I looked at Arina. The witch was as happy as if she had stuffed herself with her own witch’s toadstools in toad sauce.

“What are you so delighted about?” I asked. “Do you realize what’s happened? We’ve heard the prophecy for which the Tiger killed Erasmus Darwin today.”

“Killed him?” Arina asked, knitting her brows. But the smile remained on her face. “I’m sorry for the old alcoholic, I really am. But I’m glad that everything has been settled. Now we can get this over and done with, Anton! You and me—or rather, your daughter. But we’ll help. The Tiger will come and Nadya will destroy him.”

“I think you didn’t hear the prophecy clearly,” I said. “It’s for me to decide. Do you understand?”

I stepped towards my daughter and put my arms round her.

“It’s for me to decide whether Nadya kills the Tiger.”

“I don’t want to kill anyone,” Nadya said quickly. “Daddy, I don’t want to!”

“I’m afraid you don’t have any choice anymore,” Arina said calmly. “The Executioner will die and magic will quit our world. It has been said! If we tell the prophecy to humans—it will come true.”

“And what if we don’t tell them?” I asked.

“Then the Tiger will come and kill all the Others who know the prophecy,” Arina said, smiling. “I’m ready. I’ll die anyway when the Twilight disappears, as you already know: ordinary people don’t live as long as I have.”

“You’re the one to blame,” I said. “You’re involved in this somehow. You knew how to activate the prophecy, didn’t you? Had you known for a long time?”

“I suspected,” Arina said calmly. “It’s basically an old witch’s method, to make a spell dependent on the destruction of some valuable item. Then you can hope it will only be used in a case of extreme need. But you were absolutely right, Anton, I couldn’t have influenced your daughter. I couldn’t have enchanted an Absolute Enchantress. I had to make sure that she had no choice and you didn’t either.”

“There’s always a choice,” said Nadya, slipping out from under my arm and giving Arina an angry look. “I won’t kill anyone! Not even if I get killed!”

“But your daddy will be killed too,” Arina said. “And Kesha also, as it happens. Will you be able just to watch the Tiger kill them?”

Nadya’s face fell.

“So you couldn’t have influenced Nadya,” I said. “But what about Erasmus?”

Arina lowered her eyes for a moment.

“It was only curiosity . . . As you know, it killed the cat. And that old Irish drunkard, too.”

“Why?”