Page 8 of A City of Hearts and Feathers (The Order of Anubis #1)

CHAPTER EIGHT

" I told you she would come," Kahil said, breaking the silence and sitting down on the cushions by the table.

Zoe didn't know what to do, so she stammered nervously, " Merhaba , Arslan."

"Good morning, Zoe. Please sit and have tea with me," Arslan said, gesturing at the cushions beside him. His voice was as ancient and strong as the stones around them. It was a storyteller's voice, but it had the commanding edges of a general's.

Zoe swallowed hard and obediently sat, folding her hands in her lap. Arslan smiled at her, studying her face with the same intensity she would a broken manuscript.

"You have Oman's eyes and his love of books I am told," he said, and gestured to the pots of tea on the table. "I wasn't sure if you would want mint or pomegranate at this time of day, so I made both."

"Pomegranate would be lovely. I haven't had it since I was a child," she said, her voice still a little shaky. Kahil lifted a pot and poured her out a glass of the violently magenta tea.

"I haven't seen you so polite since we met, Zoe," he teased her. "Arslan isn't so scary once you get to know him. Did I tell you she threw a rolling pin at my head?"

Arslan chuckled. "Knowing you, you were probably being mouthy, and I have no doubt you deserved it."

"He knows you so well," Zoe said, sipping her tea. It was sweet and delicious. It reminded her so much of her childhood. She had been too young for caffeine so Oman would make it for her when he fixed his own pots of tea. It always made her feel included and important.

"After five hundred and seventy years, I know him far too well," Arslan said, making Zoe suck the tea down the wrong way and choke on it.

"Oops. She doesn't know about that yet, Arslan," Kahil chided his master.

Arslan made a disapproving sound in the back of his throat. "I thought you said you told her about us?"

"I told her enough to get her here without an argument. She would have thought I was lying if I said that the Order's initiation meant going through magical and physical changes," Kahil argued back.

Zoe was looking between them like they were both crazy. They seemed to be having a silent discussion involving intense glaring with their golden eyes.

"Are you two related? Your eyes are the same," she said suddenly, and they both broke off staring at each other to stare at her.

"It's a side effect of the process. I'm Arslan's second failed experiment," Kahil told her.

"Kahil…"Arslan sighed his name like he was tired of the argument.

Kahil piled Turkish delight, baklava, and small almond cookies onto a little plate and set it down in front of Zoe. "Have some sugar. It will help you feel better."

"I doubt that."

Kahil filled his own plate of treats. "Sugar always helps."

Zoe bit into one of the almond cookies to be polite. "If you're the second failed experiment, who was the first?"

"I was," Arslan said simply. "I don't know if you wish to talk about the Order when there are more pressing matters like the problem of the missing Sais Codex." He waited for Zoe to reply, but she had no idea what to say.

Finally, she said, "I want to know about the Order, and if Kahil is really that old."

"Kahil is that old because members of the Order are changed by ancient alchemy to make us as strong and as fast as other supernatural creatures. Everything else about the Order, I will be happy to explain another day. I worry that we will overload you if we try and tell you too much history at once," Arslan replied kindly.

Zoe swallowed the rest of her biscuit. "I saw a vampire last night, and Kahil fought it off easily. It makes sense that you are all made a bit different. That alchemy could change your physiology like that is so fascinating." Zoe shook her head to stop the spiral she was about to go down. "Sorry. I'm getting distracted again. The missing book of baba's is more important because I don't want to be worried about vampires trying to bite me the whole time I'm in this city."

Arslan topped up her tea. "You can come and visit me again for tea and conversation any time you wish. We can talk about the Order then, I promise. There is much we need to explain to you, and I think you would enjoy the library."

"You have a library?" Zoe asked, brightening up. She could only imagine the books an order so ancient would have.

Kahil wagged his finger at Arslan and tsked. "Telling her about a library is cheating, old man. We have to keep some things a secret to lure her back here."

"Most of the cistern is a library, my dear," Arslan said, ignoring Kahil completely. "I suppose you will have to look through the bookstore first before you have time to explore our collection properly. Know that you are welcome to visit whenever you wish."

"Thank you. I would love to come and see you again," Zoe said, giving him a warm smile. "I am overwhelmed by all of this, but as I told Kahil this morning, my curiosity seems to be greater than any fear I have."

"That is a good place to be. You have nothing to fear from us, Zoe. We will protect you while you hunt for the book. Do you have any idea where Oman might have hidden it?" Arslan asked.

Zoe took the letter out of her pocket and passed it to him. "I only have one clue that I found this morning. If you hold the page to the light, there is hidden writing on it. It's Coptic, and I have no idea what it says."

Arslan studied the letter before holding it up to catch the light of the chandelier above them. "In English it says, 'Princess or prince, which was more lovely?'"

"What? That makes no sense," Kahil complained.

"It's not meant to make sense to you," Arslan replied and handed Zoe back the letter. "Any ideas coming to you?"

Zoe shook her head. What princess? What prince? Something niggled at her, but she couldn't pin it down. "Let me think about it. I was only ten when Dad died, and I haven't thought about that time with him in detail for many years."

"Don't force it, Zoe. It will come to you, or Oman wouldn't have left it for you to figure out," Arslan assured her and patted her arm with his big paw of a hand.

"And while she is figuring it out, I think we need to make our protection of Zoe official," Kahil said, his expression darkening. "That alukah wasn't as careful as he should have been, and unless we claim her, either side will try to turn her. We need to make a proper contract, Arslan, so that no one can dispute it."

"A proper contract? I have no money to pay for bodyguards," Zoe argued, and she didn't know how she felt about anyone being around her permanently either.

"I know a trick with money." Kahil gestured a hand at her impatiently. "Do you have a 1 Euro coin on you? I want to show you something."

"I don't know, maybe." Zoe fished around the back pocket of her handbag, producing a pile of change. She passed over a 1 Euro coin. "There. What's this trick?"

Kahil inspected the coin, flicked it into the air with his thumb before catching it, putting it on the table, and sliding it across to Arslan. "I accept the payment of 1 Euro to officially act as the protector of Zoe Theodora Elizabeth Kartal until the Sais Codex is found and dealt with."

"I'll summon Kerem to bring the paperwork," Arslan said, picking up the coin and fighting not to smile.

Zoe spluttered. "What? I didn't agree to that!"

"That's why they call it a trick, balim ," Kahil replied with a cheeky grin.

Zoe shut her mouth with a click before she hissed, "You are so annoying."

She was still cursing under her breath when Kerem arrived with papers in his hand. His hair wasn't swept back in a style, and with his curls wild around his face, he appeared even younger.

"Zoe, I'm so happy you are here," he said with a wide smile and sat beside her. "And that you have agreed to let the Order help you."

" Agreed isn't the word I would use," Zoe replied, stuffing a piece of Turkish delight into her mouth. The rose water and sugar hit her tongue, and she felt a little better. Kahil was right about the sugar too, and it made her even more frustrated.

"She paid me fair and square. Arslan has the fee. We just need you to do the paperwork, little brother," Kahil said smugly and relaxed back in his cushions like a well-fed caliph.

"Is he always like this?" she asked Kerem.

"For as long as I have known him. Just keep throwing rolling pins at him until he learns," he suggested, smoothing the papers out on the table. He produced a fountain pen and started filling in the gaps of the contract.

Zoe tried not to stare at him but couldn't help herself. If Kahil had been telling the truth, Kerem was her godfather. It was a strange feeling, especially because he didn't look much older than her.

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

"How come your eyes aren't gold too?" she said. It wasn't the time to ask about the godfather business.

"It's because he was Arslan's first successful experiment, isn't that right, little brother?" Kahil called from his mound of cushions.

Kerem shot him a glare. "Arslan should've left you for Mehmet to deal with." Kahil only cackled and said something to him in Italian.

"What's going on?" Zoe asked, looking between them.

"The children are fighting again," Arslan replied. He poured her more tea. "Ignore them, little one. They get like this when the city is tense."

Zoe laughed softly. "Are there any women in the order or is it just bickering men?"

"Of course there are women. We need some people around here with some common sense." Arslan winked at her.

"I have lots of sense," Kerem argued and handed the paperwork over to Zoe. "Sign here please, Zoe."

Zoe's eyes went to Kahil, who still looked far too smug. "I'm going to read it first."

"Don't you trust me?" he asked innocently.

"Not even a little," she lied.

Kahil's mismatched eyes glowed hot. "I will have to work on that, balim ."

Zoe quickly looked back at the pages, her neck going hot. Damn him.

"Remember what I told you yesterday about what I would do with your pretty eyes, brother," Kerem said to Kahil, not bothering to hide the threat in his voice.

Zoe ignored them and focused on the contract in front of her. It amounted to exactly what Kahil had said—full protection by himself and the Order until the Sais Codex was recovered, and it was either sold or destroyed. Zoe hated the idea of destroying anything that old, but she supposed that it had to be an option to consider. She wasn't about to sell it to anyone that could use it to harm others, and if what Kahil said was true, it could be used to create an army of the dead.

You need to find it first, she reminded herself.

Zoe took the pen from Kerem and stared at Kahil. "Don't make me regret this." She signed her name before she could chicken out. Kahil only smiled sweetly at her. She needed the protection, and she knew it.

"Now that is done, there's only one thing left to do," Arslan said and took a small clay vial from his pocket. He unstopped it and tipped some sweet-smelling oil onto his index finger.

"What kind of oil is that? "she asked.

"It's mostly blue lotus and a few other things. This mark will ensure that both light and dark know that you are under our protection officially. They will see it, though no one else will." He pushed back her bangs and sketched something onto her forehead with the oil. Bubbling warmth spread through her, like she had lowered herself into a hot spa.

"It is done," Arslan said and smiled at her. "No one will dare touch you now."

"Thank you," she replied and then looked over at Kahil. "I'm still not letting you into the bookstore."

Kahil's eyes went hot again. "We'll see about that."