Danny waited until Brandon was gone before walking down the stairs. He sensed more than saw Colton follow him, barely noticing when Colton held up his coat so he could push his arms through the sleeves.
He stepped outside and shivered, his face already raw from the wind. Colton, at his side, probably didn’t feel a thing in his billowing shirt. The spirit met Danny’s eyes with a small shrug, as if asking, “What now?”
Not wanting to stray too far from the tower, Danny took Colton’s hand and steered him toward the hedge. No one would see them there.
Danny wasn’t quite sure where to begin, so he asked, “How’ve you been?” It felt stupid, but as automatic as putting a teaspoon of sugar in his afternoon tea.
“The same as I ever am.”
They turned the corner, heading in the direction of the Aetas statue. “Something’s troubling you,” Colton said as they slowed to a stop. “Can you tell me?”
Danny nodded and took a deep breath. It came in starts and stops, many of his words half-formed. He told Colton everything he’d learned: that Matthias had been lying to him—to everyone—and that the Maldon clock spirit was not destroyed, but in London.
Colton’s eyes were wide when Danny finished. “If she’s alive, she can fix her clock. You can free your father!”
Danny remained silent, and Colton’s elated smile began to fade.
“You can’t?”
“I don’t know.” Danny turned away. “The thing is, I trusted Matthias. I went to him when I missed my father, when I needed someone to tell me what the right thing to do was. He was always there for me, even when I didn’t want him to be. To find out he was … all this time, he was hiding this …”
Danny’s voice began to shake, and he coughed to hide it. “If Evaline can’t convince him to let her leave London, what can I do? How do I even speak to him?”
Colton put his hands on Danny’s shoulders. The air shivered around him, soft and comforting, like a cat’s vibrating purr against skin.
“From what you’ve told me, Matthias sounds like a good man. Even if he’s done this, there has to be a reason.”
“Yes,” Danny said, voice low. “He loves that spirit. He loves her so much he would sacrifice an entire town for her.” More than one town? his mind whispered, but he shoved the idea away. “That’s not being good. That’s being bloody selfish.”
He turned and ripped off the nearest clump of honeysuckle. He thought, coldly, that love was simply that—a handful of bruised flower petals. Beautiful and terrible and fleeting. Too easily snatched away, too easily ruined.
“Danny, stop.” Colton took the crushed flowers from his fingers. His eyes were pinched and his voice sounded a little slower. “You’ll find a way to solve this, I know you will. And I’ll help. What can I do?”
Danny ran his hands through his hair until it stuck up in the back. He was wasting the time he had with Colton to complain instead of focusing on his next steps.
“I know what you can do.” He brushed his thumb across Colton’s jaw. “You can keep telling me what an idiot I’m being.”
“You’re not an idiot,” Colton said. “You’re upset. What’s your plan for when you go back?”
Danny lifted his arms, like the Lead did when stumped. “Try to speak to Matthias, I suppose. If he won’t listen, I’ll have to tell the authorities, and I really don’t want—What’s the matter?”
Colton had suddenly convulsed, and shock overtook his face. His eyes grew pale and distant. He reached for Danny, but as soon as his fingers touched his shirt he jolted again and fell to the ground with a scream.
“Colton!” Danny fell to his knees beside him. Colton writhed against the ground, clutching at his chest. His eyes rolled toward the back of his skull.
Danny froze when he felt it. Not the pleasant shiver he experienced at Colton’s touch, but a terrible shudder that jarred him to his marrow. Not a skip in time, but a total plunge into nothingness.
He looked up as a gray mantle spread across the sky, forming an unnatural veil that hid Enfield from the rest of the world. A concealing web of time.
I was in an accident.
Brandon came hurtling down the lane.
I got out.
Townspeople ran from their houses, staring up at the sky or looking toward the clock tower.
I’m safe now.
The lie drowned under the thundering of his heart as Danny struggled to lift Colton from the ground. He fumbled with the tower door and fell through the entrance when time looped, and he fell over and over until he was finally able to stumble inside. Brandon ran in after him, his eyes so large they were more white than brown.
“What happened?” Brandon demanded. “Who the hell is that?”
Danny held Colton protectively to his chest. But the truth couldn’t be hidden now. With a creeping sense of dread, Danny explained the truth about the limp boy in his arms.
He didn’t think Brandon’s eyes could get any bigger. “You—this thing—he’s been here the whole time?”
Colton feebly stirred, trying to say Danny’s name. He pointed at the stairs, or at least attempted to. Danny bounded up, Brandon following close behind.