Page 8 of Alien in the Attic

Elena went to her room early, saying something about research. Sofia curled up on the couch, claiming to read an autobiography with a saucy wink. Carmen laughed, knowing that meant Sofia was going to delve into another monster romance.

Once they’d cleared up after dinner, Carmen inclined her head toward the back door. Arccoo followed closely as they walked out into the moonlit garden.

“I used to come out here a lot when I was younger,” she said, tipping her head back to look at the stars. “I’ve always wondered if there’s more out there, but I never imagined I’d have it confirmed in my lifetime.” She looked over at Arccoo, who was once again studying her. His eyes drifted along her long hair, following it down to where it rested below her waist.

“You are beautiful,” he whispered. He looked into her eyes, and she could see even he was surprised he’d said that.

She blushed. “Thank you. You… you’re ethereal,” she whispered back. She tentatively reached out and brushed her finger over his cheekbone, curious about his shimmering skin. It was soft to the touch, and she couldn’t help but reach into his hair to feel it as well.

He leaned his head into her palm, his eyelids drooping slightly in pleasure. A thrill went through her, knowing that a single touch from her drew a reaction from him. She stepped closer, into his personal space, and had to tip her head back to look at his eyes, like they were the stars.

He whispered her name softly before he reached out and cupped her face in his hand. His other arm snaked around her waist, pulling her against him.

She gasped at the feeling of her entire form flush with his, his toned body hard against her soft curves. Was he going to kiss her? She hoped desperately that he would. Arccoo’s gaze dropped to her lips as his eyes heated. Her lips felt suddenly dry and tingly, and she swiped her tongue over her bottom lip.

“Arccoo,” she said, desperation clear in her voice. He leaned down slowly, every second feeling both like a million years and no time at all. When he was a breath away, he paused.

Carmen couldn’t take it anymore, and she lifted her heels to close the remaining distance. Their lips touched. She held back a moan as he pulled her closer, moving his lips against hers. He tasted like starlight and adventure, and she felt like she would never have enough of him.

Arccoo pulled away slightly, searching her face. He seemed happy with whatever he found because he leaned down and took her lips more passionately this time. When his tongue slipped into her mouth, heat rushed through her body and settled in her core. She couldn’t hold back the moan that slipped out. Arccoo groaned in response.

A door closing somewhere in the house separated them. Carmen silently cursed her sisters.

Arccoo released her and stepped back. “We should get to bed. It has been a long day.”

Carmen nodded quickly, her heart hammering at the heat she saw in his eyes. “Yes, you’re right. I’ll, um, see you in the morning?”

Arccoo dipped his chin regally. She turned and hurried back into the house, excited to get into bed and relive this moment a thousand times in her head.

Chapter 4

Arccoo

The mansion made for an ideal hiding place thanks to human superstitions about life continuing on after death. This irrational fear aroused such an intense reaction in them that they avoided “haunted” places as if the very ground itself were cursed. He’d observed this from the windows in high rooms looking out over the building’s surroundings. Children looked up with cautiousfascination while adults crossed the street to put as much distance between them and his temporary home as possible.

Their avoidance wasn’t conscious. It was automatic, instinctual, he thought. Without looking up from their primitive devices, their feet simply carried them to the opposite sidewalk.

Carmen’s second sibling—the human preference of not numbering children was still strange to him—explained the phenomenon to him over coffee.

“We are terrified of the dead.Terrified.” Sofia took a deep gulp from her massive mug. “Which doesn’t make sense. The paranormal is proof that we go on. It should be accepted, embraced, even celebrated. Instead, we run from it.”

“Why is that?” Arccoo asked, setting his own mug down with grace. Royal muscle memory was not easily cast aside.

Sofia flung her ponytail over her shoulder and brought the mug up to her thin mouth. “Because accepting that ghosts exist means we’d have to admit that we’re mortal. We Earthlings like to believe we live forever. Until we don’t.”

While Arccoo didn’t see the reasoning in being fearful of a dead person, he couldn’t deny that his own people were equally repelled and fascinated by the end of life. That was why honoring traditions was so important to the Thryal as a way of carrying their ancestors with them.

The words of his elder father whispered in the halls of his subconscious:We walk the paths of the first and all those who walked after. Let their knowledge be our wisdom.

The solitude of the mansion served his purposes at first. He was free to wander the grounds and piece together the mystery of this blue planet while tinkering and repairing his ship’s hardware to jerry-rig a way out. At least he successfully opened the beacon. The gadget was designed to survive the most extreme situations the universe could throw at it. Even if Arccoo slipped into the band of a hungry star and burned to ash, the beacon would emit a signal back to his people, alerting them of his final location.

Once he realized that his only hope was to wait for the sentry ship to arrive, the solitude began to eat at his nerves. Being away from Thryal chipped away at his spirit.

Then Carmen arrived.

Her exuberance filled the dark and dusty halls with a light brighter than a blufire crystal. Watching her moving through the many rooms and corridors as if seeking a hidden code to her existence was like being touched by the cosmos itself. He recognized a kindred searcher behind her big, longing eyes. She, in some ways, was a human reflection of his inner self. Where he concealed his wayward spirit behind a regal exterior, she exuded it with every step.

Since birth, the eyes of an entire people had been on him. When he began visiting other planets in the name of duty, he was only aprince—distant, unattainable. Now, occupying the mansion with Carmen made him feel as though he had traversed endless seas of worlds to finally find someone who saw the true him.

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