Page 40 of A City of Hearts and Feathers

Zoe had the sudden urge to tell her to go fuck herself. Instead, she slipped her arm around Kahil's waist. "It is also none of your business. What does your boss want?"

Sarah's smile slipped. "She wants to meet you, Zoe. She has been friends with your family for a very long time and wants tosee the latest bookstore owner for herself. To get your measure, if you like."

"Don't lie to me. She wants the Sais Codex like everybody else. I'm not going to just give it to her because she asks me for it," Zoe replied. Kahil gave her hip a slight squeeze of warning. "But still, I will be happy to come and meet with her."

"That would be a wise decision. You have no idea how this city really works, where power really lies. It might be good for you to get some perspective on who the right people are to trust and cultivate friendships with." Sarah looked down at their embrace again. "You know how the saying goes about getting fleas if you lay down with dogs."

With that parting barb, she turned and walked away. Zoe took one step after her, but Kahil held onto her tight.

"It's not worth your energy,balim," he said softly.

Zoe took a deep breath and then another. The woman in the purple dress was already gone, disappearing like a mirage in the crowd of people. "I really don't like her."

Kahil smiled down at her, and some of her anger disappeared. "If I didn't know better, I would say that you were marking your territory just now."

"You are my bodyguard. I didn't like the way she looked at you or talked to you," Zoe huffed. His smile grew even smugger until her face turned red. "What?"

"I adore this possessive side of you. Now, let's go and look at this column," he said. He didn't let go of her hand as they walked the rest of the way down the square, passing Theodosius's Obelisk.

Transported from Karnak in Egypt, the hieroglyphs on the obelisk spoke of the military victories of Pharaoh Tuthmosis III. It was strange to see a piece of Egypt so far from its original home just like it was to see a piece of Delphi.

Zoe took a few moments to admire it before moving to stand at the railing that overlooked the base of the Serpentine Column. Zoe frowned the longer she looked at it. There was no access to the base of the column, and there were no places around it where her father could have hidden anything. "Maybe I was totally wrong about the riddle's meaning."

"Tell it to me again," Kahil replied.

"'Triple-headed snakes dance high to watch the ground I grow.' There are only paving stones around a base that we can't get to even if we wanted to," she pointed out.

"Maybe you're not looking out further enough. I happen to know which way the original heads used to face," Kahil replied. He pulled her gently up against him, so her back was touching his chest. She struggled to focus as he pointed. "One looked this way." He maneuvered her to the right. "This way." He shifted again. "And this way."

There was a small island of trees and grass next to an information sign the shape of the obelisk.

"You don't think my father was crazy enough to put such an ancient book in the dirt, do you?" she gasped.

Kahil hummed. "The preservation spells he put on them were second to none. Dirt wouldn't bother them in the slightest."

Zoe still recoiled at the idea. She went over to the trees where a stray dog was sleeping in the sunshine. Kahil stepped over the small white fence and pulled a small plastic bag from his pocket. The dog thumped his tail happily and wandered over to him.

"What's that?" Zoe asked.

"Dry pet biscuits. I usually carry a bag wherever I go to lure the strays into letting me have pats," Kahil replied with a grin. He tipped some biscuits into his hand and offered them to the dog.

"That is the cutest thing I've ever heard," Zoe said with a soft laugh. She stepped over the fence to check the tree the dog hadbeen sleeping under. She ran her fingers over the bark before squatting down to inspect the grass at its roots. Her heart sped up as she spotted a small carved Z in the largest root.

"Kahil? I think I found something," she said and ran her fingers over it. Her skin sparked with static, and a wall came up around her. It was liked she was in a soap bubble. Kahil and the other pedestrians blurred on the other side of it.

"Zoe? Are you still there?" Kahil asked, looking about.

"Yeah, can you hear me?"

"Hear? Yes. See? No."

"I'm in a bubble of some kind," she said, trying to explain it.

Kahil kept patting the dog. "You must have tripped some kind of concealment spell. Keep looking."

Zoe searched the other roots until she found a carving with an K on it. She touched it, and the tree lifted the roots like a woman lifting her long skirt. Underneath them was a bundle wrapped in burgundy leather.

"Baba, you are crazy," Zoe whispered and pulled it free. She brushed the dirt from it, and the tree lowered its roots back down. Zoe walked towards Kahil, and the magic bubble popped around her. Kahil held out a hand to steady her as she stepped back over the fence.

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