“Danny, let me explain.”
“I’ve heard it all from her. And I know what you’ve been doing to the clock towers. It’s appalling.”
Danny had hoped, in some small corner of his mind, that he was wrong. That Matthias wasn’t the culprit, that it had all been in his head, like Tom and George. But the man’s silence was as good as a confession. Something broke inside him, the crack echoing painfully through his body.
“Danny, look through my eyes for one second. You know what it’s like to grieve.” Matthias swallowed. “Losing Alice, I thought I’d never be happy again. And all that changed.” His eyes flickered to Evaline. “But just like that, it was taken from me again.”
Danny fought not to glance at Colton. He felt him at his shoulder, alert. “I don’t need convincing. I’ve already made up my mind, and so has she. If you stand in our way, you’re not proving your love. You’re proving how selfish you really are.”
Matthias’s face hardened. “What do you know of love, Danny? You’re just a boy.”
Danny fumbled for Colton’s hand and gripped it hard. “I know more than you think.”
Matthias looked between them, his anger shifting to surprise. “You can’t mean—him?”
“And why not? You talk about losing everything, but if you do this, we’ll lose everything, too.”
“Danny, it’s not at all the same. Eva and I—”
“It’s exactly the same, and don’t you dare say otherwise!” Danny yelled, wondering how many of those threads Big Ben had described were attached to this moment. Colton gripped his hand tighter. “Tell me where you put his cog, Matthias. I’ll make your life hell if you don’t.”
Matthias suddenly came forward. It took all of Danny’s strength to stand his ground.
“Hell? You don’t know what hell is. You know nothing of that place.” Matthias reached for him.
Colton stepped between them and grabbed the man’s wrist.
“Leave him alone, mechanic,” Colton said coldly.
Matthias recoiled in surprise. He yanked his arm back and Colton stumbled, too weak to maintain his grip. Matthias turned as if to shove the spirit away, and in that instant one of Danny’s possible threads snapped.
He lunged at Matthias.
There was a yelp of surprise, but he didn’t know if it came from Evaline, Colton, or himself at his own daring. He had no delusion that he could do much damage; Matthias quickly regained the upper hand, pushing Danny to the floor and pinning his arm behind his back.
“No!” Evaline yelled. She held Colton back as he tried to come to Danny’s aid. The more he struggled, the weaker he grew. “Stop this, Matthias! I’ll go with you if you leave them alone.”
Matthias paused.
“No,” Danny croaked. “Don’t—”
“Do you mean it, Eva?” Matthias demanded. “I’m only doing what’s best for us. You understand that, don’t you? This is the only way we can be together. I have to take you to Enfield.”
Evaline steeled herself and nodded. She gripped her satchel with both hands. “All right, Matthias. If you can live with the guilt of separating these two boys forever, and for all that you’ve done, I’ll go.”
Matthias looked down at Danny and his eyes softened. He let go. Danny scrambled away, almost falling when he regained his footing.
“You’re too young to understand,” Matthias said.
Danny barely heard him over the horrible ringing in his ears.
“I’m sorry it had to be this way,” the man added.
“I’m sorry we ever trusted you,” Danny whispered back.
Matthias grimaced, then turned back to Evaline. Colton had sunk to his knees, swaying. Danny hurried forward to steady his shoulders.
“Evaline,” Colton called out. She looked at them with regret, but there was something in her eyes like the substance of her tower, stone-like. It held them dangling over the pit of despair, not quite yet falling in.
“Go home to your mother, Danny,” Matthias said, wrapping an arm around Evaline’s waist. She clutched her satchel tightly. “She’ll worry.”
Danny watched them leave. In his mind, he ran after them. In his mind, he was racing off to Enfield to beat them there. He tightened his arm around Colton’s shoulders. The spirit’s head sagged onto Danny’s chest.
“What do we do?” Colton asked softly.
Something winked in the corner of his vision and he turned to see Big Ben standing in front of one of his clock faces.
“You spoke about the threads attached to us,” Danny said. “Can you see how many of those possibilities are still attached to me?” The spirit nodded. “How many have severed in the last five minutes?”
“Half.”
Danny shuddered and pressed his lips to the crown of Colton’s head. “We’re going back to Enfield,” he said.