Page 33 of A City of Hearts and Feathers (The Order of Anubis #1)

CHAPTER THIRTY-THREE

Z oe stood before the mirror in Kahil's bathroom and tried to fix her eyeliner for the third time. She shook out her hands to try and get rid of the nervous tremble out them. After tonight, she wouldn't have to worry about anyone coming after her. She hoped.

Zoe had spent the rest of the day in the library and had finished all the binding she had needed to. She had a plan. She just needed to keep her cool and see it through, no matter what. Kahil said he would support whatever she did, and Kerem and Arslan had echoed that sentiment.

"You're not alone," she told herself, and she actually believed it. She had been in Istanbul for a short time, but she felt like she finally had people around her who believed in her. If only her mother could have been there too. Zoe picked up her phone and shot her a text.

Zoe: The codex will be out of my hands tonight, and we won't have to worry about it again.

Mom: I hope so, for your sake, love. Watch your back. I don't want you trusting anyone until it's over.

Zoe: I won't. As soon as it's done, I'm going to find baba's killer.

No reply. Zoe let out a breath. She wouldn't avoid her father as a topic anymore, no matter how it upset Anita. She would find who killed him if it was the last thing she ever did.

There was a gentle tap on the bathroom door. "Zoe? You okay in there?" Kahil asked.

"Yes, I'm coming." Zoe finished her eyeliner, ran a hand over her black suit jacket and trousers, and opened the door. She was not ready for Kahil. "Oh, my stars."

"What? What's wrong?" he asked.

Zoe fanned herself. He was wearing a black-on-black suit, his hair in a braid and had a black and gold cloak over his shoulders. It was his official Order cloak with a stiffly molded hood shaped like the head of Anubis. He still managed to look feral around the edges with a gleam of violence in his eyes.

"Please tell me you're wearing the holsters," Zoe purred at him.

Kahil opened the side of his jacket and showed her. "I'm not taking any chances." He even had silver throwing daggers in the lining of his cloak.

Zoe bit her lip. "I don't know why, but I find that so damn hot."

Kahil's grin went deviant. "Come here and prove it."

When she reached him, Zoe went up on her tiptoes to kiss him. She sucked on his bottom lip as her hand palmed his dick through the soft fabric of his pants.

"Hey, none of that. I need to concentrate tonight," Kahil growled. He tapped her ass and gave it a squeeze. "Once we get back, I'm going to enjoy bending you over the nearest surface."

"Don't forget I have to go to the bookstore tonight to get the rest of my things," Zoe replied, biting her lip. "But there are plenty of things to be bent over there."

"Exactly."

They were interrupted by Kerem knocking on the door. "It's time."

"Coming," Zoe called and put her satchel bag over one shoulder. She opened it to triple check the book was tucked safely inside before taking Kahil's hand.

He kissed her fingers. "You have this, Zoe. We are with you."

"I know." Zoe almost told him she loved him again but held off. It would make her emotional, and she needed to focus. She reached deep down and pulled up the part of herself that dealt with difficult clients. She made her face blank and professional. She just needed to get through the next few hours, and everything would be okay.

In the courtyard, Arslan stood beside a seven-foot-tall man with black and red skin. He had elegantly pointed years, and when he turned, his eyes were like looking into two glowing coals.

"Ah, Zoe, say hello to my friend, Cyrus. He is an ifrit who will be transporting us tonight," Arslan said.

Cyrus smiled and bowed deeply. "Lady Kartal, it is an honor to meet you. I had many an engaging conversation with your father and remember him fondly," he said, his voice deeper than any Zoe had heard before.

"Nice to meet you too," she said, a fluttery feeling in her chest that seeing magic always caused.

Zoe knew deep in her bones that there was no way she would ever want to go back to a normal life in London after everything that had happened. Who would pass up meeting fallen angels, sphinxes, and ifrit on a regular basis? All of her childlike faith in myth and fairytales was back, and she wasn't going to lose it again.

They all linked hands and stood in a circle around Cyrus. Speaking in an ancient, long-forgotten language, his magic rolled out of him with small tongues of fire. Zoe gripped tight to Kahil, and Arslan and the world dropped away.

The Library of Celsus was located five hours from Istanbul, near Selcuk. It used to be the ancient city of Ephesus, and according to Arslan, it had been the traditional auction place since it was built in 117 CE. The fact that all that remained of the library was ruins and a facade was no reason to stop the tradition.

The site was glowing with warm lights that gave an eerie, ritualistic feeling to the place that raised the hair on Zoe's arms. People and creatures of all types were milling about tables covered in black cloths and holding drinks.

It had a slightly festive air, but there was a tense undercurrent. The light ones were eying up the dark and vice versa.

A long table stood at the front where Akamos sat at one end, magnificent in a blood red velvet suit. Lydia, wearing a peach-colored dress, sat at the other. Before the table was a large, black brazier that burned with fragrant woods Zoe didn't know the names of.

"Don't worry, Zoe. This is a neutral space. If they decide to fight it out, it won't be here," Arslan assured her. He produced four red roses from thin air and began to place them at the feet of the statues positioned in the facade.

"Who are they?" Zoe asked him.

"This is Sophia, the goddess of wisdom," Arslan said, setting down the rose. "Then there is Episteme, goddess of knowledge, Ennoia, goddess of intelligence, and Arete, goddess of excellence."

Kahil winked at Zoe. "It's always wise to honor the gods of the land you're standing on. Just to be on their good side for the proceedings."

"Damn, I should've brought flowers too," Zoe said, staring up at Sophia. She really could do with some wisdom right about then.

Zoe took a deep breath and tried not to think too hard about what she was going to say and do in front of this volatile crowd.

Kahil will forgive you. Stick to your guns and see this through, she told herself for the hundredth time. She was probably about to make a whole bunch of enemies, but she wasn't her father who made friends easily. She was just Zoe, and that would have to do.

The sphinx had been right; Zoe had looked inside to find her answers and finally knew what she had to do. She just had to have the courage to go through with it.

"You are going to do great," Arslan said, kissing her cheek. He lifted the Anubis head up on his cloak to cover most of his face and went and sat down at the place in the center of the table in between light and dark. The balance in human form.

Kahil squeezed her hand before he and Kerem lifted their own hoods and moved behind her to protect her back.

With shaking hands, Zoe pulled out the red folio and opened it so they could all see the hieratic script. It hummed with the magic she had asked Zeki's help to put on. The crowd went quiet, everyone's eyes turning to her.

"T-Thank you all for coming," Zoe said and tried to remember how to project her voice. "I know you have all waited a long time for my family to decide what to do with this Sais Codex."

"A decision that would have been sorted earlier if someone hadn't sent assassins after your father," Lydia interrupted, staring daggers at Akamos.

"Are you trying to accuse me of something, pet?" he asked, twirling the wine in his glass. "You have no proof of any assassination attempt, and I had no motivation."

Lydia scoffed. "You are evil. You always have motivation. Stop this debacle, girl, and I'll give you five million euros for the book."

"Tell her to go fuck herself, and I'll give you seven million," Akamos said, a glimmer of trouble in his eyes.

"Enough!" Zoe shouted, losing her temper. Arslan grinned form beneath his hood. "If you will all shut up for a moment, I'm trying to tell you that there will be no auction tonight."

The crowd started to murmur, and the serene smile slipped from Lydia's face. Her eyes filled with cold fury.

"What are you talking about, sweet Zoe?" Akamos asked.

Zoe held the book up. "Both light and dark have harassed, coerced, and attempted to kidnap me since I came to Istanbul. My father died for this book and one of you is to blame. The truth is I trust no one with the knowledge contained in this codex, so none of you will have it."

Before anyone could stop her, Zoe tossed the codex into the heart of the brazier. Lydia screeched, her followers racing forward to try and save it. Akamos's guards moved at the same time, and they all got in each other's ways so much that none of them got to it before there was nothing but ash and curling, burned leather.

Kahil grabbed Zoe's hand and pulled her out of the way. "Well, that got their attention."

Dark and light ones all turned their burning anger onto Zoe.

"You did say you'd support me," she squeaked out.

"Always and forever, my love." Kahil whistled loudly and suddenly cloaked figures appeared around the ruins, coming through the trees, standing along the walls around them and in the windows of the stone facade. The Order was out in force. Zoe's breath caught as howls echoed in a hunting chorus. Large wolves appeared to surround them, their glowing eyes all focused on the mob in front of them. Kahil had called in Septimus and his pack.

"Get them out of here!" Arslan commanded, rising to his feet and pulling his scimitar free.

Cyrus appeared behind Zoe and Kahil, and before either of them could stop him, the ifrit's magic burned about them and they were gone.