She swiped at his nose, claws out.

“Fine,” he said, flinching out of range. “The next shadow I bring for you will be a tortoise.” He softened the threat with a smile. “So, you want to know how I became the human named Ajit?”

She scoffed at him. “You were never human.”

“Oh, but I was. I am. Patience set it up for both Chance and me, but like you, I didn’t quite trust her, so I kept my wits about me.” He sighed. “That’s something I don’t recommend. There are good reasons humans forget what it is like to be small, helpless, and incontinent.”

Her claws retracted. “Do you mean it? You were born as a human? But I thought—”

“You thought there were only three ways for the undying to enter the mortal world. Ordinarily, yes. Chance and I were special cases, variants of the third way. Rather than shadowing existing human lives, we were born with human bodies and grew and developed independently like normal human children.”

“Not normal,” Miranda said. “How could you be normal, knowing what you had once been?”

The Trickster laughed shortly. “Chance had the advantage over me there. He kept himself half-aware, half-asleep. He trusted Patience. Or perhaps he didn’t, but he felt he could handle himself, even in a limited form.” He frowned slightly. “Maybe he even wanted to lose himself in forgetting.”

“If you were born human, but you’re here now as undying, where is your human self?” Miranda snagged the white linen he wore with her claws and tugged, not maliciously but experimentally, confirming that he was solid.

The Trickster shrugged. “Relative to the time you would be recovering in the hospital, I’m working with my father in another town and talking about going to study law and investigative processes. Relative to here and now—well, I am here and now. Bilocation is possible, but risky. It’s better to move with all your probabilities at once instead of spreading yourself too thin.”

“That undying one who attacked us—why is he using Walther Grey to kill people instead of just being born like you were?”

The Trickster closed his eyes, pondering. “I can’t explain it. I barely understand the theory of how amulets work. I know a lot depends on human choice. I also know that there are some events—both those in the past and those yet to come by human reckoning—that are already completed, and others that are waiting for a choice to be made. Change or thwart those choices, and you change the world—past and future.”

“There is no way I am going to understand that, is there?” She wagged her head in tired defeat. “Let me try another question. What do you think will happen to you when you die . . . as a human?”