Asa stepped down into the nexus, PQ-9 clinging to his jumpsuit. The demon stayed by Asa’s side, drawing energy from Asa across the bond to guide them to the correct dimension. The nexus itself had no temperature, which was disconcerting because it had looked so warm. When Asa and Rose had ventured to the Black Market many years ago as children, they had traveled through a discarded time-line. Asa had felt the currency burning a hole in his pocket for candy and salty snacks and strange objects. As he became older, his responsibilities at the House became greater and more intensive, as he moved up the ranks as an apprentice. He knew his mother would have loved to go and inspect the banned books. Even though Galatea had never gone in-person to the Market, everyone at the Market had still recognized Galatea’s name somehow.

  Now Asa felt a nothingness—a complete lack of temperature—as he dematerialized into pure energy, falling deeper into the portal of the nexus. Without a demon as a guide, Asa would never have been able to find the Black Market on the first try through the nexus.

  The demon tugged sharply on Asa’s energy, and then Asa once again felt the pull of gravity. The nexus exited into the outskirts of the Black Market, where there were dark and thorny woods. The trees were tall and their dense branches pulsed with unnatural neon-colored energy, like lightning in the tree tops. The sky was dark over the Market, as if it was prepared to storm.

  Asa stumbled as he landed on dried grass. Suddenly, he had a warm and physical body again after being pure energy, and he felt oddly substantial and disoriented. A firm hand on his shoulder steadied him, which Asa instinctively tried to shake off, but the hand wouldn’t budge. When he looked up, he saw Rose. Rose had a frown on his face, as if he was already unhappy to see Asa.

  "You're late," Rose said shortly. “Again.”

  Asa reflexively protested before checking the time on his holo visor—he was late. Perhaps the time in the nexus had been longer than Asa thought. He could feel the pull of energy coming from the demon, as the demon tried to replenish his stores. The demon was a heavy weight in Asa's arms, blinking sleepily up at Asa when Asa glared at him. "Don't take too much energy," Asa chided.

  "Then you can get back to the Station on your own," the demon sniffed before hopping to drape itself around Asa's neck like a scarf and settling in with a little sigh.

  When Rose removed his hand, Asa felt oddly light-headed. He rubbed his hand over his face, trying to ground himself. Rose smacked his shoulder with a—protein bar, Asa saw, as he took it from Rose on reflex. "Eat," Rose said.

  "I literally just ate breakfast," Asa argued, even as he was peeling open the protein bar.

  Rose shot him an incredulous look. "You were the Head Apprentice at the House," Rose said. "You've got a demon to support now."

  "So?" Asa said, taking a bite of the dry protein bar. It tasted terrible but also kind of amazing since he was—actually really hungry.

  "So shouldn't you already know what happens when you're contracted to a demon?" Rose said. "Where do you think the energy you're giving the demon comes from?"

  Asa felt as his face flush as he finally realized why he had been feeling so off since he and the demon had bonded. When he looked back over the last day or two, he knew he wasn't eating enough to energetically support a demon. "Oh," Asa said.

  "You're an idiot," Rose said, sounding judgmental. "Now come on, we're wasting time. Let's go."

  Then Rose turned and strode off toward the Black Market.

  "What a jerk," Asa muttered under his breath before hurrying to follow Rose.

  There were at least four Gates that led into the Black Market. The Gate that they passed through was tall and made with purple-painted metal. A large digital black board sat at the top of the Gate, which detailed today's specials in red blinking print. It was like one of the digital boards in the Station hangars that gave information on arrivals and departures of space ships—but the Gate’s digital board was much larger and in many more languages.

  Asa had never seen a holo movie feature the Black Market, and he had watched a lot of holos in the past two years. The Black Market was packed with tall kiosks that advertised all kinds of wares, from food to magical objects to different kinds of services. Narrow corridors snaked in between the vendors, which were crowded with entities: demons, robots, humanoids. Asa had only left the Station once as a kid, and he had forgotten the over-stimulating press of bodies that crowded the Black Market.

  PQ-9 beeped in alarm as Rose became swallowed up by the crowd.

  Rose hadn’t even looked back to see if Asa was following him. Asa hurried after Rose, PQ-9 clinging to his hair, his neck over-heating from the weight and warmth of the demon. The fence that surrounded the Market was topped with glowing amber lights, which did little to illuminate in the gloom. Rose wore a pastel pink sweatshirt, which made it easier to spot him among all the entities that were dressed in darker colors. Most of the venros were robots, but there were some humanoids as well. Rose’s magenta hair also stood out among the monotone metal colors of robots, which was the only reason Asa was able to catch up to him. Asa grabbed Rose’s sleeve to avoid losing him again, holding on even when Rose tried to shake him off.

  This book's true home is on another platform. Check it out there for the real experience.

  “You’re moving too fast,” Asa complained.

  “Then keep up,” Rose said, irritated, but he gave up on dislodging Asa. He led them deeper and deeper into the winding paths of the Market, as the market stalls became larger and larger—and became tents. There were very rarely demon vendors, as the robots had a monopoly on the Market. There was really only one exception, but even Rose wasn't reckless enough to make deals with—

  "Wait," Asa called out to Rose, as they headed toward the heart of the Black Market where the most popular vendors sold their goods. "Who are you trying to see?"

  Rose didn't answer.

  Red demonic lights marked the center of the Black Market, strung along the metal poles on each corner. When they passed these lights, Asa stopped and dug his heels into the ground, tightening his grip on Rose’s arm. The demonic lights gave Rose's back a strange glow—when Rose turned, the red lights reflected in his green eyes, casting shadows on his face.

  "Hey, I know you're not going to try to see Namah," Asa said. "Right?"

  Rose raised an eyebrow as if Asa was being ridiculous.

  Asa shook Rose's arm. "Because dealing with Namah would be a death wish, and I know you're not that stupid—"

  Rose knocked Asa's hand off his arm with a strength that Asa felt was totally unncessary. "That's why I'm bringing you," Rose said, flashing his ice prince smile before starting off again.

  PQ-9 played a small, sad violin sound.

  "Fuck," Asa said feelingly, rushing off after Rose.

  PQ-9 yelled loudly in Asa's ear as Asa dodged humanoids that were clogging up the paths to try to keep Rose in his line of sight. "Yeah, I know, I know," Asa said under his breath, knowing PQ-9 would still hear him.

  When Asa was a child and wanted to visit the Black Market, he had opted to disable PQ-9 because there was no way PQ-9 would have let him go. He had gotten into even more trouble with his mother—and PQ-9—for that. Mercenaries passed through the Market with frequency, and many of them were interested in human trade.

  The robots at the Black Market were mostly like NET—they were from before the the rise of humanoids on the Station, many of them wandering in from other time-lines. The Market itself was ringed by different nexuses, which marked the different Gates. These Gates guarded against the darkness of the forest, which had other entities that lived in an uneasy coexistence with the Black Market.

  Rose unerringly stopped in front of a scarlet red tent. Asa had great difficulty seeing inside the tent, even when he stopped closer and narrowed his eyes. There was just a dimness that made it hard to make out the slowly moving shapes inside the tent.

  It was Namah's shop: the shop of the witch-demon.

  "Are you kidding me?" Asa said, coming to an abrupt stop beside Rose. "You didn't actually make a deal with Namah, did you?"

  "Nope," Rose said, taking a step forward and then looking back at Asa to raise his eyebrows. "Not yet!" And then he vanished inside the tent.

  PQ-9 beeped shrilly as Asa followed Rose inside the tent, ducking his head under the top of the tent entrance. When Asa was inside, he saw that he didn’t have to slouch because the inside of the tent was much larger than the outside. The shop itself resembled an enormous, old-fashioned apothecary shop. The walls were lined ceiling to floor with books, just like Galatea’s office in the other time-line, and then there was a long wooden counter in front of a wall that stored medicinal tinctures and ingredients. Asa couldn’t help noticing the huge glass container of dried demon's blood next to a stack of parchment—all set to grind ink in order to sign demonic contracts.

  There was no one at the counter, but there was a little bell that Rose rang without hesitation.

  "Rose," Asa hissed. "What are you doing?"

  Even when they had visited the Black Market as children, they had never come here. Namah was humanoid, but she had such vast demonic power that it was almost like she was a demon herself. She had countless demon familiars that were rumored to be corrupted contracts—that she had power and authority over these demons such that she didn't even have to give them anything in return for their demonic power.

  Asa considered grabbing Rose and running. Rose was slightly taller and definitely more muscular, but Asa would have the advantage of surprise and desperation. But then a young woman about their age strolled around the corner of the shop to settle behind the counter. Her blonde hair was short, and she possessed flat gray eyes. She was smiling, but there was no feeling behind it. It gave Asa the creeps.

  “How can I help you?” she said.

  “I’m looking for Namah,” Rose said politely.

  “Who wants to know?” she said, smiling a little wider. Her canine teeth were a little more pointed than the average person’s.

  “I’m Ambrose Thorne,” he said, absolutely recklessly giving his name. Asa’s mouth opened immediately to scold Rose, but Rose stepped on Asa’s foot in a very ungentle way. Most people wouldn’t have been able to do any magic with someone’s name, but most people also weren’t Namah and Asa had no idea who this lady was but even with his restricted magic, he could sense—something. “And this is—”

  “—Asa,” Asa said coolly. “Just Asa.”

  “Hmm,” the woman said, tapping one long index finger against her mouth. “Asahel Rex?”

  Asa froze. “How do you know my name?”

  “Galatea Rex’s son,” she said boredly. “Of course I know who you are.”

  “How do you know my mother?” Asa said, bristling.

  Rose rolled his eyes and placed a hand on Asa’s upper arm, warning. “Don’t mind him,” he said. “He was definitely with raised manners, but it didn’t stick at all.”

  “You told her your name,” Asa hissed, shrugging off his hand. Even if this was Namah’s apprentice and not Namah herself, Asa was certain that Namah would find out.

  “She already knows my name,” Rose said, as if Asa was being ridiculous. “She knows everyone who works for the Red Seal Syndicate.”

  “Have you been here before?” Asa said, aghast.

  The woman behind the counter began to laugh. “You’ve heard a lot of unpleasant stories about me, haven’t you?”

  “So you are Namah,” Asa said suspiciously.

  “Guilty as charged,” she said, winking. She didn’t stop to let him respond to her confirmation that she was, indeed, the witch demon Namah. “Sure, I have many rare magical artifacts and books—but the most valuable thing I sell is information.” She looked at Rose from underneath her eyelashes. “What information have you come to trade for, Ambrose Thorne?”