They reached Baldric's warehouse in the next moment. It was identical to the two buildings on either side of it except that there were no lights on at all. The nearby warehouses had lights illuminating the outsides of the buildings. They also had light visible through the small windows set high in the warehouse walls, near the roof.
"He has the windows blocked?" Mervyn asked, which made sense. Baldric couldn't take the risk of anyone, purposefully or not, seeing what he was up to.
"Yes," Malone said, not looking pleased. It's why I couldn't verify anything other than Baldric being here."
Mervyn nodded, studying the building thoughtfully. Provided Baldric hadn't made many modifications, the warehouse should be a single, large room with a series of offices near the back door—the other reason Denzil and Malone were taking the back. Baldric was likely living and working out of the offices. The rest of the warehouse was probably used for work space.
Best case, Denzil and Malone would take care of Baldric, and he and Callisto would find and take possession of Callisto's heart.
"Wait until we're in position to enter," Malone was saying, nodding to Denzil. "He will tell you when."
"Right," Mervyn said, smiling easily at Denzil when he gave them a suspicious look, his gaze dropping to where Mervyn still held Callisto's hand.
"Let's go, Denzil," Malone said, running a hand over his freshly-shaved head. He didn't look nervous, but Malone rarely showed what he was thinking or feeling.
"Yes, yes," Denzil muttered, scowling. "Take care of Callisto, Mervyn. Anything happens to him, and I'll hold you responsible."
"Nothing will happen. I'll make sure of it," Mervyn said, smothering a grin when Malone cleared his throat pointedly.
"I'm coming," Denzil snapped, eyeing Callisto briefly before settling on simply nodding. Callisto nodded back jerkily, but didn't say anything aloud. Denzil turned on his heel, walking past Malone with an impatient, "Well?"
"Good luck," Malone said, quirking a small smile before turning to follow Denzil. They disappeared into the shadow of the building, and Mervyn quickly switched on the communication charm. The communication charm crackled after a moment—a side effect of reaching the range of the spell, but it would work for their purpose.
Callisto shifted restlessly behind him, but he didn't say anything. Mervyn stayed quiet, too, waiting patiently as he studied the warehouse. It was a foreboding-looking structure in the twilight, though it probably looked fairly innocuous during the daytime.
"We're in place," Denzil's voice said, obscured only a little by static. "Go… head."
"Going," Mervyn replied, touching the charm lightly to speak through it. He glanced at Callisto, who nodded, and they started walking slowly towards the front door.
Unsurprisingly, the door was locked, but Malone had been prepared for that—he'd brought a few lock-pick charms from the Investigator's office for them to use. They were much more robust than Mervyn's lock-pick charms were since they were used on a variety of doors. Pulling the charm from his pocket with his free hand, Mervyn wrapped it around the doorknob and then murmured the activation words.
The lock came undone with a soft click, and Mervyn made a note to try to emulate the spell when he had some free time again. Mervyn glanced briefly at Callisto, who nodded again, and then opened the door. It didn't creak or slam open dramatically, and Mervyn crept inside slowly, Callisto on his heels.
It was pitch dark inside, and Mervyn resisted the urge to create a light. There was no sense in drawing Baldric's attention before they needed to. "We're in. No lights," Mervyn whispered into the charm, noting distractedly that it already crackled less than it had before.
"We'll find them," Denzil promised, his voice echoing strangely. "Stay where you are."
"Got it," Mervyn said, jumping a little when Callisto shut the door behind him.
"I can make fairy lights," Callisto offered, his whispered voice sounding loud in the darkness.
"Maybe in a minute," Mervyn replied, just a quietly. It wasn't likely that Baldric had bound himself to a fairy—the only way a wizard could see fairy lights—but if Denzil and Malone could turn on the lights first, that would be one less thing for them to worry about.
Callisto didn't reply, just stepped a little closer. It was silent, almost completely so. There were faint mechanical sounds coming from somewhere deeper in the warehouse, but nothing close. Mervyn took a deep breath, slowly letting it out, and forced himself to stay patient. Impatience would just botch the entire thing.
"Lights?" Mervyn finally asked over the communication charm when he could no longer wait.
"Not yet," Denzil snapped back. "Stay there. We've found something."
Rolling his eyes, Mervyn decided he'd had enough waiting. Possibly Denzil was on the level about them not finding the light switch yet, but it could be his way to keep Callisto out of the action and away from any danger.
"Go ahead with the fairy lights," Mervyn said quietly. "Keep them as dim as you can, in case he is bound to a fairy."
"Okay," Callisto said, then hesitated before saying, "I need my hand."
Mervyn laughed quietly, but relinquished Callisto's hand. Callisto didn't say anything further—Denzil usually grumbled whenever he was casting a minor spell—and a moment later a handful of dimly lit fairy lights appeared, floating just slightly above the ground. Callisto looked strange in the dim, bluish light cast by the small spheres, but it was probably due to the nature of the light.
"You okay?" Mervyn asked, just in case casting really did hurt Callisto now.
"Fine," Callisto said, glancing at him with a slight frown marring his face. "Do you think that's dim enough? I don't think I can go any darker without them going out."
"Looks good to me," Mervyn said, eyeing the fairy lights critically. They weren't very bright, and hopefully Denzil and Malone would find either the light switch or Baldric soon. "Shall we?"
Callisto nodded, glancing around curiously. There were large crates stacked around the entrance, effectively cordoning it off. There was a gap in the crates straight ahead, and Mervyn wondered if the crates were put there by Baldric or if they were left over from when this had been an actual warehouse.
"Stay close, okay?" Mervyn said, frowning worriedly at the entrance to the rest of the warehouse.
"Okay," Callisto said, smiling briefly. Mervyn fought the urge to grin, but it really wasn't the best time or place to be flirting with Callisto. He wished briefly it were practical to hold Callisto's hand again, silly as it was, but he really did need to have his hands free if they encountered any spells.
Moving forward slowly, Mervyn checked the crates as well as he could for spell marks. Nothing was visible, but that didn't mean anything. The marks could certainly be on the inside, as they had been with Callisto's heart charm.
They walked through the gap in the crates slowly, but thankfully no spells launched at them. Past the crates, the room was more open, so probably the crates merely served as a screen to hide the magical equipment in the rest of the space. It obviously wouldn't hold up to scrutiny for long, but it probably didn't need to.
Callisto's fairy lights only illuminated a small part of the warehouse, but Mervyn already recognized a handful of nearby instruments. They were surrounded by a series of long, low-slung tables arranged neatly in a wide rectangle, and a few large, stand-alone machines.
"What is this for?" Callisto asked trepidaciously. Not that Mervyn could blame him—this warehouse was where Baldric had operated on him.
"Metal working," Mervyn said, leading the way towards a table further into the rectangle. "These are botched charms." The table was covered in strangely misshapen chunks of metal. Some vaguely resembled the charm Mervyn had removed from Callisto's chest, but none of them came even close to the intricate work that had been used in the original charm.
"Prototypes, maybe?" Mervyn mused. That could explain it. None of these were as intricate as the charm Callisto had had, but if Baldric had begun implanting
them in people as soon as the charms had shown progress…
Callisto shrugged, leaving a few of the lights at Mervyn's feet and wandering towards a nearby table.
"Don't touch anything," Mervyn cautioned, eyeing the poorly made charms one last time before moving to join Callisto. The table Callisto stood in front of contained more tools to shape metal, but they were very low quality. Mervyn frowned pensively, but didn't comment. It was possible Baldric had finer tools elsewhere, or had done the fine points of his charm building elsewhere.
"I think he's somewhat organized, at least," Mervyn said, glancing again at the tables around them. "This area seems to be devoted to charm building."
Callisto nodded, frowning at a chisel-shaped tool. The head of the tool was narrower than that of a proper chisel, but the shape was the same. "What section would he keep my heart in?" Callisto asked, and he was probably asking about the 'theme' of the section of the warehouse where Baldric would have stored his heart.
"Health? But the majority of his spell work here would be health-magic related. He may have it secured somewhere, or it may be kept near wherever he did the operation," Mervyn said quietly, squinting into the darkness at a half-imagined flash of light. It didn't repeat or he had imagined it, so Mervyn dismissed it.
"Come on, let's keep moving," Mervyn suggested, wondering if he really should have protested Callisto coming along, as he didn't really seem to be handling it well.
Callisto nodded, giving him an obviously forced smile before heading deeper into the warehouse. They passed more tables with instruments, failed charms, books, and loose papers covered in scribbles. Callisto became even quieter as they progressed, obviously more affected by being here than he'd thought he'd be.
The communication charm crackled as they were examining a table that held a number of empty jars with spell marks inscribed on the top. Mervyn jumped, startled by the sudden noise in the silent warehouse.
"Mervyn," Malone's voice said, barely crackling. Mervyn frowned—Denzil had the charm. Denzil wouldn't willingly hand the charm off to Malone, not unless he had no other choice. Then the warehouse lights flooded on, almost blindingly bright in their intensity.
"Yes?" Mervyn asked, turning away from the table. "What's wrong?"
Callisto tensed beside him, apparently only belatedly realizing that it wasn't Denzil on the charm. Glancing up, Mervyn instinctively stepped forward, snatching the charm Baldric had thrown out of the air before it could hit Callisto.
Part Ten
The thrum of foreign magic zinged up his arm, and Malone's voice cut off mid-word. Scowling, Mervyn dropped the charm—a flashy, gem-encrusted pendant in the shape of stylized cross—and stepped completely in front of Callisto. The charm clanged against the floor loudly, and Callisto flinched back away from it.
"What was that?" Callisto asked, his voice surprisingly even. The fairy lights around them went out, unnecessary in the brightness of the warehouse.
"It was a counter-charm," Mervyn said, gaze never wavering from Baldric. "It killed all the charms I'm carrying." The active ones, anyway. Whether Baldric had thought to include the inactive ones was up for debate. Baldric was dressed neatly, as though he'd been expecting company.
"So if I had touched it—" Callisto said faintly, and Mervyn winced. If Callisto had touched it, his heart charm would have stopped working immediately.
"Right," Mervyn said, refraining from again telling Callisto to keep from touching anything. Callisto wouldn't, especially not now. If Baldric was here, and Malone had been on the communication charm, then did that mean Baldric had already gotten the better of Malone and Denzil? "Are we doing this the easy way or the hard way, Baldric?" Mervyn asked, keeping his voice as even as he could despite the itching urge to chuck something at Baldric and run for it.
"Are you kidding me?" Baldric asked, laughing. He truly had an unpleasant laugh, Mervyn decided, even if he had a bias against the man. "You have no charms, your partners are locked in a supply closet, and I can counter anything your fairy tries magically."
"Counter-charms don't work on fairy magic," Mervyn said, buying time. Malone was okay, if the communication charm was anything to go by, and Baldric wouldn't kill Denzil simply because he could use Denzil's energy.
"No, but they will kill whatever charm you cooked up to replace mine," Baldric said, almost cheerfully. Certainly maliciously. "Where is my charm, by the way?"
"Destroyed," Mervyn said flatly, even though it was sitting safely in one of his work rooms. "So that no one else tries to emulate what you did."
Baldric laughed again, smirking at them. It made his squished face look even uglier. "Why do you think I'm the only one who knows how to do it?"
"I suppose that's giving you too much credit," Mervyn said casually, recalling what he'd thought previously about the charm. "Based on the lousy attempts at recreating it, I bet that charm wasn't something you personally made. Combined with the shoddy spell work, it's truly a wonder you managed to make it work for you at all."
"Shut up," Baldric snapped, obviously riled. So some part of that was true, or perhaps Baldric was proud enough of his work that he didn't like hearing it maligned. "Are you bonded? Or can he not do that anymore?"
"We are. You can't kill him," Callisto said, and his voice thrummed with tension, but it didn't waver at all. "Where's my heart?"
"Oh, around here somewhere," Baldric said flippantly, but his gaze slipped to the right, so it was deeper in the warehouse somewhere.
Mervyn hesitated, then reached behind him, blindly holding his hand out to Callisto. It took a moment, but Callisto gingerly took Mervyn's hand, unresisting when Mervyn pulled him close. "When I say, run," Mervyn said quietly, almost too quiet to be heard. "Find Denzil."
Callisto didn't respond. He was close enough that Mervyn could feel his warm breath against the side of his throat. Baldric was eyeing them suspiciously, though, so hopefully Callisto would do it without further prompting.
"How do you expect this to end, Baldric? You can't kill me, or you lose Callisto. If you cast, he will, and you won't be able to stop him from casting if you're in the middle of a spell," Mervyn said, drawing Baldric's attention to him again.
"I have Denzil now," Baldric said, feigning nonchalance, but Mervyn was sure he'd settle for nothing less than having both fairies and their energy at his disposal.
"Two is better than one," Mervyn said simply then added, squeezing Callisto's hand reassuringly, "And with your terrible spell work, the extra energy would be necessary."
"Shut up," Baldric snarled, throwing another charm at them with a snarled activation word.
Mervyn moved, pulling Callisto with him as the charm clattered uselessly past them and into the recesses of the warehouse. Callisto stumbled, falling against him, but Mervyn didn't give him time to recover, but pushed him away, towards the back of the warehouse.
"Go," Mervyn said, firmly. "Please."
Callisto hesitated half a second before nodding clumsily. He took off, sprinting, and Mervyn didn't hesitate, but turned and threw himself at Baldric.
Another charm clattered against the floor—Baldric apparently had terrible aim in addition to being a terrible wizard. He ducked back as Mervyn got close, throwing another charm that went wide, though in the opposite direction of the first. Something nagged about that, and the activation words Baldric was speaking weren't normal spell activators.
Combined with the smirk on his face… Baldric was up to something. He didn't seem at all concerned that Callisto had run off either. Mervyn stopped—in time for Baldric to drop the last charm directly in the front of him, completing the spell for the magic cage. It sprung up around Mervyn instantly, energy crackling from each of the three charms to a point above Mervyn's head.
Mervyn cursed quietly; he should have recognized that sooner. He also shouldn't have underestimated Baldric.
"It seems you're decent at simple spells, at least," Mervyn said, testing the shield with a touch of a fingertip. It zappe
d him in warning, so Mervyn would have to keep Baldric distracted enough that he couldn't follow Callisto just through talking.
"Did I tell you to be quiet?" Baldric asked, pulling another fancy, over-the-top piece of jewelry from his pocket.
"Maybe a few times. I don't really recall," Mervyn said flippantly, and it was probably the wrong tact to take, but he didn't think he was capable of playing nice and trying to cozy up to Baldric.
"Well, do it anyway," Baldric said, throwing the charm at him and speaking the activation words. Mervyn had nowhere to go—the spell cage was well-positioned to block his movements, and the charm hit him squarely in the chest.
Mervyn caught it as it fell, frowning at the spell marks even as his throat tingled with the spell energy. It was obviously meant to block his voice completely, but—
"Wow, you can't do a charm this simple correctly?" Mervyn asked, hefting the charm. Baldric turned bright red, his squished face looking comical contorted in anger as it was.
"What did you do to it?" Baldric demanded, stepping closer, but not into the path of the spelled cage.
"I caught it," Mervyn said dryly, twisting the ostentatious, jewel-studded dragon charm in his hands. "It would have worked, if—"
"If, what?" Baldric snapped, obviously still furious.
"If you weren't so sloppy," Mervyn finished with a smile, making a show of tucking the little dragon figurine away. Baldric scowled, snarling out several choice spell words.
The spell cage activated anew, sending a searing jolt of energy lancing through Mervyn. He managed not to scream—barely—but couldn't stop the strangled sound that broke free as his knees hit the concrete floor of the warehouse.
"I told you to shut up," Baldric said smugly, glancing in the direction Callisto had run off. "How long do you suppose it will take him to come back?"
Mervyn ignored him, focusing on breathing and trying to remember what he knew about spell cages. Not much—they weren't illegal, but only just. They were most often used by law enforcement to contain malicious wizards until their magic could be properly restrained.
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