Page 16 of Better in Black
“It all does seem a bit…unusual,” Lucie said. “But surely there’s a good explanation.”
“Here’s an excellent explanation,” James said. “Your publisher is run by a demon. Or demons. Probably why it’s deserted during the day.”
Lucie’s heart plummeted. “I should have known from the start. Why would anyone want to publish my book without reading it, unless they had dubious motives?” She sighed heavily. “Perhaps it was foolish to imagine anyone would want to publish it at all.”
“Nonsense,” Cordelia said, indignant. She pointed at a large black lectern in the center of the room. Lucie recognized the wrinkled, scribbled-on pages ofThe Beautiful Cordelialying open upon it. “Perhaps your book is so wonderful that even demons could not resist.” Then hastened to add, “Which does not mean you should let them publish it. It would be a shame if the book was only available for purchase in Hell.”
James looked as if he were on the verge of making a joke. Cordelia shot him a warning look.
“We ought to go,” James said. “This place should be reported to the Clave.”
Lucie had become despondent. “Perhaps we should just leave the book here,” she said. “I ought to accept it will never be offered for sale to the reading public. Perhaps it will only be appreciated after I die—”
“Don’t be ridiculous,” said Cordelia. “We’re taking it with us.”
Despite Lucie’s protests, Cordelia hurried to the lectern, seized upThe Beautiful Cordelia—and screamed.
There was a blinding flash of light. It seemed to explode from the pages of the book and encompass Cordelia, turning her translucent.No,Lucie thought, blinking furiously, her hand already drawing a seraph blade from her pocket, ready to defend herparabataiagainst whatever this was.
But there was nothing concrete to attack. The light had turned to swirls of darkly glimmering air that rose about Cordelia, circling her like a windstorm. James called out his wife’s name, starting toward her, but the force of the wind thrust him back. Cordelia reached for her friends, but it was no use; she was lifted off her feet, her red hair whipping about her face, before being spun away into darkness.
Cordelia was gone.
The Beautiful Cordelia blinked up at her world as if seeing it for the first time. How could the heath be so impossibly green, the sky so impossibly blue? The landscape was dotted with castles of all shapes and materials, glass towers abutting crystalline spires beside stone and brick monstrosities, each of them surrounded by various colors of an impassable moat. In the distance, in one direction, were rolling hills. In the opposite direction was a jagged cliff overlooking a majestic sea. It seemed utterly alien to her, but also wholly familiar, as if she had been wandering this land for a lifetime. She felt a strange tug at her heart, as if it was saying, Press on, Cordelia, for you have a long journey before you, and love is calling you home.
But where, she thought, is home?
And where in the world, or any world, amI?
James was frantic. White-faced, he paced the room with his hand at his hip, where a short sword rested. “Lucie. Think. What happened? Where did she go?”
“I don’t know.” Lucie was close to crying. “You’re the one who knows about dark magic—”
“Yes,” said James, “but this isCordelia,” and Lucie knew exactly what he meant. He couldn’t think rationally where Daisy was concerned. Lucie didn’t blame him.
Concentrate, Lucie. You brought them here, this is your fault. Think.
She moved to the lectern where Cordelia had stood. Lucie’s novel rested there quietly, open to the last page Lucie had written. Below that section, there was white space; this was a book still awaiting completion. Awaiting a happy ending.
Lucie remembered. Daisy. Daisy reaching to pick the book up, and then—
Out of the corner of her eye, Lucie saw a flicker. Something moving across the white space of the unfinished last page. As Lucie stared, words began to appear, one after another.
“The book,” Lucie whispered. Her mind was whirling. It simply wasn’t possible. It wasn’t. And yet—
“What?” James demanded, his golden eyes wild. “Did you see something? My back was turned. I heard Daisy scream and—”
“Look,” Lucie said, pointing down atThe Beautiful Cordelia.
“Lucie, now is not the time to worry about your silly book.”
It was also not the time to be offended by the characterization of her book assilly,Lucie reminded herself, and filed this insult away for later. “No,” she said, heart singing with terror for her best friend.“Look!”
James obeyed, reading aloud the lines she was pointing at, but careful not to actuallytouchthe page.
The Beautiful Cordelia tried to make some sense of these confusing events. One moment, she had been standing in the drab little publishing office on Fleet Street, and the next, she found herself here, on this strange, lonely road.
James looked up at Lucie in alarm. “When did these sentences appear?”
