The Tarot Lady Saw the Duke's Death and Would Not Leave novel · Chapter 17 of 24
Chapter 17: Stopped Clocks
The last brass wheel went into the clock a little before midnight.
Liora sat on the edge of his desk in her nightgown and a borrowed fur.
She watched his three-fingered hand lower the back plate into place.
He had been at it since supper, with his tweezers and his lamp and the pieces on a cloth.
He had not asked her to leave.
"It's done," he said.
"Does it go?"
"I don't know. It has not gone in twelve years."
He turned the little clock over in his palm.
It was a plain brass case, worn smooth at the edges by a man's pocket, with a crack in the glass.
The hands stood at twenty minutes to ten, where they had stopped on the Frost Bridge.
"My father wound it every night," he said. "I used to hear it through the wall."
He held out the key.
"I want you to do it."
Her throat went tight.
"It's your father's."
"It's mine now. And you're the one who made me open it."
She took the key in her ink-stained fingers and fitted it to the back.
Three turns, and then a fourth.
The clock was silent for a long breath.
Then it began to tick, small and steady and a little uneven.
Bastien shut his eyes.
The rest of this chapter is part of the paid portion of the series. Chapters 1–12 of The Tarot Lady Saw the Duke's Death and Would Not Leave are free to read — start from the beginning, then unlock the rest with coins in the app.
← Chapter 16 · All chapters · Chapter 18 →
Want to keep talking to characters like these? Chat with AI romance characters: AI Boyfriend · AI Girlfriend · Dark Romance · Fantasy Romance · BL (Boys’ Love) · Billionaire Boyfriend · Mafia Boyfriend · Possessive Boyfriend · Hockey Boyfriend · Older Boyfriend · K-Drama Boyfriend · Anime Boyfriend · Vampire Boyfriend · Werewolf Boyfriend · Demon Boyfriend · Fae Romance · GL (Girls’ Love) · Anime Girlfriend · Goth & Alt Girlfriend · Gamer Girlfriend · Tsundere Girlfriend · Fantasy Girlfriend