PQ-9 led the way out of the downtown area of the Station with his satellite maps of the time-lines. Asa and Galatea had negotiated the contract for several hours, although she wouldn’t budge on several items that Asa was forced to sign off on. Mouse had watched them like it was a sports’ match, while the demon had made extremely unhelpful derogatory comments about the quality of the demon blood the contract was written in. The demon had only stopped when Galatea offered to sample his own blood, as she was sure it would be higher quality.

  “If you do exceedingly well in the tasks I ask of you,” Galatea had said, “I’ll see about removing that restriction the House placed on your magic.”

  “If it’s not in the contract, I don’t believe you,” Asa had responded.

  Galatea had laughed.

  Rose collected contracts like fountains collected coins, the wishes of other people building up on his skin until he was covered in them. Now, in the space of a day, Asa had two contracts imprinted on his skin until they were fulfilled: the demon’s contract, and Galatea’s. Galatea had acted as demonic notary, which of course was a conflict of interest because she was one of the listed contract parties, but Asa hadn’t been able to argue. Acanthus had entered and provided the necessary demonic energy to activate the demonic contract.

  Asa still felt a burning sensation of a third tattoo that had etched itself onto the skin of his stomach as soon as he signed the contract, which had not been part of the initial agreement.

  Fuck.

  Mouse and Asa arrived at the location where he had chased her into this time-line, and PQ-9 beeped to announce the edge of the time-line. This was the liminal space between the time-line Asa emerged from and this new time-line—where Asa had been forced to sign his very first demonic contract.

  “Let’s go home,” Asa said tiredly to PQ-9. Then his stomach clenched all over again when he realized again that this time-line wasn’t where he had been born. The demon snoozed around his shoulders, like one of those fox stoles in the holos. Except the demon was probably much heavier.

  Mouse bounced on the balls of her feet, restless, her face bright with curiosity. Asa looked around at this time-line one last time before stepping into the time-line that he had called home. It didn’t feel any different. The only reason Asa could tell he was in a different time-line was because the readings on PQ-9 had changed. To his human eye, everything looked the same. But PQ-9 confidently led them into the middle rings of the Station, Asa calling his mother twice before messaging her as he navigated his way to the ports.

  When they passed the first spaceship port, Asa stopped and turned to Mouse. “All right,” he said abruptly. “It’s been real. I wish you the best of luck in whatever life of crime you’ve been doing. Or whatever. See you never, okay?” Asa saluted Mouse, and then turned on his heel to head back to the House.

  Only to find that Mouse was still walking almost on top of his heels.

  “Hey,” he said, stopping again. “Why are you following me?”

  “I’m coming with you,” Mouse said, looking up at him with big brown eyes.

  “You are definitely not coming with me,” he said, raising his eyebrows. Asa didn’t know where Mouse had come from, but he hadn't been able to imagine leaving her here, trapped, with someone like Galatea Rex. Asa had done his duty, and now it was time for her to go home. “Now go on,” he said, waving the back of his hand at her, like shooing away a fly.

  She watched his hand like a cat watched a bird.

  He frowned down at her. “If you really don’t know where to go, ask around for Ambrose Thorne,” he said. “He takes kids in if they don’t have anywhere to go.”

  “But I want to come with you,” Mouse said, guileless.

  Stolen content warning: this tale belongs on Royal Road. Report any occurrences elsewhere.

  “Well, you can’t,” Asa said, his tone short. “I don’t have the space, and the Vermilion House is no place for a kid.”

  “I’m not a kid,” she said, glaring at him.

  Asa sighed loudly. “Fine. Whatever. You still can’t come.”

  “How are you going to stop me?” she said, planting her feet and crossing her arms. Asa frowned, stymied by her stubbornness. “You can’t have the collar,” he warned because that was the only thing he could think of as to why she would want to stay with him.

  “You have to sleep sometime,” she said, grinning mischievously. “I can steal it then!” Asa noticed that a few baby teeth were missing, giving her an impish look.

  “Well,” he said finally. “Good luck getting past the House guards.”

  And with that, even though it was now the middle of the Station’s sleep cycle, he walked to the House for the second time that day with Mouse on his heels—until he tried to enter the House.

  “Hey, Asa, you know you’re not allowed here,” Nova said, grabbing Asa’s arm.

  “I need to see my mother,” Asa said through gritted teeth.

  Nova held Asa’s other arm in order to look at his face. She and Asa had known each other since they were children, and she looked at him with sympathy in her face. “Nothing has changed,” Nova said gently. “I’m sorry. I can’t allow you to enter.”

  Asa felt a warm stinging at the back of his eyes, and he bit the inside of his cheek for control. “She’s not picking up my calls,” he said.

  “She’s with a client,” Nova said, which Asa knew Nova wasn’t supposed to tell him.

  “Can you please get her?” Asa said, his voice cracking. “I only need a minute.”

  Nova looked at him for a long moment. “Go to the side entrance,” she said, finally releasing him from her hold. “Is this girl with you?”

  “Yes!” Mouse said firmly at the same time that Asa said, “No.”

  Nova shot Asa a skeptical look and said, “How come it’s always you who gets into these situations?” before disappearing inside the House.

  “Stay here,” Asa told Mouse, but of course she didn’t listen and followed him anyway. Asa shoved his hands in his pockets as he rounded the side of the House to the side entrance that only the House staff used. The House staff ignored him as they scurried in and out, carrying goods from the market or packages to the port. PQ-9 was scolding the demon for encroaching on his space on Asa’s shoulders when Madame Katusha appeared in the entrance door.

  “Asa!” Madame Katusha barked, loose flyaways of white hair escaping her bun. “What do you think you’re doing?”

  “Madame—” Asa started to protest, except Madame Katusha grabbed him by the elbow and started walking him even further around the side of the House.

  Mouse dashed after them, keeping pace with Madame Katusha as she dragged Asa into the alleyway everyone went to avoid the security holos. Asa let her drag him solely due to the reflex that had been instilled in him very early in his childhood at the House.

  “You need to leave immediately,” Madame Katusha said, shaking him a little.

  “I want to see my mother,” Asa said doggedly.

  “She’s with a client,” Madame Katusha said, her tone implacable.

  “What client?” Asa said, frowning. “This is her one day off—”

  “This person is very important, Asa,” Madame Katusha said sternly. “If they want to speak to Galatea Rex, then they will speak to Galatea Rex—and if they want to do it on her one day off, then they can do that too. Do you understand?”

  “No, I don’t understand,” Asa bit out, his fists clenching at his sides. The image of his mother, blood-stained and unmoving, pushed into his mind repeatedly like someone furiously knocking at the door. His eyes burned hot, but he didn’t blink. It felt just like when he was a kid and he had broken his arm and his mother couldn’t come see him at all, even though he cried for her all night. “I just—I really need to see her. Just this one time, Madame Katusha, please.”

  Madame Katusha looked at him, frowning, because she had always hated emotionality.

  “Aw, come on, just let the kid see his mom,” his demon griped from where he lounged on Asa’s shoulders. PQ-9 beeped in firm agreement.

  “Yeah, me three!” Mouse added, her hands on her hips. “Let him in!”

  “Whose demon is this, Asahel?” Madame Katusha said, raising one eyebrow.

  Asa debated not answering, but Madame Katusha probably already knew and just wanted to make him say it. “Mine,” Asa said reluctantly.

  “You contracted with a demon,” Madame Katusha surmised, her eyes alert with calculation.

  “You don’t sound surprised,” Asa said.

  “Of course I’m surprised,” Madame Katusha said tartly. “You were adamant about never signing a demonic contract.”

  Asa winced. “I didn’t exactly sign a contract with this demon,” he said.

  “I could have a name, you know,” the demon said, offended. Madame Katusha ignored him. Mouse raised herself on her tip-toes to pet the demon’s tail.

  “So you have the demon’s heart jewel,” Madame Katusha said, as if this had been her other hypothesis.

  Asa frowned. “For now,” he said shortly.

  Madame Katusha’s face wouldn’t have been readable by anyone who didn’t know her—but after twelve years of training with her every day, Asa knew that she was thinking that he was an idiot.

  “There’s one more thing,” Asa said grimly, and then he moved his House collar so that the contract tattoo was revealed to Madame Katusha. She examined the tattoo for a long moment.

  “You have been busy,” Madame Katusha said finally. “I suppose you better come inside.”

  [Timeline: 001]