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"And he is dangerous because of this curiosity of his?"

"He is. Curiosity is all immortals have after all. He will try to find a way to make us hand over the fragment willingly, or to convince us that he ought to be allowed to buy it. He won't be persuaded by the argument that he should not have it. He'll only stop if he can't find it."

Alexis paused in his chewing. "You want to hide it?"

"We must hide the fragment, the books, all of it. The Eos is on the quay where Akamos can see her. We need to make her invisible to him until you sail, and make sure we give him as little to look at as we can."

"I can cast glamors easily enough. What else did you have in mind?"

"We work in parallel, not together," Arslan replied. "It would be wise if he knew as little about you as possible. He will most likely follow me because of who I am. You handle the objects that need Atlantean magic. I handle the objects that need a man who has been living in this city for decades. I can show you another entrance to this cistern where we can still meet. If either of us doesn't return to the cistern by midnight, the other will know who is responsible for it."

"I don't like the idea of splitting up, especially if this creature already has an interest in you."

"I'm open to other plans, Alexis, but I couldn't see any alternatives if we are to keep you a secret." Arslan poured himself a cup of wine and sipped. "He won't hurt me, just annoy me. I protect the balance, and if he attacks me, it will give the light ones reason to start a war with him."

Alexis thought about it for a few minutes but didn't come up with a better plan. "And everything stays on the Eos?"

"Yes, under your wards and away from watchful eyes," Arslan replied with a firm nod. "You need to be able to leave quickly."

Alexis gave a defeated sigh. "It's your city, so we do it your way. We each take items and meet back at the cistern at midnight. Whoever is first waits an hour. After the hour, we assume the worst."

"Good, we are in agreement," Arslan said, gesturing at their meal. "Finish eating. You need your strength to heal that wound."

Alexis chuckled softly. "You sound like Zo. He's a mother hen, but an excellent cook. He would like this tagine."

"I'll send you home with the recipe for him," Arslan said, ladling more onto his plate.

"He'll like that…and any poetry that you could recommend."

Arslan said, "I have one of two volumes from Baghdad he might enjoy."

If Alexis brought other gifts home with him, then maybe the other magicians would forgive him for not telling them about the altar piece. The idea had merit.

They parted an hour later, at the hidden door of the cistern, seven streets from the church. Alexis walked through the now-dark laneways and found himself laughing quietly to himself for no reason he could immediately identify.

After a minute, he realized it was because, despite being shot at by a morally gray fallen angel, he was happy.

* * *

For the following nights, they ran separate missions that, in any other man's life, would have been the memoir of a decade.

Alexis acquired the psalter from the Pantokrator Monastery with a simple plan. He politely asked to see the scriptorium, used the visit to measure a window, and returned through it at three in the morning. He left behind a copy he had spent six weeks making in Venice, a forgery convincing enough that the monks wouldn't notice the theft.

He cut the Epicurus out of the psalter with a small knife, and it was as perfect as the book lover in him had dared to hope.

Arslan took the Stoudios manuscripts through the south door, which was unguarded because the monks had been in a dispute with their abbot for two weeks and were using the abbot's absence to ignore most of the daily offices. He took twenty-seven manuscripts and left a letter in Greek on the abbot's desk that said simply, These have been moved for their protection. They will be in a safer place than this city, for a time, and when the city is at peace again, they will be returned. Apologies.

He didn't sign it but left a small golden seal on the letter that the abbot would later identify as belonging to the Order of Anubis. The abbot wouldn't pursue the matter because you didn't bother the Order if you could avoid it.

Alexis stole a hieratic papyrus while Arslan retrieved a copy of Alkibiades's memoirs from when he conquered Byzantium in 408 BC during the Peloponnesian War.

It was taken from a senator's collection while Arslan attended the senator's monthly soiree and poetry evening. He had been invited to look at the family library and slipped the codex into his coat when the senator's wife was distracted by a passing servant pouring wine.

On every other night, they collected smaller items, such as a reliquary from the Hagia Eirene. A pair of icons from a ruined chapel near the Forum of Theodosius, and a statue of Hermes, originally from his temple in Kyllene, that belonged to a family who had immigrated from Athens hundreds of years ago and had forgotten its origins.

Akamos didn't shoot at them again. He let it be known, through one of his minor underlings, that he would prefer the casket be sold to him, and named a price that would have bought a small kingdom.

Arslan declined politely on Alexis's behalf. Akamos sent another message through a different underling, stating that the price could be increased. Arslan declined again.