Free The Royal Sorceress by Christopher Nuttall Page A

his life, no doubt convinced that King George IV had sent all the forces of law and order in his Kingdom to deal with him. Jack caught him effortlessly and held him in the air with magic, while pushing the half-naked girl out of the office and slamming the door behind her. She’d probably run and alert someone, but who could she fetch? Henry’s tame magicians wouldn’t be able to do more than delay him.
    “I’ve been hearing some bad things about you, my boy,” Jack said. Upside down, Henry looked as if he was going to be sick. His flabby chest suggested that he ate a lot better than the average inhabitant of the Rookery. “You’ve been squeezing the last drop of blood from people’s lives. You’re nothing more than a parasite on society.”
    Henry gasped for breath. “They…they came to me,” he managed to say, finally. “They wanted money from me.”
    “And you press them into taking ruinous interest rates,” Jack said. He was enjoying himself far too much. Some people had no choice, but to turn to crime if they wanted to eat. Henry had had a choice and had chosen to prey on his fellow men. “How many sons have you sold into service with the Crown? How many daughters have you sent to brothels when their parents couldn’t pay their debts? How many families are destitute because you forced them to repay the original loan many times over? How many lives have you ruined ?”
    He compressed the magic around Henry’s neck, choking him slightly. “There’s a new man in town now,” he added. “If you want to live, you work for me – understand?”
    The door burst open and four men hurled themselves through with guns. Jack lifted one hand and sent a pulse of glowing magic right into the leader’s head. The others stumbled, just for a second, and Jack hit them with a wave of magic. They fell over backwards, crying out in shock. None of them had expected to face a real magician, let alone one who possessed all of the talents. But then, few of them knew much about magic. They probably believed that the bracelets sold by wise women possessed actual healing powers.
    He made a show of clicking his fingers and the second thug burst into flame. The remaining two turned and fled, leaving Jack behind with his helpless victim. He watched the thug burning for a long second, and then fired a burst of magic directly into his head, putting him out of his misery. When he turned back to Henry, whom he’d left spinning in the air, he discovered that the former ruler of the Rookery had soiled himself. The stench was starkly unpleasant against the vaguely perfumed air.
    “You work for me or I will take your organisation anyway,” Jack said. As fun as it was to torment Henry, there was too much else to do – and besides, he didn’t want to develop a taste for tormenting people. “What do you say?”
    Henry was still staring at him, wild-eyed. “I’ll do it,” he said, desperately. Jack wasn’t too surprised. Criminals were rarely brave when confronted by magic. Hopefully, Henry would never have time to realise that magic didn’t make one invincible. “I’ll work for you.”
    Jack dropped him onto the ground, slowing his fall just enough to prevent him from cracking his skull. “You’re going to forgive all your loans,” Jack said. He ignored the brief sputter of protest. “You’re going to start thinking about all your upper-class clients, all the nobly-born who use your services – and you’re going to start telling me all about them.” He drew a little on his magic, enough to make his eyes glow with fire. “And if you defy me, I’ll make sure you burn in fire forever.”
    Henry stumbled backwards, slipping over his own urine. Jack almost smiled at the expression on his face. “I’ll do as you say,” Henry protested. He was badly shocked; Jack allowed himself to believe that Henry would be too terrified to act against him, at least at first. And the Rookery would know who to thank. “I