Page 17 of A City of Hearts and Feathers

"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."

CHAPTER NINE

Half an hour later, Zoe and Kahil were on the street and wandering back to the bookstore. She decided she needed to find an empty notebook to start writing down all the questions she had in it. Arslan had told her to return to the Order at any time, and Kerem promised to be checking in.

"I told you they would act like overprotective, old aunties once you met them properly," Kahil said.

"It's kind of nice to be honest. My mom did her best, but I've never had any adults in my life that actually acted like I needed to be protected," Zoe replied.

"That's kind of sad. What about friends?" he asked.

Zoe didn't know why he wanted to know, but she still shrugged. "I have people and colleagues in academia that I know and occasionally catch up with. After I broke up with my last boyfriend, I lost most of my friends."

"Why? Were they his friends?"

Zoe swallowed hard. "A lot of them thought I was in the wrong for wanting to leave him. They didn't see what an emotionally manipulative prick he was behind closed doors. When he came home one day and declared we had to getmarried, I broke up with him. He was furious and did as much damage as he could before he left."

"And what was his name?" Kahil asked. It was innocent enough, but there was an edge to his voice that he hadn't had a moment before.

"What does it matter?"

"I'm practically immortal. I have the time to make him a special project," he replied, completely serious.

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