“Stay here,” Asa instructed Mouse.

  As Mouse opened her mouth to protest, Madame Katusha waved away Asa’s concern. “She’s with you, isn’t she?” Madame Katusha said, unconcerned.

  Asa said, hotly, “No, she’s not!” at the same time that Mouse said, triumphant, “Hah!”

  But Madame Katusha just turned unceremoniously, expecting Asa to follow her as she led them through the winding path to the private entrance of her office.

  Although Asa was certain the rest of the House was already aware of his presence, and that Madame Katusha had finally let him return for the first time since he was expelled two years ago. The House specialized in gossip as much as it specialized in contracts.

  When Madame Katusha opened the door, Asa felt a sense of disorientation—her office was as familiar to him as his own hands, but he had just been in another Vermilion House, in another Madame’s office. Madame Katusha’s collection of plants had grown even larger in the last two years, greenery overtaking many of the shelves of powerful demonic objects. Galatea and Madame Katusha only had one aesthetic sensibility in common, which was the large cherry wood desk.

  Mouse immediately started to explore the shelves, while the demon jumped from Asa’s shoulder to the floor and then to Mouse’s shoulder to also put his dirty little paws on everything.

  “Hey, that’s rude,” Asa scolded both Mouse and the demon.

  “This is so cool,” Mouse said, not listening to him at all.

  “Wow, I can practically taste the demonic energy,” the demon said enthusiastically.

  Asa looked toward Madame Katusha, expecting her to back him up, but she just watched with interest. “If I was doing that, I would be in so much trouble,” Asa said accusingly. PQ-9 beeped soothingly because at least PQ-9 was on his side.

  “I think you’re already in enough trouble,” Madame Katusha remarked, as she started pulling tools from the cabinet that stored all of her supplies. “Show me the contract.”

  Asa wordlessly pulled up the House collar, and she took a holo of the contract.

  “Shirt too,” she said briskly.

  Asa sighed loudly before yanking up his shirt.

  “Where did the girl come from?” Madame Katusha asked.

  Asa pressed his lips together mulishly.

  “I’m not a girl,” Mouse said, scornfully. “I’m Mouse!”

  “Where is she going to stay?” Madame Katusha said, looking amused.

  Asa shrugged jerkily. “I don’t know,” he said. “And I don’t care.”

  “She can stay here then,” Madame Katusha said calmly.

  Asa stared at her. “She’s not signing a contract,” he said.

  “I thought you didn’t care,” Madame Katusha pointed out.

  There was a knock at the door, and Asa had a strange moment of expecting Jury to enter—but it was Nova and two small apprentices with stacks of trays of food and tea. The apprentices looked at him with wide eyes as they carefully set the trays on Madame Katusha’s desk.

  Asa made a scary face at them, and they scattered from the room. “Really?” Nova said, rolling her eyes, and then she left too. Madame Katusha sighed loudly, even as she pushed Asa into a seat and started piling his plate with food.

  Asa crossed his arms. “When can I see my mother?”

  “You can’t see her right now, Asa,” Madame Katusha said, not without empathy. “You can contact her later.”

  Asa pressed the back of his hand against his eyes to contain himself. “I just want this one thing,” he said, trying to keep his voice strong and even.

  Unauthorized duplication: this narrative has been taken without consent. Report sightings.

  “Life is full of unfairness, Asa,” Madame Katusha said, which was kinder than what she used to say when he was a kid and he wanted something that no one wanted to give him. “Here, eat,” she said, gesturing at the pastries, breads, cheeses, and leftover meats. “Have some tea.”

  “I don’t want tea, I want to talk to my mother,” Asa said, even though he knew it was futile. When he was seven and broke his arm falling off the balcony of the first floor of the House, he had cried for his mother all night until Madame Katusha threatened to break his other arm if he didn’t stop. His mother hadn’t come because she had been with a client. Money ruled everything in the House.

  Madame Katusha smacked him on the shoulder, hard. “You’ll take what you get,” she said. “Stop whining, you’re not a child anymore.”

  “Then why did you even let me back into the House?” Asa said, watching as Mouse consumed the food. The demon watched this process with fascination.

  “You have that demon’s heart jewel, don’t you,” Madame Katusha said, nodding at the demon.

  “My name isn’t demon,” the demon said haughtily, even as he took a huge bite into a small cake. Pink frosting covered his nose. “You wouldn’t even be able to pronounce my name with your human tongue.”

  “Then what should we call you?” Mouse asked curiously.

  “Lord King Prince Princess Queen,” the demon said promptly.

  Asa stared at him. “Dandelion,” he said. “Because you’re annoying like a weed.”

  “I love dandelions,” Mouse said, her face brightening.

  The demon looked dubious. “What’s a dandelion?” he said, even as PQ-9 pulled up an image of an extremely yellow dandelion on a very green planet. Asa had actually never seen a dandelion in real life—only on the holos. For the first time, he wondered if Mouse had actually come from the planets of the Eternal Crystal Imperium. The demon nodded as PQ-9 scrolled through at least twenty images of dandelions. “That’s very nice, actually,” he said, imperious. “Show me more.”

  “Only empire soldiers take the heart jewels of their demons,” Madame Katusha said, sipping her tea.

  “Is that a threat?” Asa said sharply.

  “Merely an observation, Asa,” Madame Katusha said, raising her eyebrow. “If the empire realizes you can bond with a demon without an explicit contract, they’ll offer you anything you want.”

  “For a price,” Asa said, disgusted.

  Madame Katusha shrugged. “The empire is very wealthy,” she said. “I’m sure they could pay out the rest of your mother’s contracts.”

  Asa’s mouth thinned. “Is that what you want me to do?” he said.

  “What other choices do you have?” Madame Katusha said bluntly.

  Asa crossed his arms, his chest tightening with anger and humiliation. “Empire soldiers die fast,” Asa said tightly. “Is that what you want for me?”

  Madame Katusha shot him a look. “You refused to sign a contract with the Vermilion House two years ago,” she said. “Now you must live with the consequences.”

  “I guess the House still got me in the end,” Asa said bitterly.

  Before Madame Katusha could respond, the door opened again to reveal Jury Stone. She looked just like the other Jury Stone in the other time-line, but they had known each other since they were children. She wore the uniform of the Head Apprentice and a disdainful expression that she aimed directly at Asa. He returned her disdain with excessive interest.

  “Don’t start,” Madame Katusha said to Asa, her tone severe. When she looked at Jury, her face softened, and Asa fucking hated it. That’s how Madame Katusha used to look at him when he was Head Apprentice. “Take Mouse and get her cleaned up.”

  Asa bolted upright. “Whoa, hey, what are you going to do with her?” he said.

  “She’s filthy,” Madame Katusha said impatiently. “If she’s going to stay here, she needs new clothes.”

  “I don’t need a bath,” Mouse said suspiciously.

  “Yes, you do,” Asa told her, and then he turned to Madame Katusha. “I told you, she’s not staying here, and she's not signing a contract.”

  “Where else is she going to go?” Madame Katusha said.

  “I can take care of myself, you know,” Mouse insisted. The demon wasn’t paying attention at all, as Mouse was feeding him little bits of bread in between feeding herself.

  “Demons don’t need to eat human food,” Asa said, appalled.

  “Well, it tastes amazing,” the demon said, licking Mouse’s hands clean. Then he trotted along to Asa’s side, before climbing Asa’s side to hop back onto his shoulders.

  “His name is Dandelion, not demon,” Mouse said loyally.

  “Yeah!” the demon said, jostling PQ-9, who beeped in protest. “I’m Dandelion now!”

  “Wow, Asa,” Jury drawled. “Once a hot mess, always a hot mess.”

  “Shut up,” Asa said, reflexive.

  Madame Katusha held up one hand. “Enough,” she said. “Mouse, if you follow Jury, there will be more food where this came from.”

  Mouse immediately perked up.

  “Mouse, you can’t just go with anyone who offers you food,“ Asa said, exasperated, even as Jury started to herd Mouse into the hallway.

  Asa stood up to follow them, but Madame Katusha barked, “Asa, sit down.”

  “But Madame Katusha, there’s no way Mouse can pay for any of this,” Asa argued. He hadn’t eaten any of the food or drank any of the tea on purpose. Asa was no longer working for the House—and clients learned the hard way that everything they used was added to their tab.

  Madame Katusha’s face was calm. “This girl is wrapped up in the contract on your stomach,” she said. “We can’t just let her go without understanding the terms.”

  Asa heard the door shut behind him. “What?” he said, blinking hard in shock. “What do you mean she’s part of the contract?”

  “If you could reign in the dramatics for once in your life,” Madame Katusha said dryly, “we could begin to figure it out.”

  Asa reluctantly sat down in his chair again, rubbing his hands over his face in frustration. “Fine,” he said.

  “I want more food too,” the demon said brightly, hopping onto the desk.

  “Your demon is badly trained, Asa,” Madame Katusha said.

  If Asa had missed being Head Apprentice, then he remembered now exactly what it was like: Madame Katusha telling him he was doing everything wrong all the time.