Page 27 of A City of Hearts and Feathers

"Zoe, can you wait for me outside for a moment? I need to ask Hasan a few things," Kahil said. He was looking about the shop suspiciously. Zoe gave Hasan a goodbye smile before stepping back out into the Bazaar.

What puzzles did you leave me this time, baba?She clutched the bag closer to her chest, her mind whirling.

Zoe was suddenly feeling too hot, the Bazaar stifling her with people and noise. She walked over to one of the water fountains and wet her hands before placing them on the back of her neck.

Music tinkled through the throngs of people, and Zoe's head tilted towards the sound. It was sweet and lilting like a lullaby, something she'd heard in her childhood and found instantlycomforting. She followed the sound, trying to find who was playing it.

Zoe moved through the crowd until she came to another archway leading outside. A woman was playing the guitar, and Zoe stopped to watch her pluck and strum. A man who had been leaning against the hood of a nearby cab came over to her.

"You look like you have had a hard day. Why don't you let me take you home?" he said with a warm smile.

"Okay," Zoe replied, the song still vibrating inside of her. She slipped into the back seat of the cab. She did want to go home, and the man seemed so nice to offer to take her.

"Are you enjoying being back in Istanbul?" the driver asked, his eyes looking in the review mirror at her.

"I really am. I love this city. I hated leaving it," Zoe said. The tune of the song was fading from her mind, and she fought to cling to it.

"Have you found the codex yet, Zoe? We are very interested in taking it off your hands. Such dangerous books like that really should be in the hands of the light, don't you think?" he asked, his eyes flashing orange in the mirror.

Ice cold fear dumped down Zoe's spine. The song was gone, and she was stuck in a cab. Where was Kahil?

"Where are you taking me?" she demanded, trying to open the window and the door. Locked. They were heading for the Galata Bridge again, the heavy lunch time traffic grinding them to a halt halfway.

"There's no need for you to be afraid, Zoe. I'm one of the good guys," he assured her. "I'm going to take you to talk to my boss. She is so lovely. You will like her. We aren't going to force you to give us the book. She only wants a chance to speak with you."

"So she decided to kidnap me? You could have come by the shop and made an appointment!" Zoe tried to wave at the driver in the car next to them. They looked straight through her. Shepulled on the cab's other door handle, panic drowning her. "Let me out. Don't do this!

"We aren't going to hurt you. Just relax," the driver said, putting the car in gear as the traffic started to move and began crossing the Galata Bridge.

Zoe dug in her bag for her phone, but the screen was dead. She needed to make a plan to get away as soon as the cab stopped again.

"If you let me go, I promise to meet with your boss at her earliest convenience. You don't have to kidnap me. I don't even have the codex!" she argued, banging on the thick plastic separating her from the driver.

"You know more than what you are saying. Don't worry, we will?—"

A motorbike roared around the cab and stopped on the bridge in front of them. The driver hit his breaks, and Zoe slammed back in the seats. Kahil got off the bike, walked over to the back door, and yanked it clean off its hinges. Zoe scrambled out of the seat, letting Kahil pull her close. "Stay behind me."

Zoe nodded, and Kahil went around to the driver's door, and pulled the cursing driver out by his throat.

"Did you not see the fucking mark on her forehead stating that she belongs to me?" Kahil snarled in the driver's face.

"We weren't going to hurt her, I swear! We just want to talk to her," the man said, clawing at Kahil's grip.

"That mark says you are to go through the Order for any requests, or do you not remember the fucking laws of this city? Everyone seems to be breaking the rules at the moment, and I've had enough," Kahil snarled.

"Let me go or my master will?—"

"Will what? Because I would like to give her a lesson in diplomacy too right now." Kahil pulled the man up onto his toes."Tell Lydia to go through proper channels and to never touch my things again, or I will pay her a visit she won't enjoy."

With that, Kahil threw the shouting man over the side of the railing and into the churning Bosporus below. Zoe's knees turned to jelly as her furious protector turned on her.

Car horns blared, and people shouted at them to move. Kahil ignored them all, grabbing Zoe by the hand and leading her to the stolen motorbike.

"Get on," he said, hot anger still lacing his voice. Zoe climbed onto the seat behind him and wrapped her shaking arms around him.

"Thank you," she whispered against his jacket, her words lost in the wind as they roared away.

CHAPTER FOURTEEN

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