by Tara Sim
Matthias shook his head. “I don’t know how they managed to destroy the towers without affecting time’s influence on those cities.” But it was clear from the look he was giving Danny that he was eager to find out, his clock mechanic’s curiosity still intact.
“This is uncharted territory,” the Lead said. “Obviously, we need to apprehend the man who took Daniel and forced him to do these things. For that matter—where’s Miss Richards? Is she a captive, too?”
Danny nodded. “She’s still with him. But don’t worry, he won’t hurt her.”
“How do you know?”
“I just … do.”
“What is this man’s name?” the Inspector asked.
“I … I think he used a pseudonym. He never told me much.”
“Well, where is he now?”
“I don’t know.”
“Where is he going next?”
“I don’t know.”
The Inspector stood with his hands flat on the table. “I’ve had enough. Mr. Hart, you know something, and you’re going to tell us what it is. Kidnapped or not, you’ve been involved in the terrorists’ plans. For all we know, you are now one of them. We’ll find them—and Miss Richards—and stop these attacks once and for all. If these terrorists think they can take out Big Ben, they have another thing coming.”
Danny’s heart stuttered. “No, they’re not—that’s not what he’s going to do. Listen, these aren’t the people you need to be looking for. There’s a group who call themselves the Builders—”
“We know about the bloody Builders. They were assigned to put a stop to the terrorism, but they went right off the rails and ran off with the Crown’s money. Trust me, they’re next.”
“They should be first! They’re more dangerous than Zavier—”
He bit his tongue, but the Inspector had already latched onto the slip.
“Zavier? Is that your kidnapper’s name?”
“I—no—it’s a fake—”
“Bring Mr. Hart back to his cell,” he ordered the guard at the door. “I’m going to get this information from you, young man, even if it means spilling a little blood.”
“Now hold on just a minute!” the Lead snapped as he stood. “He’s only a boy, and he’s been through a terrible ordeal!”
“I serve the Queen,” the Inspector said. “My only concern is the welfare of this country. If this boy holds the key to protecting our citizens—”
“I know.”
They turned to Matthias. He stared at the still-exposed bullet wound on Danny’s chest, then lifted heavy eyes to the Inspector.
“I lied. I do know how they tore the towers down and still managed to keep time running, and I know what they’re planning next. I was part of their group for a while. Until I was captured.” He held up his chained wrists.
Danny shook his head. “That’s not true. You weren’t with them.”
But Matthias cast him a glare that made him shrink back. He knew that look. Matthias had taken care of him as a child all the time. When Danny refused to go to bed, or didn’t eat his vegetables, or threw a tantrum, Matthias employed that look. It worked every time.
The Inspector grinned. “I knew it. Dutton! Get him out of here.” He waved dismissively at Danny. “I’ll need to wire the Commissioner.”
“I insist we find another way,” the Lead was saying, but the Inspector ignored him. The guard seized Danny, shoving him roughly toward the door. Just before it closed, he locked eyes with Matthias. The old mechanic’s eyes were now as clear as they had ever been, their intensity restored. He knew exactly what he was doing.
And so did Danny.
They’re going to interrogate him for information he doesn’t even have. They’re going to torture him.
Danny paced his dank cell, rubbing a finger over the scar on his chin. Matthias had caused that scar when he’d rigged explosives in the Shere clock tower Danny had been assigned to repair two years before. The explosion had sent the tower’s central cog flying, slicing Danny’s face, creating a permanent reminder of Matthias’s betrayal.
But none of that seemed to matter now that Matthias was in danger. The police were going to interrogate the man because he’d lied, because Matthias had protected him.
Why, though?
He realized he was waiting for a response and received none. He prodded the connection between Colton and himself.
Can you hear me? Where are you?
Nothing. Either Colton was too busy to pay him any attention or something had gone terribly wrong.
“Oy, stop pacing about,” Dutton ordered, banging his baton against the bars. Danny wondered if this was what animals in the zoo felt like.
“I’ll stop pacing if you get me some water,” he said.
“I’m to stay right here. And don’t even try to talk your way out, because it won’t work.”
“Why, has it happened before?”
The guard’s jaw twitched. “Of course not.”
“You’ll just have to put up with my pacing then.”
Danny turned on his heel, his mind still churning. How long would it take for the commissioner to get to the Tower? Who else was coming? What would they do to Matthias?
Footsteps announced the arrival of another guard coming down the hall. He was expertly swinging his baton in one hand, his dark mustache slicked with wax. He tipped his helmet to Dutton.
“Evenin’. I’m to relieve you.”
Dutton frowned. “There weren’t supposed to be no shift switches. Did the Inspector send you?”
“I was just with him. Said he needs you right away.”
“For what?”
The mustached man shrugged. “Can’t read his mind, can I?”
“Where did he say he was transferring the prisoner?”
The other guard hesitated, and Dutton brandished his baton. “You lying—”
Dutton didn’t have time to get out another word as the second guard got him in a headlock and knocked him out with his baton. Dutton sank to the floor as the mustached man bent to retrieve the keys at his belt.
Danny approached the bars. “Who are you?”
“Temporary friend.”
“One of Zavier’s contacts?”
The man unlocked the cell door with a wink. “His aunt has deep pockets.”
Danny hurried from the cell as soon as the door creaked open. The new guard used the key he’d nicked from Dutton to unlock Danny’s handcuffs.
“Where to now?” Danny asked, rubbing his sore wrists.
“Follow me.”
They stole down the corridor and made a left, their breathing loud against the cold stone. Danny didn’t know how many guards patrolled this place, or how many prisoners were being held within these ancient walls.
Danny!
He nearly collapsed in relief. Colton! Where are you?
Here. The spirit sent him an image of a waterlogged chamber with a large double gate half-submerged under an arch. Traitor’s Gate.
The gate was situated under St. Thomas’s tower, an entryway once used to transport criminals from the Thames by boat. Apparently, the plan was to leave as so many of the condemned had once entered.
Danny followed the guard out into the cold night air. They ran alongside a building that Danny thought must be the Bloody Tower, where he had been held.
“Melodramatic bastards,” Danny grumbled. Maybe the ghost of Anne Boleyn really was gliding the hallways, her severed head tucked under her arm.
They reached the top of the stairs just as a small group was ascending.
Colton cried out and hugged him in relief. Danny looked around and spotted Zavier pressing a purse into the guard’s hand. Daphne was there as well, and Liddy and Astrid. They were all out of breath.
“Thought there’d be more of a challenge,” Liddy grumbled, shoving her gun back in its holster.
Daphne grabbed Danny’s arm. “Are you all right?”
“I will be once I get out of here.”
“T
hen let’s not waste time,” Zavier said, turning back toward the stairs.
“Wait!” They all turned to face Danny. “They have Matthias. They think he has information about you. We have to get him out.”
Colton frowned. “After everything he did to you?” He glanced at Daphne, who had gone pale. “To both of you?”
“If he hadn’t put himself forward, it would be me being questioned right now. I can’t just leave him here.”
“Danny,” Zavier started, but Astrid flicked a throwing knife into her hand, balancing the tip between two fingers.
“I need to stretch my legs,” she said. Liddy grinned and drew her gun again.
Zavier pinched the bridge of his nose. “Fine. You and Astrid go find Matthias. Norris”—he slipped the guard another, smaller purse—“please go with them.”
The guard took a coin from the purse, bit it, winked, and ran off after the girls.
Zavier crossed his arms, leveling a look at Danny. “What have you told them?”
“Nothing. Well, I accidentally said your name.” Zavier sighed. “They’re on the lookout for you—for the entire crew.”
“That’s not important right now. The Builders have been skulking around the city, causing riots. It’s all a big distraction. They’re gearing up for an attack, and one of my contacts believes it’ll happen tomorrow morning.”
So soon, Danny thought, his breath catching with sudden panic. “What do we do?”
“I’m going with Zavier to free Aetas,” Daphne said.
“And you’re coming with us,” Zavier added.
“What? I can’t possibly—”
Yells broke out nearby. Daphne and Zavier slipped their pistols out as four guards ran at them. A bullet hit the stone by Danny’s leg, making him jump.
“Christ!”
Zavier shot one guard in the arm and Daphne nicked another’s shoulder, but it barely slowed their advance. Stepping forward, Colton began to glow. Taking the taser from Zavier’s belt, he disappeared.
He reappeared behind one of the guards to yank him back by his collar. Winking out again, he appeared in front of the other two and knocked their heads together.
The fourth looked around, wide-eyed, gun shaking in his hand. “What the hell is that? Where did he go?”
Colton winked back into view at the man’s shoulder. “I’m right here,” he said sweetly before he jabbed the taser into the guard’s back. The man went down jerking and choking.
“You are truly frightening,” Zavier said as Colton walked back to them, passing the groaning bodies of the downed guards, to hand him back the taser.
The sound of running echoed through the courtyard, but it was only the others with Matthias in tow. The man was unfettered, but he ran with a limp and blood stained his forehead.
“Let’s go,” Zavier ordered. They hurried down the stairs to Traitor’s Gate, trying not to trip. Danny was swallowed in darkness, but held onto Colton as he glowed faintly, lighting the way.
As the group reached the bottom of the steps, Danny laid eyes on Traitor’s Gate, a sunken stone chamber filled with green water. It smelled damp and foul, the sound of the water lapping at stone magnified in the small space. The gate had been thrown open, revealing a crescent moon of freedom leading to the Thames beyond.
Danny heard guards descending from above. Zavier splashed into the water to steady the boats they’d paddled into the chamber.
“Hurry!”
A bullet pinged off the bottom of the stone stairs, another hitting the water. Danny allowed Colton to hoist him into one of the boats before clambering in himself. They reached out to pull Matthias inside as the girls piled into the other boat.
Zavier shot twice into the stairwell and a body tumbled down the steps. Another guard stumbled out of the shadows of the staircase and launched himself at Zavier. The two of them fell into the green, murky water with a resounding splash.
Liddy jumped out of the boat to pull the guard off of Zavier and use her taser on him, making him flounder. Zavier came up soaked and sputtering. Astrid flicked two knives through the air, sinking another guard. His body toppled into the water, creating a small wave that rocked the rowboats.
Daphne scrambled for the oars, but one slipped off the side of the boat, sinking below the murk. “We have to get through the Gate before more guards come!” she called out.
There was still one guard left, who had lingered at the foot of the stairs. He shot now at Danny’s boat, and Colton shoved Danny down before he disappeared again. He reappeared in front of the guard, knocking away his gun before tossing him into the water.
“Get in!” Colton yelled at Zavier and Liddy, who each climbed into a boat, sending them rocking. Colton jumped nimbly into Danny’s boat and closed his eyes, sending his body up in a blaze of golden light. He pulled on the time threads near his hand, and—
In the next moment, they were bobbing on the surface of the Thames. Danny gasped, looking around as his heart raced. He didn’t remember paddling, yet here they were, several yards from the entrance to Traitor’s Gate. Colton had managed to transport them with his heightened power.
Fragmented moonlight glinted off the water. They rowed toward the dock opposite, where schooners and rowboats were already tied. Zavier’s neck and shoulders strained with each rotation of the oars, his teeth bared in determination. Since the other boat was missing an oar, Colton hung off the back of theirs to hold onto the prow and tow them along.
Zavier and Colton jumped out to pull the boats onto shore. They all tumbled out into the shallows of the Thames, and Danny’s boots filled with freezing water.
They climbed up the shore, toward the street above. Zavier, soaking wet, ran to one of two black autos waiting for them and hopped into the driver’s seat. Danny and Colton dove into the back as the girls rushed to the other auto, but Matthias hesitated. He was looking back at the imposing fortress that was the Tower.
“Move your arse,” Danny snapped. Matthias started and shoved himself into the last remaining seat as Zavier took off, tires squealing, before the door was even closed.
Danny shut his eyes, fighting not to be sick as they sped along, the streets of London tilting drunkenly. Fifteen minutes later, the car stopped abruptly, causing his head to bounce against the seat in front of him.
They were in the hangar where two of their planes were parked. The woman who ran it came out of a back office with her arms crossed.
“I wasn’t expecting auto chases when Jo asked me for this favor,” she said as they got out.
“We’ll be out of your hair as soon as we can,” Zavier assured her. “Sorry for the trouble.”
Danny circled a hand around his wrist where the handcuffs had left a red welt. “They’ll be looking for us. They might even go after my parents.”
“I called Cassie before Zavier picked me up from your parents’ house,” Colton said. “I told her to take your parents someplace safe.”
Danny reached for his hand and squeezed it. “Thank you.”
“If we want to stop the Builders, we need to get moving,” Zavier said. “Let’s get back to the ship and finalize our plans.”
“There’s something I need to do first.” Danny glanced at Matthias, who stood off to the side. Daphne noticed him and scowled. When Matthias opened his mouth to say something to her, she turned her back on him. The man used to be her mentor. Now he was only a disappointment.
“We don’t have time for you to run errands,” Zavier snapped.
“I need to take him somewhere so he’s out of the way,” Danny argued. “I should be back by dawn.”
“We can’t wait that long,” Zavier insisted. “You’re coming with us.”
“He doesn’t have to,” Daphne interjected. “I’m more than enough to be your backup.”
“You shouldn’t be going with Zavier in the first place,” Danny said. “Not under these conditions.”
“What do you expect me to do, then?”
“You could stay h
ere with me and Colton and—”
“Actually,” Colton broke in, “I’ll need to go back to Enfield. I’ll use Harland’s blood and my new power to reattach my central cog, and create a web of time around Enfield strong enough to block Aetas’s power. Once I establish my own time around the town, I should be able to prevent my tower from falling.”
Danny stared at Colton, trying to read his thoughts, but his own were too jumbled. Colton gazed back, steady and sure. Everything Danny wished he could be right now.
“Whether you come with us or not, Daphne and I need to go now,” Zavier said. “We’ll need a head start if we’re going to reach Aetas’s prison by tomorrow.”
Don’t go with them, Colton whispered in his mind.
I won’t. I’ll come with you to Enfield.
No. I don’t know what my area of time will do to Enfield. I need you on the outside, just in case.
Then where did that leave him? Suddenly Danny thought of Meena, the cruel permanence of her end. He thought of how much she deserved to be here still, tugging on her braid and muttering quips under her breath.
Now Sally faced the same fate.
“Zavier.” Danny approached him, staring into his gray eyes. The young man had been his kidnapper, his enemy, his distorted reflection. It was past time he became an ally. “I won’t go with you, but I’ll help the others get Sally back. I promise I’ll do everything I can to save her.”
Zavier’s eyes widened slightly, but Danny could have sworn he saw relief under the surprise. Zavier nodded, then held out his hand—the one made of flesh. There was a lingering pressure between their palms before they separated. “The others will meet you here in the morning,” Zavier said. “That should give you enough time to do what you must. But be careful. We can’t break you out of the Tower again.”
“I’ll do my best.”
Zavier hesitated. “I’m sorry. For everything.”
“Those words will sound better when you’ve returned and I’ve saved your sister.”
Zavier’s smile was fleeting. He moved toward one of the planes, Astrid and Liddy trailing behind him, but Daphne lingered. Danny knew he should try to stop her, but everything was happening so fast that he couldn’t find the right words.
