Danny’s shoulders sagged a bit in relief, but there was a strange quiver deep inside him that faintly resembled disappointment.
“It’s bad enough the tower fell,” Christopher said, “but the fact that time is still moving? What on earth could make that happen?”
Danny shrugged. “I couldn’t say.”
Christopher nervously scratched his knee. “You don’t think … Matthias … ?”
So that was why his father was here. “No. I really don’t think he’d be able to.”
Christopher nodded. “I don’t think so, either. But, then again, I didn’t think he’d be capable of what he did.” He sighed. “It’s over now, at any rate. Just goes to show you can never truly know someone. Still, I miss him.”
“I know. I miss him, too.”
They shared a quiet moment together until Christopher stood. “Good night, Ticker. I’ll see you in the morning.”
“’Night, Dad.”
When the door closed, he drew the wad of paper from his pocket again. Slowly, he flattened it against his thigh to reveal the familiar message scrawled in heavy black ink: Do not think this is finished.
You know something.
We’ll be watching.
He stared at the words until they blended together, serpentine tracks leading to some unfathomable distance.
You know something.
No, this was not Matthias’s work. This was something well beyond the machinations of a middle-aged, washed-up clock mechanic. Something Danny wanted no part of.
That night, he dreamt of crumbling towers and cogs slicing through the air. They ripped open his body, and Colton watched as he bled.
Those books are new.”
Danny looked up from the pages he was turning. “Hmm?”
They were sitting against a wall as the sun slanted through the opal glass of the clock face, dust motes dancing in the golden beam. No matter how hard Danny worked to get this place completely dust-free, the grime always came back with a vengeance.
Colton pointed at the books in Danny’s bag, the ones he had brought from home. He’d spent all morning reading them in his cottage behind the clock tower, the one Mayor Aldridge had loaned him when he’d been relocated to Enfield. It was small but neat, with white walls, a shingled roof, and planters under the windows. And, of course, it was close to Colton.
It was odd living where Colton could peek in on him at any given moment, though. The clock spirit had preternatural senses, allowing him to see and hear everything that went on in his town.
“You don’t watch me, do you?” Danny had once asked him.
“Of course I do.”
Danny had choked back a flustered cough. “Even when I’m … ?”
“Oh, I don’t watch you all the time. Everyone deserves their privacy.”
Privacy was a rather loose term when Colton was involved. Danny was sure he’d seen his fair share of intriguing things throughout the years, given his tendency to let curiosity get the better of him.
“Danny.”
He blinked. Colton had pulled one of the books from his bag to read its title, but he put it back and came to sit beside Danny again, not bothering to conceal the worry in his eyes.
“Is something wrong?” the spirit asked. “You’re distracted today.”
Danny had been wondering how to broach the subject since he left London, so he took a deep breath and explained about the tower in Rath, and how the city in India was not Stopped. Colton listened quietly until Danny was finished.
“The tower isn’t working, and time’s still moving?”
“Yes.”
Colton wore a puzzled frown. “I don’t know much about how the towers work, but this sounds strange, even to me.”
“Me, too.” Danny hesitated. “They may question me. Or send me to India to inspect the site. At least, that’s what Daphne thinks,” he quickly added when Colton’s eyes widened. “Because of, you know, all the things I went through.”
“We went through.”
Danny couldn’t help a smile. “Yes, sorry. All the things we went through.”
Colton put a hand on Danny’s knee, slowly tracing the curve of bone with his fingers. Suddenly, the only thing that mattered were those delicate fingertips mapping the impression of his kneecap. “How long would you be gone?”
“That’s just it—I don’t even know if I’m going. Daphne could be completely wrong.”
Again, that little quiver of disappointment. He tried to keep it out of his expression.
Colton leaned against him, rubbing his leg absently. Danny pressed his lips against the top of Colton’s head, inhaling the familiar scents of fresh oil and coppery metal and the sweet, balmy air of time passing. For all his strange qualities, Colton’s blond hair was soft as fox fur.
“You were supposed to read me a story,” Colton said quietly.
“Right. Sorry.” Danny searched through the book of Greek myths open on his lap. He’d taught Colton how to read, but the spirit still liked it when Danny read aloud to him.
“Have I read about the Titans?” Colton shook his head against Danny’s shoulder. “Then let’s start with Prometheus.”
He told Colton about the Titan Prometheus who had created mankind out of clay, giving life to his creations so they could populate the earth. But when it seemed that the humans might die out, Prometheus was driven to steal the gift of heavenly fire.
“He granted this stolen fire to humanity, allowing his creations to live on, progress, and form what would eventually become modern civilization. But Zeus wasn’t too pleased about that, and bound Prometheus to a rock as punishment. Every day, a mechanical eagle would come and devour his liver right out of his body. In the night Prometheus’s liver grew back, and when dawn broke, that blasted eagle came to start the process all over again.”
“Does it say blasted in the book?”
“My own little touch.” Danny touched the drawing on the page, which depicted bearded Prometheus suffering on his rock. His wrists were fettered, drawn to the rock with heavy chains. The eagle’s wings were a patchwork of gears. “I loved this story when I was younger, but I’m not so sure I like it anymore.”
“It’s sad,” Colton murmured.
“I think it’s a bit stupid, defying someone like Zeus.”
Colton sat upright and tilted his head to one side. “He willingly sacrificed himself to help others. One soul over thousands. That doesn’t sound stupid to me.”
There were moments, like this one, when Danny saw the fathomless age in Colton’s eyes. It unnerved him, and it bewitched him. He wanted to learn every secret of the universe through his gaze, to lose himself in some distant, golden galaxy, restless and ancient.
“I suppose that’s true,” Danny admitted, a tad breathless.
Colton looked down at the book. “I feel as though I’ve heard this story before. It seems familiar.”