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James stood in front of the Hotel d’Alsace, his body full of nervous electricity.
So much had happened in the last week. He had so much to tell Daisy. About Jesse. About Lucie. After the way he had screwed things up, he didn’t know if she’d be up to hearing it.
He held Daisy’s glove in his hand. He originally wanted to bring them to her so she wouldn’t freeze, but that probably wasn’t a concern of hers now, even though it was bitterly cold outside. After he had taken care of the business with his sister, he used the gloves to track her here. He should have figured they’d go here. Oscar Wilde had stayed here, after all. If James remembered correctly, he had died here too. A morbid thought.
He pushed the door open and went inside. No use standing outside worrying about it.
“May I help you?” A fashionably dressed young woman smiled as she greeted him.
“Yes. I’m looking for my friend. Matthew Fairchild.”
She rifled through a box filled with cards. “Yes,” she said, pulling out a card. “He’s in room 16. Would you like any assistance finding it?”
James shook his head. “I’m fine.” He didn’t know what to expect if things turned ugly.
He picked up his suitcase. When had he dreaded seeing his best friend before? For that matter, when had he ever dreaded seeing Cordelia?
What if Cordelia was in love with his parabatai? She told him that she had once had feelings for someone else. What if she loved Matthew? It would crush him. She wanted Daisy to be happy, but the thought of her with someone else turned his stomach.
He paused at room 16 before knocking. What if they were kissing now? What if they were doing more than kissing? His wife and his parabatai were in love, and he never even saw it.
Even if they were in love, he needed to do this. It’s not like he could never see either of them again. He steeled himself and knocked.
It felt like an eternity before Matthew opened the door.
“What are you doing here?” He frowned.
“I need to speak to my wife.”
“Maybe she doesn’t want to talk to you.” Matthew looked beyond James. “Where’s Grace?”
“Probably in the Silent City,” James replied insouciantly. “Just let me in, please?”
Daisy walked up to them, standing behind Matthew. “I’ll talk to him.” She did not look happy to see him. “If only to tell him what I think of him.”
Matthew opened the door wider, and James came in.
Daisy crossed her arms. “I told you I didn’t want to be married to someone who was unfaithful to me. You had Grace come to our house! And you didn’t even wait a month after our wedding!” She let out an exasperated breath. “Just say what you have to say and leave.”
James looked at Matthew. The man she really loved. He looked around the room with revulsion. At the bed they were sharing, neatly made. The trunks in one corner. The seeds of a life they were starting together. Away from him.
“Anything you can say to me you can say in front of Matthew. He’s you’re parabatai anyway.”
“Fine.” He took a deep breath. “Before you left, I told you I didn’t feel for you the way I felt about Grace. And that is true. But—”
Cordelia began to say something, but he held up his hand, stopping her.
“—it’s because I don’t love Grace. I never did.”
“You don’t need to lie. I saw you. You invited her over.”
“I never invited her to our house, Daisy. When I said I would never be unfaithful to you, I meant it. Both times, Grace came over uninvited.”
“You were hugging her. You said ‘Thank God’ when she told you she was breaking everything off with Charles.”
“She hugged me. And you know what happened after you left?”
Daisy crossed her arms in front of her stomach. “I don’t want to know.” She turned away from him. “Please leave.”
Matthew turned to the doorway in order to show him out.
“No. And you need to know what happened next. I yelled at Grace.”
“Why?”
“Because Grace had been manipulating me for years. Making me think I loved her. You know that stupid bracelet I had?”
Daisy nodded. “Although I don’t want to think about it.”
“Neither do I, but you need to know. The bracelet was enchanted. It made me think I loved her.”
“Think? James, I know you loved her.”
“No. I loved you. I’ve been in love with you since I was fourteen. Grace—manipulated me into believing otherwise. But with the bracelet off, I remember now. I remember you reading to me when I had the scalding fever. The bracelet made me forget.”
Daisy was staring at him, mouth open.
“But I guess you love Matthew. He’s the one you had feelings for.” James picked up his suitcase. I guess I’ll leave you two then. I just—thought you should know the truth. I’ll be out of your way now.”
“James, no.” Cordelia put her hand on his shoulder.
He paused, waiting for her to continue.
She smiled. “Remember how I said I’d tell you who I had feelings for if you beat me in a game of chess?”
James nodded.
“That offer still stands.”
“But it’s obvious—Matthew loves you. He told me.”
“Just come to my room, James. I have a chess board set up.”
“Your room?”
“Of course. You didn’t think I’d agree to share a hotel room with someone I wasn’t married to, did you?” She grabbed him by the arm and led him to the door. “I’ll see you later, Matthew.”
Matthew had his hands in his pockets. He was looking at the floor. “I’ll see you.”
She led him to room 15, next door. It was similarly furnished, although there was a table with a chess board set up on it, with two chairs surrounding it. Daisy took a seat.
“Matthew’s not a very good chess player,” she admitted. “But he tries.”
“I’m not very good either.” James sat across from her. “There’s no way I’m going to win this. I know you have feelings for Math.”
“You’ve gotten much better. And you don’t know anything. You go first.”
“Giving me the advantage?”
“You need it.”
“Fair enough.” He moved the pawn in front of the king, a move he had learned was a good opening move.
He focused on the game as much as he could, although he didn’t know why. Daisy was a much better player than he was, and he already could tell she loved Matthew anyway. Would she ask for a divorce early so she could marry him? The thought of her with his parabatai sickened him. He had heard of parabatai that were torn apart by love before. If Matthew was who Daisy wanted, he wouldn’t stop them from being together. He loved them both and wanted them to be happy. He knew it would leave him forever miserable, however.
James looked at the board and nearly gasped. Cordelia had left her king vulnerable. Had she done that on purpose? He moved his queen into position. “Shah mat.”
Cordelia looked down at the board. “You win.”
She would admit it then. “It’s okay, Daisy, I know you love—”
“—You.” She covered his hand with hers. “I love you, James. I’ve loved you since I read to you when you had the scalding fever.”
“But you went to Paris with—”
“You hurt me when you told me you didn’t feel for me like you did for Grace. When I saw her with you. I couldn’t stay. I didn’t know anywhere else I could go. Matthew had his own place, and he knew our marriage was false.”
“Daisy, I don’t want it to be.”
She smiled. “I don’t want it to be either.”
He pulled her towards him. “We still haven’t put on our second runes.”
“Now’s as good of a time as any.”