‘My head does,’ Svetlana told him.
‘Unfortunately, I’m not the head,’ said the Tiger, taking a sip of coffee. ‘I had a mission. I came to this world to carry it out…’
‘And in between visits?’ Nadya asked.
‘I didn’t have any “in between”,’ the Tiger laughed. ‘And I stayed here. I’ve been thinking things over. And I realised I don’t like the Two-in-One.’
‘Why not?’
‘Firstly, because if he kills you, I’ll have to go back,’ the Tiger said irritably. ‘And I happen to be waiting for the next Star Wars film to be released.’
‘If only Lucas could hear that…’ Nadya exclaimed in delight.
‘Secondly, I don’t like the very little that I do know about the Two-in-One,’ the Tiger went on. ‘If he thinks that the Covenant of the Twilight has been violated, then he has no other option but to exterminate all the Others. And the disappearance of the Others will result in the death of all life on the planet.’
‘Why?’ I asked.
The Tiger shrugged. ‘I only know the result. And I don’t like it. Perhaps the Two-in-One doesn’t care if he’s left on a lifeless planet. Perhaps the Twilight doesn’t care… or it isn’t aware of what’s happening. But I’m against it.’
‘What a stroke of luck for us that you’ve been humanised,’ I chuckled. ‘Tell me, can you stop him?’
‘The ancient god of Light and Darkness? The vampire god? Who has appeared in the world to stage the Apocalypse?’ The Tiger shook his head. ‘No chance.’
‘But he walked away today!’
‘Perhaps because I appeared so unexpectedly,’ the Tiger suggested. ‘Or perhaps because the prophecy says “three victims the fourth time”. How many times has he tried to kill you so far?’
‘Once,’ I replied gloomily.
‘Now it’s twice. I’m pretty sure that when he attacks the third time, he’ll back off again. Perhaps he’ll justify his retreat to himself by some weighty considerations of logic, but the real reason is different. Whether he knows it or not, the Two-in-One is following the prophecy. The first and second times he withdrew when a new opponent appeared. He’ll find a reason to withdraw one more time…’
‘And the fourth time he’ll kill us.’
‘If you don’t kill him,’ the Tiger said. ‘Nadezhda Antonovna is an Absolute Enchantress. Her Power is unlimited. But, as you know perfectly well, skill is required to use Power properly. So if there’s a duel, my money would be on the Two-in-One.’
‘But what about the Sixth Watch?’
The Tiger thought about that.
‘Would it be stronger than the Two-in-One?’ I prompted.
‘The Sixth Watch would be the right opponent,’ the Tiger said eventually. ‘Thousands of years ago six Others concluded some kind of agreement with the Twilight in the person of the Two-in-One. Now the agreement has been violated – and the Two-in-One has been incarnated to punish all the Others as renegades. But if the Sixth Watch is resurrected, a dialogue will probably be possible. The Treaty could be renewed, mistakes could be put right and so on.’
‘But you don’t know what the Treaty was, what the mistakes were, what the Sixth Watch was…?’
‘I told you, no!’ the Tiger replied peevishly. ‘I’m on your side. I’m for the Others and the people, because I like being an Other-person. And I’m ready to help – but don’t expect answers to any of your questions. I don’t have them.’
‘But can you guess at any?’ Svetlana asked. ‘After all, you’re closest of all to the Twilight.’
The Tiger laughed.
‘Yes, I can guess… the Sixth Watch wasn’t forgotten immediately, right? You found out about the occasion when it discussed collaboration with the human Inquisition. Why?’
‘Why did it reject the idea?’
‘No, not that! Why did it discuss the question at all? Why did it even exist, if the Two-in-One hadn’t appeared for hundreds or thousands of years?’
‘The Sixth Watch was the most ancient of all our Night and Day Watches,’ I said morosely. ‘At the dawn of time the Two-in-One appeared to the Cro-Magnons and the Neanderthals. And they decided something. Let’s assume they discussed things without any formal structure, at the shaman level… Some kind of group got together and they decided something. And then the Two-in-One showed up again a lot later, when he had some grievances to settle. Civilisation already existed, with its ancient cities…’
‘Ur, Shang, Egypt, Atlantis,’ the Tiger said without a trace of irony.
‘Our Watches didn’t exist yet,’ I said, thinking out loud. ‘But some kind of Sixth Watch was chosen for the meeting with him. Were they the same Others who gathered at the dawn of time? Or their successors? And why Sixth?’
‘More likely it was called “The Watch of Six”,’ the Tiger suggested. ‘Or “The Six Watchmen”. Something like that.’
‘What you could call “the six supervisors” in Russian thieves’ jargon,’ Svetlana said wryly.
‘You could put it like that,’ I said, watching as the Tiger pensively blew smoke from his mouth. I gave in and took a cigarette from the pack. As I lit it I caressed it with my finger.
‘You poser,’ Svetlana said derisively.
‘You could put it like that!’ I repeated, taking a drag.
The cigarette really did taste superb – if you can say that about poison.
‘The question is, why did the Sixth Watch disappear?’ Nadya said. ‘At the beginning the Two-in-One came to the vampires and shapeshifters. There weren’t any specialised differentiations yet. But, by the time he made his second visit, there were – and they appeared as six forces united in the Sixth Watch. But why did it exist for centuries before and after the Two-in-One’s second coming, and then disappear?’
‘It didn’t just disappear – the very memory of it was lost,’ Svetlana added.
I shrugged, and the Tiger repeated my gesture. ‘I don’t know,’ he said, ‘but that’s what I would advise you to think about: what was the Sixth Watch needed for, and why did it disappear? Perhaps then you can work out how to defeat the Two-in-One. And who the members of the Watch are.’
He got up, and I realised our conversation was over.
‘Are you tracking us?’ I asked.
The Tiger shook his head.
‘But you appeared at just the right moment…’
‘I appeared when I sensed someone was using Power – you were using it, and so was the Two-in-One. I realised you were duelling – and so I came.’
‘It’s a good thing you used the Press when you did, Dad,’ said Nadya. ‘Bye-bye, Tiger!’
‘Bye-bye, Absolute Little Girl,’ the Tiger said, entirely seriously. ‘I hope everything will be all right. Although there isn’t much chance of that.’
I was expecting the Tiger simply to disappear. But first he took some money out of his pocket and put two thousand-rouble notes on the table. Then he walked out through the door of the toilet.
‘He’s become completely humanised,’ I said in amazement. ‘It’s unbelievable.’
‘Nadya, open a portal to the Watch office,’ Svetlana said. ‘I realise that’s the place where you couldn’t defend yourself against the Tiger. But it’s still safer.’
‘Maybe Gesar has some kind of refuge in mind?’ I sighed, taking a drag on my cigarette.
A young waitress walked up to our table. I thought she had come to take the money, but she stopped beside us and glared at me indignantly.
‘Is something wrong?’ I asked.
‘Well, what do you think?’ the girl asked. ‘You’re smoking! Shall I call the police and get them to charge you?’