The Devil Eats Here (Multi-Author Short Story Collection) by Alice Gaines, Tara Maya, Rayne Hall, Jonathan Broughton, Siewleng Torossian, John Hoddy, John Blackport, Douglas Kolacki, April Grey Read Free Book Online Page B

just to try and use them that way, for what I want?”
    “Becky you’re fourteen. You’ve got no idea what you want.” Dick wondered why he was panting so much. “And Becky . . . don’t ever lose faith that there are good people in this world. Who mean well. They let you down sometimes, ’cause they ain’t perfect, but in the end---”
    “Oh cut the shit, Grandpa! You don’t believe that’s true.”
    Dick drew back his hand, barely restraining himself from slapping her. “I didn’t SAY it was fucking true! I said have faith in it. The gods don’t love us, Becky, as you well know, so you might as well kiss ass while you may and play the odds! Faith is like rum: too much makes ya crazy, but a little gets you through the rough patches.”
    *
    Halfway between sunrise and noon, Dick and the smokemare waited on the crest of the rocky cliffs. He stretched his shiny, new-bought telescope to watch the ship Becky was on. It was a merchant ship, with its captain’s son for a mate: a fresh-faced strapping buck with a head full of numbers and a mouth full of please-and-thank-you. The captain’s other son was a brand-new Makerite priest. Both young men had noticed Becky was beautiful... or at least, pretty... or at least, not male, and were seeking her regard. Their father had noticed the reward for escorting her safe to her payoff destination. With luck, that might lead to good things.
    “Best you could do, Dick,” he muttered. “Best ya could do.”
    “Ahem!”
    Dick shut the telescope without sparing the devil a glance. “So I got the smokemare till sunset, right? Or should I call it a ghost horse?”
    “That was the sloppiest performance I’ve seen in a century!”
    “Didn’t I leave Katrina alive?”
    “Briefly, yes. The plodder stepped on her ribcage and crushed it during your little game of tag.”
    “Haw! That’s funny. Serves her right!” said Dick. Then, biting his lip and stretching his palms out, “Aw, maybe not. I never been good at figgerin’ just desserts.”
    “Are you aware of how badly that went? Your half-cocked rampage actually killed every Grumachian in that camp except Vassos Milagro!”
    Dick’s eyes widened again, this time in delight. “You mean he’s still alive in there? Alone in the middle of the woods! Broken legs, no tongue, no eyes, with that monster standing over him like a mother hen?”
    “As you predicted, you idiot! The plodder follows orders from Vassos.”
    “What’s he gonna order with no tongue? Eh?” Dick’s mouth got so wide his cheeks hurt. “Can ya tell me that? What’s he gonna do? Write out orders on a little chalkboard round his neck?” Dick threw his head back, dispatching guffaws to the sky’s blanket of white clouds. “And with no eyes - mebbe he’ll get his monster to lead him around by the hand! Only it’s a mindless flesh-eater made of moss and carrion, what can’t think!”
    The devil trembled in rage, waiting for Dick’s mirth to die down.
    “That little coward’s shivering helpless in the wild, stuck to his musclebound undead giant until he freezes! Or starves! And guess what, devil - if he dies that way on his last Gift, that means he’ll never be murdered!” Dick couldn’t restrain himself from bouncing in the saddle. “You’ll be in breach, you ruff-collared ass! Your contract with Becky’ll be no good! Devil, your contract’s no good!”
    “You may find your final two Gifts don’t last as long as you may hope, Mr. Skyler.”
    “Did I say I have two Gifts left? I got only one.”
    “That’s impossible. All my sources agree you’ve died only three times.”
    “Maybe, but you couldn’t have been that certain. If you’d been certain, you wouldn’t have felt it necessary to go over all my deaths one by one before signing the contract.”
    “How’d this fourth death of yours happen?”
    “Moving stolen jewelry at a rendezvous point. Deal went bad. I didn’t make it out.”
    “How could my sources have missed