Isabella's grandmother sends her the clan library's Book of Tattoo Spells. A witch from Brazil sends her a curse that matches the parameters she wrote asking about.
"Hey, Kas," says Isabella, climbing up to the attic after fetching the mail and brandishing the latter. "Guess what Niada Ivakesi sent me."
"If I belonged to anybody," he murmurs, "it'd be you." Kisses. "And if I was gonna die, I'd want you to kill me." More kisses. "And instead you're gonna make me immortal," kisses, "and I'm gonna love you forever."
They are clearly out of character. Isabella abandons musing on the dagger and focuses wholly, utterly on the kisses and on Kas and on how glad she is that her brain works in this way and not in that other awful way that would have him dead now instead of loving her.
Kas is glad of that, too. Maybe not the same way, or to the same degree, but he is, he is. He loves her so much. What's taking his sweetie so long? Because they all need to be cuddling right now.
A dolphin leaps out of the water with something golden clutched in his beak.
The alethiometer drops into the boat. Petaal shifts to a glittering blue-green dragon and lands on Kas's shoulder, then shifts witch and hugs him from behind.
"Hey you," mumurs Isabella, grinning. "You missed the show. Pity I didn't take a little longer about chasing you guys."
"Definitely," says Petaal. She steps around Kas, switching sex as she does, and opens her arms to Isabella. "C'mere, you, I want kisses."
Yep, that's just about perfect. Especially given where Petaal and Isabella are headed.