Page 63 of A City of Hearts and Feathers

Zoe was still caught up on Kahil being in love with her, so to suddenly find herself standing amongst books almost sent her sprawling again. There was no water flowing in this area, but the same wooden walkways wound up to higher shelves. Rows upon rows of shelves were crowded with leatherbound tomes, jars, scrolls, and artifacts.

Zoe's hand rested on the stone wall, her breath gone from her lungs. There had to be millions of books in that one room. The domed roof above her was a dazzling Byzantine mosaic of male and female figures sitting upon thrones.

"Who are they all?" she asked, staring up.

"They are the guardians of the underworld from multiple mythologies. Some are coupled, some are not. All are judges of the soul," he replied, pointing at the one over the doorway. "Here we have Anubis and his consort Anput. Working in a clockwise direction, there is Hades and Persephone, Christ and Sophia, Erishkigal and Nergal, Hel, Serapis, Dharmaraja, Rashnu…"

Zoe stared in wonder as he named them. It was beautiful, but all their eyes on her made the hair on her arms rise. "They are rather intimidating, aren't they?"

Arslan chuckled. "Only to those scared of dying. I find the gods having their eyes on me rather comforting to be honest. This way." He started walking through the shelves, and Zoe had to hurry to catch up so she didn't get distracted.

They went into another cavernous hall, and this time the murals had changed to gods of knowledge and writing. On the mosaic above her read, "As Above, so Below" next to Hermes and Thoth. She reluctantly tore her eyes away, otherwise she would have been there for hours.

Arslan showed her to an area of study nooks. A few other Order members were there, engrossed in piles of their own research.

"Here we are. Will this be a big enough space for you to work at?" Arslan said, gesturing to a table and placing her kit down on it.

"Yes, thank you." Zoe took out the red leather folders and placed them in a stack. "I was going to ask your thoughts on the preservation enchantment my father placed on these covers. Is there a way to keep the magic on them?"

Arslan picked up the top folio. It was the one they had found at the bathhouse and was far too big for the half an inch of papyrus that was inside of it. Zoe figured it was the cover Oman had made for the completed book.

"I can feel it, but it's not a preservation spell that I am familiar with. It feels like your uncle Zeki's work. Why don't you ask him to look at it once it's all bound back together?" Arslan suggested.

"I will. If he helpedbaba, I don't see why he wouldn't help me." Zoe nodded at the pile of folios. "I'd let you read it if you wanted to."

"I know, darling, but it's not the time for that. I fear the alchemist in me would get too curious and not be able to part with it. Better to stay away from temptation, don't you think?"Arslan replied with a fond smile. "Thank you for the offer. I'm going to be working in this section over here if you need anything."

"Thank you, Arslan. For everything," Zoe replied, pulling up a chair.

"You're welcome, little one." Arslan headed off into the stacks, leaving her alone with the pile of work in front of her.

Zoe put on her work gloves and opened the first folio. She couldn't read the book, but she figured Oman would have hidden the pieces in the order which they went in. She pulled out her tools, setting them up in their proper place for when she needed them. Her hand paused on the replica book that had been with her jewelry box.She had forgotten about it in all the excitement of the past few days. She put it to one side. She didn't know what to do with it either.

Zoe rummaged in her bag until she found her phone and was surprised she had any reception at all. It was just another miraculous thing about the Order. She found her conversation with Azize and typed out a message.

Zoe: Could you ask your dad if he helped baba with preservation spells on red leather covers? If yes, can you see if he would be willing to help me with something similar?

Zoe didn't wait long before her phone vibrated again.

Azi: He said yes, and how does tomorrow lunchtime sound? Can you come by the shop? All his tools are there. P.S. I am also working that day, and you can tell me all about Kahil. P.P.S Bring Kahil so I can tease him about finally getting laid.

Zoe: You got a deal.

She laughed softly at her cousin's enthusiasm. Maybe she needed to talk to Azize about her feelings for Kahil. They had said a few things the previous night, but Arslan's comment about Kahil being in love with her had thrown her off balance again.

Zoe blew out a long breath and pushed all other thoughts away but the pages in front of her. This was always her quiet, safe place. She picked up her tools and hoped that by the time she was done, she would finally have a plan on what to do with the codex.

CHAPTER THIRTY-ONE

Zoe got so deeply focused on the delicate work of unbinding the codex that she completely lost track of time. The library, her thoughts and worries—all of that vanished. She didn't come back to herself until large hands gently rested on her shoulders and the smell of Kahil's aftershave hit her senses.

Zoe let out a shuddery breath and tipped her head back. "Hey. What are you doing down here?"

Kahil bent down and kissed her sweet and gentle on the mouth. "It's been hours. I was starting to worry you got lost down here." He massaged her aching neck, and she leaned into his touch.

"I got distracted," she said, pointing to the pile of red covers. She had placed the codex pieces unbound in the biggest cover.

"How about we lock the pages up in my apartment? You can leave the rest of your gear here, and then I will take you for a steam. I booked the private baths so we aren't disturbed, as you requested," he replied. His hands moved back to her shoulders. "My god, it feels like you have rocks in your shoulders."

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