Page 182 of Tempest of Wrath and Vengeance

“Not in its entirety, but you mentioning a sorceress made me remember,” she said. Coming around the table, she sidled in between Theon and Razik where they were bent over the book. Pointing at a paragraph, she said, “Here. But this word isn’t the same.”

“Eliza, do we know Gehenna’s lineage?” Razik asked, still reading.

“Gehenna is the Sorceress in our realm,” Eliza clarified, having sat back in her chair to let Razik do his thing. “She is one of Zinta’s daughters.”

“One of?” Theon asked.

“The gods are thousands and thousands of years old. You think they only have one child each?” Razik muttered.

“Sorin learned that Gehenna only calls herself the sorceress,” Eliza cut in. “But among the gods, Zinta is known as the Sorceress, and Taika is known as?—”

“The Enchantress,” Razik cut in. “And according to this, some worlds refer to their descendants as such, particularly the most powerful ones.”

“So it could be Zinta affecting her visions?” Katya asked, pushing curls from her face.

“She can’t come here,” Razik said.

“No, but would she have to come here to alter visions? It’s already been proven that just because the gods can’t come here doesn’t mean they can’t meddle,” Theon argued.

“But with all the Zinta Legacy here, there could logically be one powerful enough to be referred to as a sorceress,” Kat cut in. “Especially with the way Matches are arranged.”

“That’s true,” Theon said, trying to translate more. “Do we think all their descendants have these spell books?”

“The Witches in our world have spell books,” Eliza supplied. “Particularly the most powerful ones.”

“We need to take this book with us,” Razik murmured.

“Wecannotsteal a book from here,” Kat said in horror.

“She’s right. We can’t take books from the Ekayan Island,” Theon said. “The sentries here have permission to kill someone on site for even trying.”

“Okay, but there are two dragons in this room,” Eliza said. Turning to Luka, she added, “Don’t you steal shit? Razik steals bowls all the time.”

“I donotsteal bowls,” Razik growled. Then he added with a grumble, “This book is much larger than a bowl.”

Eliza rolled her eyes as Theon said, “That does have a familiarringto it.”

Luka sent him an unimpressed glare while Eliza turned to Razik. “How old do you think this book is?”

“Don’t do that,” Razik snarled.

Running her finger along a page, Eliza’s voice turned sensual. “It seemsreallyold. Centuries and centuries. Maybe even from before Devram’s time. That’d make it incrediblyvaluable, right?”

“I swear to the Fates, Eliza,” Razik growled again.

“You’re just going to leave thisincredibly valuablebook down here? Where no one appreciates it?” she went on.

“That’s not true—” Katya started, but Theon slipped a hand over her mouth to stall the words. He knew exactly what Eliza was doing, and they needed to let this play out. To be honest, he was surprised Luka hadn’t?—

The book slammed shut before Luka was pulling it across the table and slipping it under his arm.

“I was reading that,” Razik said in a dangerous tone that had Theon’s magic churning in his soul.

“And I’m stealing it,” Luka said. “That will make itmine.”

Razik’s eyes narrowed, but Eliza burst out laughing. When Razik’s glare swung to her, she smirked, “You had your chance.”

Pushing his hand away, Katya said in a hushed whisper, “You can’t steal that book, Luka. There are wards and enchantments everywhere here. You’ll surely be caught.”

---