The Watchmaker's Daughter (Glass and Steele #1)(82)

"I've seen it work," I said.

He arched one brow and grunted.

"Go on. Then what happened?"

"Willie tells me that Dr. Parsons worked on me again, sewing up my wound while Chronos continued to chant as he held the watch against my palm. When Parsons finished, he told Chronos it was done, and Chronos placed the watch over the wound. Dr. Parsons took over the chant and the watch suddenly flared. Willie said she thought it had caught fire, but the light quickly faded away to nothing. My veins ceased glowing too. That's when she noticed my chest rise with a deep breath. I remember everything from that moment on. It's so clear, like it happened yesterday. I sat up. They gave me a dram of whiskey. I was still covered in blood, but the wound had been sewn up. That's when Dr. Parsons handed me the watch. He and Chronos explained that it would keep me alive. Whenever I felt unnaturally tired, I should hold the watch in my palm and it would work its magic on me and bring me back to life. I thought them utterly mad and told them so. They looked at one another, sighed, then told me I could go to hell. They didn't care what became of me. But there was something in their eyes. Elation, I think, like they'd won a victory. They patted one another on the back and paid each other compliments. They began discussing the future of their discovery, and what it meant for the world, but they disagreed on whether it should be brought to light. I had no idea what they were talking about, but it seemed not to concern me. It was like I wasn't important."

"You just happened to be the closest dying man," I said. "They wanted to experiment with magic, and you were there at the right time." It surprised me that I'd accepted his story and the idea of magic so easily. But I trusted him, and trusted that he wouldn't believe without solid evidence. "What happened after that? Did you see the men in Broken Creek again?"

He shook his head. "I got up and left. Some time later, Willie found me. She was in shock. She told me what she'd witnessed in the saloon. None of us believed her at first, but a week later, when I began to feel exhausted for no good reason, she suggested I hold my watch in the palm of my hand and see what happened. I thought her mad and refused. I quickly became ill, weak, and close to death. The doctors didn't know what was wrong with me. Willie simply placed the watch in my hand one day, as I lay in bed, and I immediately felt restored to normal health. Not like you see me now, but completely better."

"The glowing veins didn't alarm you?"

"Terrified me. But I could feel the benefits to my health immediately. I didn't let the watch go until I felt completely well again. The four of us discussed what it could mean, how it had happened. Cyclops had heard stories about magic, but only in whispers. We asked his grandmother, but she refused to talk about it. She said magic was dangerous and was kept secret from the world for a reason. She did tell us that people were born magic, to magic parents, but it was a skill that required training to work efficiently. From Willie's account of the surgery, it was clear that Parsons and Chronos had worked together somehow, and they were both magicians. For five years, I used the watch whenever I felt unnaturally tired and it worked perfectly. But four months ago, its power waned, and I needed it more often. I knew I had to seek out Parsons and Chronos."

"Before it stopped working altogether," I said on a breath.

He gave a slight nod.

My throat clogged. I tried not to show pity, but I don't think I was very good at keeping my thoughts to myself.

He studied his hands. "I knew nothing about Chronos, but I knew where Parsons worked, so we went to New York. He was on his death bed, with only days to live."

"What did he say?"

"That he regretted experimenting on me."

"Why?"

"Because it was playing God. It was Chronos's idea to bring me back to life, and Parsons felt he'd been coerced into it. He hadn't seen Chronos since that day."

"Had he performed much magic before then?"

"Only rarely. He thinks he must have mentioned it to Chronos in his drunken state one day in Broken Creek, and Chronos, also being a magician, began to discuss mad theories and ways to combine their magic. Parsons explained that there were different styles of magic, based on one's profession or skill. As a doctor, his own magic helped him heal people, but he couldn't give them back their life, only extend it for short periods of time. He claimed it was almost useless, for that reason. An engineer can create superior strength steel, but again, it only lasts for short periods of time. A carpenter can infuse wood so that it doesn't burn, but it doesn't last more than a few hours."

"But Chronos had discovered a way to combine his magic with that of other types to extend it," I said. "My god." It was genius and thrilling. Yet so strange. Part of me couldn't believe I was discussing magic without giggling. Perhaps tomorrow I would wake up from this dream and laugh about it.

But Matt's grim nod was very real. "Chronos had never combined his magic with a doctor's before. Indeed, he'd only worked with carpenters and the like until that day in Broken Creek. Chronos knew he could extend the magic of other magicians, but extending the life of a dying man had never been tried, to his knowledge."

"It's quite remarkable. So Parsons put his magic into the watch too?"

"The magic from both magicians exists in the watch and in me. The two entities cannot be separated for long or the magic fades, and the watch cannot work on another human, only me. It's a part of me as much as my heart or lungs."