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as they dematerialized tens and hundreds of kilometers away from us, they sent back their final reports.
I knew what they said.
"Nothing . . ." Svetlana whispered. "Nothing anywhere. No Nadiushka ... no witch ..."
Her eyes came back to life. That meant the magical cobweb had decayed, the white birds had fallen to earth and
dissolved, the rainbow sphere had burst in the sky.
"Nothing anywhere," Svetlana repeated. "Anton... We need to calm down."
"She couldn't have gone far," I said. "And she hasn't done anything bad to Nadya, believe me."
"A hostage?" Svetlana asked. I read hope in her face.
"The Inquisition has the district blocked off. They have their own methods-even Arina won't get past the cordons."
"Yes . . ." Svetlana whispered. "I see."
"To get away, she needs outside help," I said, unsure whether I was trying to convince Sveta or myself. "She's
not going to get it voluntarily. So she's decided to blackmail us."
"Will we be able to satisfy her demands?" Svetlana asked, taking the bull by the horns right away, without
bothering to ask if we would want to satisfy them . . . What else could we do? We'd do anything ... if we could.
"We have to wait for the demands."
Svetlana nodded.
"Yes . . . wait. But what for, exactly-a call?"
Then she immediately flung her hand up and looked at the window of the bedroom.
An instant later the comb that Arina had given her broke the glass as it came flying through the window. Svetlana
caught it in her hand as if it were some repulsive insect. She looked at the comb for several seconds, then
grimaced and ran it through her hair.
I heard a low, good-humored laugh. And somewhere inside my head Arina's voice said, "Hello there, sweetheart.
So we meet at last. Did my present come in handy?"
"Remember, you old wretch ..." Svetlana began, holding the comb out in front of her.
"I know, I know, my darling. I know everything, and I shan't forget. If I harm a single little hair on Nadienka's head,
you'll follow me to the ends of the earth, drag me back up from the fifth level of the Twilight, tear me asunder,
chop me into little pieces and feed me to the pigs. I know everything you want to say. And I believe you'd do it,
too."
Arina's voice was serious. She wasn't mocking us, but explaining perfectly seriously how she thought we ought to
deal with her. And Svetlana waited without saying anything, keeping the comb in her hand. When the witch
stopped talking, she said, "All right. Then let's not waste any time. I want to speak toNadiushka."
"Nadienka, say hello to Mommy," Arina said.
We heard a perfectly cheerful voice say, "Hello!"
"Nadiusha, is everything all right?" Svetlana asked cautiously.
"Uh huh ..." said Nadya.
And then Arina immediately started speaking again. "Enchantress, I won't do your daughter any harm, just as
long as you don't do anything stupid. I don't want much from you-lead me out of the encirclement and you'll get
your daughter back."
"Arina," I said, taking Svetlana by the hand, "the district is cordoned off by the Inquisition. Do you understand
that?"
"I wouldn't have asked for help otherwise," Arina replied coolly. "Think, Sorcerer! There's a weak board in every
fence and a tear in every net. Lead me through, and I'll give back your daughter."
"And what if I can't?"
"Then it's all the same to me," Arina said succinctly. "I'll try to fight my way out. And I'm very sorry, but I'll kill
your little girl."
"What for?" I asked in a very calm voice. "What good will that do you?
"What good?" Arina asked in astonishment. "If I manage to break out, next time everyone will know that I'm not
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joking. And then again ... I know someone who likes to have Others do his dirty work for him. He'll pay me well for
the death of your little girl."
"We'll try," said Svetlana, squeezing my hand tightly. "Do you hear me, witch? Don't touch the child, we'll save
you."
"We're agreed, then," said Arina, sounding almost happy. "So think how I can get past the cordons. You have
three hours. If you think of something sooner, Enchantress, then pick up the comb and comb your hair again."
"Only don't touch Nadiushka!" Svetlana shouted in a trembling voice, immediately making a swift pass with her
left hand.
The comb was instantly covered in a crust of ice. Svetlana dropped it on the table and muttered: "The disgusting
creature . . . Anton?"
We looked at each other for a second, as if we were tossing the initiative backward and forward, like a ball.
I spoke first. "Sveta, the risk is very great. She can't handle us both in open combat. So she leaves herself
exposed if she gives Nadya back."
"We'll find her a corridor... a way out..." my wife whispered. "She can get beyond the cordons and leave Nadienka
there. I'll find her right away. She can even go to another town and leave Nadya there. I'll open a portal... I know
how. I can do that. I'd be there in a minute."
"That's right," I said with a nod. "In a minute. And then what? The witch won't have time to go far. And as soon as
Nadya's with us, you'll want to find Arina and dematerialize her."
Svetlana nodded. "Blow her to pieces, not dematerialize her . . . The clever thing for the witch to do would be to
use our help, but kill Nadya anyway. Anton, what should we do? Summon Gesar?"
"What if she senses it?" I asked.
"Can't we phone him?" Sveta suggested.
I thought about it and nodded. After all, Arina had fallen well behind the times. Would she even guess that we
could contact Gesar by nonmagical means, using an ordinary cell phone?
Svetlana's phone was still in the house. She dragged it out like the comb, with another casual pass of her hand,
then looked at me again. I nodded.
It was time to ask for help. Time to demand help. The full might of the Moscow Night Watch. In the final analysis,
Gesar had plans of his own for Nadya that we knew nothing about...
"Wait!" a voice called to us from the gate. We swung around, probably throwing our hands up too hastily into a
combat pose. For us this was no longer the ordinary, human world. We were living in the world of the Others,
where the power of your spells and the speed of your reactions decide everything.
But we didn't have to fight.
There was a young man standing at the gate, with three children behind him-two boys and a girl. The man and
the children were all dressed in grayish-green, semimilitary clothes that looked like the uniform of a routed army.
The man was about twenty-five, the children about ten. He couldn't have been their father, or even their
brother-their faces were too dissimilar.
They had only one thing in common-their dark auras. Wild and shaggy, totally out of keeping with their likeable
faces and short, neat hairstyles.
"I see our werewolves have come calling," I muttered.
The man inclined his head briefly to confirm that I was right.
What a lamebrain I was!
I'd been looking for an adult with three children, but I hadn't bothered to check the Young Pioneer camp!
"Come to give yourselves up?" Svetlana asked frostily. "You've chosen a bad time."
No matter how weak they were as Others, they must have felt the recent vortex of Power-and the incredible might
radiating from Svetlana, which left no chance for werewolves, vampires, or any other magical being. Sveta could
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