Page 23 of Immortals and Ink

Before Alexis could object, Arslan sat cross-legged on the deck with a hand resting lightly on the pommel of a large, curved knife at his belt and watched the sun begin to rise.

Alexis, who wasn't usually inclined to take orders from anyone, did as he was told. He mended the wound on his leg, bathed, and curled up in the cabin's only bed. When he finally fell asleep, it was to the sound of lapping waves and faintly under it, a strange bell tolling from the past.

CHAPTER TEN

Alexis woke at the first gray edge of dusk with the full-body alertness he had experienced all his life when something had tried to kill him the night before and failed.

The wound on his calf had already closed. The lead casket in the chest below, when he checked the wards over it, was undisturbed.

Arslan was gone, and Theodoros and his father explained that they had relieved him a few hours ago.

Arslan had left a note that said:

Our archer would be asleep at this hour, and he's more interested in me, and not you.

Meet me at the church when you wake up,

Arslan.

Alexis paid the man a coin and slipped another to the boy when his father wasn't looking, before he walked through Galata and up to the church of the dog-headed saint.

As soon as he stepped into the church, a chime went through the building, and Arslan emerged through a side door.

"Come this way. I have food ready," he said, holding the door open for Alexis. They moved through a small hallway that led into an internal courtyard, and a table set for dinner.

"It is a nice enough evening. I thought we could eat outside," he explained.

"I didn't mean to sleep so late," Alexis said, wondering if he should apologize.

"Think nothing of it. You were wounded and were dealing with a magical and emotional backlash. I didn't expect you before now."

Arslan poured some coffee from a copper urn and passed Alexis a small cup. Alexis drank and hummed in approval. It was strong, sweet, and had a kick harder than a mule.

"So tell me about this person, who is not your ex-lover, but who wants to fire arrows at us for fun?"

Arslan started serving Alexis couscous, fresh flatbread, and a lamb tagine that made his mouth water. "His name is Akamos."

Alexis sipped his coffee and searched his memory. "I don't know that name."

"Most people wouldn't. He has been quiet in your part of the world. He stays in this city and doesn't travel west of the Adriatic. Here in Constantinople, he is the leader of the dark."

"And he's not a magician?" Alexis asked, taking a piece of bread Arslan offered him.

"No. He is a fallen angel."

Alexis choked on his bread and hurried to wash it down with more coffee. "You can't be serious."

"I'm very serious. He has been here, by his own count, for thousands of years. He has held power in this city since long before it was officially Christian. He runs a private tavern where the wines are very good, the wards are very old, and where the guests sometimes don't come back if they have insulted him, and sometimes do come back if he has decided to forgive them." Arslan let Alexis have a few more mouthfuls of food before he continued.

"He keeps a collection of objects from across history that, if it were ever made public, would change what humans believe about history forever. He's not evil, as such, but he is the leader of the dark ones that live here. He insists, when challenged, that he's no one's enemy unless they make him one, and he actually means it. He also occasionally fails to live up to it."

Alexis considered that before asking, "If he is a collector, do you think he came for the fragment?"

"I doubt he knows what it was, but he was interested to see why we were taking it. The watching-magic he had on the church told him two magicians had gone into it, and he came to look. He saw that we were carrying something, and he wanted us to drop it so he could learn if he wanted it."

"Why would he even bother with something he's not interested in?"

Arslan made a 'who knows' gesture. "If I had to guess, he probably could feel some kind of magic on it and wants to own it. He wouldn't use it or sell it. He would simply keep it. That is what he does."