Children Of The Sky (The Scripts Of Neptune, Book 2)

Chapter 8

Nyle had never been drunk before. Not on purpose, anyway, but he supposed there was a first time for everything. He hadn't even realized where he was going before he was at the tavern. His tears had dried by then, but the hole in his chest was left hungry as ever. So he filled it--or tried his very best--with whatever the bartender gave him when he asked for the strongest drink they had.

It took him a good hour to get home. The guards eyed him silently when he stumbled through the gates, disapproving expressions painted behind their helmets. Putting a hand to his forehead and wincing as the torchlight stabbed his eyes and sent daggers of pain through his head, he ignored them and somehow managed to navigate his way into the halls his room stemmed off of.

He stopped twenty feet from his door, leaning on the wall for support, squinting into the darkness. It looked like someone was there already, standing by his rooms, but he wagered he probably couldn't trust his eyesight at the moment. Hesitantly, vision twisting, he started forward again.

The figure turned at the sound of his staggering footsteps. Nyle stopped again, blinking. "Lacey?"

"Thank the gods," she breathed, rushing forward. Grabbing his arms, she looked him up and down. "Where the hell have you been? Paleo and I have been looking for you for hours!"

Nyle grimaced and shut his eyes. "Could you stop shouting?"

"Could I..." Lacey broke off and hissed a soft oath under her breath. "You're drunk, aren't you?"

Pulling away, Nyle tried to push past her without answering, but she caught his arm and held him back. Gods, she was stronger than she looked. "Don't you dare," she snapped, putting her finger in his face. He winced again. "Lillian's disappeared, and you had to go off and get yourself drunk." Turning away, she ran her hands through her curly hair, fingers catching on snags. Nyle watched, rolling her words around in his mind, debating whether he'd heard her right or if he was hallucinating. "Gods, this is a mess. I need you sober, and I need that devola to come back already so we can figure out what happened."

"What do you mean, Lillian's disappeared?" Nyle asked, half-slurred, her name bitter in his mouth.

"Shut up," Lacey said, kicking the wall before sliding down with her back to it and closing her eyes. "I need to think."

"Lacey, what did you mean--"

"'Bout bloody time you showed up." Paleo's voice cut Nyle off mid-sentence. He jogged the last few steps, eyeing Lacey for a moment before turning back to Nyle. "She fill you in?"

"He's drunk," Lacey said flatly, opening her eyes.

Paleo muttered a curse and ran a hand over his chin. "Can you get him sober?"

"Maybe." Lacey pushed herself up. "Depends on how much he drank."

Nyle took a step forward, using the wall to steady himself. The floor lurched, and his mind went fuzzy for a moment. "I'm fine."

Paleo and Lacey both shot him dark looks, and the former walked over and slung Nyle's arm over his shoulders and pulled him away from the wall. Nyle stumbled into him, squeezing his eyes closed as his vision warped. "Where do you want him?"

Lacey's words got lost in the haze, but a few seconds later--at least it felt like a few seconds--Nyle felt himself fall into a chair, groaning as it jarred his head. The rim of a cup touched his lips, and something that tasted like poison spilled into his mouth. His stomach twisted. A moment later, he found himself bent over with a bucket beneath his chin, heaving up whatever was left of his lunch.

"So much for that," came Lacey's voice with a sigh. "Take him back to his rooms. He needs to sleep the alcohol off before he'll be any help."

Nyle somehow had the sense to spit the taste out of his mouth before Paleo helped him up again. The room turned almost on its side when he blinked, and he put a hand to his head. His palm felt hot against his clammy skin.