Page 21 of A City of Hearts and Feathers

"Nothing. Arslan says it's definitely the codex we need to find, and he said to look for more clues that Oman might have left you."

"Okay," she replied, turning over another papyrus page. She had a dazed look in her eyes as she studied the pages, a small happy smile on her face. With the afternoon sun turning the apartment golden, Zoe seemed to glow, her hair like honey.

And I bet she tastes just as sweet.Kahil put cake into his mouth to deal with the sugar craving he was suddenly having. He needed to stop staring at her like he was a horny crow and she was the new shiny thing that had caught his attention.

Kahil focused on making the tea and not on his dick. They had enough problems to sort out, let alone getting that tyrant involved.

"Do you want tea over there?" he asked.

"And risk it spilling on the codex? No. I'll come to you." Zoe pulled the last section of the pages free and took off her gloves. She brought the gutted book of fairytales with her, placing it down on the counter before sitting on one of the barstools. "Did Arslan say what kind of clues I should be looking for?" She sipped her tea and flicked through the ruined pages. Kahil leaned back against the sink opposite her, as far away from temptation as he could get.

"It would be something only you would know, like the message in Coptic. It must be hidden in that book if he intended you to follow the trail to the next piece," he suggested.

"Let's start at the beginning." Zoe shut the book before opening the cover. She flipped through the first few pages that were still complete, pausing on the title page to brush her fingers over Oman's messy handwriting. "He wrote an inscription for me. I wish I would stop feeling like I was getting kicked in the guts every time I saw his handwriting."

"Grief is weird like that. I don't think it ever goes away. Not entirely," Kahil replied. How many people had he known and lost in the past five hundred years? Too many to count. Enough that he hadn't wanted to get close to anyone again for a long time.

Zoe frowned at the page, her fingers resting over the date. "This isn't right. Oman had been reading this book to me for months before his death, but this date on the dedication is for only a few days before he died."

"Maybe he forgot to inscribe it when he bought it?" Kahil said.

"No,babaalways said that writing dates and your name into your personal books was important because it helped to connect you to what you were feeling the first time you read it. He would have never used the wrong date," Zoe argued with a shake of her head.

"So it might not be a wrong date but an important one." Kahil walked back into Zoe's childhood bedroom and grabbed the organizer she'd left on the bed. He passed it to her. "Here. He's yourbaba, and I don't want to overstep."

"You're not. I didn't even think of the organizer." Zoe opened it and began to flick through the loose-leaf pages. She found the day and time written down and frowned.

"'Met with Hasan regarding recent carpet shipment', and there's a name of a shop and some numbers?" Zoe said, turning the organizer to show him.

Kahil recognized them immediately. "That is a shop in the Grand Bazaar."

"Do you think he's still there? We can go right now and see him," she said, rising out of her chair.

Kahil put his hands on her shoulders and gently pushed her back down. "Not until tomorrow morning,balim. It's too late to go to the Bazaar tonight."

"The sun has barely set, and they are open until 7 p.m.. I remember that much," Zoe argued.

"The Bazaar at night doesn't belong to the light or the neutral. It belongs to the dark. I'm not going to risk taking you there like a delicious snack served up on a platter," Kahil replied. He let his hands slide off her shoulders. "Trust me on this, Zoe. We can go tomorrow. You already found part of the codex today. Take the win, hmm?"

Zoe sighed. "Okay. I suppose there are plenty of other books downstairs for me to explore. What are you going to do?"

"I'm going back to the Order for some gear and to buy something to make dinner. You barely have anything in that fridge," he replied.

"You can cook too? Maybe I won't mind this bodyguarding thing after all." Zoe smiled and ate a mouthful of cake. She fluttered her long, dark lashes at him. "Tell me you clean, and I might have to marry you."

"And you would be very lucky to have me," Kahil teased back. He didn't like the way his heart skipped a beat at that eyelash flutter and the fake proposal. "Is there anything you don't eat?"

Zoe shook her head. "When someone else is taking care of me, I will eat whatever they put in front of me."

"I'm definitely going to take care of you,balim," he promised. It sounded a bit too much like innuendo, so he quickly added, "It's a part of the contract."

Zoe finished her tea and got up. "If you say so. Can you buy more simit? You might be able to live off sugary treats, but I want something savory to snack on." She went back to the dining table where the stack of codex pages were, already preoccupied.

"Don't leave the shop while I'm gone, no matter what," Kahil said. Zoe murmured something that sounded like an agreement.

Kahil headed for the stairs. Maybe getting some fresh air that wasn't laced with her sultry perfume would be a good thing.

CHAPTER ELEVEN

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