He nodded. "Thank you for listening, India. Tell me about your magic. Have you always known you possessed it?"
We passed an hour talking. I told him everything about my magic and how I discovered it, including my recent re-introduction to the grandfather I thought dead. It was necessary to mention Matt, since he had such a big part to play in my magical awareness. That inevitably led to why Matt needed the magical watch and how he'd been shot by his own grandfather, and that led to more tears from me. I didn't think I had any left, but it seemed I had a deep well to draw from.
The rattle of the key in the lock not only instantly cut off my tears, but made my heart thump. It wasn't entirely broken after all.
As I watched Sheriff Payne enter the room, one thing became clear. I did not want to die here. I wanted to be free. I wanted to see Miss Glass, Willie, Cyclops and Duke again. I wanted to see Catherine Mason and even Chronos again. Miss Glass needed me now, more than ever, and I wanted to be there for her.
I rose from the sofa and glared at Payne. "I assume it failed. I told you it would only work on Matt."
Payne regarded me from a distance with glittering, hard eyes. He held the gun but did not point it at me. "Why does it only work for him?" he demanded.
"I don't know."
"Don't lie to me."
"It's not a lie."
Gabe stood beside me. "She said she doesn't know. Now let us go. We can't do what you want."
Payne's nostrils flared. "There is something in the spell that you failed to say. What is it, Miss Steele? What did you leave out?"
"That was the spell my grandfather taught me. Every word was precisely the same, and you saw Gabe's spell written down for yourself. You also saw the watch glow. I don't know how to make the watch work for other people. I truly don't."
"Your grandfather must have taught you, otherwise what's the damned point!" He flung the watch and Gabe caught it. "Do you have to say the subject's name?" Payne snapped.
Gabe put up his hands in an attempt to placate the seething sheriff. "That's enough. We've done our best—"
"You do not tell me when it's enough! I say when it's enough!" Payne leveled the gun at Gabe.
"No!" I cried. "Stop! You need him! You need us both."
Payne did not shoot, but it had nothing to do with my plea. Footsteps pounded up the stairs and, just as Payne realized he had forgotten to lock the door, it flung open.
Many things happened at once.
Matt lurched into the room, his face bloodless, his eyes wild and unfocused.
Chronos followed behind him. "India!" he cried.
I shouted Matt's name, a riot of emotions surging through me. Immeasurable relief was quickly banished by raw, ferocious fear as Payne pointed the gun at Matt. Matt was in no condition to tackle him or reach him before the gun went off.
But Gabe was. He pushed Payne. The gun fired.
I tried not to scream, but it burst out of me. "Matt!"
The blast of the gunshot reverberated around the room, momentarily deafening me. The smell of metal and smoke filled my nostrils.
Matt lay on the floor, and I found myself praying for the second time that day for him to be alive. I scrambled to his side, not even sure when I'd fallen to my knees. Someone crouched beside me, their arm around my shoulders. When my hearing returned, I realized it was Chronos, saying my name over and over.
But I was too intent on Matt. He was alive, but only just. His shoulder was covered in dried blood from the earlier wound inflicted by Payne. His hair clung to his neck and forehead in damp clumps, and his face was as pale and cold as new snow yet he sported no fresh wounds. The bullet had missed him, but he'd collapsed from sheer exhaustion. He offered a weak smile and tried to sit up but couldn't manage it.
"Lie still," I urged.
His lips formed my name but no sound came out. His breathing came in rattling gasps, each one shallow and labored. His eyelids fluttered closed as if he could no longer keep them open. He was dying.
The watch.
"Gabe! Matt's watch!" I turned toward him, my hand out.
And my heart dove. Payne pointed the gun at Gabe.
Matt made a sound, half gasp, half gurgle. I stroked his face, his throat, his chest, willing him to stay alive, to hang on a little longer until I could devise a way to get the watch—the watch that now dangled by its chain from Payne's fingers.
"Is this what you want?" His lips twitched with his smile, his eyes lit up in victory.
"Give it to me," Chronos said, inching forward. "He needs it."
"Yes, he does, doesn't he?" Payne dropped the watch on the floor.
"No!" I screamed.
Payne crushed the magic watch beneath his boot, grinding his heel into the metal, destroying the inner workings until they were no longer recognizable and certainly not functional.
Just like that, all my hope was crushed too.
Chapter 15
Another shot rang out and I glanced up, afraid for Chronos and Gabe. But to my utter surprise, Willie stood holding a smoking gun, her face distorted with rage.
Sheriff Payne collapsed to the floor, bleeding from his leg and spitting expletives at Willie. Cyclops snatched the gun from him.
The room became crowded. Even Detective Inspector Brockwell was there, introducing himself to Gabe. Gabe, however, excused himself and came to my side. He put his ear to Matt's lips and listened.
Willie knelt down, her face ashen, her eyes huge. "India?" she murmured. "Is he…?"
"His watch," I said, unable to stop myself from crying. "It's broken."
Chronos scooped the watch up and brought the pieces over. It was mangled, the springs twisted and cogs dented. Even so, we placed Matt's hand over them. Nothing happened. It did not glow.
I spoke the extending spell, and still it didn't glow.
"It won't work," Chronos said heavily. "I'm sorry, India."
"What if Gabe speaks his spell into it too?" I said in a small voice.
"The watch is broken. It needs to be a functioning watch for the magic to work."
Willie curled in on herself and wailed into her hands. Duke put his arms around her and hugged her to his chest. His eyes glistened with tears.
I slumped over Matt's body, spilling my own tears onto his chest. That's how I heard and felt him breathe his last.
It was also how I noticed his watch. Not the magic one but the one he'd recently purchased from the Masons' shop. Payne had given it back to him outside Gabe's house when he realized it wasn't magic. Yet it was still Matt's watch. He owned it, just like he'd owned the original American one.
We had a working watch, a doctor magician and two horology magicians. Matt would not die today.
I scrabbled at the chain, pulling it out of his waistcoat pocket. Chronos realized what I was doing and ordered everyone to be silent.
"Gabe!" I said, flipping open the watchcase. "Speak the spell. Where is it?"
Cyclops found the piece of paper and handed it to Gabe. But Gabe shook his head.
"I can't," he said. "It's not right. He should be dead."