The Twilight Watch Read Online Free Page A

yourself as an Other to
human beings. You've seen yourself . . .' he nodded towards the
door through which his visitors had left. 'But that's a private matter.
And the appropriate magical limitations are imposed. This situation
is far worse than that. It looks as if one of the Others intends
to trade in initiations.'
    I imagined a vampire offering his services to rich New Russians
and smiled. 'How would you like to drink the people's blood for
real, my dear sir?' But then, it wasn't all about blood. Even the
very weakest vampire or werewolf possesses power. They have no
fear of disease. They live for a very, very long time. And their physical
strength shouldn't be forgotten either – any werewolf would
beat Karelin and give Tyson a good whipping. And then there was
their 'animal magnetism', the 'call' that they had such complete
control over. Any woman was yours for the taking, just summon
her.
    Of course, in reality, both vampires and werewolves were bound
by numerous restrictions. Even more so than magicians – their
instability required it. But did a newly initiated vampire really
understand that?
    'What are you smiling at?' Gesar asked.
    'I just imagined an announcement in a newspaper. "I will turn
you into a vampire. Safe, reliable, a hundred years' guarantee. Price
by arrangement".'
    Gesar nodded.
    'Good thinking. I'll have the newspapers and internet notice-boards
checked.'
    I looked at Gesar, but I couldn't tell whether he was joking.
    'I don't think there's any real danger,' I said. 'Most likely some
crackpot vampire has decided to earn a bit of money. Showed
some rich man a few tricks and offered to . . . er . . . bite him.'
    'One bite, and all your troubles are over,' Gesar said.
    Encouraged, I continued:
    'Someone . . . for instance, this man's wife, found out about the
terrible offer. While her husband hesitates, she decides to write to
us, hoping that we'll eliminate the vampire and that her husband
will remain a human being. Hence the combination of letters cut
out of newspapers and the post office in Assol. A cry for help. She
can't tell us openly, but she's literally begging us: Save my husband!'
    'You hopeless romantic,' Gesar said disapprovingly. 'So then she
takes a pair of nail scissors, and snippety-snips the letters out of
the latest Pravda . . . Did she get the addresses out of the newspapers
too?'
    'The address of the Inquisition!' I exclaimed, suddenly realising
the problem.
    'Now you're thinking. Could you send a letter to the Inquisition?'
    I didn't answer. I'd been put firmly in my place. Gesar had told
me straight out about the letter to the Inquisition!
    'In our watch I'm the only person who knows their address.
In the Day Watch, I presume Zabulon is the only one. So where
does that leave us, Gorodetsky?'
    'You sent the letter. Or Zabulon did.'
    Gesar only snorted.
    'And is the Inquisition really uptight about this?' I asked.
    'Uptight is putting it mildly. In itself, the attempt to trade in
initiations doesn't bother them. That's standard business for the
Watches – identify the perpetrator, punish him, and seal the
leak. Especially since we and the Dark Ones are both equally
outraged by what has happened . . . But a letter to the Inquisition
– that's something really exceptional. There aren't very many
Inquisitors, so you can see . . . If one side violates the Treaty,
the Inquisition takes the other side, maintaining equilibrium.
That gives all of us discipline. But let's just say somewhere in
the depths of one of the Watches a plan is being hatched for
ultimate victory. A group of battle magicians who have come
together and are capable of killing all the Inquisitors in a single
night – that is, of course, if they happen to know all about the
Inquisition – who serves in it, where they live, where they keep
their documents . . .'
    'Did the letter arrive at their head office?' I asked.
    'Yes. And judging from the fact that six hours later the office
was empty, and there was a fire in the