Solace: Book Three (Strange in Skin Trilogy)

by Sara V. Zook

  Evil laughter echoed from somewhere above us. I recognized that awful noise. A shadow moved from overhead.

  “Treyu,” Emry said.

  There was a thump beside me. Treyu and his entourage of men stood there. He smirked. I recognized those men from the clothes they were wearing. It was the group that had been after us at Lainey Tritt’s funeral.

  Atavia gasped for air behind us and was able to come back up to her knees, her eyes wild from the pain as she glared at Treyu. Emry also had relief from pain. He took two steps toward his cousin.

  “Not so fast,” Treyu said, holding up his finger. “I want this day to be extra special.” He looked me over. “Wow. Looking good, Anna. You look much better than the last time I saw you, almost on your deathbed from all that minx I gave you.”

  Emry leapt at Treyu who used his powers to lift Emry up and slam him against the wall of the garden, pinning him there.

  “Oh, temper, temper, Emry. I was shocked to hear that there was even still a wedding. I fully expected Anna to die on Earth from those drugs. That’s okay, though. Those responsible for not finishing the job have been … punished.” Treyu smirked again.

  No wonder I had thought I had seen Emry on the minx. Those blue eyes I had been staring into were Treyu’s. He looked enough like Emry to make me think it was him.

  Emry struggled to move but couldn’t.

  The contributors behind us were trying to find a way out.

  “Please, stay, my friends,” Treyu called out to them. “Come celebrate with me. I’m becoming king today.”

  He motioned for a man in his group and whispered in his ear. The man walked over to Emry and took the crown from his head and placed it in Treyu’s hands. Treyu marveled at the sight of it. He positioned it on his own head.

  “How do I look, Anna?” he asked.

  I narrowed my eyes at him. “Stupid.”

  Treyu began laughing again. “Do you want to know what’s really stupid, Anna? Let me tell you. What’s really stupid is the idea of you and Emry. I mean, come on, a son of Atavia’s raised on Earth who knows nothing about this world being king and his human girlfriend? I think you two have gotten to play house for far too long.”

  “You’re just jealous, Treyu!” Atavia screamed. “I should’ve destroyed you long ago.”

  Treyu turned to face the defeated queen. He walked over to her and ran his finger along her cheek. “Pity, isn’t it? It’s like looking in a mirror when you see me. I’ve learned from the best. Remember how ruthless you used to be? I remember secretly watching you kill off people as a boy. You never knew I was there. Anyone that got in your way, you killed them. You didn’t have a care in the world.”

  Atavia moved her head away from his touch and scowled at him. “You’ve always been a fool.”

  He sighed and turned to look at Emry who was still against the wall. He released his power on him. Emry fell to the ground. He lifted his head slowly to look at Treyu.

  “Since neither you, nor Anna will be alive after today, it’s time you knew a little family history,” Treyu stated.

  “No!” Atavia cried out.

  Her torment pleased him. He grinned. “What’s that you say, mother?”

  Mother? My mouth dropped open. I looked over at Emry and saw his face full of shock also.

  “It’s a funny story, really,” Treyu continued. “We’re brothers, you and me, Emry, but also cousins. How, you ask, is this possible?”

  “Shut up, Treyu!” Atavia yelled. “Just let it be.”

  “No, I won’t let it be,” he replied. “I’ve kept my mouth shut for far too long. You could threaten me then with your powers, but I believe you were stripped of those powers by my older brother, weren’t you?”

  Treyu gave Atavia a little push. She fell over. He thought it was hysterical, his laughing almost knocking the crown from his head.

  “Our mother, Emry, is a whore. After your father died, she was after my father, who just so happens to be your father’s younger brother making him your uncle. Are you following, Emry? You seem a little lost.”

  Emry said nothing. He just continued to kneel at the bottom of the wall.

  “See where I’m going with this? She slept with your uncle and got pregnant with me. Therefore, I’m your brother and your cousin. Silly, really.” He rolled his eyes. “But that’s the way things were. Everyone thought she just let me live in the castle after my own father had died. Again, not completely true. She wouldn’t admit that she had another son with another man. My father wanted everyone to know that I was the queen’s son, but no, she wouldn’t have it, so she had my father murdered to silence him so her secret wasn’t exposed.”

  He glanced back at Atavia. She had tears streaming down her face.

  “Oh, what’s the matter, mother? Did I just proclaim to everyone how you really are? You didn’t think I knew about how you killed my father, did you? These castle walls have ears and people do tend to talk about things when you’re a small boy and they don’t think you’re listening.”

  “You disgust me,” Atavia said.

  Tears built up in Treyu’s eyes. He laughed for a moment and then his face turned fierce as he lifted his lips and exposed his teeth as if his madness had just taken over him. He jerked his hand up and aimed it at Atavia. Her head fell to the side, her eyes rolling into the back of her head. She slumped to the ground, dead.

  I covered my mouth before a scream came out.

  Treyu wiped his eyes with his fingers and stared at her lifeless body for a few moments before turning around and returning his attention to us. He pointed his finger at me. “You, Anna, you have been a little bit of a problem for me. You’ve ruined my plans time and time again.”

  I bit my lip not knowing what to say to him, wondering if I spoke if it would trigger a reaction such as one that had just happened to Atavia.

  “You killed the love of my life,” Treyu continued.

  “What?” I whispered.

  “Oh, yes,” he said. “As soon as I found out about my mother’s plans to return Emry here and to make him king, I searched for him on Earth. It was supposed to be a simple plan. Once he was deemed either guilty or innocent from the judge, he was to walk out of the courtroom and he was to be killed in the hallway. My beautiful Brielle, you remember her, don’t you, Anna? She volunteered to kill Emry for me. She knew of my hatred for him. She wanted to give me the gift of being the one to slay him for me. You killed her, Anna.”

  I remembered the woman’s face who was headed straight for Emry with a knife in her hand. She had been very beautiful. I had shot her with Buck Brady’s gun.

  “I can see you reminiscing.” He chuckled. “You broke my heart, Anna.”

  “I didn’t know who she was,” I whispered. “I was just protecting Emry.”

  “Protecting Emry, protecting Emry,” he repeated in a mocking chant. “It’s always about Emry. He was put on Earth for protection, Ben always protected him, mother loved him. I could never get anyone to look my way. What about Treyu? Why wasn’t his life as fair?”

  Treyu’s jealousy had caused him to lose his own sanity. He dwelt on it so much that is consumed him.

  “I tried to give you the benefit of the doubt,” Treyu stated. “I knew you were just a powerless human who didn’t know anything about anything. I tried very hard not to kill you. I even had those two worthless women killed. They had betrayed me. Raleigh was too caught up in mother’s promises to marry her off to Emry. Jillianne backstabbed me. They were worthless. I had them killed and thought it would be super fun to have Raleigh put in your bed. That was super fun, wasn’t it, Anna?”

  All this time it had been Treyu. He had been going off on worse rampages than what we had thought. He had access to everything, transporting to Earth, knowing every detail of the castle, knowing what was going on to cause a mess of things.

  “You don’t look as thrilled as I do.” He came over and ran his fingers down my arm. “It was just a joke, Anna. It’s okay if you laugh.”


  Emry rose to his feet just then, his eyes full of anger at Treyu’s touching me.

  “I tried to pin those murders on you hoping to get rid of you that way, but no, Emry interfered with that also. It’s just been ridiculous really. I’m tired of the games though. The games end today. I take control of the situation and my life, what I’m rightfully entitled to. I’m the queen’s son, too, and I grew up here, unlike you, Emry. I know how to get these contributors to do what I say. I get to be king now. No one stands in my way. You all die, starting with your lovely bride. I want you to watch me destroy this pathetic human.”

  Treyu went to raise his hand. Emry used his own powers to jerk it backwards, dislocating Treyu’s shoulder. He cried out in pain.

  “You’ll pay for that!” Treyu screamed.

  The men that came with Treyu ran at Emry and grabbed his arms. Emry closed his eyes and the men all toppled to the floor. The contributors yelled out in alarm as some of the men landed near their feet.

  I felt someone grab my hand. I turned to see Jo, her face pale.

  “Come on, you two,” Ben whispered, making us back up behind some thick trees. “You need to let these guys battle it out.”

  I hesitated. “But, Ben …”

  “Anna,” he said strictly. “This has been a long time coming. It has to end today, one way or another. One of them has to win, the other has to … die.”

  Distress filled me. There was nothing I could do. I backed up with Ben and Jo, keeping an eye on Emry. Our beautiful wedding day that was supposed to be full of happiness, destroyed by Treyu, the unwanted son.

  Emry brought Treyu to one knee. He struggled to keep one leg up but finally gave in and came down hard on both knees. Treyu cried out and broke free of Emry’s force on him, sending Emry’s body sailing through the air and crashing into some flowers, their pots shattering under his weight.

  Emry stood. He pulled a piece of glass out of his back and tossed the bloody shard down onto the ground.

  The contributors were now huddled together as tightly as they could be against the door that led back inside the castle. I wondered if Treyu had that blocked somehow, too.

  Emry charged at Treyu like a bull. He knocked him over as they both fell to the ground, Treyu taking blows to the head from Emry’s fist. They both struggled and rolled over again, this time Treyu was on top. He grabbed Emry’s throat with his hand and squeezed. Emry’s blue eyes bulged. Treyu removed his hand from Emry’s neck, still continuing to choke him even though he was no longer physically holding onto him any longer.

  Treyu wiped blood away from his lip and spit on the ground. Emry clawed at his throat. I felt the tears stinging my eyes, wanting to run over to him, wanting to be able to save him. My heart throbbed within me. It ached. I was watching him die. It wasn’t fair to end like this because of someone like Treyu.

  “At first I was a little concerned,” Treyu said. “I thought your powers must be very strong after you were able to strip mother of hers, but then we had that little spat in the dining area, and you were just so … wimpy.” He turned his head to look for me. Our eyes met as I peeked out over the top of the plants to see what was happening. Treyu grinned as he found me. “Perhaps I won’t kill your lovely bride. Perhaps I’ll just … make her my own bride.”

  His words filled my stomach with disgust. If only I had powers and could kill Treyu, I’d do it right now.

  Emry sat up. He gasped for air. Treyu turned to look at him, surprised he had escaped the hold he had had on him. He massaged his throat with his fingers before looking up to glare at Treyu. Emry’s eyes were ferocious. The look on his face was one of pure hatred as I had never seen before.

  “You weren’t invited to our wedding,” Emry mumbled through labored speech. He threw his own arms up in the air.

  Treyu’s own eyes were one of panic as Emry lifted his body effortlessly into the air. Treyu continued to climb higher and higher until I could barely see him. Then Emry dropped his arms, and the little dot that was Treyu became larger and larger as he plummeted down from the sky. He was falling so fast, his arms and legs flailing about. There was a thunderous snap as Treyu landed on one of the pillars the guards had been on, his spine shattering to pieces, the crown falling from his head, his blue eyes remained open in alarm as his body was permanently bent upside down looking down upon all of us.

  Jo buried her face in her hands and wailed. The contributors acted in a similar way, the parents consoling their children who had just witnessed a horrific death of a horrific man.

  Emry started to limp over to me. I ran to meet him and buried my face in his chest. The tears came then. He put his hand up to my hair and hugged me tight.

  “It’s okay, Anna, it’s okay,” he kept repeating. “It’s all over now. Everything’s okay.”

  The sobbing came on full force. I couldn’t stop it now. I thought I was going to lose Emry. The emotional exhaustion of this entire day was pouring out of me now. Emry wouldn’t let me go until I pulled back first.

  I looked up at him. “Are you hurt?”

  “I’m fine. Are you hurt?”

  I shook my head.

  “Have I told you how beautiful you look today?” he asked, grinning.

  I rolled my eyes and laughed. “I’m sure I’m a mess now.”

  He wiped the tears from my cheeks with his fingers. “Now that’s not true.” He searched my eyes. “You look like a goddess.” His eyes went sad. “I’ll never let anything happen to you, Anna. No one is ever going to hurt you again.”

  I pressed my head back against his chest, just needing to feel his heart beating. We were still alive. Our love had persevered another day.

  The contributors screamed from behind us. I looked up at Emry’s face. His eyes were focused on something facing my back. I slowly turned around expecting Treyu to have sprung back to life.

  Instead, four Scaves climbed over the wall of the garden and jumped to the ground. One of them was Karn, his lips back as he exposed his rotting, chipped teeth. Drool ran down his chin onto his beard. He had his knees bent. He was positioned for battle.

  The Scaves behind Karn ran over to the food table. They stuffed their mouths full of bread and chewed vigorously.

  The guards that had been standing next to Atavia charged them. The Scaves swung their spears around, the sharp blades slicing into the guards’ bodies. As they fell limp to the ground, the Scaves stuffed more food into their mouths.

  “Stop!” Jo cried out, darting in front of Karn.

  “Who are you?” he asked with a growl.

  He didn’t recognize her in her new, healthy body, makeup and hair done.

  “It’s me, Jo. Just go away, get out of here!” she screamed.

  Karn narrowed his eyes at her. “I don’t know who you are.” He raised his arm and backhanded her with a mighty blow to her cheek. She fell down and didn’t get back up.

  Karn’s gray eyes scanned the body of people before him. He finally settled his glance on the crown on my head and shifted his attention to Emry.

  “You,” he said, pointing at Emry. “You’re the king’s baby I tried to kill all those years ago.”

  Emry’s body stiffened. This was who was responsible for his father’s death. Emry went to take a step, but his leg was on the verge of giving out underneath him. He was weak from his fight with Treyu.

  “I’ve come back to finish what I started,” Karn stated. His weight shifted as if he were getting ready to leap at Emry.

  “Wait!” I pleaded. “Just wait one minute and listen to me.” I raised my arms up in the air so he wouldn’t feel as threatened. “The king’s baby that you speak of isn’t like the others. He wants peace between you and the contributors. He wants to offer you food, clean water, shelter.”

  Karn’s expression didn’t change at all, nor did his stance.

  “I’m not fooled by your games,” Karn replied. “I won’t be confused by your words. There can be only one end to all of this. All royalty has to die
.” He swung his spear behind his head as he was getting ready to throw it.

  Ben came up from behind and grabbed the end of the spear, ripping it from Karn’s hands.

  The gruesome beast snarled.

  Ben took a few steps backwards with the spear. “Do you recognize me?”

  Karn’s spit flew from his sagging lips.

  “Do you recognize me?” Ben repeated. When not getting a response, he continued, “I’m your brother.”

  “I have no brother!” Karn yelled out.

  “Just think,” Ben urged him. “Try to remember when you were a child. Karn snarled again.

  “You used to come up near a house. It was painted white. You’d come up to the back door at night, and your sister, our sister, would sneak food out to you,” Ben told him. “She loved you. Our sister loved you so much. And then you stopped coming, and she always wondered what happened to you. It turned her away from us, her family, knowing our parents had cast you out from the house when they found out you didn’t have any powers. Try to remember, Karn. I am your brother.”

  So I had been right that Ben was acting funny after Mrs. Anderson died. He did have feelings for his siblings, one being Karn. It explained why Mrs. Anderson had acted the way she did. She was after Emry because he was royalty, and the whole reason her brother was left for dead as a child, the whole reason she was an outcast on Earth, because she had defiled what royalty believed in. She hated them for hating the Scaves, one of them being her sibling.

  I doubted Karn could remember a time like that though. He was too far gone having been forced to scavenge the land. His mind was focused on survival and revenge. He knew nothing else. The world he lived in had turned him into a vicious creature. The contributors were terrified of the way he looked, the way he was almost animal-like, but it was their own fault. This is what happens to people when they’re forced out of society to live on their own.