Page 7 of A City of Hearts and Feathers (The Order of Anubis #1)

CHAPTER SEVEN

Z oe didn't expect to fall asleep that night with all the booze and excitement of the day. Surrounded by the smell of the sandalwood incense of her childhood, she was asleep as soon as her head hit the pillow. Her nightmares were always the worst on her birthday, but she woke with the sun coming through the curtains and hadn't dreamed at all. No paralysis either. It was a minor miracle.

Zoe tried to identify the warm feeling that was spreading through her and couldn't find the right words. It wasn't until she was in the shower that she realized the feeling was safety.

Living at the shop was the last time she'd ever felt like her parents were invincible and that all was right in the world. She pressed a hand to her chest, her heart aching. The wards her father had put up to protect her and the bookstore would keep her safe.

Don't forget the Order , she reminded herself. She didn't know when the tall, dark, and mysterious Kahil was going to turn up again. They hadn't set a time. She smiled when she remembered he couldn't get in the shop to hurry her up anyway.

"Magic," she whispered, thinking of the wards. "What else were you up to, baba ?"

It made Zoe think about all the things she would have learned if he hadn't died. She could understand Anita wanting to move away, but Zoe felt…robbed. It was the only word she could think of to describe it. She couldn't let her anger get the better of her or she would burn forever. She would deal with her mother when she could think straight again.

Zoe dressed in loose, black harem pants and one of the nicer sleeveless tops she had brought with her. Meeting the Grand Master of a mysterious organization seemed important enough to warrant some extra effort, so she did some understated makeup and clipped up her hair. It was going to be another hot and humid day, and she wanted to be prepared for it.

Zoe took out her father's letter again while she was waiting for her tea to steep. She wondered if he had been scared when he wrote it and given it to Kerem. Kahil had said he had been growing paranoid in his final days, and with good reason.

Standing in the morning sun streaming through the kitchen windows, Zoe felt a deep longing for Oman like she hadn't felt in years. She stroked his messy handwriting, wondering if he really would have been proud of who she had become. He would've understood her obsession with books at least.

As she began to fold the letter, the sun hit the blue paper, and Zoe paused. For a moment it looked like there was more writing on the page. She held it up to the sunlight and almost dropped it again in fright.

"No fucking way," she whispered. There were markings on the page written with something that only became clear when held up against light. The letters looked Greek but different. Coptic maybe?

Someone knocked on the door of the roof, and Zoe had a good feeling about who it was. She clutched the letter tight and hurried up the stairs to open it.

"Good to see you up and ready for the day, balim ." Kahil smiled down at her. He looked freshly showered, the top half of his long hair tied back in a knot. He was casually dressed in dark jeans and a short-sleeved T-shirt that stretched over his broad chest. In the daylight, he looked even bigger.

Kahil dangled a pastry bag at her. "If you let me in, I'll share my simit with you."

Zoe's stomach rumbled at the smell of the hot pretzel. Pastry was her weakness. "If you give me one, I'll show you the hidden writing I found on baba's letter."

Kahil's dark brows shot up. "What writing? And what do you mean by hidden?"

Zoe took a deep breath and stepped out from beneath the shop's wards. She had to go with him that day, so a small step of trust wouldn't hurt her. She hoped. Kahil's eyes lit up, knowing exactly what she was doing.

She fanned herself with the letter. "Simit first, then I'll let you look at it."

"Better be a good hidden message," Kahil replied and passed her one of the bread rings covered with sesame seeds. She gave him the letter.

"Hold it up to the sun," she said and bit into the ring. God, nothing beat hot bread. "It looks Greek or Coptic."

Kahil lifted the letter up and hissed out something in Turkish. "This is not only using the Coptic alphabet, but the language too, and I can't read it. I'm better with Ancient Greek."

Zoe stopped chewing. "You know Ancient Greek?"

"Don't you?" Kahil replied with a deceptively innocent smile. "What? You thought I was just good in a fight and a pretty face?"

"Definitely the good in a fight part. I'm surprised, that's all. You don't seem the type to nerd out over languages," Zoe admitted. She kind of hated that it made him instantly more attractive. He didn't need any help in that department, but now he was getting interesting.

"Just you wait, balim . You are going to find out all sorts of fascinating things about me today. Arslan wants to see you as soon as you're ready." Kahil folded up the letter and passed it back to her. "Bring that with you. He will know what it says and if it is important."

Zoe took a deep breath and said, "Is there any chance Arslan could be involved in baba's death?"

"What? No. Certainly not. Arslan mourned your father. None of the Order would have wanted to hurt him." Kahil frowned down at her. "Why would you even ask such a thing?"

"Because you spent last night telling me how everyone wanted the book! Your Order protects the balance, right? If the book was upsetting that balance and was going to mess it up even more, why wouldn't you want to take out the man responsible for that?" Zoe replied, refusing to back down.

"Because he was one of us! If we were going to destroy anything it would have been the book itself. Oman was innocent. We don't kill the innocent," Kahil said, voice dropping to a growl. She backed away from him, and he swore. "I'm sorry. My temper gets the better of me."

His voice was softer when he continued, "I know this all seems crazy, but you can trust us, Zoe. Your father stated that in the letter, didn't he? If he had suspected one of our Order, do you really think he would have told you to come to us? He cared about you more than any book."

"You're right, he wouldn't have sent me to you. I'm sorry, but I had to ask," she said, tucking the letter into her pocket.

"You were smart to ask. I'm a bit sensitive, but in your position, I would suspect everyone too," he replied and took out another pastry. "There are a lot of things you should fear in this city, balim . We aren't one of them."

"I really hope that's true," Zoe said and stepped closer to him once more. "My curiosity is outweighing my fear right now. I know I need help. I just…"

"You can't trust us fully yet." Kahil smiled, and the intensity of it made her stomach flip. "You are wise not to trust anyone, but I promise you after today, you will trust me so much that you'll let me in that bookstore."

Zoe munched on her simit. "It's going to take a lot to convince me of that."

"I'm not worried. Arslan could convince the moon to sing to him if he wanted to," Kahil replied. For some reason, Zoe knew he meant it literally.

Ten minutes later, Zoe grabbed her bag and shoes and met Kahil on the street outside of the bookstore. She was wearing her platform Doc Marten sandals and was still dwarfed by him.

Kahil lowered his aviators to stare at her feet. "Can you walk okay in those?"

"Yes. Why?"

"Because we are going on foot to the Order, and they look ready to break your ankles."

Zoe waved him on. "They are comfortable. Lead the way. I didn't realize that the Order was so close." Though it did explain why Kahil's long hair was still damp when he knocked on her door that morning.

"This is one of the oldest parts of the city. We were here when the Greeks still called it Lygos. The Order just renovated it as they needed to," Kahil explained as they walked. He led her around the row of small bollards that lined the paved footpaths and stayed between her and the street. It took her a few moments to realize that he was guarding her.

"Are we in some kind of danger?" she asked, looking about nervously.

"If anyone decides to attack you with me by your side, they are going to be the ones in danger," Kahil replied. "The fact that the alukah dared to jump you last night in our neighborhood tells us how desperate everyone still is for the Sais Codex to be found."

"Can't we tell them that I have no idea where it is?" she asked, dodging a stray cat.

"No one will believe it, and they will find a way to use you in ways…never mind. It's not going to come to that. I promise," Kahil assured her. His hand moved to rest on her shoulder as they crossed the narrow street, but he pulled it back quickly. "Sorry, I didn't mean to touch you without permission. It's just those shoes make me worry you're going to trip with the uneven paving stones."

"It's okay," she replied. It had been the briefest of touches, but Zoe could feel the heat of his fingertips through the soft cotton of her top. A part of her wanted the physical touch as reassurance that this wasn't some kind of dream; another part wanted to run in the opposite direction.

"Here we are," Kahil said and pointed to a church that was wedged between two other narrow buildings. The front facade was flanked with stone statues on either side. They looked like saints in ornately carved robes, except for the fact that each had the head of a dog. A triangle shaped mosaic crowned the top of the doorway and shone with a brilliant gold background. The dog-headed saint and another feminine figure stood in the center of it with sad, knowing eyes. She was carrying a pomegranate with a golden bee resting on it.

"Who is the woman?" Zoe asked, staring at her purple robe and golden crown.

"That is Sophia, the divine wisdom," Kahil replied and opened the carved wooden door for her.

Inside was cool, the chapel small but beautifully decorated. There were only a few rows of wooden pews for people to sit down in front of a tryptic altar piece of the saint and a black Madonna.

Beeswax candles were lit in metal stands lined with sand, and all the walls were painted with different scenes. Zoe studied one with pyramids in the distance, and the dog-headed saint walking along the Nile.

"These are beautiful," Zoe whispered, the hush of the chapel making her check herself.

Kahil smiled. "If you know how to read them, some of the images are heretically pagan. I'll point them out later if you like, but we better get a move on. Arslan is waiting."

"You are heretics as well as warriors?" she asked, raising a brow.

"Ah, sweet Zoe, we are so many things. There are worse things than being a heretic." Kahil opened another door to the left side of the altar, and they walked past a few offices before going outside again.

They were in the middle of a stone courtyard with fruit trees and plants growing in well-tended beds. There were alcoves with cushions to sit and enjoy the garden, and tables to read or study at. The buildings behind them were made of the same stone as the church.

Kahil followed her gaze. "These are our apartments where the Order members stay when they are home. There are only about ten of us currently in Istanbul. The rest are off on missions. We have places like these all over the world, and visiting members always have a safe place to stay."

Zoe had a million questions burning on her tongue, but she swallowed them down. She needed to focus on one mystery at a time or her brain would melt.

Kahil led her along the shaded walkways until they came to another stone statue of a dog headed man. Unlike the ones out the front of the church, this one was holding an ankh in one hand and a set of scales in the other.

"No one has guessed that this dog-headed saint was Anubis the whole time?" Zoe asked curiously

Istanbul was a city with many religions and had a long history of wars and conquests. The fact that a Byzantine era church was still in such a good shape and open to the public spoke more to her of the Order's influence than anything else.

"People see what they want to see. Also, no one outside the Order is generally allowed past the church," Kahil replied and turned the stone ankh. Zoe gasped as the statue slid away to reveal another open doorway and stone steps going down.

"This is so fucking cool," she said, eyes going wide.

Kahil laughed brightly. "If you think this is impressive, I'm about to blow your mind, balim ."

He went down into the darkness first and held a hand out for her. Zoe took it and stepped down through the doorway. The statue slid shut behind them, blocking out the bright sun. Her eyes adjusted to the lamps that lit the stairs above them, and she realized she was still holding his hand. It was warm and slightly rough and made hers feel tiny in comparison. Kahil ran a thumb over the inside of her wrist before dropping his grip on her.

"This way," he said and led her down the steep stairs.

Zoe could hear water dripping somewhere and classical music from a record player. "Are we in a cistern?" she asked, her voice bouncing off the stones.

"We are about to be. Very fancy cisterns," he replied.

They reached the bottom of the stairs, and Zoe found herself on a wooden walkway covered in traditional Turkish carpets. She glanced at the dark water beneath her as she crossed the bridge and was on stone once more.

Zoe covered her open mouth. The place was immense with high ceilings and tall pillars carved with snarling Medusa heads. Large bronze chandeliers hung from the roof, and antique incense burners were set in corners, filling the place with the smell of frankincense resin.

Kahil walked up a short flight of stone steps to where a sitting area was set up with a low table and surrounded by flat cushions to rest on.

A man was sitting at the table next to a hookah, a wide smile on his face. He had long silver streaked hair that was bundled into a knot and wore a clipped beard. Golden eyes shone out of an intensely handsome face with high cheekbones. He was broad, and even sitting, Zoe knew he would be tall when he stood.

Power and authority radiated off him in a way that made all the hairs on her arms stand on end. This wasn't just a man; this was a king.

This was Arslan.