by C. J. Archer
"And if it didn't work?" Chronos asked.
"You try again," Willie bit back. "You try again and again and again until you make it work. Understood?"
Chronos's nostrils flared and he glanced at the window again.
Matt moved to the window and looked out. "Are you expecting anyone?"
"Just checking that no one followed me." Chronos sat again and eyed the empty glass. Duke poured him another drink then one for himself.
"Who would follow you?" Matt asked.
Chronos shrugged one shoulder and sipped.
Matt strode up to him and leaned down, his hands on the chair arms, his nose an inch from Chronos's. "I hope you haven't brought danger to my friends and family," he growled.
"It won't be me who has brought danger to your door, Glass. It will have been you, since I had no say in coming here." Chronos lifted the glass in salute and drank.
Matt returned to the window where he stood watch, arms crossed, his gaze sweeping the darkening street outside.
I ought to have taken the opportunity to ask Chronos about my magic, but I couldn't bring myself to speak to him. For his part, he'd taken to not looking at me again. Perhaps that meant he was ashamed of his words. Good. He deserved to be embarrassed, at the very least. Remorse was perhaps too much to ask.
Willie had no such qualms. "If India's father was also a magician, why didn't he teach her how to use her magic?" she asked.
"To keep me safe," I said.
"To spite me," Chronos said.
"That's absurd and self-centered."
"And yet true. Elliot hated me."
"Considering you have just told me you regret being a husband and father, is it any wonder?" I had never aired my dirty laundry in public before, except for that one time I berated Eddie Hardacre in the shop after he ended our engagement. But I felt no shame speaking to Chronos like this in front of my friends. Their presence gave me the confidence to allow my anger free reign, because I knew they were on my side. "My father was a good man. He didn't deserve your disapproval."
"I never said I disapproved of him. You're not listening, India." Chronos spoke mildly, as if I were a child in need of guidance. I disliked him even more because of it. "I said I regretted being his father. I'm not the sort of man who ought to marry and father children. I'm selfish—"
"Clearly."
My muttered comment earned a grunt from Chronos. "I'm selfish and arrogant. I prefer to be alone, accompanied only by my ambitions."
"That ambition being to extend life by combining your magic with a doctor's?"
He nodded. "I've made it my life's work, my raison d'être. Mr. Glass wouldn't be here if I had not. Ironic, isn't it? My granddaughter discovers she detests me because my ambition overrides my familial attachment, and yet it's that ambition which saved the man she's dependent upon."
"I am not dependent on him. On anyone! I have a cottage in Willesden. I'm going to move into it soon."
I glanced toward Duke as his head jerked to look at me and caught sight of Cyclops's face too. His jaw hardened and he focused that single eye on me with unwavering intensity.
"You can't leave!" Willie declared. "Not now!"
"I'll visit almost every day," I said. "Anyway, I thought you would be pleased. You never wanted me here in the first place."
She sniffed. "Changed my mind. Got to have someone to teach poker to. Letty ain't no fun. Did you know about this, Matt?"
"I did," he said quietly from the window. "If India wants to leave, she can. We can't keep her here."
She folded her arms and slumped back into the chair. "It ain't right."
Chronos ambled over to the clock beneath the glass dome on the mantelpiece. "Very nice. Very expensive." He touched the glass and recoiled. "It's hot. Magic heat." He eyed me over his shoulder, a deep line connected his eyebrows. "Have you worked on this?"
"I've worked on all the clocks and watches in this house."
"Because you need to," he finished for me, turning back to the clock.
I didn't confirm it. He must know the restlessness that came with not working with timepieces.
"You lied." His words dropped like stones into the silence.
"I beg your pardon," Matt growled before I could think of a retort. "India is not a liar."
"She is. The magic here is so warm it almost burns and yet she tells me she has only just learned of her magic and doesn't know any spells. Unless another watchmaker magician has worked on this, she's lying."
Matt's stance relaxed. I even heard a grudging laugh escape his lips.
Chronos's eyes narrowed. "What aren't you telling me?"
"That's not your business," Matt said.
"India?"
"You have your secrets," I told Chronos. "And I have mine."
He smirked and nodded slowly. In approval of my retort? "I'll tell you who I suspect is following me and why if you tell me why this clock is warm yet you did not work a spell on it."
"Very well."
"India," Matt said quietly. "I don't think that's wise."
"I disagree. Chronos is precisely the man who should be told what I can do. If anyone can guide me, he can."
"Guide you?" Chronos rolled his eyes to the ceiling rose and shook his head. "Just because I'm old doesn't mean I would make a good teacher. Besides, I can't stay here simply to teach a raw magician, so don't expect that of me."
"Oh?" I said sweetly. "So you don't wish to know why my magic incapacitates people?"
His eyes became huge. "Incapacitates them? What are you talking about?"
I sighed. It was odd to him too, which meant he'd never heard of such a thing and probably couldn't help me after all. "Never mind."
"Tell me. I'm intrigued." He touched the dome again and this time let his hand linger. "And tell me how you used magic without a spell. It should be impossible."
"Not for India," Matt said with a hint of pride.
"Do we have an agreement, Chronos?" I asked. "My information in exchange for yours?" He nodded, so I went on. "When my life is in danger, any clocks nearby that I've touched save me. My watch too."
His crackling laugh faded when he saw that no one laughed with him.
I told him how my watch chain wrapped around the wrist of my attackers and sent shocks through them, and how a clock I'd thrown had diverted its course to hit my assailant. Chronos's face grew graver, all hint of mockery gone. He did not offer comment when I finished.
"Have you experienced such a thing?" I asked him. "Or heard of other magicians whose creations save their lives?"
He shook his head. "Remarkable. All that and without a spell. Your magic is incredibly strong."
"Why?" I blurted out. "Why am I like this?"
There was a knock on the door and Bristow entered upon Matt's word. "Dinner will be served in fifteen minutes, sir."
"Thank you, Bristow."
"And Miss Glass wishes to meet Mr. Steele. I've managed to delay her so far."
"I'll be out to speak to her in a moment, but she'll have to wait to meet Mr. Steele. Our guest wishes to freshen up for dinner."
Chronos looked surprised to be allowed out of the drawing room until he noticed Matt's nod at Cyclops.
"Come with me," Cyclops said to Chronos.
"We'll finish our conversation later," Matt said. "You owe us an explanation."
Chronos followed Cyclops out. Willie watched him leave with a scowl. "It ain't a good idea to let him out of your sight, Matt."
"Cyclops has it in hand."
I rose to leave too, wanting to change my outfit for dinner. Matt walked with me up the stairs.
"How do you feel?" I asked him.
He paused then said, "It's too soon to tell."
"Nonsense. You feel no different, do you? If you did, you would say so."
The corner of his mouth kicked up but there was no humor in his crooked smile. "I cannot hide anything from you, India. You're right. I don't feel as healed as I used to when the watch worked perfec
tly."
I swore under my breath and Matt stopped mid-step to stare at me.
"My apologies," I said. "But I'm upset."
He opened his mouth to speak but shouts from the depths of the house had us both spinning around to find the source. Below us, Bristow rushed into the entrance hall.
"Mr. Duke! Mr. Duke!" he cried between gasping breaths.
Duke and Willie appeared at the drawing room door. "What is it?" Duke said.
"Mr. Cyclops requests your urgent assistance." He waved Duke toward the back of the house. "Go!"
Duke ran off, Willie on his heels.
Matt hurried down the stairs. The butler looked startled to see him there. "What is it, Bristow? What's happened?"
Bristow breathed deeply and pressed a hand to his chest. "Mr. Steele has run away, sir."
Chapter 2
Matt sprinted past Bristow, not a hint of ill health in his strides. I could not keep up but followed the echo of his footsteps down the service stairs to the kitchen. The housekeeper, Mrs. Bristow, pointed wordlessly at the scullery. I raced into the scullery only to back track when I heard Willie's angry shouts coming from outside.
I joined her and the others in the courtyard, halting at the sight of Chronos lying face down on the cobbles, his arm twisted at his back by Cyclops. "Don't hurt him!" I cried.
Cyclops let go and assisted Chronos to stand. He held him until the older man regained his balance. Chronos's hair stood on end, floating above his head like reeds swaying in the breeze. He dusted off his hands, but there were no grazes. He appeared to be unharmed.
"Are you all right?" I asked, taking his hand and patting it.
He snatched it away and straightened his neckerchief. "Of course."
"Cyclops was rough with you."
"I said I'm all right. Don't fuss."
I linked my fingers behind my back, trying not to let Chronos's words sting. My grandfather didn't like to be reminded of his age, that's all. Pushing me away wasn't personal.
Cyclops looked down at his feet. "I didn't want him to get away, India. I'm sorry."
I was about to tell him that he ought to apologize to Chronos, not me, when Chronos said, "I got past you though, eh? There's life in these legs yet."
Cyclops grunted. "I underestimated you. You've got vigor for a man of your age."
"I may be old but I'm not pathetic. Perhaps you're just slow because of your size. And your face must scare women and children wherever you go, eh?"
I turned on my heel and stalked back to the house. Cyclops didn't have to apologize to that rude old codger.
I was late to dinner, joining the others well after the gong sounded.
"Finally!" Miss Glass announced upon seeing me descend the staircase. "We're all half starved, India. Let's proceed without delay before we expire."
I apologized for my tardiness and headed into the dining room behind her. Chronos was flanked by both Duke and Cyclops, with Willie ahead and Matt behind. They seated him on the opposite side of the table from the exit.
Introductions must have been made in my absence because Miss Glass spoke freely to Chronos. Indeed, she carried almost the entire conversation throughout the three courses. If she noticed that Chronos was practically a prisoner, she did not let on. Nor did she seem to notice his disinterest in the dull yet safe topics. He even appealed to me on one occasion by asking why the family shop had been sold.
"That's not a conversation for the dinner table," I said. I was already angry with him, and discussing how Eddie had stolen my shop from me would only make me angrier. It was better than being upset by it, as I used to be, but it was still not appropriate for dinner.
Finally the meal ended, and Matt managed to convince his aunt to retire for the evening. I suspected she knew something was afoot and that Chronos wasn't merely my long-lost grandfather returned to London to be with his granddaughter. Her good manners were far too ingrained to let on, however.
Ordinarily, after a dinner party, the men would retreat to the smoking room and the women would wait for them in the drawing room. But this was no ordinary dinner party and we all filed into the drawing room together. Bristow served drinks then retreated, closing the door behind him.
Duke and Cyclops took up positions by the door without being asked. Willie sat in the seat by the window, perhaps thinking to block it too. I doubted Chronos was sprightly enough to make his exit through the window, however, but I didn't say so.
He eyed his captors with a narrowed gaze and tight lips. "Lucky you have good brandy," he said to Matt. "Or I might not be so willing to spend time in your company."
I gripped my glass harder. Clearly spending time with me was not something he considered worthwhile either.
"We have unfinished business," Matt said, taking a seat beside me on the sofa. "India kept her side of the bargain, now it's your turn. Tell us who you're hiding from and why."
Chronos studied the glass he cradled in both hands. "The Watchmaker's Guild, among others, would like to punish me."
My heart thundered once in my chest then stilled. It would seem getting into trouble with the Watchmaker's Guild was a family trait.
"As to why, that's a long story."
"It's because you're a magician," I said.
"In part. I'm a magician who is not content to grow old in his workshop tinkering with timepieces belonging to the artless. They would put up with me if I hid my magic like your father. But that's not something I could do."
"Not even for the sake of your family's safety," Matt said darkly.
"How have my family been affected? Elliot was a member of the guild."
"Because they thought him artless. They learned that India inherited magic and banned her."
"If she wanted membership, she ought to have kept her mouth shut as her father did. It's not my fault they guessed she had magic tendencies. I didn't tell anyone."
"They didn't guess," I said. "My father told my fiancé, Eddie Hardacre, and he told the guild."
"Hardacre." Chronos peered at me over the rim of his glass. "The man who now owns my shop."
"My father's shop," I corrected. "Father bequeathed Eddie the shop in his will, assuming Eddie would marry me. Eddie betrayed his trust. He betrayed me."
Chronos grunted. "Never trust the artless with your secret, India." His gaze slid to Matt. "They don't understand."
"I will not betray India's secret," Matt snapped. "Nor will anyone else in this room."
Chronos set his glass down on the table beside him with a slow, deliberate move. "Then you are truly a unique individual."
Matt's jaw set, and I thought he might grasp Chronos by his jacket lapels and threaten him. Instead, he spoke with remarkable calm. "You said that the Watchmaker's Guild is after you only partly because you are a magician."
"Not just the Watchmaker's Guild. Every bloody guild in London would like to see me exiled from the city. I have had entanglements with almost all of them, at one time or another, before I fled. It was unavoidable. Where else to begin looking for a magician? Most hide in plain sight, like your father. It's simply a matter of finding the best craftsman in the respective guilds and he, or she, will be the magician."
I knew that from our investigations into the murders of the apothecary and the apprentice mapmaker. "You were not discreet?"
"Discretion does not get the right results. It was bluntness or nothing."
"You're a goddamned fool," Willie said. "You left them with no choice but to banish you."
Chronos smirked. "Ah, but I found what I wanted."
"Dr. Parsons," Matt murmured.
Chronos plucked his glass off the table and drank half the contents.
"You're not telling us everything," I said. "You have not answered Matt's question fully—what is the other reason the guild is chasing you? It's not simply because you're a magician, is it?"
That knowing smile appeared again. "You are more my kin than Elliot's."
He was avoiding answering the que
stion by distracting us, but I did not fall for his tactic this time. "Why, Chronos?"
He finished his brandy and held his glass out for more. "My magic killed a man."
Everyone either sat or leaned forward. Matt stopped pouring.
"It was around the time you were born, India," Chronos went on. "I'd already spent years searching for other magicians to combine my magic with and thereby extend their magic. I'd been moderately successful, and sometimes the magic lasted for years. One gown made by a dressmaker magician did not tear or fray for two decades, and an entire barn held together with nothing more than the builder's magic for nigh on five years."
"No nails?" Duke asked, impressed.
"No nails." Chronos took a sip. "I'd practiced whenever I could, so I was ready to experiment on a human, if only I could find a doctor magician. It took years, but when we did finally meet, he was as keen as me to combine our magic. After careful consideration, we found a suitable subject. You were not my first attempt, Mr. Glass. A man named Wilson was. I don't know his first name. We found him dying in a Bethnal Green alley one winter. He had no home, no family. No one cared whether he lived or died."
"What was he dying of?" I asked.
"The cold, old age, a combination of things. I don't know. We took him back to the doctor's rooms and got to work immediately."
"Without seeing if he got well first?" I said. "What if giving him medicine, warmth and food saved him? At least with Matt there was no doubt he would die, but this man had hope."
Matt poured himself another drink. Chronos tracked his progress and I watched Chronos. He showed no signs of remorse. Matt drank the contents of his glass in a single gulp and poured himself another. He rarely drank more than one glass of an evening. He'd once let slip that he used to indulge his vices to excess before his grandfather shot him in Broken Creek. Drinking had been one of those vices. Almost dying had led him to change his ways. While he could drink a glass on occasion without needing more, he preferred not to gamble at all. I sometimes wondered what other vices tortured him in his more hedonistic days.
"According to the doctor, there was no hope of a natural recovery, even with his superior medical skills," Chronos said. "Have you finished judging me, India? Would you like to hear what happened next?"