Timekeeper (Timekeeper #1)(92)

Danny peered into the gloom and heard the scuff of a boot. He tensed, then set Colton on the floor with his back against the wall, out of harm’s way. Danny exchanged a nod with Brandon and they advanced quietly.

A curse from a feminine voice broke the sanctified quiet of the church. Danny and Brandon lunged forward and each caught an arm, and the thief twisted and struggled. The sharp toe of a boot drove into his shin and Danny roared in pain.

The thief gouged Brandon’s wrist and he quickly let go. “Damn!” She scurried backward, trapped.

When Danny’s eyes adjusted to the dimness, he saw the thief’s face. Specifically, the diamond-shaped tattoo by her right eye.

“Daphne?”

Her blonde hair was in disarray, her eyes wide and gleaming. The blue kerchief she normally wore at her neck hung unevenly and the nails of her right hand were bloodied from clawing at Brandon. Some of her bandages had come loose.

“What are you doing here?” he demanded, too surprised to realize he’d used her Christian name.

She swallowed. “Stopping you.”

“You—what?” He rubbed his forehead, wincing when he touched the cut there. “What are you talking about? Where’s the cog?”

“I’ve hidden it,” she said shortly.

“It’s there, you dolt.” Brandon pointed behind her.

And there it was, leaning innocently against the wall. She stepped back and spread her arms when Danny moved forward.

“You can’t have it.”

“Of course we can, it’s the town’s property! What are you playing at, Daphne?

“I know what you’re doing to the towers, and I won’t allow it.”

“What are you talking about? Did Matthias put you up to this?”

She didn’t move from her position. “You didn’t give me a choice.”

“What do you mean?”

She breathed loudly in the small space. “After the Lead fired us, I found Matthias. I told him about Dover and that you might be involved, and how I was afraid for Enfield because of your obsession with this place. He told me he was afraid for you—that you’d been distant and strange.

“He said you were going to take the central cog from Enfield to use it for the new Maldon tower they’re planning to rebuild. I couldn’t let that happen. He told me to remove the cog, to keep it safe while he asked the Lead for help.”

“Did he think you’d get caught?” asked Brandon.

“He said I could just walk through the barrier with the cog, but I tried, and it didn’t work. So I ran in here.”

“I was right, then,” Danny said, mostly to himself. “Only spirits have the ability to leave, and the mechanics who touch them.” He refocused on the girl before him. “Didn’t you stop to think, Daphne? The town’s Stopped because of you. You’ve created another Maldon.”

“Like you wouldn’t have!”

Danny yelled in frustration. “Do you really think that I’m the one hurting the towers? That I killed Lucas and gave myself this scar? It’s Matthias, Daphne! Matthias needs a new tower to use for the Maldon spirit he’s bloody in love with!”

She blinked at him, not understanding. Danny told her everything he had unearthed about Matthias in the last forty-eight hours. Time warped a little, making him repeat certain bits over and over, but finally it was all out.

“That’s … He wouldn’t.” Daphne’s eyebrows furrowed. “Matthias would never do something like that. He …” Her voice lilted into a question. “He wouldn’t?”

Brandon shook his head. “Let me guess: he also said he’d pay you for your trouble.”

“You don’t understand. My mother’s in the asylum.” Her voice caught, and Danny thought back to the day she’d saved him from the mob. St. Agnes’s Home for Women. “I need money for her treatment, to get someone to take care of her. Yes, part of this was for the money, but I had to do something after you got me fired!”

More words with teeth, biting straight through him. He had caused all of this. Trying to alter destiny had led him to this moment anyway, drawing him closer the more he resisted.

“I’m sorry, Daphne,” he whispered. “I … God, I’m just like him. I’m so sorry.”

Brandon tugged on Danny’s sleeve and jerked his chin to where Colton sat. The spirit had lifted his hand to reach for Danny.

“Come here, Daphne,” Danny said.

She picked up the cog, holding it to her chest. “I won’t go with you. Not until Matthias comes.”

“Just come here, will you? I won’t force you. I want to show you something.”

Slowly, Daphne stepped forward. Brandon blocked the exit to the stairs as Danny knelt beside Colton. He took the spirit’s hand and pressed it to his lips.

“Do you feel it, Colton?”

The spirit nodded, his eyes searching for Daphne.

When she saw him, she gasped. The glow returned slightly to Colton’s body.

“This is the spirit of the Enfield clock tower,” Danny explained. “And he’ll disappear if you don’t give that cog back to him.”

Daphne stared at Colton. Colton stared back. There was a strange light in Daphne’s eyes, a mesmerized sort of shock.