The Convent's Secret_Glass and Steele Book 5

by C. J. Archer

  The watch emitted a pale purple glow, much weaker than when I'd first witnessed Matt use it.

  Gabe reached the end of his spell and gasped. He stared at the watch. "It's warm." It was likely he'd never felt any magic other than what he naturally exuded. I almost managed a smile, thinking back to my reaction when I'd first felt magic.

  Payne took the watch, snapped the case closed and stood. "Thank you. I'll be back in an hour."

  Gabe shot to his feet. "Where are you going?"

  "None of your business."

  "You can't leave us here! We did as you asked."

  "I cannot be sure of that until I try this out on a dying man."

  Gabe charged forward, but Payne lifted the gun and aimed it at his chest. Gabe halted and put up his hands.

  Payne left, locking the door behind him.

  I went to the window and looked out. A few moments later, Payne walked off down the street. "He's gone," I said, leaning my forehead against the bars.

  Gabe shouted for help again. He asked me to step aside then tried to wrench the bars free, all the while bellowing. I even joined in, although I knew it was hopeless. Everything was hopeless. We would be trapped here until Payne decided to set us free, and I knew from Matt's stories that he wouldn't let us simply walk away. We were too valuable.

  Gabe perched on the back of the sofa and groaned. I felt terrible for him. I felt terrible for my part in his capture. I really ought to help him try to escape to make amends.

  "Help!" I shouted. "Help us!"

  He bucked up a little and joined in. Together we shouted until our voices became hoarse and our throats dry. I even sipped some of the cold tea to moisten it.

  No one came to our aid.

  We both sat on the sofa, sending up a cloud of dust. Neither of us spoke for several long seconds.

  "We did it, though," Gabe eventually said, his voice full of wonder. "We combined our spells into that watch. Bloody hell." He stared down at his hands as if they had performed the magic.

  "Don't be too excited," I said.

  "It only works for the watch's owner, I know."

  "And we can't be certain your spell worked until the person who owns the watch tries to use it to heal themselves. And since Matt is the owner of the watch…" I choked back a sob.

  "But it glowed. My magic did work."

  "My magic caused it to glow. I've used that spell on that watch several times and it has glowed each time. The glow has grown fainter in recent days, however. Faint like it was today. My magic hasn't been enough to revive it."

  "So you don't think my spell worked?"

  "No."

  He studied the piece of paper again. "Should I have spoken it differently?"

  "Probably, but I don't know how. You said it the way I would have."

  "We'll have to tell Payne that when he returns. If we don't…" He swallowed heavily.

  We sat in silence, until I could no longer stand it. All I could think about was Matt, and that started my tears again.

  "He asked me to marry him." I didn't know why I told Gabe. The words spilled out before I even realized what I was saying.

  "Oh?"

  "I said no."

  "Oh."

  My lips trembled and I fought against a fresh wave of tears. "I should have said yes."

  "Perhaps you still can. Perhaps he's all right."

  "You saw him, Gabe. In your professional opinion, did he have long to live?"

  He picked up Payne's watch and opened the case. He studied the dial, keeping his face averted. "The American doctor who saved Mr. Glass, was he related to…to my father?"

  It was a relief to talk about something other than Matt. My own thoughts were too awful and I no longer wished to be left alone with them. "They were cousins."

  "Did he have children?"

  "No. You really are the only doctor magician we could find. My grandfather searched the globe for years. He was rather obsessed with finding one."

  He heaved a sigh. "It would have been nice to have cousins."

  "I'm an only child too, with no cousins, no aunts or uncles, only my grandfather now, and I don't know where he is. Matt's friends are like my family." I hadn't known them more than a few months, yet that was how they felt—like a family.

  "Do you know the circumstances of my birth, India?"

  "Yes."

  "Would…would you mind telling me?"

  I told him what I knew about his father, including the fact he'd kept a mistress despite being already married. I told him about his mother and how I'd met her, and even how Matt had broken into her house and learned about the convent. His crime didn't matter anymore anyway.

  I told Gabe about the mystery surrounding his disappearance as a baby, and how Sister Bernadette had rescued him. I did not tell him that she had accidentally killed Mother Alfreda. I'd promised to keep it a secret, and I would keep that promise.

  "She told us where to find the couple who took you in," I said. "Your mother seemed very nice. Mrs. Seaford, I mean."

  He smiled. "She is. They're good people, and I haven't always been a good son." His smile turned sad. "I should have told them how grateful I am for everything. And that I love them."

  "I'm sure you don't need to. Parents just know these things. Adopted ones too, I'm sure."

  "It was the magic, you see. I grew up feeling out of place, like I didn't belong with them, or around the artless. It led me to say and do things I later regretted."

  "Your adopted father was a magician, wasn't he? Didn't he help you understand it?"

  "He tried, but it wasn't the same. He's a silversmith magician. He has his own jewelry shop but never uses magic on the creations he sells, only in things he gave me or Mama. He explained about magic, how it didn't last, and how it must be kept hidden or the guild would find a way to exclude him. My parents told me that I have the power to heal minor wounds through touch alone, but without a spell, I can't do more." He stared at his hands. "My father warned me growing up that I would be compelled to try to heal the sick, and they never stopped me from becoming a physician. They never expected me to take over from my father in the shop. I'm eternally grateful for that."

  "He understood your compulsion to heal."

  He nodded. "Thank you for listening, India. Tell me about your magic. Have you always known you possessed it?"

  We passed an hour talking. I told him everything about my magic and how I discovered it, including my recent re-introduction to the grandfather I thought dead. It was necessary to mention Matt, since he had such a big part to play in my magical awareness. That inevitably led to why Matt needed the magical watch and how he'd been shot by his own grandfather, and that led to more tears from me. I didn't think I had any left, but it seemed I had a deep well to draw from.

  The rattle of the key in the lock not only instantly cut off my tears, but made my heart thump. It wasn't entirely broken after all.

  As I watched Sheriff Payne enter the room, one thing became clear. I did not want to die here. I wanted to be free. I wanted to see Miss Glass, Willie, Cyclops and Duke again. I wanted to see Catherine Mason and even Chronos again. Miss Glass needed me now, more than ever, and I wanted to be there for her.

  I rose from the sofa and glared at Payne. "I assume it failed. I told you it would only work on Matt."

  Payne regarded me from a distance with glittering, hard eyes. He held the gun but did not point it at me. "Why does it only work for him?" he demanded.

  "I don't know."

  "Don't lie to me."

  "It's not a lie."

  Gabe stood beside me. "She said she doesn't know. Now let us go. We can't do what you want."

  Payne's nostrils flared. "There is something in the spell that you failed to say. What is it, Miss Steele? What did you leave out?"

  "That was the spell my grandfather taught me. Every word was precisely the same, and you saw Gabe's spell written down for yourself. You also saw the watch glow. I don't know how to make the watch work for ot
her people. I truly don't."

  "Your grandfather must have taught you, otherwise what's the damned point!" He flung the watch and Gabe caught it. "Do you have to say the subject's name?" Payne snapped.

  Gabe put up his hands in an attempt to placate the seething sheriff. "That's enough. We've done our best—"

  "You do not tell me when it's enough! I say when it's enough!" Payne leveled the gun at Gabe.

  "No!" I cried. "Stop! You need him! You need us both."

  Payne did not shoot, but it had nothing to do with my plea. Footsteps pounded up the stairs and, just as Payne realized he had forgotten to lock the door, it flung open.

  Many things happened at once.

  Matt lurched into the room, his face bloodless, his eyes wild and unfocused.

  Chronos followed behind him. "India!" he cried.

  I shouted Matt's name, a riot of emotions surging through me. Immeasurable relief was quickly banished by raw, ferocious fear as Payne pointed the gun at Matt. Matt was in no condition to tackle him or reach him before the gun went off.

  But Gabe was. He pushed Payne. The gun fired.

  I tried not to scream, but it burst out of me. "Matt!"

  The blast of the gunshot reverberated around the room, momentarily deafening me. The smell of metal and smoke filled my nostrils.

  Matt lay on the floor, and I found myself praying for the second time that day for him to be alive. I scrambled to his side, not even sure when I'd fallen to my knees. Someone crouched beside me, their arm around my shoulders. When my hearing returned, I realized it was Chronos, saying my name over and over.

  But I was too intent on Matt. He was alive, but only just. His shoulder was covered in dried blood from the earlier wound inflicted by Payne. His hair clung to his neck and forehead in damp clumps, and his face was as pale and cold as new snow yet he sported no fresh wounds. The bullet had missed him, but he'd collapsed from sheer exhaustion. He offered a weak smile and tried to sit up but couldn't manage it.

  "Lie still," I urged.

  His lips formed my name but no sound came out. His breathing came in rattling gasps, each one shallow and labored. His eyelids fluttered closed as if he could no longer keep them open. He was dying.

  The watch.

  "Gabe! Matt's watch!" I turned toward him, my hand out.

  And my heart dove. Payne pointed the gun at Gabe.

  Matt made a sound, half gasp, half gurgle. I stroked his face, his throat, his chest, willing him to stay alive, to hang on a little longer until I could devise a way to get the watch—the watch that now dangled by its chain from Payne's fingers.

  "Is this what you want?" His lips twitched with his smile, his eyes lit up in victory.

  "Give it to me," Chronos said, inching forward. "He needs it."

  "Yes, he does, doesn't he?" Payne dropped the watch on the floor.

  "No!" I screamed.

  Payne crushed the magic watch beneath his boot, grinding his heel into the metal, destroying the inner workings until they were no longer recognizable and certainly not functional.

  Just like that, all my hope was crushed too.

  Chapter 15

  Another shot rang out and I glanced up, afraid for Chronos and Gabe. But to my utter surprise, Willie stood holding a smoking gun, her face distorted with rage.

  Sheriff Payne collapsed to the floor, bleeding from his leg and spitting expletives at Willie. Cyclops snatched the gun from him.

  The room became crowded. Even Detective Inspector Brockwell was there, introducing himself to Gabe. Gabe, however, excused himself and came to my side. He put his ear to Matt's lips and listened.

  Willie knelt down, her face ashen, her eyes huge. "India?" she murmured. "Is he…?"

  "His watch," I said, unable to stop myself from crying. "It's broken."

  Chronos scooped the watch up and brought the pieces over. It was mangled, the springs twisted and cogs dented. Even so, we placed Matt's hand over them. Nothing happened. It did not glow.

  I spoke the extending spell, and still it didn't glow.

  "It won't work," Chronos said heavily. "I'm sorry, India."

  "What if Gabe speaks his spell into it too?" I said in a small voice.

  "The watch is broken. It needs to be a functioning watch for the magic to work."

  Willie curled in on herself and wailed into her hands. Duke put his arms around her and hugged her to his chest. His eyes glistened with tears.

  I slumped over Matt's body, spilling my own tears onto his chest. That's how I heard and felt him breathe his last.

  It was also how I noticed his watch. Not the magic one but the one he'd recently purchased from the Masons' shop. Payne had given it back to him outside Gabe's house when he realized it wasn't magic. Yet it was still Matt's watch. He owned it, just like he'd owned the original American one.

  We had a working watch, a doctor magician and two horology magicians. Matt would not die today.

  I scrabbled at the chain, pulling it out of his waistcoat pocket. Chronos realized what I was doing and ordered everyone to be silent.

  "Gabe!" I said, flipping open the watchcase. "Speak the spell. Where is it?"

  Cyclops found the piece of paper and handed it to Gabe. But Gabe shook his head.

  "I can't," he said. "It's not right. He should be dead."

  I slapped him hard across the face. But it wasn't that which changed his mind. It was Willie's gun pointed at his temple.

  "If you don't do it, I will kill someone you care about." She had never sounded more deadly and more certain.

  Gabe did not need any further urging. He took the paper from Cyclops and held Matt's hand as Chronos directed.

  "India, hold the watch," Chronos said, placing Matt's lifeless hand over mine, the watch wedged between our palms. "Now both of you, speak the spell."

  The room fell silent. Even Payne had stopped moaning.

  Gabe read his spell and I recited the extending spell.

  Nothing happened. The watch didn't glow.

  "Why isn't it working?" Duke barked.

  Chronos shrugged. "I don't know. I don't remember the doctor's part, only my own. Try again, but perhaps say the words differently."

  "Differently how?" Gabe was shouting. "That's how they're written."

  "It is," I said, glancing over the written spell. "But try something different. Anything!"

  "Do not fail," Willie said darkly.

  Gabe swallowed and tried again. Still there was no glow. We were running out of time! It had been several seconds since Matt's last breath.

  "Again!" Willie shouted. "You got to get this right or he'll die!" Her voice pitched high and her accent thickened.

  Her accent…

  "Say it with an American accent," I told Gabe. "Do it!"

  Cyclops leaned over Gabe's shoulder and read the spell, and Gabe mimicked him, word for word, inflection for inflection, in an American accent. I spoke the extending spell. We finished speaking at the same time.

  The watch flared with heat and a blinding light hurt my eyes. I clutched the device harder, afraid I'd drop it as the heat surged from the watch up my arm. A purple glow lit up Matt's veins, disappearing beneath his clothes, then up his throat, across his face and into his hair.

  His chest expanded. He breathed!

  I sobbed.

  Someone behind me murmured in wonder.

  Gabe touched two fingers lightly to Matt's throat and bent closer to inspect the glowing veins. "My God. I've never seen anything like it. He's alive."

  I pressed Matt's hand against the watch to keep it in place. The longer the magic had time to work, the better. Cyclops, Duke and Willie crowded in, despite Chronos ordering them back.

  "Matt?" Willie whispered, dashing away the tears dampening her cheeks. "Matt? Can you hear me?"

  The hand holding mine twitched. I pressed my lips together to suppress another sob but it escaped anyway.

  Matt's eyes cracked open and the purple glow slowly receded until his veins retur
ned to normal. "Don't cry, India," he said softly. "I won't be dying today."

  My lower lip trembled. He let go of my hand and reached up and cupped my face. I smiled. He smiled back.

  Then I flung myself across him, pinning him to the floor. He laughed softly in my ear.

  "It's almost worth dying if this is the reaction I get," he said.

  "Don't you dare," Willie scolded him. "Now get off him, India. It's my turn."

  I tore myself away and allowed him to sit up, with help from Cyclops. The color had returned to Matt's face and lips, but his body trembled slightly. I could feel it in our linked hands.

  A round of hugs followed. Even Chronos hugged him. Then I hugged Chronos. His arms tightened around me and he kissed my cheek.

  "Why are you here?" I asked.

  "It's a long story. I'll tell you later."

  Payne grunted as Brockwell hauled him to his feet. His right leg still bled. "The watch works for him because it belongs to him," Payne said, nodding in understanding. "That's what you weren't telling me, Miss Steele." He indicated his wound. "You have my watch. Use it to heal me."

  "No," came a chorus of voices.

  "I hope you die from your injuries," Willie spat. "And if you don't, I hope you hang."

  "He will," Matt said. "For Bryce's murder."

  "And the attempted murders of yourself and Miss Steele," Brockwell added. "You won't be seeing American soil again, Sheriff."

  Payne curled his lip in a snarl. "And what of his crimes? Glass has lied to you. He has duped you and others, here and back home, he has committed theft and countless other crimes. Arrest him."

  Brockwell pushed him toward the door. "It seems Mr. Glass lied because I wouldn't believe him if he told me about his watch and…magic."

  "And do you believe now?" Chronos asked.

  "I believe in what I can witness with my own eyes. In light of what I just saw…I suppose I have to. Go on, Payne, move." He marched a limping Payne out just as two constables pounded up the stairs, both puffing hard from exertion.

  "What's going on here?" asked one. "We have a report of a gunshot."

  "You're a little late," Brockwell said, punching out each consonant. "Help me get this man into custody. He's a slippery cur."