Timekeeper by Tara Sim

Author:Tara Sim
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Sky Pony Press
Published: 2016-09-20T04:00:00+00:00

He was cleaning Colton’s clockwork when he nicked his thumb. Danny grunted in annoyance. This was what he got for leaving his gloves at home.

“What’s that?” Colton knelt beside him and took his hand. “Blood?”

The spirit’s curiosity had taken a morbid turn. Danny couldn’t tell if Colton was excited or shocked at the sight of his blood, but either way, it fascinated him. Danny tried to pull his hand back. “Yes, it’s blood.”

“Does it hurt? Are you all right?”

“I’m fine.”

Colton frowned thoughtfully at the red bead quivering on the pad of Danny’s thumb. “What an odd thing.”

Danny pressed a handkerchief to the wound to stop the bleeding. “I suppose clock spirits don’t have fluids?” Fluids? What had possessed him to say fluids?

Colton shrugged. “I suppose not. My body’s not like yours.” He touched his chest, then touched Danny’s. When he felt Danny’s heartbeat, he pressed his palm against it, mesmerized. “You’re a marvel.”

Danny wanted that hand to stay there forever. Counting every beat. The air was warm and thin in the half foot that separated them. When Danny kissed him, Colton made a surprised yet happy sound, framing Danny’s face with his hands. He felt willingly trapped, caught in Colton’s grasp. Danny reached out a hand to steady them against the wall.

The air pulsed and Colton cried out. Danny removed his hand at once.

His bleeding thumb had pressed against the clockwork. He’d left a smudge of crimson there.

Colton reacted strangely, his eyes wide and his body shaking. Maybe it was only Danny’s imagination, but he thought that time gave a little skip around them, like it had gotten snagged on a thorn. The air pulsed again. They were inside a struggling artery, being squeezed from all sides.

Danny hurried to wipe his blood off the gear. Colton relaxed a little.

“What was that about?” Danny asked, his voice hushed.

Colton shook his head, just as confused. They stared at the turning gear.

“Are you all right?”

“Yes.” But Colton touched his chest again, as if expecting to find his own heartbeat there.

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