A jolt of terror struck Danny in the stomach. He ran past her, up the stairs, to Colton’s side.
Evaline was right: he was fading. Danny could practically see through his blurred edges. Colton had a hand clutched at his chest, his face screwed up in pain. He flickered, his entire body stuttering like a lamp burning with too little oil.
Danny tried to touch him. It was like touching air. A burst of breath escaped him, a dry sob.
What do I do? How do I save him?
Distantly, across the river, the slow peal of bells began to sound. Big Ben was chiming.
Danny slowed his breaths. Fought to be calm. He turned and found his mother and Evaline watching from the door.
“We need to take Colton to Big Ben,” he decided.
His mother blinked. “Big—? What, you mean St. Stephen’s?”
“I think it’ll give Colton the strength to return to Enfield. Besides, I’ve got to figure out what to do about Matthias, and Evaline can’t stay here. If Matthias is in London, he’ll check here, I’m sure of it. If not him, then the police.”
Leila bit her lower lip, but Evaline nodded resolutely.
“You can stay with Cass,” he told his mother. “Just in case.”
“Matthias would never hurt us, Danny. He’s done so much for us.”
“Yes, like keeping Dad trapped.” That silenced her.
Fighting down his alarm, he turned back to Colton and tried to smooth down his hair. Colton’s eyes struggled open.
“We’re going for a ride,” Danny said.
“Are we … going to the London tower?” Colton asked in a slurred voice. “You told me about it. Big Ben.”
“That’s the one. Make sure you keep hold of that cog.” He carefully scooped him up in his arms. The spirit weighed nothing at all.
At the front door, Leila hugged Danny as best she could with Colton in his arms. “Be safe. Come back as soon as you can.”
“Mum? What news did you want to tell me yesterday?”
“Oh.” She sighed. “They chose me for the job at Chelmsford.”
It wasn’t even painful anymore. “Will you take it?”
Her dark eyes rested on him, then on Colton, then on Evaline.
“I haven’t made up my mind quite yet.”
They filed out into the night. Danny looked around, wary. Still no sign of Matthias. He settled Colton in the backseat and prepared for the drive to Parliament Square, hoping for a smooth ride and an easy entrance to the tower. More than that, he hoped for Brandon to hurry and find Colton’s cog before it was too late.
The tower was lit a brilliant orange-gold, the clock faces shining like four separate eyes watching over a sleepy London. Danny was not exactly sure what made the clock glow this way at night, but he had a suspicion that the power of the spirit kept it going.
Guards were posted at the entrances to the Parliament building. They would be more alert after the disaster near Maldon, but Danny still had his mechanic’s badge, which gave him access to the tower at any time of day—or night. He hoped.
He had only ever visited Big Ben during daylight hours, mostly for training. Once, before he had become an apprentice, Danny had brought his father the packed lunch he’d forgotten at home as an excuse to spend time inside the tower. Matthias had been with Christopher then, the two men laughing as Danny asked one excited question after another.
Now the memory sat cold within him.
Danny lifted Colton from the auto. He expected the spirit to be unconscious, as he had been during the entire drive, but Colton’s gaze was fixed on Big Ben, his eyes reflecting the gold until they shone like a cat’s. The light sparked along his faded edges, more solid now thanks to the tower’s proximity. Danny released a grateful breath.
“Colton?” he said. “I’ll need you to try and walk. Can you do that?”
“Yes,” Colton whispered. “I think so.”
Evaline stood to one side as Danny set Colton on his feet. The spirit wobbled, held onto Danny for a moment, then nodded as if to say he would be all right. Danny longed to keep the feeling of Colton’s hand on his chest, but it slipped away far too soon.
The tower was huge. The base, like Colton’s, was built of brick with limestone cladding; the rest was a spire of cast iron. The opal glass of the four faces, surrounded by large iron frames, beamed at the sprawling city below. Underneath each dial, a Latin inscription had been etched: DOMINE SALVAM FAC REGINAM NOSTRUM VICOTIAM PRIMAM.
Lord save Victoria the First. Queen Victoria had been the first to have her name carved into a tower, her name now etched into history and time itself.