallowing the words 'you bastard' that were begging to be added.
'They were all incurably ill,' Igor answered. 'I was studying in medical college, on practical training in a children's cancer ward . . . all three of them were dying from leukaemia. There was a doctor there who was an Other. A Light One. He suggested it to me . . . I bite all three of them and turn them into werewolves, and they recover. And by way of return he receives the right to heal a few other children.'
I said nothing. I remembered the incident from about a year earlier. An utterly outrageous case of open collusion between a Dark One and a Light One, which both Watches had preferred to hush up. The Light One had saved about twenty children, making the most of such a rare opportunity to heal. The Dark Ones had received three werewolves. A small exchange. Everyone was happy, including the children and their parents. A few additional amendments to the Treaty had been adopted to avoid similar cases in the future. Everyone had preferred to forget the precedent as quickly as possible.
'Do you blame me?' Igor asked.
'It's not for me to blame you,' I whispered. 'All right. Whatever your motives might have been . . . never mind that. The second question. Why did you take them out hunting? Don't lie this time, don't lie! You were hunting! You were planning to violate the Treaty!'
'I got carried away,' Igor answered calmly. 'What point is there in lying? I took the cubs out for a walk, and deliberately chose the most remote area. Then suddenly there were those little children . . . Alive. They smelled good. One thing led to another. As for the cubs . . . they only caught their first rabbit this year, got their first taste of blood.'
And then he smiled – a guilty, embarrassed, even sincere smile. He explained:
'Your mind works quite differently in an animal body. Next time I'll be more careful.'
'All right,' I said.
What else could I say? Nadiushka's life was hanging by a thread. Even if he was lying, I wasn't going to start