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that,” I admitted. “And there are some that require the liver of a werewolf killed at midnight.”
    The werewolf’s eyes glittered brightly with malice, but he didn’t say anything. His rank wasn’t high enough to try arguing with me. I might only be a simple patrol witch, but that was way above a mercenary werewolf.
    “All right then, you guys, tell me the procedure to be followed after the discovery on the premises of rodents, cockroaches, flies, mosquitoes…” I said in a slow, lazy voice.
    “Activate the pest control amulet,” Vitaly said reluctantly. “If any of the creatures should be observed not to be affected by the action of the amulet, then it should be captured, exercising great vigilance, and handed over to the
     
    duty magician for checking.”
    “You do know it… So we’re not dealing with a case of forgetfulness here. Have you activated the amulet?” 1
    asked.
    The werewolf gave the vampire a sideways glance and then looked away.
    “No…”
    “I see. Failure to carry out duty instructions. As the senior member of the duty detail, you will be penalized. You will inform the duty officer.”
    The werewolf said nothing.
    “Repeat what I said, security guard.”
    He realized it was stupid to resist and repeated it.
    “And now get back to serving your watch,” I said and walked to the elevator, still carrying the sleeping mouse on my open palm.
    “Bon appetit…” the werewolf muttered after me. Those creatures have no discipline-the animal half of them is just too strong.
    “I hope that in a genuine battle you will be at least half as brave as this little mouse,” I replied as I got into the elevator. I caught Kostya’s eye-it seemed to me that the young vampire was embarrassed, and even glad that the cruel amusement was at an end.
    My appearance in the department with a mouse in my hand caused an uproar.
    Anna Lemesheva, the senior witch on our shift, was about to launch into her usual tirade about young people who haven’t been taught any discipline: “Under Stalin, for being five minutes late you’d have been packed off to a camp in Kolyma to brew potions…” When she saw the mouse she was struck dumb.
    Lena Kireeva squealed and then howled: “Oh, how lovely.” Zhanna Gromova giggled and asked if I was going to make the “thief’s elixir”-which includes a boiled mouse as an essential component-and what I was planning to steal afterward. Olya Melnikova finished painting her nails and congratulated me on a successful hunt.
    I put the little creature down on my desk, as if I never came to work without a fresh mouse, and told everyone how the security guards had been amusing themselves.
    Anna shook her head. “Is that why you were late?”
    “Partly,” I said honestly. “Anna Tikhonovna, I was incredibly unlucky with the traffic. And then there were those nitwits playing their games.”
    Anna Tikhonovna Lemesheva is an old and experienced witch-it’s pointless trying to deceive her by putting on a brave front. She’s about a hundred years old, and after all the things she’d seen, the game with the mouse was hardly going to seem cruel. But even so she pursed her lips and declared: “These werewolves have no respect for duty. When we were stationed at Revel, fighting the Swedes, we had a saying: ‘If they send the watch a werewolf, detail a witch to watch him.” What would have happened if an assault group of Light Ones had burst in while both guards were gawking at that rodent? They could have sent the mouse in deliberately. It’s disgraceful. I think you should have demanded more serious punishment, Alisa.”
    “The lash,” Lena Kireeva said in a quiet voice. She flicked her thick head of long red hair. Oh, that hair of Lena’s, anyone would envy it. But the comforting thing is that nothing else is up to the same standard.
    “Yes, it was a mistake to ban the practice of punishment with the lash,” Anna replied coldly. “Throw that creature out of the window,