Back in the hotel. The room attendants did a great job while the two of them were away: they even managed to get the blood out of the carpet in Blake's room. He reminded himself to leave a huge tip.

After her father died, Helenka went crazy. Zelezny said that the girl wasn't in charge but the reaction the gargoyle had given looked very emotional. Blake still couldn't believe they survived it. Well, most of them: one of the officers broke his neck.

After Helenka had lifted and thrown away the van several times, she took off. The police tried to follow her with two helicopters but both lost her soon before they reached the border. Helenka went North; the Czech police already had warned the German and Polish ones.

Blake collapsed onto his bed. He managed to get out of the mostly destroyed van without any serious injuries, but he had a few dozens of bruises and he felt like he just had a really brutal Duel match.

Sarah settled down beside him. She had blood in her hair again, but the wound the blood had come from already closed itself.

'Can I have my Hour?' she asked.

Blake nodded.

'I am sorry, Cornelius. I screwed up. Every time I had to make a decision I made the wrong one and people died.'

The man shook his head.

'I don't blame you.'

'If I hadn't let Zelezny out, he would be still alive,' pointed out the woman.

Blake took a deep breath. The most important rule of the Hour was that they must have been honest with each other. Brutally honest, if it was necessary.

'Most likely, yes. But jumping in front of the gun was his decision, not yours.'

'I made it possible for him,' said Sarah. 'Even though you warned that it's not a good idea.'

'There's no way ya could have known that's gonna happen,' said Blake. He was so tired he slowly slid back to the manner of speaking he learned as a kid. He shook his head to clear his thoughts. 'The whole operation was ill-advised. There's no way that the bosses didn't know what we were after. They just held back information as they always do. They probably wanted us to get Honsa out of the way so they can pitch in and raise the girl as their weapon.'

Sarah got up, walked to the minibar and poured a generous amount of vodka to a glass. She went back to the bed and sat.

'Do you really think that is what happened, Cornelius?' she asked, offering the glass to Blake. Her face was thoughtful. Blake took the vodka and had a big sip. His face wrinkled up and he had to fight off some coughing.

'I don't know. Maybe. Do you?'

The woman took some time to think it through. She grabbed the glass back and tried the vodka carefully.

'Not the best quality…' she noted frowning. 'I think it is possible, yes. They cannot see the future, obviously, but they might have hoped for this result.'

'And?' asked Blake. He was staring at the woman, waiting for something.

'And?' repeated Sarah.

'Doesn't it bother you? The possibility that our bosses made a plan that could cost us our lives, that actually killed people just so they can have a new weapon?'

Sarah smiled sadly.

'You are a good agent and a good man, Cornelius. That's your biggest problem. You cannot be a good man if you want to be a great agent.'

'What do you mean?' he asked, narrowing his eyelids.

Sarah took a deep breath and shook her head. She seemed just as tired as Blake, if not more.

'Now it's not the time, Cornelius. Why don't you get some sleep?'

'We are doing the Hour, Sarah' reminded her Blake. 'What did you mean?'

'I meant that after all these years you are still thinking like a human being. You still have limits. We are not the police, no matter what you have said to that kid. We are not heroes, Cornelius, we don't save lives. We are following orders. Everything we do is for the greater good, for the benefit of mankind,' her eyes sparked up as she spoke. She really did believe every word she said. 'Yes, maybe the MAGE wanted this to happen, I wouldn't be surprised. But if they did, they had a reason. They believed that this was in the best interest of humanity. The MAGE doesn't want justice or happiness or fairness, Cornelius. The MAGE wants us, people, human, vampire, whatever, to survive. At any cost. You cannot save the entire humanity from itself without having to sacrifice things or even people. That is our job. If we can help and save lives while we are doing it, well, great, but that is not a part of the job.'

Blake got up and walked to the window. It was two-winged and tall as the ceiling. He opened one of the wings and stepped out on a tiny balcony. He looked over the city. It was ready to sleep, blinking lights everywhere, families having dinner before bed. People died today and nothing changed, nothing at all.

'I want to believe in the Agency, Sadie,' he said, still showing his back to the woman. 'I really do. But I am not sure they are on the right path.'

'There is no right and wrong for us, Cornelius,' sighed Sarah. 'The MAGE doesn't have the luxury to be ethical. If anything, we are the necessary evil.'

Blake turned back to her. She was standing now, not far from the window.

'I'm surprised you feel like that, Sarah,' he said, regretting every word before they left his lips, but he needed, no, he had to make her see it. 'Considering that this might have been exactly the same way those people felt who killed your entire family. They thought they were doing what was necessary for mankind to survive.'

Sarah unwillingly touched her left forearm and stared at Blake. There was pain and anger in her eyes. For a moment Blake was sure that Sarah would attack him. He wanted her to, he would have deserved it. But no: the woman just took a deep breath, turned away from Blake and walked out of the room without a word.