Stolen Hearts

by Sasha L. Miller

  "It's okay, hey, hey," Mervyn said, stepping back up to the table's edge and resting a hand on Callisto's bare shoulder. Callisto's skin was cool and clammy, but that was to be expected, so Mervyn dismissed it as unimportant.

  Callisto froze at his touch, and then abruptly slumped. "Sorry."

  "It's okay," Mervyn repeated firmly, guiding Callisto to lie back down. "Did you feel anything? Were you aware at all?"

  "No," Callisto said, shaking his head a little. "I don't remember anything."

  "Okay, good," Mervyn said encouragingly. "I'm going to put the spell back on, then, unless you have objections?"

  "No. Do it, please," Callisto said, quiet but determined. He glanced past Mervyn towards where Denzil was standing, smiling faintly at whatever expression Denzil had. Mervyn glanced back at Denzil to see if he wanted to say anything, but Denzil just gestured for him to go ahead, so he must have said everything he thought needed saying earlier.

  Speaking the spell words to activate the charm again, Mervyn tied the bracelet firmly around Callisto's wrist. Callisto went limp again, and Mervyn took a deep breath before gesturing for Denzil to approach the table.

  "Are you ready?" Mervyn asked, though he was positive Denzil wouldn't say no, not when it was Callisto and they were nearly out of time. Denzil's part was more difficult than Mervyn's, however—he had to keep Callisto's blood moving while diverting it from spilling out through the heart's main blood vessels.

  "Yes," Denzil said, frowning briefly. "You?"

  "As ready as I'm getting," Mervyn said, going through the procedure in his head once more before nodding. "Let's get started, then."

  Denzil nodded, handing Mervyn the first and most important tool—a charm breaker. It would interrupt the charms that kept Callisto's blood moving, but it would also interrupt the charms that held the replacement heart in place and allowed the wizard to pull energy from Callisto.

  "It will take about ten seconds to activate," Mervyn said. Unnecessarily, since he and Denzil had been over this at least two dozen times, but the procedure of it was comforting.

  "Go ahead," Denzil said, carefully lacing his fingers with Callisto's.

  Mervyn nodded, setting the medallion on top of the metal plate in Callisto's chest. Looking up at Denzil, Mervyn waited until he nodded to speak the spell words that activated the charm breaker. The heart charm went clank-clank-clank then whirred for a moment before deactivating with a small click. Callisto didn't move at all, though his breathing hiccupped for a moment before resuming at a slightly faster pace.

  Matching Denzil's, if he'd done his part already. Which he would have, and Mervyn needed to focus on his part, not Denzil's, because Denzil always did his part.

  Mervyn picked up the charm breaker and tossed it towards the same corner he'd thrown the warming charm earlier, ignoring the clank it made as it landed. Then he carefully pried the heart charm from Callisto's chest, leaving a gaping hole in its wake. Denzil leaned forward, carefully scrutinizing the hole—gauging the extent to which he needed to allow blood to flow.

  The charm had completely cut through the ribs normally in place over the heart, which would be difficult to replace when they got Callisto's actual heart back. Mervyn would worry about that when they got to that point, however; for now he'd taken it into account, and he'd have to fuse the replacement charm with the ribs to provide enough support for the remaining bone structure.

  "How's that?" Denzil asked, sounding a little strained. Mervyn didn't comment, however, merely leaned forward and examined the blood vessels for any signs of leaking or that they weren't getting enough blood.

  "Looks good," Mervyn said, frowning at the hole in Callisto's chest for a moment before moving to start the next step of the operation.

  The rest of the procedure passed in a blur of blood and magic and focusing on the tiny details that could make or break whether the charm stayed seated and working. He wasn't sure how much time had passed since they'd started, but it had definitely been hours. The new charm seemed to be working well, at least. Denzil had stopped supplementing Callisto's blood flow and breathing and both seemed normal, if not healthy, in Callisto.

  They were just cleaning up the work room now, and keeping an eye on Callisto. Mervyn would have to give the work room a thorough scouring later, but a little bit of tidying would do for now.

  "Will the charm last?" Denzil asked, frowning at the discarded heart charm that Mervyn was carefully washing in the corner.

  "It draws his own energy to run," Mervyn said distractedly, studying the charm. It was strange, the contrast of lackluster spell charms and the detailed workmanship that had gone into the physical charm. "It won't run out until he does."

  "The charm that's keeping him asleep," Denzil clarified. "What are you doing with that?"

  "Cleaning it," Mervyn said, setting aside the offending charm. "It might give me a clue about the wizard, if he was sloppy enough." Mervyn sighed, crossing the room to the table's side. He tapped the charm bracelet that kept Callisto asleep. "This will last until tomorrow morning at least."

  "Okay," Denzil said, glancing towards the door. "Should we move him now?"

  "Probably," Mervyn said, stretching and trying to work the kinks and aches out of his arms and shoulders. "Before we're too tired to. I'd rather he not wake up in here."

  "Me either," Denzil said, frowning at the messy work room. "Not that the recovery room is much better, but it's still better than here."

  "Mmm," Mervyn hummed in agreement, making a note to stop postponing the redecoration of the recovery room. It was never high on his priorities, since he didn't often do work that his clients couldn't simply walk away from.

  After Callisto was back upstairs, he'd make sure it was safe for Evandie and let her loose on it. She'd had to deal with a lot of upheaval lately; giving her free reign to decorate would help soothe that.

  Moving to the corner of the room, Mervyn dug out the cart he'd modified to work as a stretcher of sorts and unfolded it with a loud squeak, followed by a louder crack as the joints popped into place. Denzil had already unhooked the clasps that held the table top to the frame, so it was a somewhat simple matter of shifting the table top to the modified cart and wheeling it out of the room.

  The recovery room, as Denzil had dubbed it, was more of a closet than a room. There were no windows and precious little furniture simply because the room was too small to fit much. A bed was shoved against the wall under the stairs, and a small table was wedged into the corner between the bed and the opposite wall. A bright lamp sat on the table, providing all the illumination for the little room.

  It was a tight fit with the makeshift stretcher, and Mervyn wished briefly that he hadn't burned all his bridges at the hospital; having access to their resources and space would have been wonderful at times like this.

  A few minutes later, Callisto was settled and Mervyn wanted to do nothing more than take a long shower and then collapse. Denzil looked just as tired as he felt, however, so Mervyn wasn't going to be selfish.

  "First watch or second?" Mervyn asked, wheeling the makeshift stretcher back out of the recovery room.

  "First," Denzil said firmly, and Mervyn didn't argue, well-acquainted with the look Denzil was giving him.

  "All right, help me move this back and we'll shove a chair in there," Mervyn said, deciding to put the sofa in the other health-magic work room to use in case there was an emergency.

  Denzil nodded and helped him replace the table top. Mervyn dragged a spare cozy chair from the fire work room out, ignoring the few scorched marks in the fabric, and Denzil helped him maneuver it into the recovery room, shoving it in between Callisto's bed and the opposite wall.

  Callisto already looked healthier, or so Mervyn liked to think. His color was better, though the dark circles beneath his eyes would only be cured with lots of rest—something he'd hopefully be getting now. If the heart charm stayed seated, anyway, but they'd done everything they could so worrying about it at this point just
wasted energy.

  "I'll have Evandie bring you something to eat and some strong tea," Mervyn said, running a hand through his hair and probably tangling it beyond any reasonable attempts to straighten it. "Wake me if you need anything or if he takes a turn for the worse. Otherwise, I'll be back to spell you in a few hours."

  "Thanks," Denzil said, sitting down heavily in the chair and frowning worriedly at Callisto. Mervyn left him to it, too tired to try and find the words to reassure Denzil. What was there to say that Denzil didn't already know? Putting it out of his mind, Mervyn retrieved the charm to summon Evandie, then went to find a few hours of rest as soon as she headed off to fix a tray for Denzil.

  *~*~*

  Callisto woke up slowly, groggy and unsettled, though it took him a moment to attribute it to the strange heartbeat resonating from his chest. It was close to a real heartbeat, but there was something off about it that Callisto couldn't peg. It was that, or he'd just been too long without a heartbeat and didn't recognize it as normal now that he had one.

  Still, a heartbeat was a heartbeat. Callisto wasn't going to complain, especially since, other than that, he felt almost normal. He ached some, and his chest flared with pain whenever he moved, but it didn't hurt like the previous charm had. He didn't hurt, he felt warm enough, and his hands, when he held them up, didn't so much as twitch.

  So it had worked. Callisto smiled a little, sitting up to peer at the charm in his chest. The spell marks were showing, like Mervyn had said they would. It was somehow better than having a plain metal plate stuck to his chest, even if he'd much rather have no metal sticking out of his chest.

  Glancing up and around the room, Callisto frowned. He didn't recognize where he was, but that probably meant they were still in the basement, especially given the lack of windows in the room. They, because slumped in a chair next to the bedside—barely crammed between his bed and the far wall—was Mervyn. He was fast asleep, the remnants of a half-eaten tray sat next to him on the tiny bedside table.

  Why was Mervyn sitting at his bedside? Where was Denzil? Shouldn't his chest hurt more than it did? Frowning, Callisto glanced down at his wrists, but the only charm he was wearing was the one Mervyn had put on him before they'd removed the old heart charm. If that charm was still working, he'd still be asleep. Unless he'd misunderstood something about the way the charm worked, which was always possible.

  Toying with the charm bracelet for a moment, Callisto debated what to do. He could go back to sleep, but he was a little afraid of waking up feeling worse later since he actually felt all right now. He could wake Mervyn, but he didn't want to disturb him, either, not after all the work he'd put into Callisto's new charm.

  Callisto fidgeted with the blankets pooled in his lap, frowning at the door. He could try to figure out where he was, but he didn't want to accidentally trigger some charm if they were still in the basement. Without Mervyn or the white line—which wasn't visible from where he was—there was no way to tell if he as in a safe zone or not.

  So he would wait. Mervyn would wake eventually, and then Callisto could figure out where he was and what happened next. How long would it take for them to find the wizard who had his heart? Would the wizard even bother keeping it alive now that he couldn't draw energy for his spells from Callisto? Despite Mervyn's reassurances to the contrary, Callisto wasn't sure at all the wizard who'd attacked him would hold onto his heart for any reason.

  Frowning, Callisto shifted, pushing the pillow up against the wall and leaning against it. He stared at the door for a moment, then at the pattern on the comforter, but neither proved distracting, and Callisto wanted to do something loud to wake Mervyn or bring someone else running, but in the end he just slumped against the wall and hoped something broke the silence soon.

  He was busy tracing the ugly flower pattern in the blankets when a set of footsteps finally approached the little room. Callisto looked up expectantly, unsurprised when Mervyn didn't stir—he looked to be sleeping heavily, which was part of why Callisto hadn't wanted to wake him.

  A moment later, the footsteps paused, and Denzil pushed the door open. He smiled when he caught sight of Callisto sitting up then rolled his eyes at Mervyn, still fast asleep.

  "How are you feeling?" Denzil asked, entering the room completely and kicking the chair. Mervyn stirred, frowning confusedly as he blinked awake.

  "Good," Callisto said simply, hiding a smile as Mervyn wrinkled his nose at them both.

  "You're awake," Mervyn observed, then glanced up at Denzil, who was hovering over his chair menacingly. "Denzil."

  "Mervyn," Denzil said, and Callisto got the feeling he was missing something, but he didn't know what. Perhaps Mervyn wasn't supposed to be there? "You said you were fine."

  "I was," Mervyn said, sitting up straight and wincing, probably at some ache he'd gotten from sleeping in a chair. "At first. I must have dozed off recently."

  "Right," Denzil said, obviously disbelieving. "You should have come and gotten me as soon as you got tired."

  "Are you finished scolding me?" Mervyn asked, sounding more amused than annoyed. "Can I make sure Callisto is doing all right now?"

  "I suppose," Denzil said, giving Callisto a quick grin as Mervyn stood up. He immediately stole Mervyn's seat, propping his feet up on the edge of the bed.

  "How do you feel?" Mervyn asked, ignoring Denzil.

  "Good," Callisto said, wondering if he should detail how. "I—why doesn't it hurt more? I mean, I know you said there was a pain-blocking charm, um, as part of the heart charm, but shouldn't it hurt more?"

  "I modified it some," Mervyn said, moving right up to the bedside. He frowned thoughtfully at Callisto's chest for a moment before continuing. "I added another pain-blocking charm to last the duration of your healing. It won't block everything, but it will let you heal more quickly, and you will be a bit less restricted with your movements. That said, if you start feeling a lot of pain, let me or Denzil know immediately."

  "I will," Callisto said quietly and tried to ignore the question of how long he would be here and how long it would take before everything was back to normal. He was starting to think there would be no going back to normal, and he wasn't sure how to deal with that yet.

  "Good," Mervyn said, then gestured for him to move closer. "Any of the other symptoms lingering? You're not feeling cold or short of breath?"

  "No, it's all good," Callisto said, shifting to the edge of the bed. Mervyn backed up a step so he could swing his legs of the side of the bed, and then stepped close again.

  "And your heartbeat is regular?" Mervyn asked, gently probing at the edges of the charm, where Callisto's skin was still red and inflamed. Callisto winced—that hurt, where just sitting hadn't.

  "I think so," Callisto said, trying to ignore that Mervyn was feeling up his chest and that Denzil was just sitting there watching.

  "Okay, well, we can check that," Mervyn said, dropping his hands and stepping back. "Denzil, you're better at that, can you?"

  "Fine," Denzil said, though the look on his face said he was anything but okay with it. "What's wrong with it?"

  Callisto shrugged, wishing he'd kept his mouth shut. "I might just not be used to it," Callisto said, but then his curiosity got the better of him. "How are you going to check it?"

  Denzil hesitated, glancing at Mervyn, who just stared at him blankly. "I learned a bit of health magic from a fairy that Mervyn and I freed from an unwanted binding. I can feel out your heartbeat and see if there's anything unusual about it."

  "Oh," Callisto said, wondering why Denzil was downplaying it. He'd be willing to bet that Denzil knew more than a little magic—but if he didn't want to tell Callisto, that was his business, even if it hurt. "What do I have to do?"

  "Give me your hand," Denzil said, and he didn't seem very happy about having to do this, and Callisto really, really wished he'd just shut up and dealt with it. Denzil grabbed his extended hand, frowning slightly, and then Callisto's hand started to tingle. A second later, he co
uld almost feel two heartbeats: his, steady and unchanging, and Denzil's, faster and stronger. Perhaps that was all it was? His new heart wasn't as strong as his real heart had been?

  "It's not a perfect replica," Denzil said distractedly, frowning at nothing. "It's close, but I think you're missing some strength in the simulated ventricle contraction." Callisto stared at Denzil blankly, but Mervyn was nodding as he stared at the heart charm, so apparently what Denzil was saying made some sort of sense.

  "That should be easy enough to fix," Mervyn said thoughtfully. "Is everything else working well?"

  "Yes," Denzil said, detangling his hand from Callisto's. The second heartbeat abruptly disappeared, and Callisto blinked, disconcerted for a moment. Denzil stepped back, sitting down heavily in the chair. Mervyn frowned at him, but didn't say anything about Denzil's odd behavior, and Callisto wasn't going to push. Denzil obviously didn't want to admit to his magic for some reason.

  "I'll work on adapting the heartbeat, but I'd like to wait and see if anything else needs tweaking before I make any changes to the charm. Are you hungry?" Mervyn asked.

  "Yes," Callisto replied, startled to realize he really was.

  "Good," Mervyn said, turning to Denzil. "Go have Evandie make up a tray, will you, Denzil? No coffee, only herbal tea."

  "Yeah, yeah," Denzil muttered, and he looked decidedly upset about something—probably having to admit he knew more than a little about magic. Callisto had already figured that out though, and he didn't care, even if he'd wished Denzil would just tell him instead of sulking about it.

  "Any other side effects of the charm?" Mervyn asked as Denzil's footsteps thumped up the stairs above their heads. So they probably were in the basement, since Callisto didn't think there were any rooms under the stairs on the first floor.

  "No," Callisto said belatedly, shaking his head a little in emphasis.