The Watchmaker's Daughter (Glass and Steele #1)(83)

"That's why it doesn't glow when anyone else holds it," I said, more to myself than him. "Did Parsons tell you what happened between he and Chronos after they healed you?"

"After the euphoria of their success wore off, Parsons told Chronos that he had reservations. He said he would never work with Chronos again to save a life. Chronos flew into a rage. He said they were on the verge of something monumentally important to the human race. But Parsons was afraid of what could happen if the magic fell into the wrong hands. Chronos was furious. He'd never actually met a magical doctor before, and he feared he'd never find another in his lifetime. Apparently they're the rarest magicians."

"I wonder if he did ever meet another."

Matt shrugged. "Parsons couldn't help me fix the watch. As the problem is in the horology magic, not the medical magic, a timepiece magician is required to service the watch. No ordinary watchmaker can do it."

"What about a different magic watchmaker?" I asked, curling my fingers around my own watch. "One who isn't Chronos, but is a magician?"

"Parsons seemed to think only the original magician can fix it."

I looked down at my fist. My watch's case felt cool now, not warm as it had been the evening before, when McTierney attacked me. I swallowed heavily. My mind was a jumble of questions and theories, all vying for attention. I managed to sort through them. There was only one pressing point. What if Parsons was wrong?

"Matt," I whispered, looking up at him.

He crouched before me. His gaze searched mine, worried and yet curious too. "What is it, India?"

"Last night…my watch wrapped itself around McTierney's wrist and shocked him. It almost killed him."

I opened my fist and he plucked the watch off my palm. He inspected it and opened the case. "Did your father make it?"

I nodded.

"Do you think he could have been a magician?"

"I don't know. But that watch chimed and moved of its own accord. I think the clock in the gambling house saved me too." I told him how it had dipped unexpectedly when I threw it to knock over Lord Dennison.

"That reminds me," he said darkly. "I ought to pay him a visit."

"You'll do no such thing. The incident is in the past. Anyway, what I'm trying to tell you is, I handled that clock. I toyed with its mechanisms for something to do while Willie played. Just as I've taken this watch apart and put it back together dozens of times."

His eyes widened. "You think you're a magician? I admit that I have wondered. My watch feels warmer when you're near, as if it's responding to your presence."

I lifted one shoulder. "I don't know what to think. The entire concept of magic is so new to me, and so very strange. I know nothing about it."

He placed the watch back in my palm and closed his hand around mine. "I know so little as well."

"Matt…if I am…I might be able to help you." I placed my hand over the pocket of his waistcoat. His watch heated at my touch. We both felt it.

He swallowed hard and nodded. Then he pulled the watch out. "Take it apart. Do whatever you did to your watch and that clock and we'll see if it makes a difference."

I didn't tell him I already had done so before taking it to him at Vine Street Police Station. Perhaps now that I knew a little more, my magic would show me what to do. I set to work immediately. He didn't stay. I removed the parts and laid them out. I cleaned them, inspected them, and returned them to their place again. It was easy; the mechanism was uncomplicated. But I felt no strange pull, no magic at work.

Matt returned carrying tea and sandwiches on a tray. "Aunt is asking when you'll be ready to go shopping," he said, setting it down beside me. "You're finished?"

I snapped the watch case closed and held it out to him by the chain. He accepted it and closed his fist around it. It immediately glowed and the magic flowed into him, lighting his veins. I watched its progress up his throat, over his face to his hairline. He breathed, breathed again, then returned it to his pocket. His color returned to normal.

"Well?" I prompted, no longer able to sit. "How do you feel?"

"Like I could kiss you."

My breath hitched. "So it works more efficiently now?"

"I don't know. I won't know for a few more hours, but I still want to kiss you." He smiled. He looked happier than I'd ever seen him. "I've shocked you."

"Yes," I said, turning away so he couldn't see my flushed face. "Tell me how you feel later."



Matt's watch was not fixed. He still needed to use it every few hours, instead of every week, like it had once been. He told me in private in the library after dinner.

"I just used it again," he said.

I clasped my brandy tumbler in both hands and stared into the liquid. My vision blurred. I swallowed the entire contents. "I'm sorry, Matt."

He plucked the glass out of my hand. "It's not your fault."

"I know," I said heavily. Yet I felt like I'd failed him. "Do you think my magic is different to Chronos's?"

"I've been considering that, but I honestly don't know. I wonder if your magic is simply raw. Perhaps, with training, you could extend the life of my watch."