Jake's War, Book Two of Wizards Read online

  Jake’s War

  Book Two of Wizards

  By

  John Booth

  Jake is in solitary confinement, suspected of being involved in the disappearance of Bronwyn Matthews and the injuries to her parents. He's pretty happy to be there as his cheating on Jenny is preying on his mind and he's not sure how he can face her without telling her what happened.

  But the multiverse waits for no man, not even a wizard. Bronwyn has been busy causing trouble in the Kingdom of Salice and her parents are not recovering from whatever she did to them.

  When Jake discovers that the Matthews are expected to die, he knows he cannot continue to hide in prison. He must act and act quickly.

  But is it already too late? Bronwyn has used his absence to steal the books of magic from the Salice Palace Library. She knows more about magic and is almost as powerful as Jake.

  For Jake, it’s going to be nothing short of war.

  JAKE’S WAR

  Book Two of Wizards

  Copyright ©2012 John Booth.

  First electronic edition published by Pfoxmoor Publishing

  Digital ISBN: 978-1-936827-80-0

  Published in the United States of America with international distribution.

  Cover Design by Sessha Batto

  All rights reserved. No part of this book may be used or reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, or by any information storage and retrieval system, without written permission from the copyright owner except in the case of brief quotations embodied in critical articles and reviews.

  This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places and incidents either are the product of the authors’ imaginations or are used fictitiously and any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, business establishments, events or locales is entirely coincidental.

  CONTENTS

  Chapter One: News

  Chapter Two: Grimaldi

  Chapter Three: Searching

  Chapter Four: Bronwyn

  Chapter Five: Rescue

  Chapter Six: Complications

  Chapter Seven: Wedding Plans

  Chapter Eight: Visitations

  Chapter Nine: Esmeralda

  Chapter Ten: Visitors

  Chapter Eleven: Diplomacy

  Chapter Twelve: Dragon Lore

  Chapter Thirteen: Confusion

  Chapter Fourteen: Home And Away

  Chapter Fifteen: Urda’s Party

  Chapter Sixteen: Cathedral

  Chapter Seventeen: Sparse

  Chapter Eighteen: Deeper In

  Chapter Nineteen: Plans

  Chapter Twenty: Road Trip

  Chapter Twenty-One: Death

  Chapter Twenty-Two: Revelations

  Chapter Twenty-Three: Proposals

  Chapter Twenty-Four: Anna’s Funeral

  Chapter Twenty-Five: Barren

  Chapter Twenty-Six: Orphans

  Chapter Twenty-Seven: Affairs Of State

  Chapter Twenty-Eight: Truce

  Chapter Twenty-Nine: Ida

  Chapter Thirty: Fire

  Chapter Thirty-One: Gold

  Chapter Thirty-Two: Guests

  Chapter Thirty-Three: Evolution

  Chapter Thirty-Four: Chase

  Chapter Thirty-Five: Decisions

  Chapter Thirty-Six: Magic

  Chapter Thirty-Seven: Wedding Eve

  Chapter Thirty-Eight: Arrival

  Chapter Thirty-Nine: Bronwyn’s War

  Chapter Forty: Finally

  Chapter One: News

  Sergeant Brandon Jones escorted me into the interview room. I've been here so many times he didn't bother telling me what to do as I walked around the interview table and sat at the far end. My Brief gave me a wry smile from the chair alongside. I looked across the table at Inspector Thomas who glowered back.

  The Inspector pressed the button on the recorder and announced our names into it, along with the date and time.

  “I would like to protest that my client has been held for 20 days without charge in solitary confinement,” Mr. Carter, my Brief, pointed out. He'd been saying the same thing at the start of every session since I was arrested with only the count changing.

  Inspector Thomas ignored him as usual and focused on me. No change there either. While Sergeant Jones was almost a friend, Inspector Ian Thomas was certainly an enemy out to get me. I found it all rather pathetic to tell you the truth.

  “Where is Bronwyn Matthews? She's only eleven years old, Jake. For the love of God tell us where she is.”

  Bronwyn Matthews was the reason I was in custody. As far as I knew she was safe in the Kingdom of Salice on another world, but that was hardly something I could tell the Inspector. That sort of thing doesn't happen, does it? And I didn't want him to use insanity as an excuse to keep me locked up forever. The Inspector and I have a bit of a history.

  My name's Jake Morrissey. I'm eighteen years old and from the age of eight I knew I was a wizard. That's an unlikely name for someone who's only seen wands in the movies and certainly doesn't want to try riding a broomstick. But eight was when I discovered I could hopscotch to other worlds, and a Wise Man on one of them told me I was a wizard and I believed him.

  Wizards are as rare as hen's teeth throughout the multiverse, so it was a bit of a shock to discover Bronwyn was a wizard in my own town. The first time she went missing I tracked her to another world. Her experiences over there were pretty bad and I've been trying to sort her out by showing her some good places along with a bit of friendship. We invited her to a party at the Palace over in Salice and when she arrived she said she was going to stay. What I didn't know at the time was that she had done something terrible to her parents when they tried to stop her.

  “My client has answered that question a hundred times,” Mr. Carter put in while I was lost in memories. I added my standard response when he finished.

  “I'm sure she's safe and will turn up when she chooses to.”

  Inspector Thomas snarled and switched off the recorder. I switched it back on again with a flick of the mind. I'd been doing this for some time and when somebody bothers to listen to the recordings they were going to get a hell of a shock over the things the Inspector had committed to tape.

  “This isn't just assault, Jake. Mr. and Mrs. Matthews are dying, so it's a double murder charge you'll be facing.”

  It felt as if he had stabbed me. I liked Mr. Matthews. He was a strict father, assuming I believed Bronwyn, but he was a good man. I'd thought he and his wife were only injured. This was the first time anybody had told me they were dying. The Inspector must have noticed how shook up I was.

  “I see that's shaken you. Take him back to the cells, Jones, and let him think on it.”

  I don't remember walking back to the cell. The next thing I was aware of was sitting on my bunk staring at the whitewashed brick wall.

  This may sound daft, but I'd been enjoying my stay in the cells. That may be the reason I was still there as Esmeralda reckons my magic affects the world around me. I hadn't been allowed visitors and that meant I didn't have to see Jenny. Jenny's my girlfriend and I love her with all my heart. However, on our last trip to Salice things got a little out of hand and I ended up having sex with Princess Esmeralda. She's the very determined heir to the throne of Salice and I've been a pawn in her game to keep her kingdom safe. Did I mention that my life is complicated?

  Part of me wants to tell Jenny what happened that night and a bigger part of me is determined to keep it a deep dark secret. I can't lose Jenny and I won't control her mind. The very idea makes me cringe. But I could if I wanted to and I just might if she ever tried to leave me. That's w
hy staying in jail wasn't bothering me; it was giving me time to think.

  But that was then and this is now. I needed to get out of jail and over to the hospital to fix whatever Bronwyn had done to her parents. I could hop from the cell, but the guard checked on me regularly. They'd know I was gone and then I'd be on the run. Another complication I didn't need.

  My train of thought was interrupted by the cell wall shimmering. Iridescent orange and gold colors rippled across its surface. He couldn't be trying to materialize in here could he? The cell was smaller than he was. Did I mention I have a dragon? He lives in a cave in the mountains of Snowdonia and he recently learned how to glim. Glimming is dragon magic where they can travel without being seen or touched.

  Fluffy's head solidified in front of me for a second and Jenny slid down his neck and into the cell. Then he vanished without even a meep. I felt disappointed and a little annoyed; he could have stayed long enough to say hello.

  “Jake.”

  Jenny ran to my side and put her arms around me. I wanted to hug her back but guilty thoughts stopped me. She didn't seem to notice as she held onto me and looked me in the eyes.

  “Esmeralda's in trouble. It's Bronwyn. You have to come.”

  There were so many impossibilities in that statement that I just stared at her.

  “I've been in Salice. Retnor can travel between worlds when he's in glim.”

  I could have come back with a thousand responses to that. The one I managed was somewhat on the lame side.

  “When did Fluffy find he could do that?”

  Jenny gave me a disapproving look and I thought she might be about to slap me. Hanging around with Esmeralda was having a bad effect on the girl. Almost as annoying as the way she insisted on using Fluffy's dragon name.

  “It doesn't matter. Bronwyn has done something to Grimaldi and Esmeralda's going to banish her for it. Jake, she could get herself killed. Bronwyn's not safe.”

  “Esmeralda's not that stupid.”

  Though when I thought about it, Esmeralda had punched me in the face the first time we met, and she had known I was a wizard. Threatening Bronwyn could be suicidal; the girl was unstable in the extreme. The best thing I could do was to get to Salice and cool things down.

  I went to the cell door and banged on it. Jenny looked for somewhere to hide but I waved her over to me. When the slot in the door opened I spoke to the guard.

  “Release me and take me to Inspector Thomas. I am the only person here.”

  I hate using mind control. It's a disgusting thing to do to someone, like rape of the mind. Wizards are good at it though. A short time later the Inspector signed my release forms without a murmur. He'd remember it as his idea. As I said before, mind control is evil.

  “We have to go to the hospital first,” I told Jenny as we walked down the steps outside the police station.

  Jenny nodded. She's nobody's fool and understood at once. I took her hand and hopped us to an alley behind the hospital. There was a back door here that I've used before. I gave Jenny a kiss, telling her to wait for me. I unlocked the door with a flick of my mind and stepped inside.

  There wasn't time for subtlety. I turned off the surveillance cameras as I walked down the corridor to Reception. A quick word to find out where they were keeping Bronwyn's parents and a few minutes later I stepped into Intensive Care. The Ward Sister saw me enter and came from her station to greet me.

  “Can I help you? Visiting hours are over.”

  “Where are Mr. and Mrs. Matthews and what's their condition?”

  I used magic to instruct the Sister to believe that I was a consultant brought in to help with the case.

  “They've been unable to move or speak for weeks. Both have been severely beaten, probably with a long stick of some kind. Their wounds aren't healing. At first we thought they were in a coma, but their eyes move normally and brain scans show they are awake and in pain. We've been giving them large doses of diomorphine for that, but it doesn't seem to be helping.” The sister looked towards her patients and sighed. “It might be best if they died.”

  I ordered the Sister to leave me and she went back to her station. I've never thought of myself as being particularly empathic, but I could feel the pain radiating from Mr. and Mrs. Matthews as I approached them.

  Mr. Matthews's eyes bored into me as I stood over him. I saw hope and despair in them in equal measure.

  “I'm going to try and put this right,” I said as reassuringly as I could.

  His eyes flicked to his wife's bed and I knew what he meant. Heal her first. I moved over to where she lay and put a hand on her arm.

  I've never really explored the limits of my magic. Up until I met Jenny I rarely used more than my ability to hop. As I tried to fix Mrs. Matthews I realized this was a big mistake. What good is power if you don't have control?

  Bronwyn had put some sort of energy field around her parents. It was there to cause them pain and stop the body's healing process. Another magic field had been put on top of the first to prevent them screaming in agony. I had to take that one off first before I could tackle the one causing the pain. It was clear why Bronwyn put it there when I removed it and Mrs. Matthews began to scream. It was a sound I won't forget in a hurry. I know what the condemned in hell sound like now.

  Taking off the second field proved difficult and took me a long time. Mrs. Matthews fell back on the bed just as the Sister arrived with a crash squad. I issued a mental order for the medics to ignore me as I stepped away and moved to her husband.

  I took the magic from her husband in a couple of minutes. I was quicker with practice and he didn't get the chance to scream. When it was done I turned away. He reached out and grabbed my arm.

  “Is she safe?”

  “You'll both recover now.”

  “No, I meant Bronwyn. Is she safe?”

  I didn't know what to say. I wondered if my father would ask that if I'd put him through the pain Bronwyn had inflicted on her father.

  “There's almost nothing in the universe that can hurt her,” I told him as I gently pried his hand from my arm. I finished the sentence in a whisper as I strode out of the room. “Except me.”

  Chapter Two: Grimaldi

  Jenny took my hand as I came out of the hospital. She saw the look on my face and didn't say a word as I hopped us straight to our room in Esmeralda's father's palace.

  Hopping is fine if you know where you're going. When I was a child I went wherever the stone I threw chose to go. Though looking back on it, it always took me to the places I wanted, boundary places like shores, cliffs and mountains, places far away from where anybody might find me.

  If I have a personal possession of someone, I can use it to hop straight to them. But I had nothing of Esmeralda's or Bronwyn's on me. Jenny ran out the door as soon as we arrived so I followed her. She obviously knew where we had to go.

  We ran through the Palace heading towards the ballroom. It was where the King held court, so that seemed logical. We turned a corner and Jenny ran straight into Esmeralda. They grabbed at each other to stop from falling over.

  I was struck by how alike they are despite the obvious differences. They share a similarity of spirit. They are both attractive women, Jenny in that girl-next-door way and Esmeralda like a woman out of a fashion magazine. Esmeralda is the taller of the two and has curly red hair while Jenny's is straight and currently brunette with highlights. Come to think of it, the highlights were new.

  I ought to mention that when I got the opportunity. This was a new boyfriend-skill I'd acquired recently; always tell them how good they look when they change their hairstyle. The problem I had was noticing the change in the first place.

  They were staring at me with identical expressions. As though I should be doing something so obvious that they didn't expect to have to tell me what it was.

  “Where's Bronwyn?” I asked, trying to avoid going red in the face and not quite succeeding.

  “It is good of my betrothed to visit us so
mewhat after our hour of need, much as usual. As for Bronwyn, she has been banished,” Esmeralda said, though there was no satisfaction in her voice.

  “She let you banish her?” I ignored the betrothed dig. That was hardly my fault, as she had invented our affair without my knowledge.

  “I am the heir to the throne and it's my job to get rid of undesirable elements. After I remonstrated with her she drew a hopscotch court and departed the realm.”

  “Just like that?”

  “I had a guard with me.”

  I didn't believe a word of it. Bronwyn wanted to stay in Salice and she could have forced Esmeralda to lick her boots if she'd wanted, just as I could. I couldn't see any way Esmeralda could have made her leave.

  As an aside, I used to need a hopscotch court to hop between worlds, but these days I create the court in my head. A trick Bronwyn still hasn't learned.

  Jenny gave Esmeralda a look of disbelief. Jenny knows exactly what a wizard can do. Esmeralda grinned at us and took something from her pocket and showed them to me. They were two polished pebbles that made my eyes buzz when I looked at them. I recognized them instantly despite the fact that I hadn't seen them for years.

  “I took the magic off all the lucky stones.” I said in astonishment.

  “All the ones I gave you back,” Esmeralda said loftily. “A wizard like you really ought to learn to count.”

  Before I could think of a suitably cutting reply she changed the subject. A skill I think princesses are born with.

  “Grimaldi needs you, though I fear it may already be too late. Come quickly.”

  Esmeralda set off at run and Jenny and I tried to keep up. Despite the seriousness of the situation I couldn't help admiring Esmeralda's lovely legs as I glimpsed them beneath her long skirt as she ran.