Page 35 of Alien in the Attic

Carmen pushed herself to her feet and stumbled a few steps before falling on her stomach. Rocco got up and nudged her with his foot, pushing her to lie on her back. “Why?” she slurred.

He squatted beside her, resting his elbows on his knees. “I need information. Where is he keeping the parantaa?”

“In a safe hidden behind the family portrait in his room,” she replied before she could stop herself.

He hummed thoughtfully. “I’m assuming that this safe is password protected. Do you know the code to get in?”

This time, she tried to fight it. Everything was fuzzy and the world swirled around her in a strange haze. “Yes.”

“What is it?”

She bit her lip. If he really wanted to use the parantaa as a weapon, there was no way she could let that happen. The results could be devastating. A sharp, stinging pain burst to life on one of her cheeks. She gasped, realizing dully he’d slapped her.

“What is the code?” he repeated.

“Wildridge.” The words tore from her lips, sending her into a spiral of shame.

He smiled. “That wasn’t so hard. Was it? Thank you for your help, Carmen. I’ll spare you and your sisters.”

“No…” she croaked. Her vision faded to darkness as she watched him disappear out the door. And then she felt nothing for a long time.

She returned to consciousness slowly, feeling someone shake her arm. Waking up felt like swimming against a current, but she still forced her eyes open. For a moment, she saw only shapes, but then the blurry figures sharpened into Sofia, Elena, and Arccoo’s comforting faces.

“What happened?” he asked, his violet eyes brimming with concern.

With a sob, she threw her arms around him. “He took the parantaa. He took it, and it’s all my fault. I’m so sorry.”

It took him and her sisters several minutes to get the story out of Carmen. As she told what she could remember, she watched as Arccoo’s fists clenched in rage. She covered his hand with her own. “I’m so sorry. This was stupid of me. I shouldn’t have—”

He kissed her, silencing her self-deprecation. “Even trained soldiers will succumb to pseryllium Venom. The only one at fault is my sorry excuse for a brother.”

“He thinks it’s a waste to just use it to heal.” Sitting up, she brought a hand to her forehead, still feeling woozy. “I’m sure he’s long gone by now.”

“Maybe not,” Elena said thoughtfully. “I remember reading in one of Grandpa’s journals that the device gives off unusual radioactivity readings. We could use that to track it.”

“And then we’ll kick his ass into next week!” Sofia added. She sounded chipper but with an edge of very real and very terrifying anger underneath the surface. Elena and Arccoo wore matching expressions. In spite of herself, Carmen smiled.

Rocco wouldn’t know what hit him.

Chapter 15

Arccoo

Arccoo took them to his personal garden. Despite the clandestine nature of their conversation, he wanted servants and those in surrounding towers to be able to see all four of them together. Not only would this serve to further his need to normalize seeing humans on Thryal, but it would also dissuade anyone from suspecting a plot was forming.

Sofia sat down on a bench with her arms already folded tightly across her chest. “What’s he planning?” she asked. “Who the hell poisons someone to steal a cure? Unless you plan to profit off of it in some way.”

“That sounds like Earth-thinking to me,” Elena said, observing a watering drone hovering like a hummingbird over a small patch of root flowers.

Sofia scrunched up her face. “What do you mean?” she asked.

Arccoo spread his arm theatrically to appear as though he were giving the sisters an overview of the various flora. “We on Thryal are not as concerned with monetary gain as those on your planet. It has its place, especially on a galactic scale, but we don’t concern ourselves with accruing wealth on a daily basis.”

“Really?” Sofia asked, her face brightening up. “I think I’d like this place if it weren’t for the fact that most of the residents here looked like they’d love to watch me die.”

“Sofia!” Carmen scorned. Arccoo noticed her eyes move up to one of the pedestrian tunnels connecting the various towers around the annex. Although the sun cast a glare on the glass, it wasn’t difficult to see that people were staring at them.

“It’s okay,” Arccoo told her in a low, gentle voice. “They will come around to seeing you as one of us soon enough.”

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