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