reputation. People would think we'd got soft, and take advantage.'
Fisher shook her head. 'There has to be an easier way to make a living. All
right, let's go in after him. No point in sneaking around. Grimm's bound to have
the place covered with security spells to warn of intruders. So, crash straight
in and trust to the suppressor stone to protect us. Right?'
'Sounds good to me,' said Hawk. 'Let's do it.'
He handed Fisher the suppressor stone, and she muttered the activating phrase.
The stone glowed fiercely in her hand like a miniature star. They started up the
exterior stairway, Hawk in the lead, axe at the ready. The stairs creaked
loudly. Great, thought Hawk, Just great. They hurried up the steps to the door
at the top of the stairway. Hawk listened carefully, his ear pressed against the
wood, but he couldn't hear anything. He tried the door handle and it turned
stiffly in his grasp. He eased the door open an inch, and then stepped back. He
glanced at Fisher for reassurance, and found she was doing the same to him. He
smiled briefly. They both counted to three under their breath, kicked the door
in and burst into the room beyond, weapons at the ready.
The sorcerer Grimm was escorting a robed and hooded figure to a door at the far
end of the room. He spun round and glared at the intruders, and then pushed the
hooded figure towards the far door. The Guards started forward, but the figure
was out the door and gone before they got anywhere near him. Which left them
facing the sorcerer. Grimm was a huge, broad-chested man dressed in sorcerer's
black, with a thick beard and an impressive mane of jet-black hair. He was
smiling unpleasantly, like a vulture about to feed on a dead man's eyes.
'You're under arrest, in the name of the Guard!' said Hawk resolutely, and then
flung himself to one side as Grimm snatched a ball of fire out of thin air and
threw it at him. The fireball hit a chair and incinerated it. Fisher threw a
knife while the sorcerer was distracted, and it sank deep into Grimm's arm. He
cursed briefly, pulled the knife out, and threw it aside. Hawk and Fisher
charged across the room towards him. The sorcerer drew himself up and spoke a
Word of Power. The suppressor stone flared up, canceling out his magic. Hawk and
Fisher hit the sorcerer together, throwing him to the floor. There was a short,
confused struggle, and then Fisher clubbed him unconscious with the hilt of her
sword. Grimm went limp, and Hawk and Fisher rolled off him. They sat together,
backs against the wall, and waited for their breathing to get back to normal.
'Well, at least we've got something to show for the chase,' said Hawk.
'Yeah,' said Fisher. 'Pity about Fenris, though. We were that close to getting
him…'
'Forget it,' said Hawk. 'He's long gone by now, with a new face and build, the
crafty bastard. We'll have to start over from scratch.'
'Right. Our superiors are not going to be pleased with us.'
They sat in silence for a while.
'There isn't a reward on Grimm, by any chance, is there?' said Hawk hopefully.
'No chance. There's never been any real evidence against him. Still, he's
dropped himself right in it this time. Aiding and abetting a fugitive, resisting
arrest, assaulting the Guard…'
'Right,' said Hawk. 'Once he wakes up, he's going to have some very leading
questions to answer.'
'Assuming he hasn't got concussion, and lost his memory.'
Hawk groaned. 'Don't. It would be just our luck if we had accidentally scrambled
his brains. Come on, let's have a look round the place while we're here. Maybe
we'll get lucky and find a clue or something.'
They moved cautiously round Grimm's quarters, being very careful not to touch
anything without checking it out first. Magic-users were often fond of setting
booby traps for the unwary. Hawk's usual method of searching the premises was to
trash the place until it looked like a hurricane had hit it, but this room
already looked as if someone had beaten him to it. Grimm was one of those people
who lived in a permanent mess and liked it that way. His quarters took up the
whole of the first floor—a single long room littered with junk and debris of
every description.
There were racks of chemicals, glass vials and tubing, pewter mugs and mixing
bowls, all scattered over two huge tables. Together with papers and books and
what appeared to be the remains of at least three different meals. Hawk tossed
aside a discarded shirt and grimaced as he discovered a dead cat, dissected into
its component parts and neatly pinned to a display board. Beneath the cat were
detailed instructions on how to put the animal back together again. Either Grimm
had a really nasty sense of humor, or… Hawk decided very firmly that he wasn't
going to think about that.
The bed looked as though Grimm had left it exactly as he'd crawled out of it.
Fisher peered underneath, just in case, but there was nothing there except dust
and a chamber pot. A combination desk and writing table looked more interesting.
She eased the drawers open one by one with the tip of her sword, and smiled as
she came across a thick sheaf of papers. She ran the suppressor stone over the
desk, and then carefully removed the papers, watching all the time in case there
was a mechanical booby trap as well. She leafed quickly through the papers,
scowling as she tried to make out Grimm's scratchy handwriting.
Hawk looked into a recessed alcove, and his breath caught in his throat. A dozen
different faces lined the wall; skins so skillfully taken and mounted they
seemed almost alive. Hawk fought down his disgust and looked them over
carefully. They were all unique, no two even remotely alike. Presumably they
were models for the faces Grimm could give his customers. He'd better get a
Guard sketch artist in to make copies. Fenris might be wearing one of these
faces. He moved closer and studied them thoughtfully. Whatever else you could
say about Grimm, he knew his stuff. The faces were incredibly lifelike. He
reached out a hand to touch one, and then snatched his hand back as the face
opened its eyes and looked at him. A grimace of pain moved slowly across the
flat features, and the mouth stretched in a soundless scream. The other faces
stirred, eyes opening across the wall to fix Hawk with the same unblinking look
of agonized despair. Hawk's stomach lurched as he realized they were all still
alive, pinned up and endlessly suffering.
Whatever happened, Hawk swore he'd see Grimm brought to justice for this, at
least.
'Isobel, get over here, fast.'
Fisher ran quickly to join him, sword in hand, and stared numbly at the writhing
faces on the wall. 'My God, Hawk. What kind of bastard… We've got to do
something. We can't leave them like this.'
'No, we can't. Try the suppressor stone. Maybe it'll cancel out the magic that's
keeping them alive.'
Fisher nodded, and ran the stone slowly over the staring faces. One by one the
eyes closed and did not open again. The life went out of the faces, and soon
