The spirit rewarded him with a faint smile. “Danny.”
They brushed noses before they kissed. It was slow and hesitant at first, but then it grew deeper, forming a conversation of its own.
I’m worried about you.
I’m fine.
I’m not going anywhere.
They fell into a rhythm of heat and pressure. When Danny needed air, Colton brushed kisses against his neck. Danny grabbed the back of Colton’s head and crushed their mouths back together, desperate for contact.
But Colton jerked his head away, toward the stairs. Danny followed his gaze and choked on a gasp.
Cassie stood there, staring at the two of them with her mouth hanging open. “Da-Danny? What on earth?”
Colton disappeared in a blink. Danny felt oddly exposed without him.
“What are you doing here, Cass?” He tried to make the words loud and accusing, but they came out as a ragged whisper.
Her eyes were fixed on the spot where Colton had been a second earlier. Her voice sounded faraway. “You were acting strange, so I thought I’d …” She gripped the end of her frizzy braid. “I wanted to make sure you were all right. I followed you here. I thought it might be a nice surprise, you know, to see you and …”
She trailed off, her eyes taking in the clock room. She had seen Colton, Danny was sure of it. Which meant she had also seen him disappear.
“Where did he go?” She turned in a full circle, the end of her green scarf sweeping behind her.
“Where did who go?” Oh God, am I really doing this?
Her cheeks reddened. “Don’t play the idiot with me. I just saw you and another boy kissing like it was the end of the world.” She fought to swallow. “Please tell me what’s going on?”
She stared at him, silently begging him to explain. He sighed and turned to the clock face.
“Colton? Please come back.”
It took a moment for him to notice Colton standing beside him again. The spirit’s expression was cautiously blank.
“Colton, this is Cassie. I told you about her, remember? My friend?”
Colton nodded.
“Cassie, this is Colton. The ‘blond bloke.’ And … a clock spirit.”
He didn’t think her jaw could drop so low.
“No,” she said firmly.
“Yes?”
“He’s a clock spirit?”
Danny winced. “Shout it a little louder, I don’t think the people in London heard you.”
“Danny, this is—”
“Stupid, I know. I’m an idiot for keeping this from you. But you understand why, don’t you? Do you realize what’ll happen to me if I’m found out?”
Cassie looked from Danny to Colton. Her shock gradually faded into curiosity. “Your name is Colton. Like the tower. You’re a …” She fumbled over the words. “A clock spirit.”
Colton glanced at Danny and nodded.
She studied him a moment, trying not to let her wonder show and failing miserably. “It’s … er … nice to meet you at last. Danny’s told me about you. Just not everything.” She glared at Danny, and he shrank back.
Colton’s wary expression broke into a tentative smile. “He talks about me?”
“All the time.”
“What does he say?”
“Where do I even begin?”
Danny watched, struck dumb, as the two suddenly started talking at a fearsome speed. When he tried to get a word in, they barely acknowledged him.
“He was so flustered when he told me about that first kiss—”
“Said you live down the street from him—”
“Have all sorts of embarrassing stories to tell you—”
Danny sank onto a box and put his head in his hands. He had expected anger, fear, betrayal. This was far, far worse.
Although Cassie put on a bright face for Colton, which had done wonders to break the awkwardness between them, she turned stony when she and Danny left the tower later that afternoon.
He stepped toward his auto. “Guess I’ll just—”
“Danny, get in my auto.” Cassie was giving him a look, one she’d learned from her mother, that bored straight into him.
He did as he was told. She started the engine, which ran smoother than his own, and they drove down the narrow streets of Enfield to the outskirts in silence.
After a while she said, very softly, “Why would you keep this from me?”
“I already told you why.”
She took a deep breath through her nose. He couldn’t stand the expression on her face, the hurt he’d caused.
“I’m sorry,” he said. “I wish I had told you sooner. I trust you, Cassie. I do.”
“It’s not that.” She tightened her hands on the steering wheel. “You’re behaving exactly like Matthias did.”
Danny’s heart gave a single painful thud. “You think that hasn’t crossed my mind?”
“What are you thinking? Whatever Matthias did, if he actually loved a clock spirit like he told everyone, Maldon was Stopped because of it. He was exiled, Danny. You’ve told me over and over again how miserable he is, and how much it hurts you to see him that way.” Her voice thickened with tears. “Didn’t it cross your mind that the same thing could happen to you? That I would have to see you that way?”