Solace: Book Three (Strange in Skin Trilogy)

by Sara V. Zook

  ***

  After searching multiple rooms, I finally found Cami on a couch, her face buried in a pillow, her back rising and falling with each sob. I walked over and took a seat on the edge of the couch and placed my hand on her back. She jumped and looked up at me.

  “Sorry,” I said. “Didn’t mean to scare you.”

  Cami turned over and sat up. She wrapped her arms around my neck and began crying into my shoulder.

  I patted her back.

  She let go of me and wiped her nose with the back of her hand. Black mascara ran down her cheeks, and her red lipstick was smeared from her lips to the side of her face. Cami had some sort of towel clenched in her hand that had blood on it, I assumed from her nose.

  “How can someone who says they love me be so mean?” she asked, dabbing her wet face with the towel.

  I looked down at the floor for a moment. “Honestly, Cami, I think Treyu is incapable of loving anyone other than himself.”

  Cami processed this for a second before bursting out in another loud sob.

  “How’s your nose?” I asked, not sure how to comfort her.

  “Oh, it’s fine,” she replied, waving her other hand in the air as if it didn’t matter. “I’m just so stupid. I shouldn’t have said that to him.”

  “Don’t you dare blame yourself,” I chastised her. “Treyu is a horrible, horrible person.”

  Cami shrugged and closed her eyes. “I just feel … like such an idiot.” “How did this all happen?” I questioned her. “Why are you even with him?”

  She opened her eyes and looked at the floor before shifting her gaze back to me. “I met him in college. We ran into one another at a party.”

  “Why would he be at a party on Earth?” I asked aloud.

  “I don’t know,” Cami said, her hand whisking away another stray tear blackened by her makeup. “He approached me and asked if I wanted a drink and then we spent the entire next day together. He was wonderful, Anna, just wonderful.”

  I nodded. “Buttering you up, being the fake Treyu.”

  “I guess you’re right.” She paused for a moment. “I just fell so hard for him, you know. I’ve never met anyone like him, so smart and full of adventure. It was like he had everything at his fingertips. And then he showed me this place.” She looked around the room. “I mean, come on, another world? It just seemed crazy but exciting all at the same time, and it was like Treyu was sharing this with me. I felt special. He would give me things, beautiful jewelry and flowers I had never seen before. He promised me we’d be together forever.”

  “And yet he’s physically and mentally abusive to you,” I pointed out.

  “He puts me down.”

  “Yes,” I agreed. “He wants to keep reminding you you’re a human. I’m a human too, remember?” I told her. “He’s always reminding me of what I am. We’re both powerless, which to Treyu, means worthless.”

  “So why even be with me?” Cami asked.

  I shrugged. “I know you don’t want to hear this, but I think you need to.”

  “It hurts so bad, but I need to hear it,” she confessed.

  “He’s using you. You’re his toy, his pet,” I blurted out.

  These words brought on more tears. She quickly dabbed her face again with the towel.

  “That’s not love, Cami,” I whispered. “You need to stay away from him.”

  She nodded. “I know, I know. But Anna, I’ve given up everything for him. Everything,” she emphasized.

  I sighed. I felt so bad for this girl. Treyu had really done a number on her.

  “I mean, I quit school, Anna. I was a senior in college. He told me I didn’t need to work. We would travel and live like … royalty.” She lowered her head in shame. “Where are you from?”

  “Seneca, Ohio,” I answered. Ohio. It seemed like an imaginary place now, distant in my bank of memories now. Helene’s face popped into my thoughts for a moment. I patted Cami’s hand. “We’re going to try to fix this for you. Your family thinks you’re on vacation?”

  She nodded. “Yes, but I’ve been gone so very long. Treyu hasn’t even let me contact them.”

  “I really hate Treyu,” I mumbled.

  Cami stuck out her bottom lip in a pout. “I really love him, Anna.” She began sobbing again.

  Oh, dear lord … Is she ever going to stop crying like this?

  “I mean maybe Treyu can change. People can change, can’t they?”

  I looked into her eyes that were so full of hope and needed me to say something to reassure her false expectations.

  “Maybe,” I whispered. I didn’t know what to say to her. Of course Treyu would never stop being the creep he is, but she thought she was in love with some image of a Treyu that didn’t even exist. She had fallen for him hard and not even his violent acts toward her could get her to stop hoping for a brighter day tomorrow with him.

  What were we going to do to fix this? Was this situation even fixable?

  “I miss my family so much though,” Cami wept. “I’m homesick, you know? I really am.” She leaned her head against my shoulder again. “You think I’ll ever see them again, Anna?”

  “Yes, Cami,” I answered. “You will see your family again. I’ll make sure of it.”

  She wrapped her arms around me and hugged me tight.

  “I just know Treyu loves me,” she rambled on. “I just know that he’ll apologize for all of this and take me home tomorrow.

  She was so blinded by her fantasy of true love with Treyu. It made me sick to my stomach how vulnerable she had allowed herself to get, but there was also the realization that I was right there with her. We both loved men that weren’t even from Earth, and we both depended upon them. We both cast away our lives on Earth in order to be with these crazy creatures that had captured our hearts. The only problem was that Emry was a good guy, Treyu not so much.

  “I’ll tell you what,” I said, pulling away from Cami so I could look her in the eye. “This evening has been a nightmare. We could both use some rest, right?”

  She nodded, dabbing her nose again with the towel.

  “I’m going to get you a room. You can have a warm bath and stretch out in a big bed. We can figure it all out in the morning. Okay?” I forced myself to smile.

  Cami exhaled loudly. “Okay.”

  “Come on.” I stood up and offered her my hand. “Let’s just put this night behind us.”

  NINE

  I opened the door to Emry’s bedroom just a crack. Light from the hallway poured into the dark room. I shut the door behind me and leaned against it. I listened to the silence.

  “Emry?” I whispered.

  After a moment, I heard him say, “I’m in here.”

  Relief washed over me. At least he was still speaking to me.

  “Do you want me to leave?” I asked, regretting the question the second it left my lips.

  Emry didn’t reply right away. “No.”

  I felt my way to a table that was near the door and reached for the lamp. Turning it on, it cast a soft glow over the bed where Emry laid with an ice pack on his face. His eyes looked red as if he had been crying. I just stood there, unsure of what I should do next.

  “It’s alright,” he said. “Come here.”

  I walked over to him and examined his bruised face more closely. My poor, beautiful Emry Logan. He lifted up his arm gesturing for me to lie down on his chest. As soon as my head pressed against his body, I began to cry myself, just letting tonight’s stresses pour out of me. Emry’s hand reached for my hair. He ran his fingers through it a couple of times, neither one of us speaking for awhile.

  I sat up and looked at him. “How’s your face?” I touched his jaw where a purple lump had formed.

  He winced. “It only hurts when you touch it.” He gave me a crooked smile.

  I jerked back my hand. “Sorry.” I batted my eyes at him.

  “I’m the one who’s sorry,” Emry whispered. “I was such a jerk to you. I was out of line and just pl
ain, old embarrassed that Treyu got the best of me, but I shouldn’t have taken it out on you. Forgive me?”

  I nodded, the knot unraveling in my stomach that he had put there earlier in the night. “Of course.”

  “I’ve just been laying here thinking.”

  “About what?” I asked, lying back down on his chest to listen.

  “This whole mess Treyu has gotten us into bringing that girl here and now having to deal with it, what to do next.”

  I inhaled slowly, my eyes closed, my hand on his stomach.

  “I’m not going to let him shake me up like this again. I just … lost it.”

  I whispered, “I know.” I opened my eyes and focused on the wall straight in front of me. “What do you know about him growing up in the castle?” I asked. “Who was his father?”

  Emry put the ice pack down on the table beside him and leaned back again. “His father and mine were brothers.”

  “And his mother?”

  “I think she died during childbirth,” Emry replied. “I don’t know a lot, just that when his father died, Atavia took Treyu in and made her servants raise him.”

  “Why is he so bitter?”

  “Good question,” Emry said. “Who knows? Maybe he feels like he didn’t have the childhood he deserved or something because his parents were dead and he was stuck in a castle with his aunt.”

  “And he thinks your childhood was amazing,” I said.

  “Sounds like that’s exactly what he thinks.” Emry sighed. “If only he knew …”

  “Did your father only have one brother then?” I asked.

  “Yeah,” he answered.

  “No sisters?”

  “No sisters.”

  I bit my lip as I processed it all.

  “Emry?” I whispered.

  “Hmm?”

  “I’m sorry you didn’t find a wonderful family to welcome you with open arms here on Evadere,” I whispered.

  “It’s fine.” Emry rested his arm on my back. “You’re the only one I need, and we can have our own family.”

  I smiled at the thought of little children running around the castle, everyone living in peace. Then I frowned as I realized what a fantasy that truly was. No one was safe here.

  “And Atavia’s family?” I asked.

  “She was part of the farming contributors. She told me some story of how she was bringing food into the castle for royalty and tripped and fell, spilling the food everywhere. She said a hand came in front of her face to help her stand up again. The hand belonged to my father, and they were inseparable ever since. Ben said she changed once my father was killed, that it hardened her heart and she just became numb to everything, but I don’t know.”

  “What don’t you know?”

  “She just seems really …”

  “Evil?” I asked.

  “Yeah,” he whispered. “She’s extremely immoral. I could never forgive her after what she did to you.”

  I couldn’t find it within myself to assure him with some hope that his mother may have a soft side, that maybe she didn’t deserve to be in that dungeon. I just didn’t trust her at all. The mere thought of her out of the dungeon made me physically sick with worry. She had twisted Emry’s mind before. It was just unfortunate that it had taken something as drastic as her attempt to kill me in order for him to see what I had seen all that time, that she only had her own interests at heart, not his.

  “I consoled Cami.”

  “You did?” he sounded surprised. “Good. Is she okay?”

  “Yeah, she’s okay,” I replied, my eyes tracing the outline on the frame of a piece of artwork hanging on the wall. “She thinks Treyu actually loves her, and she misses her family on Earth, too.”

  “Treyu is so stupid,” Emry said.

  “He just really doesn’t care about anything or anyone.”

  There was a knock on the door.

  “Come in,” Emry shouted.

  I sat up as Ben appeared. He walked over to us and looked Emry over.

  “I heard what happened,” Ben told us.

  Emry reached for the ice pack again. “I’m sure the entire castle is buzzing with their night’s entertainment.”

  “Well, I’m sure you and Treyu put on quite the show. Kind of sorry I missed it myself,” he said sarcastically as his tone of voice reprimanded Emry for his actions. “There’s someone waiting for you downstairs in the library.”

  “Right now?” Emry asked.

  I looked out the window at the dark sky. There weren’t too many stars out tonight.

  “Who is it?” he questioned him.

  Ben stared at him for another moment. “You’ll see.” He turned to leave.

  “Ben,” Emry said.

  He turned around to look at us again.

  “Treyu hit Cami tonight. He has to take her back to Earth. She needs to go back,” Emry informed him.

  Ben sighed. “Treyu was seen leaving the castle. They said he’s gone. I really doubt he’s coming back, and not for that girl either.”

  “He just left her?” Emry asked.

  “That surprises you?” Ben asked back.

  Emry looked down. “No, I guess it doesn’t. Well, we have to do something with her.”

  Ben’s eyes moved to me and then back to Emry. He placed his hands in front of him and clasped them together. “I think she should be killed.”

  “What?” I gasped.

  “Now why would you go and say something like that?” Emry questioned him, the anger returning.

  Ben shrugged. “Easiest solution.”

  “And you’d be okay with that on your conscience?” I asked, my own anger flaring with how cold Ben was becoming.

  “Nothing has been easy lately,” he stated. “I’m okay with anything that’s easy.”

  We watched him turn around and leave, the door shutting quietly behind him.

  “Kill Cami?” I said, raising my eyebrows.

  “I promise you that won’t happen,” Emry assured me. “Ben’s been really messed up lately.”

  “I told you he just hasn’t been the same,” I reminded him.

  He looked at me and nodded. “That you did.” He stood up and walked over to a mirror. “Wow. I look like crap. You coming with me to see who this is?”

  Worry filled me. Who could it possibly be? My gut told me it was trouble, but I had to find out or else I’d just be sitting up here alone wondering about it. I nodded, peering into the mirror at my own disheveled state. “Let’s go.”

  ***

  When I walked into the library, my face drained of color.

  What was going on?

  “Candy?” Emry whispered.

  There stood Emry’s ex-wife and her daughter. I recognized her, but she didn’t look as sleazy as she had on Earth. She wore a long silver dress that was Evadere style, and her blonde hair was dyed brown and slicked back against her head. The daughter wore a similar style.

  Candy’s eyes shifted to me. Wrinkles appeared on her forehead.

  “What’s she doing here?” she asked, pointing at me.

  Emry’s gaze shifted to Ben who was leaning against a bookshelf, half hidden in the shadows.

  “What are you doing here?” Emry questioned her. “Ben, what’s going on?”

  “Yeah, Ben, you didn’t mention this to me. Isn’t she the human I saw at the prison? And is that a ring on her finger?” Candy squeaked out.

  Ben pulled his shoulders back and stepped between the four of us. “Now, Candy,” he said. “Don’t be bitter. You’re lucky you were even allowed to return.”

  “Somebody better start explaining …” Emry warned.

  “And what happened to your face?” Candy asked, stepping closer and touching Emry’s cheek.

  He stepped back and out of her reach. Her eyes shifted to me again and she stepped back to her daughter, who had just been standing there like a statue.

  “Why are you here, Candy?” Emry repeated.

  “Atavia had put certain things in mot
ion when you were a baby,” Ben began.

  “Like?” Emry asked.

  Ben walked over to the window and peered out. “A few contributors were sent to Earth to watch over you, like me,” he continued. Then he turned around to look at us. “And Candy.”

  “What?” Emry hissed.

  Candy sighed. “It’s true,” she stated. “Atavia sent me after my husband died. I was a widow and she offered for me and my daughter to go to Earth to live.”

  “And seduce me?” Emry asked.

  A jealous pang made its way through my body followed by a wave of heat. I bit the inside of my cheeks to try to remain calm.

  “No, that was her downfall,” Ben answered. “She wasn’t supposed to even really interact with you.”

  “I fell in love with you, Emry,” Candy blurted out in a desperate voice.

  “Did you know I was a prince?” Emry questioned her, his eyes alive with betrayal and resentment.

  Candy’s hand moved to her forehead. “Emry, I …”

  “Did you know I was a prince?” he repeated.

  Ben raised his eyebrows.

  “Yes,” she finally admitted.

  Emry let out a laugh of frustration. “Unbelievable.”

  “Atavia was furious that Candy had made a relationship with you, had married you,” Ben stated. “She exiled her to Earth telling her she could never return to her planet because of disobeying the queen’s commands.”

  “Well, I’m glad subconsciously I knew better and got away from you,” Emry snapped, running his fingers through his hair.

  Candy ran back up to him and wrapped her hands around his arm. “Can’t we go and talk somewhere in private?” she pleaded. “I can explain.”

  “She’s only back because Atavia’s in the dungeon, and I didn’t think she was a threat,” Ben clarified.

  Emry jerked his arm back. “No, you can say what you have to say right now, right here, although I don’t even know why you’d waste your breath. Anna is my fiancé. We’re going to be married soon.”

  Candy lowered her head and covered her face with her hands.

  “She’s not staying here in the castle, is she?” I whispered.

  Candy jerked her head up as I spoke, her glassy eyes glaring a hole right through me.

  “No, no,” Ben replied. “She has her own contributor group to go back to.”