Jake's Women (Wizards) Read Free Page A

without me watching over you. You truly have a unique gift with females of your species. I can’t imagine why they fall over themselves to mate with you.”
    “Is this war she mentioned the same one as in the prophecy that gets you dragons twitchy?”
    Fluffy considered for a moment. “With you, it’s impossible to tell. How many wars have you been involved in this year?”
    That was unfair. It wasn’t as if I started them. On the other hand, I could see his point. He continued before I could construct a suitably sarcastic reply.
    “I made a quick stop before I returned. It would appear there is a way we can find out what is going on back home.”
    That sounded good.
    “So what are we standing around here for?”
    Fluffy held out his hand and I took it slightly reluctantly. I hoped no one was watching us as we travelled somewhere else.

3.              Home
     
    I looked at the transparent tube suspiciously. It was seven feet tall and about three foot in diameter. Its top was sealed and as far as I could tell, so was its bottom. Apparently, if I got into it, I could visit any place in the multiverse, provided I knew where I wanted to go. After my recent suffocation experience, I wasn’t so sure getting in the thing was a good idea.
    “How do I breathe in there?” I whispered to Fluffy.
    Fluffy shook his head, which looked condescending coming from a teen. “This is not real, Jake. It’s most likely a metaphor for whatever they are really doing to us.”
    Words flowed across the white background . ‘There is no danger. Will yourself inside the tube and state your destination clearly. You will not be able to communicate with anybody you visit, nor leave the place you specify except to return. You will be able to hear everything spoken at the location.’
    “What time do you think it is? It can’t be more than three hours since we left.” The King and his entourage might still be out by the Fedre Food Storage Unit. One of the royal family has to stay with it to keep it open. It would be a waste of time if I ended up looking for my wives in the wrong place.
    More writing scrolled across the whiteness. ‘Thirty hours have passed since your arrival.’
    I stored that information away for future thought. We must have been kept unconscious for ages and I wondered what they had done to us while we slept.
    Fluffy gave me a significant look and I made up my mind where I wanted to go. I closed my eyes and when I opened them, I was inside the tube. Taking a deep breath, I named my destination.
    “The Palace in Salice.”
     
    I stood in the middle of the ballroom. As far as I could tell I was physically there, I looked down and could see my body. This was not like any kind of projection I understood, this was real.
    Up on the stage a group of people sat around a table. It was no surprise that Esmeralda was conducting the meeting with her mother at her side. Beside them was another woman. I almost didn’t recognize Urda; she looked haggard and far older than her years.
    “I’m back,” I shouted and everyone ignored me. Damn, being here felt so real I had forgotten I wasn’t. Reaching for magic proved pointless, though it didn’t stop me trying. If there was magic around me, I couldn’t see it or use it.
    As I walked to the stage their voices became loud enough to hear. It wasn’t like normal hearing, one moment I couldn’t hear them at all, the next they were loud and clear, like I was wearing headphones.
    “I returned Jenny to Wales as she requested,” Urda said bleakly. “She will stay with her parents until her child is born.”
    Queen Janti smiled as she glanced at Esmeralda’s bulge, “That will not be long for either of you.”
    “Thank the Light for that. I can barely walk,” Esmeralda said wearily. “At least we don’t have to worry about Jake doing something stupid.”
    Urda didn’t agree.
    “I wish he were here. He is my best chance to find Anna.”
    It looked like Urda might burst