It took me a moment to process this, and as I did, my mouth fell open. “Are you serious?”
He nodded.
But that meant…if he was only shielded by someone with an equal claim…“We’re not actually betrothed.”
He stared at me.
No. Ohno. The ring, the pomegranate. No wonder he had worked so hard to get me to accept the fruit. My stomach sank. “Weareactually betrothed?”
“At least fifty percent.”
What the hell. “I’d like to beunbetrothed. One hundred percent.”
He winced. “That’s more complicated. To deter demons from entering betrothals casually.”
“Complicated?” Daziel was making it sound like betrothals for demons were magical bindings. My breathing came faster. “How complicated?”
Paz cheeped, nervous-sounding, and squirreled himself away down the back of Daziel’s collar while Daziel scratched his ear and examined the ceiling. “Can I get back to you?”
I was going to wring his neck. “And there’s effects to being betrothed?Magicaleffects, like this location thing?”
“Several.” Daziel looked confused, as though this was obvious. “Depending on how far along the betrothal is.”
“Human betrothals don’t have magical effects,” I said from between gritted teeth, because apparently that needed to be clarified. “What are they?”
He shrugged. “Location-finding. Magic-sharing. Health-sharing—like with your hand.”
This was too much. I focused on the first bit, location-sharing—and blocking. “What were you going to do if some random girldidn’tclaim you were betrothed?”
“No plan.” He plumped up a few cushions, looking ready to go back to bed. “I just grabbed the opportunity.”
I closed my eyes briefly. “If I can’t break up with you on my own, how do we undo this betrothal?”
“We’ll have to get it signed off by one of our rabbis and one of yours. And have a court of law approve of the dissolution. And, uh, undergo a period of reflection where we perform ceremonies to help the magic untangle.”
I tried to convey, wordlessly, my renewed desire for neck-wringing.
“Or you can let me stay,” he said hopefully as he slid more horizontally into his blankets. “I’ll help you with schoolwork, I’ll fend off unwanted suitors, I’ll—I’ll clean!”
Nothing about this boy filled me with confidence he knew how to clean. “I told you, I’m not striking a deal with a demon.”
He rolled his eyes. “It doesn’t have to be a formal deal. It can be…an exchange of services. Your service: a place to stay and notending the betrothal immediately. My services: My brilliant company. Apartment-decorating. Fashion advice—”
Rude. “Thanks, I’ve got the picture.” I rubbed my forehead. Maybe I was so sleep-deprived I couldn’t think straight, but letting him stay didn’t sound so bad. Much easier than hunting down multiple rabbis and petitioning the court, which sounded exhausting. I was so busy with my classes and maintaining my grades for my scholarship…Maybe it wouldn’t hurt to wait until after the term was over to figure out how to untangle this. “Help studying, then. Flash cards and quizzing me on theory and language. Chores, maybe, if you don’t break anything.”
“I’m not going to break anything.” He sounded offended.
I thought about it. I could handle a roommate—I’d always shared a room with my sisters. A boy would be different, but he could stay in the living room.
Someone to clean, to run errands…no more unwanted suitors hunting me…
And a language tutor. Being taught by an expert…that was an edge scholarship students could rarely afford. I was good at languages, maybe even great, but so were many people here. If I wanted to win Professor Altschuler’s esteem, and a scholarship for a second year at the Lyceum, this could be an incredible opportunity.
Besides, it sounded like I didn’t have much of a choice until I found both human and demon clergy members and performed whatever ceremonies were necessary to untangle this magic.
Still, I hesitated. It might be wildly foolish, not to mention dangerous, letting a demon into my life.
“Please,” he said. Maybe he could see how I was on the edge,ready to teeter in either direction. “I can’t go home yet. I only just left. I haven’t seen anything. I won’t be a bother. You’ll barely know I’m here. Please. I don’t know if I’ll get another chance.”
