Immortality. Tanith nearly laughed. Yeah, immortality if you were willing to die really painfully first, spend at least a year stuck, and then come back by possessing either a soulless reflection or skeletal remains. Yeah, she'd pass that offer by, thanks. She liked to think most people would, but... sorcerers were always looking for ways to live as long as possible.

She nodded once in response to Corrival, choosing not to correct him about her previous job. Yes, being a type of bodyguard paid the bills - or rather, paid for her motorbike - but it wasn't by any means all she did. And Tanith hadn't been very good at it lately, either, but she refrained from pointing that out.

There was something faintly ironic about having to protect China from potential attackers. China Sorrows, information broker and self-proclaimed neutral entity, master of the magical language and one of the most dangerous women to confront in battle, and she was reduced to nothing more than a librarian. Maybe her magic would come back, maybe it wouldn't. She would still be relying on Tanith for this little excursion. She and Solomon both.

This ought to be interesting.

Does this make me an official detective? Tanith wanted to ask. Does this mean I finally get paid? Honestly, probably not. It was enough of a certainty that Tanith didn't even bother asking the question out loud.

A carnival sounded like fun, though.

"As soon as you're ready," Fletcher replied, looking for all the world like he'd simply strolled into the room. Any of the awkwardness from just a few minutes ago was gone, as often happened whenever he got the chance to show off just how useful he really was. Tanith stepped over to Wreath at the same time as he did, and Fletcher blinked at her in surprise. "You're coming too?"

"Someone's got to make sure Wreath doesn't fall in love with China right there," she told him with a wry smile.