Timekeeper (Timekeeper #1)(41)

You haven’t even been thinking about the Assignment, he scolded himself, guilt flaring uncomfortably in his chest. Get your act together, Danny.

The old stone building where the social was being hosted was tall and wide with Gothic windows, and the open doors spilled light onto the street. Boys and girls chatted and laughed and flirted inside. Danny grimaced and Cassie pinched his arm.

The chaperones at the door asked for their passes. “Daniel Hart and Cassandra Lovett?” They both nodded. “In you get.”

They shuffled across the threshold. Inside, a wide ballroom had been adorned with green and blue streamers, tables of finger food, and crystal bowls of punch. A piano, violin, and cello warbled out songs in the corner. A set of double doors stood open to their right, allowing them a view of the card room where games like whist and speculation were being played amid bursts of laughter. A massive chandelier hung over the marbled floor, casting light onto the partygoers. Candle wax dripped onto the beeswax-polished floor below.

“Coo. Bit butter upon bacon, isn’t it?” Cassie said under the noise. “What should we do?”

Danny watched as a well-dressed group took to the dance floor, their loud chatter like the squawking of seagulls. “Use your escape plan, of course.” Her sheepish frown confirmed his suspicions. “Let me guess: you don’t actually have an escape plan.”

“You know they’ll have chaperones guarding the place. Otherwise all the couples will be off to find themselves a private moment.”

Frustration welled up inside him. He hated that Cassie had dragged him here, forcing him to mingle with people he didn’t like. People who would turn their noses up at his old suit and laugh behind their fans at his clumsy dancing.

He looked at Cassie and found her to be equally miserable, and that made him feel better, in the worst way possible.

“I’m sorry, Cass. I don’t feel well.”

“Will you tell me what’s the matter?” Someone bumped into them from behind. Realizing they were crowding the entrance, they moved toward the tables laden with food.

Danny took a deep breath. “It’s about my job.”

Her fingers tightened on his arm. “You weren’t sacked, were you?”

“No, not that. But Enfield’s been assigned to someone else. The Lead doesn’t think I can handle it anymore.”

“That’s not so bad, is it? You said yourself Enfield was small and—” Her eyes widened. “Oh. Your blond fellow.”

Danny nodded.

“Can’t you still visit him? Or could he come to London?”

“It’s more complicated than that.”

An automaton stood behind the table, its blank face decorated with a ridiculous black mustache. As they approached, the automaton lifted its head. “Refreshments?” it asked in monotone.

“Oh, ah, sure,” Cassie said. She checked her hair as the automaton made up a plate, its arms whirring with movement. When Cassie was certain no lock was out of place, she gave Danny another frown. “You’re being this way on purpose, aren’t you?”

“You caught me. Miserable, brooding Danny, available for one night only! Come on, Cass.”

“Why don’t you just tell me what’s got you so bothered?”

The automaton handed her a small plate loaded with sugared fruit and a colorful assortment of canapés. “Drink?” it asked.

“No, that’s quite all right. Listen, Dan—”

But she was interrupted yet again, this time by a young man with a green silk ascot at his throat. He sent a cool glance in Danny’s direction before bowing to Cassie. “May I have this dance?”

Cassie looked as though she’d been told she would be the next Queen of England. Her eyes met Danny’s, but he just shrugged.

“All right,” she agreed faintly. Danny wondered if she had ever danced with a boy other than himself. He suddenly recalled clearing away the furniture in the sitting room when they were younger, Cassie directing him through the steps she’d seen her parents dance at a party.

“Here,” she hissed, shoving the plate of food at him. “Don’t you dare laugh at me!”

She took the young man’s arm and they walked off, Cassie a little unsteady beside the confident gait of her partner.

Cassie proved to be somewhat graceful, and she even let the boy lead. Danny picked at her food as he watched, and his bad mood nearly snuck away from him. But then he wondered what it would be like to be here with Colton. If he weren’t a clock spirit, but a human boy, living and breathing and able to eat delicious, if impractical, finger foods.

He imagined leading Colton across the floor, stepping and swirling in time to each sprawling note, the bend of a smiling mouth, the glimmer of golden eyes. His hand on Colton’s waist to draw him close. The glow of the chandelier catching their edges and setting them alight.

Danny set the plate down, no longer hungry.

The song ended and Cassie curtsied awkwardly to her partner. They exchanged a few words before Cassie made her way back to Danny, flushed and out of breath.

“That I should not like to repeat,” she said, fanning her face.

“You liked it.”

She opened her mouth to deny it, but at that moment Danny heard his name. Turning, he spotted a few apprentices and a mechanic moving toward them.