Halloween Jack and the Devil's Gate by M. Todd Gallowglas

Author:M. Todd Gallowglas [Gallowglas, M. Todd]
Language: eng
Format: azw3
Publisher: Bard's Cloak of Tales
Published: 2011-10-19T00:00:00+00:00

Seven

Moira un-slung her chair and set it down before she crawled through the window. She found herself in a smaller version of the cage that trapped Jack outside. She was about to scamper back out, when a sheet of steel slammed shut behind her.

“Well, look at you,” a familiar voice said. “All boxed up and delivered to me like a little present.”

Moira turned as quickly as she could in the confines of the cage. Saleesh, the succubus she’d beaten senseless months before, stood looking at her. Saleesh’s face still showed signs of the beating, red lines from the switch criss-crossed her face. Moira’s stomach sank just a moment, and then, awe overcame her fear as she took in the clockwork menagerie.

Gears and pulleys clicked and turned and buzzed. Here and there, all over the room, blasts of steam erupted at irregular intervals from vents in pipes that ran over the walls, floor, and ceiling. A half-finished Steam Soldier slouched in the far corner. The north wall held a rack of seven strange-looking guns – all of them bigger and bulkier than normal pistols and rifles, with odd accessories: each of the pistols ended with a crystalline globe that sparkled with some inner light; one of the rifles had a bottle on top filled with some boiling, blue liquid, and a tube connected the bottle to the gun proper. A table in the middle of the room had dozens upon dozens of tools scattered across it – some of which Moira couldn’t begin to comprehend what they might be used for. The succubus also lounged on the table, bringing Moira’s attention to her captor.

Seeing the succubus killed the chilly fear in the pit of Moira’s stomach. A burning anger replaced it with such fervor; Moira thought she might break into a sweat from the heat of it despite the cold.

“Where is Daniel?”

“He’s right below you,” Saleesh said. “I like the thought of keeping him warm and snug in one of his own cages. Isn’t that right, sweetie?”

“Yes, mum,” someone said just below Moira. Daniel – at least Moira assumed it was Daniel – spoke in that same dreamy, sappy I’m-so-in-love voice Jack had the first time they’d met this creature.

Moira gritted her teeth and forced her mind to work. She had always thought she was quick witted, but sometimes her cousin had made her feel positively slow. Jack was so quick to adapt to new situations and to think around corners it was frightening. How could she get out of this? Then she remembered the succubus’s words, not in the face.

Moira felt her mouth break into a wide, Halloween Jack wide, grin.

Saleesh shuddered. “You can’t scare me with a silly smile. I’ve got you trapped.”

“You are such an idiot,” Moira said. “You think you’ve got me trapped, that I can’t touch you, but you are so wrong.”

Moira took off her magic boots – the boots that would do their best to go wherever the owner commanded them.

“What?” Saleesh said. “Going to

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