The auto wouldn’t start. Danny swore and opened the bonnet, poked around, slammed it back down, and tried again. It gave to eventually, and after he fumbled with Cassie’s ridiculous holster, they sped off into the freezing night.
Colton lay in the backseat. He’d been awake as they were leaving Big Ben, but when Danny turned to check on him now, his eyes were closed. At least the small cog was still nestled in his palm, a tether to his tower.
It began to snow when they broke past London. Danny could hardly make out a thing in the dark, but he squinted into the pale moonlight, using familiar signs and landmarks to guide his way. Snowflakes met his face in icy kisses, gathering on his clothes and in his hair. They coated Colton’s unmoving body.
“Hold on,” Danny called to him. “Nearly there.”
The auto sputtered and whined. Smoke belched from under the bonnet and the interior mechanism shuddered. Danny felt it pass through his seat and cursed again.
“Not now, you stupid old thing!”
But now seemed the perfect time, and another shudder rolled through the auto like a gasping, hiccupping wheeze. They were so close to Enfield, within ten minutes of the outskirts. Danny could see the dark gray dome up ahead, standing still and silent like a brooding sentinel.
He didn’t see the bump in the road. Danny had always managed to narrowly avoid it, but with his attention elsewhere, they hit it full-on and the auto’s center of gravity shifted.
Danny cried out. The auto toppled sideways and he felt as if he were flying through space, the small white pinpricks of snow like cold, empty stars. Then he landed painfully on his side and blacked out.
He came to seconds later and groaned. A squeaking sound came from one of the tires rolling uselessly on its axle. The boiler under the bonnet began leaking, smoke rising as if from an infuriated dragon. Danny shifted himself and winced. He had hit his head, and when he touched the spot above his right eyebrow, his fingers came away bloody.
He tried to get up, but the holster around his chest kept him strapped to the seat. Danny fumbled with the metal clasp and breathed a quiet thanks to Cassie. If it hadn’t been for this, he might have been thrown from the auto completely.
He kicked at the door above him until it gaped open into the night, then crawled out and fell to the ground below. Danny rubbed his arms and legs to restore circulation through his aching body before he forced himself to stand. He opened the back door and reached for Colton, dragging him away from the wreckage. The spirit hardly stirred, though he was still clinging to the cog.
Danny sank to his knees and shook him. “Colton? Colton!”
“Danny,” he whispered. “All right?”
“Yes, I’m all right. We’re fine. We’re near Enfield. Can you feel it?”
Colton nodded.
“I’ll have to carry you. Just hold on.”
He gathered Colton in his arms. Pausing for a moment, Danny gazed sadly at the smoldering auto. No amount of repair work could fix it now. Maybe it was for the best. When his legs stopped shaking, he turned toward Enfield and ran without looking back.
Danny had never been a fast runner, and even in matters of life and death he was mediocre at best. He soon developed a stitch in his side and was gasping for breath. His head pounded and his vision swam. Matthias was probably just behind him, racing toward Enfield with Evaline in his faster, newer auto. They would overtake him at any moment. And since Matthias had a spirit with him, they would be able to walk through the barrier before Danny and Colton could.
Danny stumbled, then stopped. His breath hitched. They were alone out here, a tiny speck in an endless night.
“I’m sorry,” he whispered, unsure whether Colton could hear him or not.
As if in reply, a hand grabbed his shirt. Colton met Danny’s gaze, though he was struggling to keep his own eyes open.
“Don’t give up.” His voice fell upon the syllables like a slow-swinging pendulum. “You can’t. You’re Achilles and Perseus and Heracles.” He struggled to smile. “You’re the prince who saves the day, remember?”
Danny would have laughed had he been able to, but instead, his eyes began to sting. “Oh, hell,” he muttered, and picked up the pace.
The gray dome loomed before them. Danny nearly toppled over with fatigue, but he pressed forward, drawing Colton’s body close to his as they passed through the barrier. The sea of gray swallowed him, muted all his senses, until they sprawled painfully on the soil of Enfield and Danny earned a mouthful of grass.
“How can you be back already? You’ve only just left!”
Danny squinted up at Brandon’s face. The sky overhead was bright, considerably brighter than the night Danny had just left. Of course—time was frozen. It would be the exact moment the thief had removed Colton’s cog, 11:14 in the morning.
“How long was I gone?” he rasped, sitting up.
“I can’t tell, can I?” Brandon said irritably.
“The cog?”
“We’ve only just started looking. Why are you wearing different clothes?”
Danny hid his face in his hands and laughed. He laughed until there was no more air in his lungs and he started to cough. When he regained his composure, Brandon was gaping at him.