Page 43 of Immortals and Ink

At midnight, Alexis embraced Phaidros and Arslan goodbye and sailed his small boat toward the Hésperos, safe in her cove.

Behind him, across the Horn, the city was still smoking, burned and bruised but not broken. Constantinople was a phoenix that died, rose, and died again. No matter what she became next, Arslan and Kahil would be there to see her through it.

* * *

Cara mia,

Constantinople has given me friendships and taken them away throughout the centuries. Constantine says he forgives me, but we both know it still hurts to think about what was done and said at that time. If it wasn't for you, we probably still wouldn't be talking.

It is just another way you have blessed me, my love.

A few last things I want you to know before you turn to another tale and time in this book.

Since then, Arslan has sent other souls to Anubis and had them return. Perhaps it was my bad influence, but the next man he turned after Kahil was a masterful thief named Kerem.

Recently, he turned a young woman named Zoe. She is a book restorer who keeps a rare-book shop in Istanbul. She is, by Arslan's account, sharp and entirely too sensible to be at the mercy of the men who love her. The one who loves her most is Kahil. I believe you'll like her enormously, because she has the same trick you have: being braver than she has any right to be and easily outsmarting us immortals who think we have seen it all.

Perhaps when we sail to Thera again, we will make a detour so you can meet our Istanbul family and you can try to talk some new books out of Arslan for the Archives.

Next time you open this book, I'll tell you about Egypt, and Aelia will share some of her own secrets. Specifically about her time in Siwa, and a young king with a fondness for tactics and a mind that was brilliant about everything except coming up with the names of new cities.

Aelia has told it to me twice. Both times, she has told it differently. I decided I would let her tell it to you herself.

I love you, cara,

Alexis

EPILOGUE

Venice, present day

Penelope closed the book and tried to pull herself back to reality. The villa around her was quiet, and the lamp on the side table by the window threw a circle of warm yellow over the book in her lap.

She wiped the few tears that had slipped out somewhere in the cell with Constantine, and reminded herself that all was well now between him and Alexis. She needed to find where Alexis was and hug him.

I need a drink first, she added. Something strong and very alcoholic.

She had thought she was going to have a fun afternoon reading about Alexis's adventures, and now she understood why it was easier for him to write them down than talk about them.

Penelope walked from the upstairs library, the book tucked under her arm, and made for the kitchen. The villa's magic brushed against hers, warm and comforting, right before it shifted around her.

"Oh, come on, I just need a glass of wine," Penelope told it. She was reaching out to touch the wall and negotiate when a door appeared at the end of the hall. "What are you up to?"

Penelope took two steps toward it, and a bell began to toll. She paused mid-step. She had lived in Venice long enough to know the sounds of the church bells around them. This was something else. The bell sang out again, and the part of her that had been a gift from Poseidon thrummed and pulsed.

Penelope opened the doors and found herself in the 'Atlantis room' that Alexis had shown her on her first official visit to the villa. It was a long series of chambers filled with books, scrolls, tablets, sculptures, paintings, and vases. Her own journal articles were there, and her heart still fluttered when she looked at them.

The bells tolled again, and Penelope moved through the collection, trying to find their source. She had only ever felt something like this when she dived around Thera.

Poseidon's magic danced in her veins, and the taste of salt water filled her mouth. The orichalcum bracelet on her wrist grew warmer, and the sound grew louder.

"Okay, okay, I'm coming," she whispered, searching the shelves and opening cupboards.

Penelope opened an ebony cabinet and found a small chest. She pulled it off its shelf and sat down on the floor. Her fingertips tingled as she lifted the lid and found another lead casket.

Penelope's mouth went dry as she undid the latch, and orange and golden light swirled out of the box, the song so loud in her ears she couldn't hear anything else.

"Hello," she said, and it called back.