Timekeeper (Timekeeper #1)(45)

Standing on the shore, Aetas watched the crescent of the sun begin to rise.

Caelum looked at him, worry creasing his brow.

“My brother, you seem tired.”

In case Chronos was listening, Aetas said, “I am fine now that I have returned. Thank you for showing me the sky. I will never forget it.” But deep within his core he felt the weariness building, the tremor of the time threads, the fear that he would run out of strength to maintain this beautiful earth beneath the stars.





Please, sir, tell me it isn’t true.”

The Lead stood at his window, smoothing his mustache with thick fingers. It was odd to think those fingers had once been in the field, delicately fixing clockwork. Most mechanics’ hands were slender, like Danny’s.

“Sir,” Danny tried again, sitting on the very edge of his seat. “Please.”

“Daniel,” the Lead sighed, finally turning to him, “what do you expect me to do? You’re the best in your class, it’s true, but Lucas is more qualified to assist the other mechanics at the new Maldon tower. He has a good disposition for it. More than that, the Enfield assignments were difficult for you, and I don’t want you under more strain.”

“They weren’t difficult. If you read my reports again, you’ll see I didn’t have any trouble. Sir, this … this assignment is what I’ve wanted for months. You told me you would consider me.”

“And so I did. But I’ve come to the conclusion that the emotional attachment you have to Maldon could affect your work. Your father being freed depends on this project’s success. I can’t trust a mechanic with so much to lose on this job. It’s too dangerous, both for the tower and the mechanic.”

Danny shook. He wanted to smash the room apart, rip the little metal balls off the kinetic toy and throw them at the window until it cracked.

“More than that,” the Lead went on, sitting, “you hit another mechanic. Lord knows your reasons, but I feel the stress may have gotten to you. You’ll be put on suspension for a couple of weeks.”

“Lucas provoked me!”

“That’s not a good reason, Daniel.”

A scream built in Danny’s throat, but he held it there, trapped, and it burned his vocal cords. Nobody believed him—nobody cared. But if he didn’t do something soon, Colton might hurt himself again.

Danny stood and grabbed his bag. The Lead called him back, but Danny pretended not to hear. He was already in trouble. What else could they do to him?

He slammed the door on his way out. The secretary jumped, but he ignored her, too. He ignored everything except the gripping impulse that told him what he had to do.



It was harder than he thought to find the mechanic who had replaced him. Danny wandered the office asking this secretary and that, but they all shook their heads or shrugged.

He stopped short when he spotted Matthias down the hall. He wasn’t alone. Tom and George crowded him, speaking in low voices.

Danny didn’t want to make himself known, not after what Tom had said to him last time, but the sight unnerved him. Matthias said something that made Tom clench his fist. George caught his friend’s arm even as Matthias stepped back with hands raised in supplication. Tom spat a few words, turned, and clomped awkwardly down the stairs, George trailing after him.

Matthias heard Danny’s careful approach and lifted his head. His face was flushed from the encounter, or maybe because Danny had witnessed it.

“What did they say to you?” Danny demanded.

Matthias rubbed the back of his thick neck. “Nothing of consequence.” At Danny’s frown, his lips twitched. “They knew I was snooping in their offices.”

“Snooping?”

“Well.” Matthias crossed his arms and leaned in, though there was no one else around. “To be honest, Danny, I don’t trust them. Never have. And what with Tom being at Shere before you, it’s too much of a coincidence. So I went into his office, thinking I could find some sort of hint. But there was nothing.”

“I found something,” Danny blurted. Matthias’s eyebrows shot upward, and Danny figured he might as well admit to the rest. “Or, at least, what I found was strange. Tom had a bag full of pipes in his office.”

“Pipes?”

“Does that mean anything to you?”

Matthias shook his head. “No. Not a thing.”

Danny swallowed his disappointment.

“You look pale, Danny Boy. What’s the matter? Want to come down to the café with me?”

“I’ve already had tea, thanks.”

“Is it about your mum?”

“My—? Oh, no.” She was the furthest thing from his mind at the moment, though he couldn’t help remembering her look at the kitchen table the other night.

“I saw the mouse you copped on Lucas. What’re you up to? I thought you were better than that.”

Danny pressed his lips together. “Says the man who does it for fun.”

“Used to, Danny, used to. I’m different now.” He seemed disappointed about it, too. Danny thought back to Tom’s fist and how Matthias had forced himself to raise his open hands, to step back.

“You taught me how to fight.”

“Yes, and now I’m regretting it.” The corners of Matthias’s eyes softened. “Come with me. Let’s talk.”