Hellovween: The Englor Affair Excerpt

I’m so sorry I had this ready to go at 10 am and it didn’t work. So I put the time for now and it disappeared, so here is trying it for the second time. Hope everyone has a nice Halloween.
JL

If I never drink scotch again, it will be too soon.
—from the journal of Payton Marcus Townsend

His head was going to explode right out of his dry, scratchy eyes. Payton stretched forward, leaning closer to his desk, and glanced at his reflection in the glass covering it. His eyes were bloodshot and his face pasty looking. Wonderful. He’d drunk coffee, taken some anti-inflammatories and even tried some home remedies he’d heard of, but he still looked like he’d been in his cups.

In ten minutes he was supposed to meet Nate in his office with a daily update and Payton had nothing new he could share. The bloody message continued to elude him. Stupid encryption. Maybe he should inform Si about the message and see if he could tell what it said. He scrubbed his hands down his face and leaned back in his chair. No, he needed to keep something only he knew about. It would be foolish to give up everything he’d learned. He was certain he and Si were on the same side, but he felt more secure hanging on to some of his info. But maybe Si…

Argh. He couldn’t stop thinking about Si. Every time he tried to work, he got sidetracked. He was losing sight of what he was here for. Someone shoot me.

He’d actually gone to a gaming hell and gotten drunk. He never thought he’d enjoy those sorts of pursuits, but he had. Despite seeing the prejudice against Regelens firsthand, it was nice to go out and meet other people without having a chaperone hanging over his shoulder. Grinning against his will, he leaned back in his chair. He’d had a bang-up time, except for… Was there something between Si and the duchess? Payton couldn’t seem to shake the idea. They’d seemed so comfortable together. Payton couldn’t really blame Si, given the world he lived in. If Payton preferred women, knowing his fellow Regelen peers would see him as an oddity, he’d pretend not to. Wouldn’t he? He’d never considered it. Until last night he’d never felt…different.

It would probably be just as well if there was something between them. Payton was going to leave in the next couple of days and then… He sighed. Leaving Si and Englor wasn’t going to be an easy task. He was becoming too attached to Si. He never should have gone off base. Not only had he risked getting caught, but it just made him want things he couldn’t have. Like that kiss. It was the most amazing kiss he’d ever had, not that he’d had all that many—three very chaste ones to be exact. The kiss he’d shared with Si had gone straight to his head. It was much, much more than a kiss and it kind of frightened him.

Payton looked at the smooth mahogany surface of his desk and thought seriously about banging his head against it. Unfortunately, that would be counterproductive, not to mention make his headache worse. The idea was to look like he hadn’t gotten foxed and cast up his accounts. And the close call? Payton suppressed a tremble. He was pretty certain Jared hadn’t seen him, but if he had… There was nothing for it. Either Nate would call him on the carpet or he wouldn’t.

He closed down the program he was using and saw the beautiful Regelence rose painting that Aiden had done several years ago which doubled as his com-pad wallpaper. Aiden. Payton was here having fun and Aiden was home missing his consort. Payton frowned, thinking he might just understand how his brother felt. He was going to miss Si and he didn’t like that feeling at all. Groaning, he shoved back from his desk, gathered up his bag and put his com-pad in it.

Hauling his bag strap onto his shoulder, Payton locked his office and went next door to Nate’s office. Maybe being morose was part of the whole hangover process. He rapped his knuckles on the door.

“Enter,” Nate called.

Payton stepped into the office and closed the door behind him. Taking a seat, he busied himself with his com-pad, getting it out of his bag, and hoped Nate wouldn’t notice how hungover he was.
“Find anything, new?” Nate asked casually.

Shaking his head, Payton ventured a glance up. “No. There’s no mention of the IN taking over the Englor Marines on the IN’s end. I’m still looking through IN Intelligence, but so far nothing about the merger.”

Nate sat behind his desk, his hands folded behind his head, looking at the ceiling. “Well, keep trying. I’ve got one of my former crewmembers from the Lady Anna monitoring the docks. A marine met with a courier off of a Regelence ship the day before we arrived. I think Hollister knows Benson is dead.” Nate dropped his hands and glanced at Payton. He frowned. “Are you feeling all right?”

“Me?” Great. That had come out so squeaky it hurt his own ears. Payton cleared his throat. “Why?” Don’t blush, don’t blush, don’t blush. Look sober and don’t let him know you know Si.

One of Nate’s dark eyebrows rose.

Payton’s hands began to sweat. He hoped with all his might Nate couldn’t see his pulse throbbing at his throat, because it sure felt like it was pounding hard enough to be obvious. Dust, he really wanted to tell Nate Si wasn’t their enemy, but he couldn’t, not without letting Nate know he’d met Si.

“Your eyes are bloodshot.”

© Copyright by J.L. Langley, November 2008

Written by JL Langley

JL is a full-time writer, with over ten novels to her credit. Among her hobbies she includes reading, practicing her marksmanship (she happens to be a great shot), gardening, working out (although she despises cardio), searching for the perfect chocolate dessert (so far as she can tell ALL chocolate is perfect, but it requires more research)
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Tags: excerpt, Sci-Regency Series, TEA