Rosemary and Rue od-1 Page 28

  “I hate debts.”

  “Did you taste the curse?”

  “Curse?” She grinned. “You mean that nasty binding the Winterrose slapped on you? Oh, yeah, I tasted it. That’s one of the meaner pieces of work I’ve seen this century. She really pulled out the stops on that one. Always was a nasty bitch, that one.”

  “Is there a way out of it?”

  “Sure. Fulfill it.”

  “Is there any other way?”

  “What, it wasn’t clear enough for you?” She cleared her throat. When she spoke again her voice was Evening’s, clipped and cruel: “Find the answers, October Daye, find the reasons and find the one who caused this, or find only your own death.” She paused, and her voice was her own again. “The Winterrose is good at what she does. There’s no loophole.”

  That was exactly what I hadn’t wanted to hear. “So I’m trapped.”

  “Yep.” She sat down on a rickety chair, crossing her legs. “I just can’t figure out how she got you to drink her blood. It wouldn’t be nearly this strong if you hadn’t done that.”

  I winced. No point in lying now. “I did that on my own, actually.”

  The Luidaeg blinked. “You were that stupid by yourself? Wonderful. Amandine’s line is going to die out all on its own. I won’t have to lift a finger.”

  “I didn’t know,” I protested, filing her comment away for later examination.

  “That you were cursed? Yeah, because that’s not something I would have noticed.”

  “No, that drinking her blood would make the curse stronger.”

  “They don’t teach kids anything anymore.” She took a long drink of her Diet Coke. “In my day, you’d never have lived this long without knowing how to make your enemies rot from the inside out.”

  “There’s a pleasant image.”

  “I thought so. What do you want from me? I can’t break a curse spun by the Winterrose. It’s against the rules.”

  “I want information.”

  That sparked her interest. She straightened, pushing her hair back with a hand that seemed to glisten. Her entire body was starting to gleam, like it was covered by a thin patina of oil. The changes were subtle, but they were happening steadily, her human disguise being shucked away. I was almost afraid to see what was underneath.“Information, huh? You should know I don’t work cheap.”

  “That isn’t a problem.”

  “What can you give me?”

  I shifted the rose goblin to one arm as I dug into the pocket of my jeans, coming up with Evening’s key. The metal burst into sudden, rosy luminescence. I fought the urge to flinch. “This is . . .”

  The Luidaeg stood, cutting me off mid-word. “A key to the summer roads. An old one.” She held out one hand, demanding, “Give it to me.”

  “Tell me what I need to know.”

  “How much?”

  “Everything.”

  She eyed me. “Three questions, three true answers, and you give me the key.”

  “Four. All true, and you don’t count a question unless I say it’s part of the game.”

  “Four, and you answer one for me.”

  “Done.”

  “I’ll even give you a freebie before you start: I don’t know who decided to prune the Winterrose. Now ask away.” The Luidaeg settled in her chair again.

  That took out my first question, and any chance of an easy answer. Crap. I’ve never been very good at guessing games. “First question: what exactly is a hope chest?”

  She blinked at me, surprised. “A hope chest?” she echoed. When I nodded she asked, “A real one or an imitation?”

  “Is that your question?”

  “No, that’s me getting the information I need to answer you,” she said, sourly. “Clarification is in the rules, remember? Now, is it a real hope chest?”

  “I think so.”

  “The four sacred woods interlocked, carved with knives of water and air? Did it burn your fingers when you touched it?”

  “How did you know I’d—”

  “Come off it. You really think I can’t see the signs, once I look for them? What is it? What can it do? Well, first off, the stories are true—some of them, anyway. The first hope chest was a gift from Oberon to Tita nia, to allow her to adjust her Court to her desire. She passed it along to the first of her half-blood children, and somewhere along the line, there were more of them. No one knows who made the later ones. I don’t know, so don’t ask.

  “A hope chest can shift the balance of the blood. So, yes, it can make you human, if that’s what you were thinking; it can also take you the other way.” Her smile was sharp. “I don’t recommend that road, Amandine’s daughter. You’re not ready for the consequences yet.”

  “Oh,” I whispered. I’d touched it: I’d held the power to choose one world over the other. Why did that scare me? “Next question: why did you heal me?”

  “Devin paid me.” The Luidaeg shrugged, tossing her empty can aside. “They were going to burn me at the stake about sixty years ago, and he managed to stave it off. I’ve owed him since them. He gave me a chance to pay that debt, and I took it.”

  “Iron wounds?”

  “I won’t even charge you for that one, half-blood. I wanted my freedom pretty bad.” She shook her head. “When you’ve lived as long as I have, any kind of captivity is chafing.”

  “Did he tell you why?” It was a shot in the dark: there were only so many roads this could go down, and none of them looked good. At least I was probably safe on this one.

  The Luidaeg smiled. “Oh. Finally, a good question.”

  “What?” I didn’t like that smile.

  “Why did he ask me to heal you? Why did he let a demon out of his debt for something so small? He said,” she continued in Devin’s voice, “I’m not done with her yet. She hasn’t found it. Now heal her, or I’ll see you burn!” She chuckled, returning to her own voice. “Like he could. Jerk.”

  The bottom dropped out of the world. “What?”

  “Don’t like that answer? Sorry; I promised you the truth. How you take it is up to you. Last question.”

  I stared at her. She smiled. Then I swallowed, hard. I knew what came next, but that didn’t stop me from wishing I could ask her for just one more thing: just one bit of proof that my sudden suspicion was wrong. “No,” I said, and tossed her the key.

  She caught it, blinking. “No? What do you mean no?”

  “No, I won’t ask now. Later.” An image was coming together in my mind, sickeningly obvious now that I was letting myself consider it. Blood was where this started: Evening’s blood on the carpet, my blood on the concrete, the blood of an assassin and an innocent man drying on the grass at Golden Gate Park. Everything looped back to the beginning of everything else, like the metalwork on Evening’s key. It all came back to blood and roses.

  Sometimes I think everything in Faerie boils down to one of those two.

  “What?” she demanded, half-standing. “You can’t do that!”

  “I can. I owe you a question, too, you know. You can ask it now.” I smiled, trying to hide the sickening thud of my heart. She could kill me without thinking twice. It would almost have been kinder than what I was about to do. At least then I wouldn’t be a traitor—just dead. “I have to tell the truth.”

  “What’s to stop me from gutting you where you stand?” she snarled, hands twisting into claws. “Answer that!”

  “Simple,” I said, keeping my arms wrapped tight around the rose goblin. “If you kill me, I’ll die with you in my debt. You won’t stand for that. You said so yourself.”

  She backed off a half step, glaring at me. “You’ll ask that question someday.”

  “Maybe.”

  “I’ll have the right to kill you when you do.”

  “Maybe; maybe not. We aren’t there yet.” Besides, there was no guarantee I’d live that long.

  The Luidaeg paused, and then actually, grudgingly, smiled. “You’re pretty smart, considering your mother. Maybe the b
rains skipped a generation.”

  “I’ll take that in the spirit in which it was given.” I half bowed. The rose goblin squirmed out of my arms, perching on my shoulder.

  “What are you going to do now?”

  If it hadn’t been for the attack in the park, I could have gotten out of it, because what I was thinking wouldn’t have been a viable option without blood. My blood wasn’t good enough, and neither was Evening’s. I needed the blood of someone who was involved, blood that would hold at least a trace of the truth. Without the attack, I could have let it go. But the attack happened, and we had the blood—Tybalt had been covered in the stuff. It would be dry by now, but it was worth trying. There was a chance, and I had to know.

  “The only thing I can do,” I said, sighing. “I’m going to ask the dead.”

  TWENTY-FOUR

  FINDING A TAXI NEAR the docks after dark is something I never want to do again. I would have called Danny; unfortunately, I couldn’t find a phone, and I was reduced to waving my arms whenever a likely car passed by, hoping someone would take pity and stop. Eventually, someone did.

  The rose goblin had never been in a car before. It kept peering out the windows, making interested mewl ing noises until I had to fight not to laugh. The last thing I needed to do was convince the driver the woman he’d picked up in one of the worst parts of town was crazy. Besides, I was afraid the laughter would be more hysterical than anything else. I’d left the Luidaeg’s apartment in a daze, fumbling for a line of reasoning that didn’t lead back to blood. There wasn’t one. The entire case was bound in blood magic and chains of broken lives; it made sense to solve it the same way. So what if I didn’t want to? That never stopped me before.

  It was past midnight when we reached my apartment. I paid the cabbie with the last of my cash, wincing as I did it. If I didn’t find a new job soon, I was going to be replacing fae problems with more mundane ones. Maybe I could learn to be a bartender. They work nights, don’t they?

  The rose goblin rode my shoulder as I walked up the path to my door. The wards hadn’t been reset the last time I left, mainly because I’d been carried out by Manuel and Dare. I hesitated, contemplating what might be inside, then unlocked the door and opened it, flipping on the living room light. Waiting rarely solves the question of what’s under the couch.

  There was barely time to take in the carnage left by the Doppelganger’s attack before two angry brown-and-cream shapes darted out from under the coffee table, yowling. The rose goblin rallied, leaping to the floor and rattling its thorns. The cats backed off a few feet, bemused, and glared at me. Not only had I gone away, but I’d come back with a . . . well, with a something, and it was threatening them.

  I laughed, closing the door behind me. “Cagney, Lacey, back off. This is . . .” I paused, trying to think of a suitable name. “This is Spike. He’s visiting.” The rose goblin looked up at me and rattled its thorns, chirping.

  The cats weren’t as easy to mollify. They yowled again, now circling us both. Spike turned in circles to match them, rattling whenever they got too close. “Spike, guys, stop it. You can fight later.” All three stopped, turning to look at me. I’d just gotten cats to obey. Wonders never cease.

  I crouched to look at them, and they looked back, oddly calm. Sometimes, when they do things like that, I wonder if they’re actually Cait Sidhe planted to keep an eye on me—but that way lies madness. They’re just cats, and all cats know the same strange roads, in the end.

  “I need to speak to your King,” I said. They blinked luminous blue eyes, looking blank as only cats can. I sighed. “I need to see Tybalt. I know you can find him.”

  They gave no evidence of understanding; Lacey started to wash Cagney’s ear, ignoring me. Spike looked between them and rattled its thorns, confused. I stayed where I was, waiting. “Guys, don’t make me force the issue,” I said. “You know you have to take me to him if I demand it. You can find the Court of Cats. I can order you. I’d rather ask.”

  The cats exchanged a look, Lacey abandoning her bathing efforts. Cats aren’t the smartest creatures alive, but they recognize a demand, even from a changeling. Cats and faeries have a special relationship, one that’s pulled them at least partially into our world, and they know a plea when they hear one. Stretching to show their unconcern, they started for the door.

  I let out a breath I hadn’t known I was holding. They were going to take me. Cagney paused at the door, letting out a decisive yowl. The tone was easy to read: an obvious “come on or shut up.” I started to follow, and then turned back, retrieving the gun from beneath the edge of the curtains. It was heavy in my hand, and the closeness of the iron burned, but any protection was better than none. If iron bullets weren’t enough, this was already over.

  Spike rattled. I looked back at it, shaking my head. “Stay?” It rattled again. “Stay. Guard.” That seemed to get through: it settled into a watching posture, eyes on the window. Great. A week of death, iron, and demons, and now my house was being guarded by a mobile rosebush.

  The cats were waiting outside. I slid the gun into my pocket, and nodded. “Lead the way.”

  They walked down the path to the common walkway connecting my apartment to the mail and laundry rooms. I followed a few feet behind, keeping them in sight, concentrating so hard on their bobbing tails that I didn’t even notice when the path diverged from the ones I knew. The sound of hissing broke my concentration, and I looked up.

  “Oh, boy.”

  We were standing in a narrow alley I almost recognized from the area near Golden Gate Park—almost, but not quite. Space had twisted to form arched curves and folded angles, becoming subtly wrong. Every available space was covered with cats, from pampered house pets to grizzled back fence warriors. Something that looked like a lynx crouched toward the back of the mob, hissing with the rest. It was enough to remind me, graphically, that size doesn’t mean much when you’re outnumbered.

  “October.”

  I turned, leaving my hands in my pockets as I said, “Hello, Tybalt.”

  The King of Cats was sprawled atop a stack of mattresses blocking the alley’s mouth, flanked on either side by large, angry-looking calicos. About a dozen human-form Cait Sidhe lounged on the walls and ground around him, dressed in tatters and rags. Most of them didn’t look like they went on two legs very often. Cagney and Lacey melted into the throng, vanishing; they brought me, their disappearance said. That was all the help I’d get.

  “You’re here,” Tybalt said, sounding more amused than surprised. The height of his “throne” put him above me, allowing him to look down on me without quite straining either of our necks. He’d changed his clothes, trading them for skintight jeans and a black silk shirt. Good. If I was lucky, they hadn’t done the laundry yet. The courtiers around him watched me with predatory eyes. You’re a predator or you’re prey, their expressions said, and we’ll kill you either way. “Why are you here? This isn’t your Court.”

  “This is the Cat’s Court; I have business with their King. That means truce.”

  “Business?”

  “Yes, business,” I said. Offending him on his own turf might be the last thing I ever did. “The attack in the park—”

  He frowned. “What about it?”

  “It wasn’t random; someone paid for it, and I need to know who.”

  “Do you think I know?” he asked. A ripple ran through the crowd, low and dangerous.

  “No. I think he knew.”

  That made him pause. He sat up a little, attention focusing on me. “He’s dead, October.”

  “And I’m Amandine’s daughter. You know what she could do.” I squared my shoulders, standing a bit straighter. It helped hide my terror. “I told you when the attack happened that I needed his blood. I can follow it to answers.”

  “You’d do that?” Tybalt frowned, something like respect creeping into the expression.

  “I’ve done it before.” I carefully didn’t mention when. Half the Kingdom seemed to know abo
ut Evening’s curse: I didn’t need him joining their ranks.

  “Is it safe?”

  “Does it matter?”

  “No. I suppose not.” He rose, walking toward the back of the alley. The cats parted to let him pass, closing ranks again behind him. “I’ll be back in a moment. Wait for me.” When he reached the deepest part of the shadows he spread his hands and they opened like a curtain, letting him step through and disappear.

  I was still watching the shadows when something slammed into my back. The impact had me on the ground before I could react, slamming the gun in my pocket up against my thigh hard enough that I knew it was going to leave a bruise. “What the—” I yelped, as I went down.

  The only answer was an incoherent snarl. I tried to lift my head and it was shoved down again, knocking my cheek against the pavement so hard that it left my ears ringing. The cats around me were yowling at the top of their lungs. Well, it was nice to know they’d noticed. I went limp, letting whoever was above me think that I’d given up, and then pushed myself into a roll, ignoring the renewed pain as the gun dug farther into my leg. I was rewarded with an earsplitting shriek, and found myself pinning Julie to the alley floor. She howled, bucking against my hands, and managed to flip me over. At least I’d gone from my stomach to my back; she was straddling me now, face bestial with fury.

  “What are you doing?” I demanded, just before she grabbed my throat with both hands. Conversation didn’t seem to be high on her list of priorities: banging my head against the ground was. I screamed, scrabbling for the purchase I needed to shove her away.

  I was still screaming when hands grabbed her from behind and Tybalt threw her against the nearest wall. She rebounded and bounced back to her feet, hands crooked to expose her claws. He roared at her, full-throated, and she paused in apparent chagrin before opening her mouth and roaring back. Her tone didn’t even begin to approach his in strength or primal fury. Stalking forward, he smacked her across the face, knocking her to the ground. Julie hissed, more kitten than tiger, and he roared again.

  That was the end of it. She whimpered and flattened herself against the pavement, rolling over to expose her neck. Tybalt knelt and ran one clawed finger down the length of her jugular vein before pulling her off the ground into a rough hug. The message was clear: she could have died, and he had spared her. Now she would obey.