Excerpt Monday – Steampunk Style

Once a month, a bunch of authors get together and post excerpts from published books, contracted work or works in progress, and link to each other. You don’t have to be published to participate just an writer with an excerpt you’d like to share. For more info on how to participate, head over to the Excerpt Monday site! or click on the banner above.

My excerpt this week is based on a writing challenge I was issued on the Romance Divas forum. The challenge:

Your characters are playing a game (what kind is up to you) and they really need to win.
The objects/words are: platypus, diamond, and a piece of music.

The scene:

Jo crouched low into the shadows. She kept her breathing shallow, not a terribly hard thing to do in a corset, and listened to the noise coming from down the hall. Creeping closer she could hear the noise begin to separate into actual sounds. There was the cacophony of voices in conversation, the clinking of glass, and under it all there was the swell of Vivaldi’s The Four Seasons. For a moment, Jo closed her eyes and blocked out everything but the music. A loud voice suddenly intruded, reminding her where she was and what she was doing. This was a dangerous game she played, one that could cost her and Griff their lives.

She moved past the door that shielded her from the noise. A man’s voice came near, too near as she was out of the shadows and exposed for anyone to see. Then, Griff’s rich baritone drifted through the door as he pulled the man away from the door.

“Downy, where are you off to man? We were just about to sit and play a hand of Cog. We need you for the fourth,” he said as his voice drifted back into the murmur of sound.

Jo let out her breath and moved back into the shadows on the other side of the door. Two more doors down and she would be in the right room. Farrington’s study. Hopefully, there she would find the key that unlocks the damn box. Whatever is inside it, has been worth killing over. Not to mention trying to kill Griff. Clearly, whoever hired her originally was not going to be satisfied until the job was done, which meant they must find the truth of what was in the box.

Her eyes had readjusted to the dark, helping her to move quickly and quietly through the space. A sliver of moonlight slipped through the drapes highlighting a slip of paper and a pair of goggles on the desk. Jo slipped through the dark and reached out for the paper. It was blank. Jo set it down and tried each drawer in the desk. Finally the middle one provided a stack of papers. She held them up to the moonlight, but quickly decided she needed more light to decipher what was on the pages. She flipped the switch on the steam lantern, and it powered on with a soft hissing noise that sounded like a steam ship to her. She held her breath listening for the stampede of feet from the room down the hall. Nothing.

She picked up the pages and held them near the lamp. She began skimming the pages, finding nothing but typical bills of lading, transaction records, and a couple of treaties on the control of the evil that is steam technology. With a snort she started to put them away. Noting the extraordinary workmanship of the goggles, she quickly set the pages down to pick up the eyewear. They were magnificent, brass with copper accents paired with a dark leather strap. It was hard to tell if it was black or brown.

She moved to set them down when the lens color caught her eye. They had a coppery color lens that was both unusual, and expensive to manufacture. As she held them up to the light, she wondered if Farrington just used them for driving or if he wore them, like most of the ton, for fashion. Setting them down, she passed them over the pages she was about to put away, and noticed that the seemingly ordinary pages revealed a hidden message that the goggles revealed. Unsure what the meaning of it all was, she quickly stuffed the pages and the goggles in her bag and turned off the light.

As her eyes readjusted she began to move out. Still a little disoriented, she reached out to feel her way along. Her hand bumped something furry and she shuddered at its lifeless feel. Curious, because Farrington wasn’t exactly the big game type, she felt along the animal until she could identify it. A Platypus, even when dealing with nature he is fascinated by oddities. She shook her head and turned to exit the room.

The overhead lights flipped on and in walked Griff. Alone.

“What the hell are you still doing here?” His eyes glittered like diamonds as his anger flamed to life.

“Trying to leave. Without being seen. Now hush or the whole game is up,” she hissed.

“For the love of Tesla, could you move it along? I had to stop Farrington from coming in here for his bloody brandy decanter.” Frustration radiating off of him as he jammed his fingers through his silky black hair, he then grabbed her shoulders, planted a fierce kiss on her lips and promptly pushed her into the dark hallway.

Still reeling from the shock of his lips, Jo stumbled slightly before righting herself. What could have brought that on? Pushing the strange reaction from him to the back of her mind, she moved to creep out of the house, the way she’d crept in.
Links to other Excerpt Monday writers

Jaleta Clegg, Science Fiction (PG 13)
Penny Dune, Romantic Suspense (PG 13)
Kaige, Historical Romance (PG 13)
Debbie Mumford, Contemporary YA Fantasy (PG 13)
Jeannie Lin, Historical (PG 13)
Jeanette Murray, Contemporary Romance (PG 13)
Ryan, Mystery (PG 13)

Kendal Ashby, Contemporary Romance (R)
Stephanie Draven, Paranormal Romance (R)
Lauren Fraser, (R)
Cate Hart, Historical Romance (R)
KJ Reed, Erotic Romance (R)
Ali Katz, Contemporary M/M (R)
Cherrie Lynn, Paranormal Romance (R)

Sara Brookes, Urban Fantasy Romance (NC 17)
Carly Carson, Futuristic (NC 17)
Lisa Fox, Paranormal/erotic romance (NC 17)
Bryl R. Tyne, Contemporary M/M/M (NC 17)

Note: I have not personally screened these excerpts. Please heed the ratings and be aware that the links may contain material that is not typical of my site.