"Certainly," Payne said. "We have a little time before we reach our destination. You, sir, are a doctor magician and Miss Steele is a timepiece magician."
Dr. Seaford made no sound. I wondered if he'd guessed. It was likely he'd read the newspaper articles and learned about combining magic and the attempt by Chronos and a doctor to extend a dying man's life. Whether he knew that doctor magician was also his own father, I couldn't be sure, although he probably realized I was related to the Steele mentioned in the article.
"Mr. Glass's watch was indeed keeping him alive," Payne went on.
"Impossible," the doctor said.
"No, not impossible. Isn't that right, Miss Steele?"
I said nothing. I would not help him, even in this minor way.
"I think you can take her silence as confirmation," the sheriff said. "Mr. Glass should have died in America five years ago from his injuries. I wasn't there but I heard he lost enough blood to fill a pail. Two men, one an American doctor, the other an English watchmaker, carried him into a saloon. A short time later, he emerged fit as a fiddle. Witnesses hailed it a miracle. I don't believe in miracles, but I couldn't explain it. Five years later, I follow him here. I observe and ask questions. I see and hear things that don't make sense but make me believe in something. Not miracles, mind. Something else. Then The Weekly Gazette published an article that has the whole of London talking. Some more pieces of the Matthew Glass puzzle start to fall into place. Then it publishes a second article and there it is." He clicked his fingers. "Everything makes sense."
"Let me see if I understand you correctly," Dr. Seaford said. "You think the watch in your pocket is keeping Mr. Glass alive because it has magic in it."
"Not just any magic. Two kinds. One is medical magic and the other is time magic."
Dr. Seaford huffed out a humorless laugh. "Time magic?"
"Tell him, Miss Steele," Payne said. "Tell him what you can do."
I simply glared at him.
"She's a little upset." Payne shrugged. "I'll explain it then, although I think you've already guessed, Dr. Seaford. I can see you're a clever, educated man. You see, Mr. Glass's watch not only has medical magic in it, but that medical magic has been extended by the watchmaker magician."
"So he's immortal as long as he has access to the watch?" Dr. Seaford asked.
"No," I said. "He'll die of old age one day."
"Thank you for your input, Miss Steele," Sheriff Payne said. "I wasn't aware of that. So he's not immortal, but the magic in his watch keeps him from succumbing to the damage done by the old injury and new ones, yes?" He stroked his chin. "Interesting."
Dr. Seaford rubbed a hand over his face and groaned. I looked at him properly for the first time. He was quite handsome in a roguish way. Having just woken up, he had not yet shaved and wore no jacket or tie. His hair stood on end from raking his fingers through it and he sported a scowl.
"I'm supposed to be at the hospital in an hour," he said with a measure of disbelief. It must be terribly disconcerting to find himself in this predicament. I thought he was holding himself together very well. I would have told him so if I had the will to be supportive, but I found I didn't have the will for anything much at all. I didn't even care for attempting to escape.
Oh Matt.
"You will be free later today, if you and Miss Steele work together," Payne said.
"Work together?" Dr. Seaford snapped. "I will not be a party to extending a person's life in the way you describe."
"Not even to make yourself rich? I'm not an unreasonable man. I'll share the profits with you."
"No!"
"Very well. More for me."
"You can't make me speak a spell against my wishes. Indeed, I don't even know any."
Sheriff Payne smiled a slick smile.
"It won't work anyway," Dr. Seaford went on. "The newspaper article stated that the last time the experiment was tried, it failed and the sick man died."
"Not true. The last time the experiment was tried was five years ago, on Mr. Glass. It worked then so it can work again. I suspect Miss Steele here knows why one attempt failed and the other succeeded. I also suspect she has the required spells."
"I do not," I managed a mumble. "The doctor who performed Matt's surgery is dead. The spell he used died with him."
"Then why seek out Dr. Seaford here?"
"In the hope he knew the correct spell," I lied.
"Which I do not," Dr. Seaford said. "Come now, Mr…"
"Sheriff Payne."
"Sheriff? You're a lawman?"
"Don't be fooled," I told the doctor. "He's corrupt and ruthless. He has murdered before, and has tried to kill both Matt and me."
Sheriff Payne smirked. "This coming from the granddaughter of a murderer."
"My grandfather wanted to extend that man's life," I shot back.
"Dr. Seaford, do you know that your real father was the doctor who colluded with Miss Steele's grandfather? That makes you both related to murderers."
Dr. Seaford did not look surprised.
"Let us go," I tried again. "There are no living medical magicians who know the spell. Matt is dead—" I choked on my sob. "You have won. You got your revenge on him. Let us go."
"You're lying, Miss Steele," Payne said, sounding bored. "You know the spell. You know both spells. If you wish to be released, you'll do as I say."
Dr. Seaford sat in silence alongside me for the remainder of the journey. I slunk into the corner and stared straight ahead, trying not to think of Matt lying on the pavement, bleeding to death while his watch was in Payne's pocket. It was impossible not to think of him, however. Impossible not to feel overwhelmed by the dark pit of sorrow where my heart ought to be.
We finally arrived at our destination, a dark slit of a lane lined with non-descript tenements that were neither new nor well kept. Women lounged in doorways, their painted faces and low-cut bodices an advertisement for passersby.
"Do not make a scene or ask for help or someone will be shot," Payne said as he forced us from the coach. "Not that I think anyone would answer your call for help here. I've been generous since I arrived in this stinking city." He passed the driver a pouch jangling with coins and ordered us into the nearest door.
The row house felt empty, and smelled of damp and urine. We headed upstairs on Payne's instruction, and into a sitting room. Light speared through the holes in the curtains, revealing a sofa covered in faded green fabric, its stuffing spewing from the split seams. Peeling wallpaper hung in strips like loose skin. It had probably once been sage in color but was now faded and stained. A pile of cold ash heaped in the grate. There was no coal box, no fire tools, nothing that could be used as a weapon.
"Are we to be kept in here like animals?" Dr. Seaford asked, looking around.
"For now."
"For how long?"
"Until you two combine your magic." He pulled out Matt's magical watch from his pocket. "In this."
"I told you," I said. "That watch is unique to Matt." My voice rasped low in my throat. It did not sound like it belonged to me.
"That may be so, but I'd still like to prove it."