Rosemary and Rue Part 18

"I didn't expect you to."

"You're being an idiot," I said flatly.

"Maybe so, but it stands a chance of keeping you alive." He flashed a grin, which faded as quickly as it came. "This isn't for everyone, Toby. This world . . . maybe you shouldn't have come back. I'm glad you did. But maybe it was wrong."

This time, I was the one to lean in, kissing him as gently as I could. When I pulled away he was staring at me, surprised. "I chose this. Maybe I shouldn't have come. But I did."

"Once one of my . . ." He chuckled. "You never really left me, did you?"

The door creaked open before I could think of an answer, admitting an anxious Dare. She was clutching a plastic bag to her chest like a shield. "Sir?"

I pulled away from Devin, straightening. "You can toss that over here, kid." She darted a glance to Devin, who nodded, before pulling back and tossing me the bag. She had a good arm. Of course, considering the way she'd been flinging knives at my apartment, that wasn't really a surprise.

Opening the bag, I found a pair of jeans, my running shoes, and a wine-red cotton blouse, which was probably a good choice, considering all the bleeding I'd been doing. A smaller bag held underclothes, athletic bandages, and another cell phone. I gave Devin a curious look.

He shrugged. "You're creative and accident-p.r.o.ne. You'll find a use for them."

"I didn't mean the bandages."

"That's the trouble with miniaturizing technology. It gets easier and easier to lose. Of course, losing it gets easier when you lose the entire car."

"Where did all this come come from, Devin?" from, Devin?"

A pained expression crossed his face. "You were out for quite a while. I had plenty of time to send a few of the kids to your apartment for supplies. And no, they didn't break anything the Doppelganger hadn't already destroyed, although they did manage to convince the police to go away." He smirked. "It seems someone called in a noise complaint on you."

"Right," I said. "I'll go get dressed."

"Pity."

"Jerk."

"Accurate."

Grinning, feeling better than I had in months, I left the office and walked back to the bathroom.

Changing clothes in a public restroom is an acquired skill, one that becomes an art when the bathroom floor hasn't been washed in a decade or more. I recognized some of those stains. Still, it wasn't hard to shimmy out of the nightgown and into my jeans, and I felt much better once I was wearing real clothes. They weren't much as armor goes, but they were all I had.

Shoving my hands into the pockets of my jeans to tug them into place, I paused, my fingers striking metal. I grabbed hold and pulled out the key I'd taken from the rose goblin, frowning in confusion. Hadn't it been in my other jeans? The ones I'd ruined by almost bleeding out on them?

It glittered in my hand, briefly taking on a hint of its prior luminescence. Evening's last memories told me it was the key to Goldengreen; it needed to be kept safe. A brief flicker of blood-memory rose up, whispering that "safe" meant "secret." I shoved the key back into my pocket, checking to be sure it was hidden before stuffing my borrowed nightgown into the plastic bag. It was a magic key. Maybe there was still something I needed to unlock.

When I returned to the office, Manuel and Dare were there, waiting. Dare had managed to find a heavy denim jacket that clanked when she moved; considering how many knives she'd been able to conceal without the coat, I decided I didn't want to ask. Between that, the miniskirt and high heels, and the midriff-baring shirt that read p.o.r.n STAR IN TRAINING, she wasn't exactly in the running for Miss Subtle USA.

Manuel was more sedately dressed. He'd tossed a windbreaker over his jersey and sweatpants, letting it hang loosely enough to imply that there might be something beneath it without shouting "Hey, I'm armed." It wasn't much better than his sister, but you work with what you have.

I walked past them, dropping the bag on Devin's desk. "Good job with the clothes."

"Not a problem. Here." He tossed me a set of keys.

I caught them automatically, and frowned. "What's this?"

"Were you planning to walk to Goldengreen?"

"Oh, no," I said, realization dawning. "My car's back at the bridge."

"No, your car has been towed, stolen, or both. You're taking one of mine."

"Devin, I can't-"

"You're paying for it, remember?" He winked. "Don't worry. I'm always open to a fair trade."

"Good." Not caring if the kids saw, I leaned over to kiss him again before heading for the door. "Come on, guys. We're taking the car."

"If you haven't called by nightfall, I'll send help," Devin said, behind me now.

"Good idea," I said, and left the office. The kids followed.

I paused at the front door, saying, "Disguises up." The air filled with our magic, the sharpness of my copper blurring into Dare's apples and Manuel's cinnamon. Soon enough, the spells were cast, and three normal-looking people stepped out into the late December afternoon.

Manuel was silent until we were outside. Then he asked quietly, "Where are we going?"

Trust Devin's kids not to ask until there was no turning back. He really did teach them-teach us-not to worry about consequences. "Goldengreen."

"The knowe of the Winterrose?" asked Manuel, looking faintly horrified.

Dare, in contrast, just frowned. "Why are we going there?"

"Because if I knew her as well as I thought I did, there'll be answers there."

"And if there aren't?"

I paused. "If there aren't, we'll find another way." If they weren't there, I was screwed, but there was no reason to tell them that. Devin was right: I was running on changeling time, and the progression of Evening's curse meant that time was running out. Dead people don't solve mysteries or pay their dues. If Goldengreen didn't have what I needed, it was about to get a lot harder for me to pay my debts.

TWENTY-ONE.

THE MORTAL-SIDE ENTRANCE TO Goldengreen is tucked behind the San Francisco Art Museum, right at the edge of the cliff that overlooks the sea. That always struck me as an ideal place for Evening's knowe: isolated and urban at the same time, a thing of borders, like the city itself. It's beautiful there. I'd wondered whether Evening personally oversaw the construction of the museum-after all, the doors connecting Goldengreen to the mortal world were probably older than the city. If she didn't plan the construction, she at least influenced it. That woman had strings all over the city, tied in places so old that no one realized they were there. The mortal world was going to miss her. But not as much as I was.

Devin's car was a battered Ford Taurus that handled better than my poor VW ever had. We pulled down the winding driveway to the employee parking lot, stopping behind a clump of eucalyptus trees. The museum was closed for the holidays, and there were no other cars.

I glanced in the rearview mirror. Manuel was looking out the window, hands folded in his lap, while Dare was filing her nails. They were ready and eager to help-after all, being ready and eager was better than facing Devin's temper. With Evening's curse pressing down more and more heavily, I was slowing down. They were probably exactly what I needed. And I really didn't want to deal with them.

I cleared my throat. They looked up, fixing me with twin sets of apple-green eyes. The longer I spent around them, the more I understood why people complain about fae giving them the evil eye. I kept wanting to buy them each a pair of sungla.s.ses.

"We're here." Dare started to unbuckle her belt, and I raised my hand to stop her. "No. You're staying with the car."

"What?" she demanded. Manuel stared. "The boss said we're supposed to keep you safe while you do stuff. How're we supposed to do that from the car?"

"I don't know how you're going to keep me safe from the car, and I don't care. I'm not taking you inside with me."

Manuel frowned. "Why not?"

"Because Goldengreen isn't just a place; it's a knowe. That means it's a little bit alive. With Evening gone, it's going to be p.i.s.sed. I don't know what it'll be like inside, but I'm hoping it'll remember me well enough not to eat me."

Manuel nodded slowly, saying, "That's bad."

I sighed. "Yeah. Right now, I don't need any distractions. I need you to stay here, or I'll wind up so busy trying to protect you that I'll miss something."

"But, Ms. Daye-"

"I mean it, Dare. I need you to stay here. Both of you." I glared at them. Dare made a show of glaring back, but finally they both looked away, giving in.

"I'll be right back," I said lamely, taking the keys from the ignition and climbing out of the car. "You guys keep yourself amused. I don't care what you do, as long as you don't get arrested or hurt the car. I'll be back as soon as I can."

As I closed the door, Manuel said, "Ma'am?"

"Yeah?"

"How will we know if you need us?" He looked at me seriously. "The boss is gonna be really, really mad if you get hurt again."

That was true. I didn't want to get the kids in trouble. I just wanted them out of my way while I went in and used a key they didn't know I had to unlock a door I wasn't sure existed. "If I get in trouble, I'll scream," I said. "You can come running."

"Will we hear you?"

"The way I scream, people in China will hear me. Just stay here, okay?"

"Ms. Daye?"

"Yes, Dare?" It was like trying to leave kindergart ners with a babysitter. If I was lucky, they'd run out of questions before the sun went down. Maybe.

"Here." She pulled a knife out of her sleeve, offering it to me. I didn't recognize the style of the blade, but if it was street legal, I'm a Kelpie. "In case you don't scream fast enough."

"Good idea," I said. She looked almost disappointed by my reaction-she was still young enough for the rules against saying thank you to seem pointless. I winked, sliding the knife into my belt with the edge facing outward to keep me from cutting myself. She brightened, reading the unspoken grat.i.tude in my eyes. She was pretty smart when she let herself be.

The taste of roses was rising in my throat again; the curse was going to backhand me soon, and they didn't need to see that. I nodded a quick good-bye and turned, walking toward the museum. I heard the car doors slam behind me. Fine. As long as they didn't wander too far or follow me, I didn't care what they did. Maybe Manuel would pick the locks on the museum doors and show his sister something more culturally enriching than the latest shows on MTV.

To an onlooker, I would have looked like I was losing my mind as I walked down the path and through the motions to let me into Goldengreen. I circled a sundial three times, touching it at six, nine, and three o'clock, before kneeling, picking up a rock, and throwing it hard off the cliff. I waited for a moment after that, listening for the splash. The waves are a hundred feet down, and somehow I still expect to hear a splash. I never have.

The tall gra.s.s parted around me as I stepped off the path, brambles brushing my jeans without snagging hold. If that wasn't proof of magic, nothing is. Unseen sprites whispered in my ears, daring me to turn, but I kept looking straight ahead. If I broke the pattern, I wouldn't be able to find it for a month; the wards were too well constructed. The main route into the knowe ran through the middle of the museum, and the only other road I knew took at least an hour to finish. I didn't have the time to waste.

Knowes are hidden because they have to be, and not just from mortal eyes. The fae are territorial by nature; we move around, but what's ours is ours, and we're willing to hold it against whatever comes. Most of Faerie's civil wars have been fought over land. Evening was a Countess in name only, with t.i.tle and lands but no subjects; there was no one to protect her knowe for her. She used her magic instead, wrapping her Court in layers of illusion, tucking the doors in shadows and the walls in the whisper of wind on the water. Which was all well and good, but it made getting inside difficult.

I waded through twenty feet of underbrush before a path appeared, unspooling through the weeds to end at the door of the battered supply shed shadowed by two enormous oak trees. Evening told me she'd planted those trees herself, a hundred years before I was born. She'd been coming this way for a long, long time.

The whispering faded as I walked toward the shed. Its job was done. There were more accessible entrances, but this was the way you took when you didn't want anyone to see you coming. This was the hidden road. I put my hand on the doork.n.o.b, fingers tightening as a jolt of static grazed my skin. That was my last warning. If I went any farther, I was committed.

I opened the door.

It swung open on hinges that might as well have been greased, despite the rust caking them. Evening was never a world-cla.s.s showman as the purebloods go, but these were her lands, and they worked by her rules . . . at least for now. The spells she'd woven so carefully would fade away until the doorway into Goldengreen lost its moorings and the shed became just another abandoned storage spot. Faerie would lose another foothold in the mortal world-but not yet. For the moment, the path could still lead me out of one reality and into another. Closing my eyes, I released the k.n.o.b, and stepped through.

The door slammed behind me, already out of reach as distance rippled and distorted. The air was hot and cold at the same time, hard to breathe. This wasn't a smooth and well-crafted door like the entrance to Shadowed Hills; this was a hole ripped between worlds, existing in both and neither at the same time.

A single step took me to the path's end, and the human world dropped away like a bad dream. I opened my eyes, taking a deep breath of cleaner, preindustrial air as I squinted down the dimly lit hall. It was never totally dark in Goldengreen, but this was closer than I'd ever seen it. Evening must have turned off the lights when she left, and since she hadn't come back, they hadn't been turned back on. That was exactly what I didn't didn't need. Goldengreen's illusions were almost legendary. In the darkness, those illusions would be harder to avoid, and that could be bad for both my sanity and my health. Knowes need to be cared for, and Goldengreen had just lost its keeper, which meant I couldn't expect it to be in a good mood. Some people say it's silly to personify the hills; I say I'd rather overpersonify than be wrong. I figure they're less likely to kill me if they're flattered. need. Goldengreen's illusions were almost legendary. In the darkness, those illusions would be harder to avoid, and that could be bad for both my sanity and my health. Knowes need to be cared for, and Goldengreen had just lost its keeper, which meant I couldn't expect it to be in a good mood. Some people say it's silly to personify the hills; I say I'd rather overpersonify than be wrong. I figure they're less likely to kill me if they're flattered.

Holding my hands out in front of me, I started walking down the hall. My hip hit the edge of a low marble table after only a few steps, and something crashed to the floor. I winced. Well, that was one less vase to break the next time I came. I kept walking, and the sound of my footsteps abruptly broadened, announcing my arrival in the knowe's central courtyard. I allowed myself a small smile. There would probably be a way to turn the lights on from here, and once I could see, I could start looking for the door that fit my key.

I took three steps into the open, and froze.

Someone was breathing behind me.

Dropping a hand to the knife at my belt, I squinted into the shadows. Whoever it was had better attack quick, or they were going to find out just what a bad week I'd been having. My friends were getting shot at, there were bits of Doppelganger mashed into my living room carpet, and my former boss and maybe-lover had been forced to barter with the Luidaeg to keep me breathing. I was not in the mood to screw around.

The breathing changed after about five minutes of stillness, suddenly accompanied by a new sound: footsteps. I stayed where I was, and was rewarded by a figure coming slowly clear through the darkness. Whoever it was, it was male, and not much taller than I was.

Grabbing the knife from my belt, I lunged. It was a calculated risk: I was guessing that if the man on the other end of my impromptu tackle had a gun, I would have already been dead. Anyone wanting to shoot me pa.s.sed up a flawless target when they ignored my entrance. If he didn't have a gun, the odds were shifted in my favor. He might still be better armed, but people expecting to maintain the element of surprise aren't usually ready for you to fight back. I've always preferred being the jumper.

I hit him sideways, elbow impacting with his solar plexus. Something in my shoulder ripped as I put pressure on the fresh scar, flaring into angry, throbbing pain. Even magical healing only compensates for so much; the scar looked old, but it wasn't.

Gravity pulled us both to the floor. I grabbed his wrist with my right hand and planted my knee in his stomach, knocking the air out of him. He tried to squirm free, making the sort of hurt, startled barking sound a seal would make if you hit it with a stick. He wasn't going for a weapon. I paused. Who did I know that would start barking like a seal if you hurt him?

"Connor?"

"Yeah," he gasped. Most of the n.o.bility are wimps-they don't get hurt often enough to take it in stride. I wish I could be a wimp. "Nice to see you, too."

"Why the h.e.l.l are you sneaking around in here?" I let go of him and stood. A spreading dampness was covering my shoulder; I was fairly sure I'd managed to reopen something. "That's not a smart thing to do. I've had a lousy week."

Connor levered himself into a sitting position, making little huffing noises. He'd obviously expected some sort of help getting up, even if it was just my hand. "I heard," he said. The darkness kept me from seeing his face. I found myself perversely grateful for that. "Lily told me about what happened to Ross. You're lucky you're still alive."

"When did you see Lily?" I asked, narrowing my eyes. Last time I'd checked, Lily hadn't been speaking to any of the local n.o.bles. Like most of Golden Gate Park's landholders, she liked to keep to herself.

"Sylvester sent me. He was looking for you."

"What? Devin called him. He knew where I was."

Connor paused. "Toby, no one called. I came here because Lily said she thought you might have ended up here. The whole Duchy's up in arms. Sylvester's terrified."

I felt myself going cold. "That can't be right."

"Believe it." He stood, still breathing a little unevenly. "You hit pretty hard for a girl."

"And you fall down pretty easy for a boy. Connor, are you serious? Sylvester really doesn't know where I am?"