Page 20 of A City of Hearts and Feathers (The Order of Anubis #1)

CHAPTER TWENTY

S ultanahmet Square was beautiful in the golden afternoon sun. Zoe and Kahil got out of the cab near the park's entrance where barriers had been erected to guide the lines of tourists and worshippers into the Hagia Sophia.

As they walked, Zoe tried to imagine how it would have looked as the Hippodrome with its stone seats for spectators and the loud pounding of horses hooves and cheers of the crowd. Kahil guided her around the crowd of people and food carts and further into the square itself.

"I don't know what my father was thinking if he decided that this would be a secret, out-of-the-way place for part of the codex to be hidden in," Zoe said as they crossed the smooth paving stones and headed towards the Blue Mosque.

"Maybe Oman imagined that everyone else would think it a crazy idea as well and never bother to look here," Kahil replied. He was wearing his sunglasses, but Zoe noticed the way he scanned the crowd, like he was always looking for the threat that would jump out at them.

"What's wrong?" she asked, feeling paranoid.

"Nothing. I just don't trust that you're not going to be approached today at least once. With the way everyone's been acting, all bets are off. The next rude person is really going to regret it," he replied. His attention snagged on a woman dressed in a purple maxi dress, and he stopped walking. "What did I tell you?"

The woman strode confidently towards them, smiling like she knew them. There was something about her that made Zoe's hair stand up on the back of her neck.

"Zoe Kartal, it is nice to finally meet you. I am Sarah," she greeted before purring at Kahil. "War dog, always a pleasure to see you out and about." She stared at Kahil in a way that made Zoe want to stand in front of him to protect him from her lecherous eyes.

"Priestess, can we help you with something?" Kahil asked.

"Lydia would like an audience with you both. She asks that you meet her tomorrow at the temple at sundown. She isn't amused that you threw one of her acolytes into the Bosporus, naughty boy."

Zoe's hand found Kahil's, and she twined their fingers together. If this woman was like the cab driver that had enchanted her, Zoe wasn't going to risk being separated from him again.

"Really? I wasn't fucking amused that her acolyte thought it was okay to enchant and kidnap someone under the Order's protection," Kahil replied. His thumb brushed over Zoe's wrist, reassuring her.

The priestess looked down at their hands, and a snide smile stretched across her face. "My, my… Isn't that an interesting development?"

Zoe had the sudden urge to tell her to go fuck herself. Instead, she slipped her arm around Kahil's waist. "It is also none of your business. What does your boss want?"

Sarah's smile slipped. "She wants to meet you, Zoe. She has been friends with your family for a very long time and wants to see the latest bookstore owner for herself. To get your measure, if you like."

"Don't lie to me. She wants the Sais Codex like everybody else. I'm not going to just give it to her because she asks me for it," Zoe replied. Kahil gave her hip a slight squeeze of warning. "But still, I will be happy to come and meet with her."

"That would be a wise decision. You have no idea how this city really works, where power really lies. It might be good for you to get some perspective on who the right people are to trust and cultivate friendships with." Sarah looked down at their embrace again. "You know how the saying goes about getting fleas if you lay down with dogs."

With that parting barb, she turned and walked away. Zoe took one step after her, but Kahil held onto her tight.

"It's not worth your energy, balim ," he said softly.

Zoe took a deep breath and then another. The woman in the purple dress was already gone, disappearing like a mirage in the crowd of people. "I really don't like her."

Kahil smiled down at her, and some of her anger disappeared. "If I didn't know better, I would say that you were marking your territory just now."

"You are my bodyguard. I didn't like the way she looked at you or talked to you," Zoe huffed. His smile grew even smugger until her face turned red. "What?"

"I adore this possessive side of you. Now, let's go and look at this column," he said. He didn't let go of her hand as they walked the rest of the way down the square, passing Theodosius's Obelisk.

Transported from Karnak in Egypt, the hieroglyphs on the obelisk spoke of the military victories of Pharaoh Tuthmosis III. It was strange to see a piece of Egypt so far from its original home just like it was to see a piece of Delphi.

Zoe took a few moments to admire it before moving to stand at the railing that overlooked the base of the Serpentine Column. Zoe frowned the longer she looked at it. There was no access to the base of the column, and there were no places around it where her father could have hidden anything. "Maybe I was totally wrong about the riddle's meaning."

"Tell it to me again," Kahil replied.

"'Triple-headed snakes dance high to watch the ground I grow.' There are only paving stones around a base that we can't get to even if we wanted to," she pointed out.

"Maybe you're not looking out further enough. I happen to know which way the original heads used to face," Kahil replied. He pulled her gently up against him, so her back was touching his chest. She struggled to focus as he pointed. "One looked this way." He maneuvered her to the right. "This way." He shifted again. "And this way."

There was a small island of trees and grass next to an information sign the shape of the obelisk.

"You don't think my father was crazy enough to put such an ancient book in the dirt, do you?" she gasped.

Kahil hummed. "The preservation spells he put on them were second to none. Dirt wouldn't bother them in the slightest."

Zoe still recoiled at the idea. She went over to the trees where a stray dog was sleeping in the sunshine. Kahil stepped over the small white fence and pulled a small plastic bag from his pocket. The dog thumped his tail happily and wandered over to him.

"What's that?" Zoe asked.

"Dry pet biscuits. I usually carry a bag wherever I go to lure the strays into letting me have pats," Kahil replied with a grin. He tipped some biscuits into his hand and offered them to the dog.

"That is the cutest thing I've ever heard," Zoe said with a soft laugh. She stepped over the fence to check the tree the dog had been sleeping under. She ran her fingers over the bark before squatting down to inspect the grass at its roots. Her heart sped up as she spotted a small carved Z in the largest root.

"Kahil? I think I found something," she said and ran her fingers over it. Her skin sparked with static, and a wall came up around her. It was liked she was in a soap bubble. Kahil and the other pedestrians blurred on the other side of it.

"Zoe? Are you still there?" Kahil asked, looking about.

"Yeah, can you hear me?"

"Hear? Yes. See? No."

"I'm in a bubble of some kind," she said, trying to explain it.

Kahil kept patting the dog. "You must have tripped some kind of concealment spell. Keep looking."

Zoe searched the other roots until she found a carving with an K on it. She touched it, and the tree lifted the roots like a woman lifting her long skirt. Underneath them was a bundle wrapped in burgundy leather.

" Baba , you are crazy," Zoe whispered and pulled it free. She brushed the dirt from it, and the tree lowered its roots back down. Zoe walked towards Kahil, and the magic bubble popped around her. Kahil held out a hand to steady her as she stepped back over the fence.

"Your father was far better at magic than he let anyone believe," he said as Zoe showed him the bundle.

"I can't open it here. I'll get muck all over it," she replied, clutching the book closer.

"And every supernatural creature in the vicinity will feel its presence," Kahil added. He looked at the chewed-up earth around the tree's base where the roots had resettled. "I can't wait to tell Arslan about this."

Zoe was looking forward to getting home, washing up, and then unwrapping the treasure that Oman had left her. That idea went out the window as soon as Kahil opened the shop's door and found a black envelope with her name on it.

"Fuck," he whispered and bent to pick it up.

"What is it?" Zoe asked.

"Trouble. It would seem that the other side is trying to beat Lydia to you," he said, passing the envelope to her.

Zoe opened it and took out a card. It was an invitation for that night to a club called the Dionysian with an address in Ortakoy. On the back was written in silver ink:

Zoe,

Looking forward to making your acquaintance. Bring Aurelio with you,

Akamos

Zoe held the card up to Kahil. "I don't even know who Aurelio is?"

"It's me. Akamos is being a dick," he replied with a roll of his eyes.

"Okay, but I still don't know why baba's old chess buddy would want to meet with me, especially at a night club."

"He's not just Oman's chess buddy," Kahil said, trying not to laugh as he read the note. "He's the leader of the dark ones here in Istanbul."

Zoe swore. Of course he was. "Anything else I should know?"

"Probably a lot of things." Kahil passed her back the invite. "The most important thing is that you are going to need a dress."

Zoe really didn't want to go clubbing, but she knew they didn't have a choice. She doubted the dark would play stupid games like Lydia's followers. "I'll call Azi."