Matt settled in the cabin with a heavy sigh. He closed his eyes and tipped his head back. It was a few hours since he'd woken and he badly needed a proper rest.
I sat on the edge of the seat and calculated how quickly I could unbutton his jacket and waistcoat and remove his magic watch if his condition worsened. Even if I managed it in mere seconds, I doubted it would be enough. The watch's magic had weakened considerably. What if it stopped working altogether? It didn't bear thinking about.
The passing of a speeding carriage caught my eye. It stopped outside the Seafords' house and Sheriff Payne got out. We turned a corner so I did not see what he did next, but I didn't have to. I knew he would question Mrs. Seaford about our visit and demand she tell him what she'd told us. If he learned that Gabriel Seaford was a doctor, he would know what we intended to do.
I studied Matt, his eyes closed, his breathing shallow. We could not return to the Seafords' house to confront Payne. There wasn't time. As worried as I was about the sheriff coming after us, I took comfort in Mrs. Seaford's reluctance to give us information about her son. She would not give Payne his address. We'd only convinced her by using Sister Bernadette's name and the evidence of Matt's poor health.
While the distance from Chelsea to Pimlico wasn't much, it felt like it took an age to get there. I breathed a sigh of relief when we turned into Sutherland Row, a short street with few houses and no pedestrians or carriages aside from ours.
And then, through the rear window, I spotted Payne's carriage, taking the corner very fast. How had he got the address from Mrs. Seaford so quickly?
My stomach rolled. I felt sick. Oh God. Please let her be all right.
Our coach slowed but Payne's did not. It came directly for us. Was the driver mad? He was going to get himself killed! It kept coming and coming, much too fast.
I changed seats to sit beside Matt and put my arms around him. I didn't know why, only that I wanted to protect him in his weakened state if we crashed.
"Matt!" I shouted. "Wake up! Brace yourself!"
He stirred. "What—?" He spotted the carriage and threw his arms around me, tucking my head beneath his chin.
Several things happened at once. Our coachman shouted and swerved, sending us slamming against the side of the cabin. My watch chimed, over and over again in warning. I removed it from my reticule and clutched it in my hand. It pulsed with every chime, like a racing heartbeat.
We came to an abrupt stop, half up on the footpath. Matt pushed open the door and went to jump out.
"Don't!" I cried, grasping his arm. "He'll have a gun!"
"That I do." Payne stood on the footpath, his gun pointed at Matt, and a cold smile stretching his mouth.
Chapter 13
Matt stiffened. He glared at Payne with icy, calculating ferocity. Payne was too far away for Matt to leap out and knock the gun out of his hand. When Eddie had shot him, Matt had been close enough to stop Eddie firing again, and I'd been able to place his watch in his hand as he lay dying. But Payne was no fool. He stayed at a distance. I doubted Matt's watch had enough magic left to save him now anyway, and I was certain Matt didn't have the strength to survive a gunshot long enough for the magic to try.
"Hands where I can see them, Glass." Payne adjusted his jacket over his gun to hide it from onlookers who might be peering from windows. "You try and play the hero and I'll shoot you. You too," he said to our coachman. "Matter of fact, I should shoot you anyway, Glass. I don't need you."
He cocked the gun and aimed at Matt.
I shouldered Matt out of the way, using my entire weight in the confined space, and angled myself in front of him.
"India," he growled.
"This is madness!" I said to Payne. "It's the middle of the day. There will be witnesses. You'll risk your own life for revenge? Don't you see the folly?"
"Not revenge. Once, yes, when I first came to England. But the more I watched you, Glass, the more I realized you had something of extraordinary value. Something I can sell to the highest bidder. And believe me, the bids will be extraordinarily high for your device. Now hand over your watch."
"An ordinary timepiece?" I scoffed. "Very well."
"Don't play me for a fool, Miss Steele," Payne drawled in his American accent. "You know the watch I mean. I want the magic one. The one that keeps him alive. The one that's going to make me a fortune."
"You don't understand what you're talking about. The watch is useless to anyone but Matt."
His jaw worked and his gaze flicked between us. So he didn't know. It was a point in our favor, but I wasn't yet sure if it would be useful in saving us.
"She's right." Matt's voice sounded strained, his breaths ragged. "My watch's magic only works on me. So we're back to revenge. I'll come quietly with you if you let India go."
"No!" I cried.
"Nice try, Glass," Payne said. "But I can't believe a word either of you say. I'll just have Miss Steele and Dr. Seaford combine their magic into your watch and see, won't I?"
"Don't touch her." Matt circled his arm around my waist, ready to push me out of the way.
"Your watch isn't working very well, isn't it, Glass? That's why you're here. To get the magical doctor to combine his magic with Miss Steele's and fix the damned thing. Don't try to pretend I'm wrong," he said when I opened my mouth to protest. "I know I'm right. I've asked all the same questions you have, of all the same people, and I've read Mr. Barratt's articles in fine detail. I know what your grandfather tried to do many years ago, Miss Steele, and I know the doctor who lives here is a magical doctor."
"Then you'll also know my grandfather failed," I said. "Nobody alive knows the correct spell."
His thin mouth stretched into a gruesome slash. "You wouldn't be here if you believed that." He nodded at Matt. "He's dying, Miss Steele. From the look of him, he'll be dead before the day is out if he can't use his watch."
"You underestimate me, Payne," Matt said. "You always have."
The door to number ten opened and a sleepy eyed man blinked at us. "What's all this then?" He swept his dark brown hair from his forehead and stifled a yawn. "My landlady's in a right state. She thinks someone has a gun."
"Come here, Dr. Seaford," Payne said without turning around, "or I shoot Mr. Glass."
The doctor went very still, and his eyes sharpened. "What the devil is going on here?"
"You threatened his poor mother to find out where he lived and what we wanted with him, didn't you?" I hissed at Payne.
"She wouldn't give up her son so I threatened the housekeeper. She knew everything I needed. Come here slowly," he said to Dr. Seaford behind him. "And nobody will get hurt."
Dr. Seaford took a step down then stopped. "Does he have a gun?"
"Yes," I said. "And he will shoot. We're so sorry."
He looked as if he would ask why I was sorry but Payne's barked order had him closing his mouth and coming to stand near the coach.
"You two, get out and stand with Seaford."