Read Online Jake's Justice, Book Three of Wizards by John Booth - Free Book Online Page A

attack. Sneakier than I used to be, I’d measured her reserves before I insulted her and she had nothing that compared to my power. Even so the strength of her attack surprised me.
    Nevertheless I deflected it contemptuously, deliberately making no sign I had even noticed it.
    “Bastard,” she shouted at my back.
    People have said worse than that about me and she had reason.

9.            A Reckoning
     
    Fluffy laughed so loud when I finished explaining what had happened to us that the couch burnt to a point beyond repair. At least I was able to protect the other furniture.
    “I don’t see what’s so funny,” I complained when he finally calmed down. “They wanted to kill you and enslave me.”
    [You do not see it at all, do you?]
    “See what?”
    Fluffy looked thoughtful. [Perhaps it is because you and Alisandra are of the same species. You see subtle differences as being major and completely miss the bigger picture.]
    “I am not of the same species as that… creature.”
    [Of course you are. Humanity is spread out across the multiverse as a small percentage of all living creatures hop under duress. There are millions of worlds similar to Earth out there with fossil records just as complete as yours. I thought you knew that? ]
    He was right; otherwise ordinary creatures would hop across the multiverse if the situation was severe enough, like getting caught in a forest fire. There were tens of thousands of worlds essentially identical to Earth populated by all the creatures we were familiar with. But even if I had to admit that Alisandra was a human being, it wasn’t a laughing matter.
    “I still don’t see the joke.”
    [She is a female version of you, Jake. All your worst characteristics magnified a hundredfold.]
    I considered hitting my dragon with a baseball bat. But he would probably just shrug it off as a pat if I did.
    [Look at the facts. You both have multiple partners and are not above using magic to drive the opposite sex to fall at your feet. You are both obsessed with sex…]
    “I am not obsessed with sex.” Well, not all the time.
    Fluffy smiled. [She is not you, but she is what you might have been and what you might yet become.]
    “Thanks for the vote of confidence, my friend.”
    [I have faith that you will always do the right thing, eventually. Probably in the worst way it is possible to imagine.]
    I laughed, because he had a point.
    “I’m going back to Salice to talk to Esmeralda.”
    [And people wonder what characteristics make you a hero.]
    “She’s my wife and I love her every bit as much as Jenny.”
    [Don’t forget to wash and change first. Otherwise she will smell the other women on you.]
    “Are you coming with me?”
    [Do I look stupid?]
     
    “Anybody home?” My voice echoed through our royal apartments. I had showered and changed at my parents’ house before coming here.
    “Jake, you’re home.” Esmeralda sounded strangely hesitant as she appeared from her bedroom, looking uncharacteristically timid. She pulled on one of the bell ropes before rushing towards me and putting her arms around me. “We need to talk.”
    “That was supposed to be my line. Where’s Jenny?”
    “She called Retnor and he came and took her away about half an hour ago. She is going to spend a couple of days in Wales with her parents.”
    The sneaky orange reptile hadn’t told me he was planning to do that.
    “I asked her to go, to give us a chance to talk things out. The King and Mother had severe words with me when they found out what I have been denying you.”
    I kissed her lightly on her forehead. “It doesn’t matter.”
    “It does,” she said insistently. Taking my hand she led me towards her bedroom, closing and locking the door behind us. She pushed me onto an armless chair facing her bed and stood before me like a penitent child. Her hands fidgeted by her tummy as she prepared to speak.
    “A good wife does not deny her husband on his wedding night and a princess