He took another, deeper drink and hissed at the heat.
Delaney laughed—a real one, deep and throaty. The sound felt almost foreign. “Wow. So mothmen like chocolate.” She grinned at him over the rim of her mug. “Good to know.”
His gaze sharpened on her. The thrumming in his chest hitched, then stopped abruptly, as if he’d realized he was doing it. Something in his expression shifted, like her laugh had caught him off guard. Like it pleased him.
Her face warmed. She cleared her throat and wrapped her hands around her mug.
“It’s been a while since I sat down with anyone like this,” she said. “Let alone some legendary cryptid.” She shrugged. “But I’m glad you like it. It’s my grandpa’s recipe. Christmas tradition in this house.”
“What is this ‘Chresmas’?”
His voice rolled through her, warm and deep, shaped by an accent she couldn’t place. It took her a second to catch up.
“You don’t know what Christmas is?” She blinked. Then her eyes went huge. “Wait, you’re speaking English now!”
“You talk a great deal for someone who believes they cannot be understood.” Maelic’s eyes flashed with amusement.
Delaney’s mouth dropped open.
“My cipherbots finally synced with your Earth English.” He tilted his head, studying her. “You are human.”
Cipherbots?
“What’s a cipherbot?” She shook her head. “And, uh, yes? I’m human?”
Maelic took another sip from the mug. He seemed to be weighing his words, and when he finally spoke, he sounded tired. “An advanced translation technology. I cannot explain the specifics beyond a rudimentary level.” He took another sip.“They are a type of nanobot. You breathe them in and they allow you to understand languages of other species. They also provide context based on the Intergalactic Alliance database.”
Delaney’s head spun. “Wait. Intergalactic? Like space?” She leaned forward. “Do mothmen come from space?”
Maelic’s heavy brows creased. “Moth… men?” His cramped wings shifted. “I do not know what that is.”
“Oh, like…” She waved a hand. “They’re a type of bad luck omen. Fictional. A hybrid between a moth and a human. Kind of a monster.”
Maelic gave a dry snort as his cipherbots seemed to process her words. “Moth. This is a type of insect, yes?” He frowned. “I am far from a bug. Monster, sure… but no, little human, I am not a mothman. I am Artaisan. My species comes from a planet called Lunthra.”
A real live alien. In her kitchen.
It had been crazy enough thinking he was some kind of cryptid. This was something else entirely.
“Why are you here?” She leaned further over the table, her hair dangerously close to dipping into her cocoa. “If you’re from outer space.”
Something flickered across his face. That same guarded look, the one that said he didn’t want to go there. But his gaze drifted to the window, to the snow coming down harder, and something in his expression cracked.
“I am not here by choice. This planet is restricted. What is known as an X-Zone planet.” He turned the mug in his clawed hands. “Species recognized by the Intergalactic Alliance do not break this law. It falls under Interdiction Protocol. Your species is not advanced enough to have joined, so you have certain protections.” A pause. “But I crashed here.”
His voice had gone flat. Measured. She recognized that tone—the one people used when they were holding something back. She let it go. She wasn’t exactly about to explain why she was out here alone either.
“Wait.” A grin tugged at her mouth. “So you’re an illegal alien. Like, literally.”
Maelic raised a brow. “I… suppose? I did not plan to come here. But regardless, I am stuck until I can get my ship’s data comms operational.” He bowed his head, those long white locks shifting with the motion. “I thank you for your assistance, female.”
Female. Okay then.
“So how many other species are out there? How many worlds?”
“Many.” He waved a dismissive hand. “So many I could not begin to name them all.” His gaze sharpened on her. “You are handling this much better than X-Zone species usually do.”
Delaney barked out a laugh. “Oh, trust me. I’m freaking out on the inside.”
