Tanith

Tanith winced as a doctor applied a stinging liquid to her cuts. The fight with the Black Cleaver had left her with no spectacular injuries, but a collection of bruises and cuts that could rival Saracen Rue's. She wasn't feeling good.

The doctor finished bandaging her arm and stepped back. "Don't take them off for a few days," she told Tanith. "Just to be sure."

She nodded mutely and the doctor moved off. Sighing, she lay back on the bed and closed her eyes. Ghastly's face appeared in her mind's eye, and she had to bite her lip to stop it from trembling.

He was dead. He was dead and Erskine Ravel was the one who killed him. Of course, now Ravel was dead, with Skulduggery sacrificing him to the Accelerator, but that did nothing to dull the pain. He was dead, and she hadn't even known it for months afterward.

She wondered where they would be if that Remnant hadn't have taken up residence inside her. Engaged? Still dating? They were sorcerers, they lived a long time, and maybe taking it slow would have been the way to go –

A tear escaped from her shut eyes. She missed him. She missed him so badly it was almost unbearable. Who else had died while she was possessed she thought grimly.

She sat up and looked around. Tanith wasn't about to let grief swallow her. She would grieve, how could she not, but she would be productive about it, at least.

She saw Dexter lean in and kiss Saracen at the end of the room, and allowed herself a small smile. Even in the carnage and destruction and pain, people could still find love. That was a heartening thought, even if it was slightly cheesy.

China Sorrows approached her, parting the crowd like the Red Sea. Even after all that had happened, she still dressed impeccably. Her dress was plain yet tasteful, and her heels were sensible. They matched, of course.

"How are you, Miss Low?" she asked, taking in the bandages covering her arms. China still looked pale from her assault on the Black Cleaver, but she wasn't letting it get her down. How typical.

Tanith shrugged. "Fine now, I guess. Still shaken up about-" She choked on his name.

"Ghastly," China finished softly. "That is to be expected. You have been out of commission for the best part of three years, after all."

She nodded, not trusting herself to speak. Every single time she thought his name, her gut twisted painfully. It made her nauseous, and it made her want to cry. She felt herself slump slightly, and forced herself to straighten her back. She would cry later, she promised herself.

"You proved yourself brave beyond measure," she was saying. "And now that we have a vacancy for the position of my bodyguard, I am sorely tempted to offer you the position. Would you care to accept?"

Tanith looked at her for a moment and thought about the offer. She hadn't really got anything else to do, and this could be a challenge. Still – her thoughts flickered to Val and Skulduggery. They could still be a team. Beating the bad guys, averting disasters, just like the old days. But – but it wouldn't feel the same without him.

"Will it be boring?" she asked.

China gave a delicate shrug of her shoulders. "Possibly. But you would still be able to go on adventures and suchlike when the world isn't in danger. You will not be tethered to my side."

She found herself smiling slightly. "Yeah, go on then. Why not."

China gave her a heart breaking smile. "Well, that is good news. Oh, and before I forget –" She placed a parcel that Tanith hadn't even realised she was holding on the bed. "Elder Bespoke had these ready for you before his death," she said gently. Through the pain of remembering him, she was surprised that China could even sound gentle.

China had gone when Tanith had looked up from the parcel. She glanced around, then picked it up and undid the string that held it together.

Clothes. Ghastly had made her clothes before he had died. Tears blurred her sight, but she forced them down to look at them. Brown leather. Of course it was. A long coat. New boots. And on top of all that, a note.

Her heart beat a frantic rhythm as she picked it up. Her hands were shaking.

Tanith, he had written.

These were made for you just days before the Remnant got inside of you. I had planned to give them to you after that whole drama was over.

But I didn't.

Instead, you were possessed, and I was alone. So I saved them for you, and when I became an Elder, left them with instruction to be given to you when you were returned to yourself again. If that should ever happen.

I'm sorry we never got to have that steak. I think we missed out on a lot together. But I am glad that we knew each other, at least.

I hope that you're reading this as yourself. I miss you.

Ghastly.

Tanith bowed her head, and allowed the tears to fall.