by C. J. Archer
The Magician's Diary
Glass and Steele, #4
C.J. Archer
C.J. Archer
Copyright © 2017 by C.J. Archer
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Contents
Chapter 1
Chapter 2
Chapter 3
Chapter 4
Chapter 5
Chapter 6
Chapter 7
Chapter 8
Chapter 9
Chapter 10
Chapter 11
Chapter 12
Chapter 13
Chapter 14
Chapter 15
Chapter 16
Chapter 17
Chapter 18
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Chapter 1
London, Spring 1890
Impatience was a disease that infected us all. The air in the entrance hall of number sixteen Park Street, Mayfair, thickened as Matt, Cyclops, Willie and I stared at Chronos, who stood just inside the threshold.
My grandfather.
I felt as though I ran a fever, with my trembling hands and skin alternately hot and cold. My head may as well have been suffering from the fog of a fever for all its sudden lack of clarity. I'd had questions moments before. So many questions. But they'd fled, and only two clear thoughts remained.
Chronos was my grandfather.
And we'd found the man who could fix Matt's magic watch.
Willie recovered from her shock first. She patted Matt's waistcoat at his chest and muttered, "Where is it? Show it to him."
Matt closed his hand over his cousin's. "We have a guest, Willie. There'll be time for that later."
"We ain't got time to play tea parties, Matt!"
He plucked her hand away and kept it enclosed in his. She winced. "Mr. Steele?" Matt said with a tone that fell just shy of being pleasant thanks to the strain in his voice. "We dine in a little over an hour. Will you join us?"
Chronos looked over his shoulder at the formidable figure of Cyclops standing with his arms crossed over an enormous chest. His good eye drilled into Chronos, and the scar dripping from beneath the patch over the other eye would make most men think twice about attempting escape.
Chronos cleared his throat. "I would be delighted."
"You English and your goddamned manners," Willie scoffed.
"Matt's not English," I said automatically.
"He's been around you too long, India. It's brought out the English half of him. Come on then, Matt. Let's go to the drawing room so Chronos can look at your watch before dinner."
I had a quick word with Bristow to set another place for dinner and to inform Miss Glass. Ever the unruffled butler, he moved silently toward the service stairs at the back of the house.
Matt waited for me at the door to the drawing room, the others having gone in ahead of him. His eyes were bright and his breathing a little fast as he held his hand out to me.
"Are you all right, India?" he asked as I took his hand.
"Somewhat overwhelmed, but I'll recover. And you?"
He placed my hand in the crook of his arm and covered it with his own. "I had no idea until now that it was possible to feel both numb and thrilled at the same time."
We entered the drawing room together to face the man with the power to bring Matt back to full health. I had no idea where or how to start, but it was Chronos himself who broke the silence.
"I didn't get to finish my ale at the Cross Keys before your man accosted me."
Matt tugged on the bell pull and Peter the footman appeared a moment later. "A brandy for Mr. Steele," he said and the footman left again.
Willie slid a round occasional table next to a winged chair and moved the vase of flowers from its surface to another table. She slapped the chair's back rest. "Sit, Mr. Steele. You've got work to do."
Chronos tensed. His gaze flicked to Matt.
"Sit!" Willie grabbed Chronos's arm and forced him down onto the chair. "Have you got your tools? If not, India can lend you hers."
"Willie," Matt chided. "Give him a few minutes to settle. Mr. Steele, I'm sorry for the inconvenience. I hope Cyclops wasn't too forceful."
Chronos rubbed his shoulder. "He was insistent."
Cyclops apologized. "I asked nicely," he added. "The first two times."
"Why didn't you want to come?" Willie asked.
Chronos sank into the chair. He looked small within its bulk, but not frail. I calculated dates quickly in my head—he was seventy-one, and he looked it with the multitude of wrinkles and a cloud of wispy white hair. Considering his age, having Cyclops order him into a carriage must have been frightening. So why resist?
"Your servant is certainly loyal to you, Mr. Glass," Chronos said.
"Cyclops is a friend, not a servant. As is Duke," Matt added when Duke entered behind Peter. "Willie is my cousin."
The footman deposited a tray on the table then bowed out. He shut the door behind him.
"Why isn't he working on your watch yet?" Duke asked Matt. He smelled of horse and leather after driving the carriage to the coach house. Until Matt hired a new coachman, Duke would share the role with Cyclops.
Matt poured from the decanter and handed the tumbler to Chronos. Chronos sipped, nodded his approval, and drank the entire contents. Willie crossed her arms in a pose that matched Cyclops's and mouthed, "Drunk."
Chronos held the empty glass out for more. Duke snatched it before Matt could. "After you've looked at Matt's watch," Duke grumbled.
"We are sorry about this." I forced myself to speak. I would have liked to sit quietly and observe before saying anything, but that would serve no purpose. I agreed with Willie and Duke—the sooner he looked at Matt's watch, the better. Answers to my other questions could wait. "Cyclops probably told you that Matt's magic watch is slowing down. It needs fixing, and Dr. Parsons suggested that only you know the spell. Would you mind, Mr.—" I cut myself off. "What should I call you? Mr. Steele doesn't seem right considering…"
"I'm your grandfather." He studied me, his light gray eyes scanning my face twice before sweeping down my length and back up again. "You look like your mother." He gave no indication whether that was a good or bad thing.
"It doesn't feel right to call you Grandpapa either."
He grunted. In approval? With laughter? I couldn't tell. "Chronos will do."
Willie tapped a finger on the tabletop. "Matt. Your watch."
Matt pulled his magic watch out from the inside pocket of his waistcoat where he kept it safe from thieving fingers. There'd already been one attempt to take it, most likely coordinated by Sheriff Payne, the man who wanted to destroy Matt in any way possible.
"The magic is not as effective," Matt said as he handed the watch to Chronos. "I need to use it every few hours rather than every few weeks. Nor does it bring me back to full strength when I do use it."
"That's hardly surprising." Chronos turned the watch over and pried open the back to reveal the ordinary inner workings of the device. "Magic never lasts. How long has it been? Five years? That's longer than I expected." He sounded pleased with himself.
My chest tightened. I didn't dare look at Matt but I could feel the effect Chronos's words had on everyone. It was as if the
air had been sucked out of the room and no one could breathe.
"But you can fix it?" Willie prompted in a thin voice.
Chronos plucked a small cloth wallet from his inside jacket pocket and set it down beside the watch on the table. He unbuttoned the cloth and opened it out to reveal an eyeglass, tweezers, a screwdriver and vials containing spare gears of various sizes. He removed the eyeglass but paused when I leaned in to get a better look.
"I have depthing and gear rounding tools upstairs if you need them," I said, leaning away again.
"I don't need tools. The problem is with magic, not the watch. I just need a spell."
He inspected the mechanisms through the glass then placed the watch to his ear. He said something in a foreign language. The watch glowed purple, the soft light the same color that infused Matt's veins when he used it to heal himself. Chronos spoke a few more words of the spell then closed the watch's back. The light extinguished. He returned it to Matt.
"Try it now," he said.
"Try?" Duke echoed, his head cocked to the side. "You don't know if it's fixed?"
Chronos concentrated on putting the eyeglass away and folding the cloth kit. "That's the same spell I used to infuse the watch with magic the day I extended your life, Mr. Glass."
It wasn't a direct answer to the question, but no one else seemed to notice. Duke nodded, satisfied, and Willie and Cyclops only had eyes for Matt. He opened the case, closed his fist around the watch, and breathed deeply as the magic seeped through his skin to join his blood. The web of light disappeared into his cuffs and re-emerged above his collar. It quickly spread over his face to the tips of his ears.
With a deep breath, he snapped the case shut and the light extinguished. His skin was normal again.
"How do you feel?" Willie asked on a breath.
"Fine," he said without taking his gaze off Chronos.
Chronos slapped his hands down on the chair arms. "Then I'll be off. Thank you for the dinner invitation—"
"Wait," Matt said. "India will have some questions for you."
I blinked hard, smarting from the sting of Chronos's rejection. Did he not have questions for me? He'd not seen me since I was a baby. Didn't he at least want to know how my father—his son—had died?
Chronos turned his back to me.
"Mrs. Potter is cooking a leg of lamb," Cyclops said hopefully.
Chronos strode to the window and peered out. He looked up and down the street, twice. "I can afford another hour or so, I suppose."
"Are you looking for someone?" Duke asked.
Chronos returned to the chair. He glanced at me, sitting on the sofa. "You will want to know why I didn't contact you all these years."
I nodded. "Before you answer my questions, I think someone should tell you that you're not going anywhere until we know if Matt's watch is fixed. It'll be a few hours before we're certain."
The wrinkles around Chronos's mouth flattened. "I am a prisoner?"
"No," Matt said at the same time Duke, Cyclops and Willie said, "Yes."
"We are requesting your help in this matter," Matt said with a hard edge directed at his friends.
"The matter of saving his life," Willie added.
"A life that should have ended five years ago," Chronos shot back.
That silenced her like nothing ever had.
I watched Chronos, but he did not look my way. I wanted to get his measure, but he wasn't making it easy. All I knew was that his eyes were clear and his hands had moved quickly and with confidence when he handled Matt's watch. Despite his age, he was able bodied and had his wits about him.
"How many people have you saved by combining your magic with a doctor's?" I asked.
Matt's chin jutted forward and he frowned. He'd probably expected a more personal question. From the way Chronos's brows arched, he had too.
"Just the one," Chronos said, studying his hand as it gripped the chair arm. "Magical doctors don't grow on trees. They aren't born every year, and Dr. Parsons refused to try again after that time in Broken Creek." He clicked his tongue and shook his head.
"He's dead," Matt told him.
"I know."
"Have you ever met another magical doctor?"
"No."
"Are you searching for one?" Cyclops asked.
Chronos gave him a flat smile. "Yes."
I cleared my throat to get his attention. "If you haven't combined your magic with another doctor's since you saved Matt's life, you won't know if the spell you just spoke has fixed his watch."
"You are correct, India."
"But Dr. Parsons said you could fix it!" Willie cried.
"How would he know?" Chronos said. "He was guessing. I'm guessing. Everyone is guessing, Miss Glass."
"It's Miss Johnson, but everyone just calls me Willie," she muttered, once again deflated. "The Glasses are Matt's English relatives, and the Johnsons are American, on his mother's side. You must remember me from Broken Creek."
"Why? Did you have a magic watch? Are you a magical doctor or other type of magician?"
"Well…no."
I bristled at his tone. It was almost impossible to offend Willie and yet he'd done it without batting an eyelid. Was he truly so selfish that he only noticed people of interest to him? Was he so obsessed with magic that those without it were inconsequential?
"Did you try to fix it?" It took me a moment to realize he spoke to me since he didn't quite look at me. "The watch? Did you try to fix it, India?"
"I took it apart," I said. "As a simple watch, it works perfectly. When I discovered its importance to Matt, I knew it required magic and that I was out of my depth."
"Are you a magician?"
"Yes."
He grunted. "He didn't teach you about your magic, did he?"
"Do you mean my father?" I asked. "No. He wasn't a magician."
"He was."
"No, he—"
"He was. But he denied that part of himself. Denied that part of you too, it seems. How did you discover your magic?"
"Slowly, through a series of events, almost two months ago."
"Two months!" That finally made him look directly at me. "You've only just learned about your talent?"
"I've only just learned about the existence of magic at all. I was as unaware as the artless," I said, using the word magicians used to describe someone without magic. "I don't know any spells."
The pattern of wrinkles on Chronos's brow drew together. "Elliot did you a disservice. He should not have denied you the knowledge. To be an adult and not know your power! How old are you?"
"Twenty-seven."
"An old maid."
My back stiffened. "I had a fiancé." I don't know why I needed to defend my spinsterhood to him. Perhaps because I felt incomplete, somehow, as if I lacked a certain quality that other women—married women—did.
"He turned out to be as crooked as a dog's hind legs," Willie said. "As her kin, you ought to call him out. I can tell you where he lives, if you like, and lend you my Colt."
"India's marital status is none of your affair," Matt said to Chronos. "If you're worried about her, then I can assure you she has a home here for as long as she wishes." His voice softened. "Her company is most welcome."
The papers for my Willesden cottage, bought with the reward money after I helped the police catch the Dark Rider, sat in my dressing table drawer along with papers from Matt's lawyer to lease it out. I had not signed them, as I intended to move to the cottage and commute to Mayfair when required. Matt didn't like the idea and tried to convince me to stay, only relenting earlier today when I insisted.
Except it wasn't what I wanted, but what I needed.
"You live here?" Chronos's face clouded. "With Mr. Glass?"
My spine stiffened even more. "And other people, including his elderly aunt. You'll meet her at dinner." No doubt she was changing into something more appropriate for dining with a guest.
"Your parents would not approve. They were very…moral."
"You make it sound as if that is a fault."
"Merely an inconvenience."
"Is that why you avoided them after I was born? Is that why you have not sought me out all this time? Is that why you never came to my father's funeral?" I heard the pitch of my voice rise, felt my face heat, yet I couldn't control my anger. I didn't want to control it. This man deserved my ire—and more. "He was your son! Your only child! I am your only living relative and you…you abandoned me!"
He shot up from the chair again. "I didn't ask for this." He strode to the door, only to be blocked by both Duke and Cyclops. He did not turn around but stood with his back to me, hands fisted at his sides.
"What did you expect me to say to you?" I pushed on. "You expect me to welcome you with open arms and forgive you? You haven't even tried to explain why you didn't contact me all these years."
"You misunderstand, India. I expected your anger. What I meant was I didn't ask for a granddaughter, or a son, or marriage. I didn't ask for any of it! Yet here I am, countless years later, burdened by my past. And by the knowledge that you exist."
Every word was like a punch, knocking the breath out of me. Matt moved to my side and placed a hand on my shoulder, but it didn't stop my trembling. With his touch came the brutal reminder of why Chronos was here, and that we needed him on-side. I sucked in several breaths to dampen my anger.
"I thought you were dead," I choked out, in the hope it would justify my outburst.
Matt's hand moved from my shoulder to the back of my neck, cooling my hot skin. Chronos took that moment to face us. He noted the position of Matt's hand and huffed out a breath through his nose. I couldn't determine what he thought, however, and I didn't care.
"I'm afraid India is correct," Matt said. "We can't let you go until we know if your spell worked and the watch is fixed. I'm sorry, Chronos, but it's necessary. We'll know in a few hours."