Page 13 of Better in Black
“Well, come in, then!” Effie huffed, as if Lucie had been twiddling her thumbs on the doorstep. Like all the mundanes who served in Shadowhunter households, Effie had the Sight. On top of that, she seemed to have a preternatural ability to get to the door seconds before Lucie could announce her arrival. Lucie had asked her about it once, and Effie had only sniffed. “The way you knock, miss. Like you’re going to break down the door. It’s better avoided.”
Today, Lucie felt, Effie had made a wise choice in hurrying to the door. The way Lucie was feeling, she would indeed have broken it down if she’d had to wait. She had very important news to share, and could not hold it in a moment longer.
Effie told her that James and Cordelia were in the drawing room. Lucie rushed down the hall, feeling, as she always did, a pulse of envy at the cozy little home Cordelia and James had made for each other. To have the freedom to live on one’s own, alongside thelove of one’s life! To live as one pleased, without rules imposed by one’s irritatingly devoted parents, to be treated by the world like the adult you were, allowed to, say, fall asleep in the arms of a very handsome, wonderful man, and wake up beside him! Cordelia had warned her that sleeping in the arms of your beloved meant that sometimes they snored, but such were the things Lucie dreamed of.
And besides, she thought, just because her brother snored on occasion (which he denied) did not mean her Jesse would do the same.
Soon, she would find out for herself. She had promised herself she would not marry until she published her first book. The waiting had been agony. But now, finally…
She burst into the drawing room, stopping short at the sight of Cordelia and James sitting in paired armchairs, gazing into each other’s eyes. This was nothing new. They were always gazing, when they got the opportunity. Or touching, or nuzzling, or stroking—there was surely no way for one person to wordlessly express love to another that Cordelia and James had not discovered. Lucie was, of course, overwhelmed with joy that herparabataiand her beloved brother had found so much happiness in each other. Still, she marveled that they never got bored with the gazing.
This time, though, Lucie had the unsettling feeling that she’d walked in on something.
“James,” Cordelia was saying softly, a tiny fret in her forehead. “There’s something I need to tell you.”
She sounded worried, and a little melancholy. In fact, Lucie thought, she had seemed a little melancholy rather often of late. Lucie had even asked her about it, and Cordelia simply laughed. “Think of how things used to be, and how they are now,” Cordelia had said. “Of course there are people I terribly miss. But I amhappy, Lucie; please do not worry about me.” Lucie had not been convinced. From the look of it, James wasn’t either.
“Anything, my love.”
Lucie tried to back out, silently, before they noticed she was there. But skilled as she was at any number of things, unobtrusiveness was not one of them.
“Lucie!” Cordelia cried, catching sight of her. A smile broke across her face, like sunshine, and she stood to greet her sister-in-law. Lucie knew her pleasure was sincere—it was the same way she felt whenever she saw Cordelia, who was in all ways a piece of her soul. Still, Lucie suspected at least a bit of her was relieved not to have to tell James whatever it was she’d been mustering her nerve to say. “We weren’t expecting you!”
“Is this a very terrible time?” Lucie asked. “Am I interrupting horribly?”
“Not at all,” James said, rising to his feet as well. “We’ve told you before, Lucie, our home is your home. What thrilling news do you bring us?”
“What makes you think I have news?”
Cordelia and James exchanged a look. “I’m yourparabatai,” Cordelia said. “I can feel your heart bursting to speak.”
“Also, you’re literally jumping up and down,” James noted.
Lucie silently chided her feet. Part of her thought she should, perhaps, give her brother and his wife a little privacy. But the rest of her, the very insistent, very excited part of her, couldn’t stop herself. “A publisher wants to publishThe Beautiful Cordelia!” she cried.
“Er, has he read it?” James asked.
Cordelia elbowed him. “That’s wonderful news, Lucie!” She flung her arms around Lucie, then, so quietly only Lucie could hear, “Does that mean…?”
“Yes!” Lucie whispered, heart pounding in her chest. It meant she and Jesse could finally be engaged. There would be a wedding, and instead of a bouquet of flowers, Lucie would carry a copy ofThe Beautiful Cordelia.In fact, perhaps the wedding could be thematic. Surely Jesse would not mind.
James sent Effie off to prepare some celebratory champagne, and Cordelia sent Jesse a fire-message, telling him he simply must come for a celebratory dinner.
“Why didn’t you tell us you were submitting the book to publishers?” James said, after Jesse had arrived and they’d all toasted. “I didn’t even know you’d finally finished it.”
“Technically…I haven’t finished it,” Lucie admitted.
James raised an eyebrow. “You sent an unfinished manuscript to a publisher?”
“Well, no. They came to me. They said they’d heard great things of my literary genius.”
James nearly spat out his champagne. Lucie ignored her brother. She had a lifetime of practice.
“Is that quite usual in publishing?” Cordelia asked.
Lucie shrugged. Very little about her life was, by the standards of mundane London, usual. Why should this be any different?
“I suppose it must be. There’s only one problem,” Lucie said. “They can’t publish it without an ending, and I’m simply stuck!”
