Shattering Dreams

by Catherine M Walker

  William spoke. “I take it I won’t be able to talk you out of this. You will track the Skulls Lair down.”

  “No, and yes. I’ve got a good idea of where they are. This is the second time the League of Skulls has acted against the interests of the crown and before you ask, no, Jess is not coming with me. Where I’m going, to stand a chance of succeeding, I need to go alone. Besides, Jess needs to stay with Kyle in case another of the Skulls’ gifted assassins shows up here and goes after him again.”

  Alex sipped water from the glass that had been sitting on the coffee table and let his brother process what he’d said, smiling as he nodded.

  “It took the three of you to kill her, Alex. What if the Skull Lord decides enslaving a prince is better than enslaving a lord?” William took a sip of the liquor he’d poured and smiled in appreciation before looking across the room at him, his concern clear.

  “If I have to fight them, I will, but I need to find their lair first and I want to know who the Skull Lord is before I take any action. From Kyle’s memories, more of them seem to be able to control the power of the veil to some degree.” Alex stood at his brother’s nod. “I should be back around daybreak.”

  Without further pause, Alex pulled the shadows toward himself and slipped into that place between the worlds. He concentrated on where he wanted to go, filling his mind with his destination, and walked, knowing there was no need to rush. Time moved to a different pace, although he still didn’t know how this whole process worked. Most of what he did was on pure instinct. He knew he could do it and he would end up where he needed to be.

  Alex felt a shift in the shadowed paths and slowed. Letting go of some shadows, he found himself in the rafters of a warehouse. Grimy windows ranged the warehouse just below the roofline. The floor was empty with a pile of forgotten bales of hay and rags in the corner. Alex knew from Kyle’s memories that this was where they had first slept together—where Alyssa had inserted her first, insidious bond into Kyle. Off to one side on the floor, Alex spied a dirty brown stain that marked the first kill Kyle and Alyssa had committed together. The one that Kyle hadn’t admitted to when telling the story of his encounter.

  Alex rose from his perch in the rafters and jumped off, landing on the floor below, using the power of the veil to slow his descent. He landed in a half crouch. Alex straightened and checked the warehouse, although he doubted he’d find anything of worth.

  Satisfied there was nothing in the building except a few rodents, Alex gathered the shadows around him and stepped out into the street. He paused to take stock of his surroundings. The warehouse where Alyssa and Kyle had met up was on the industrial section of Old Town. Between the Old Town and the Docklands were where all Kyle’s unsanctioned and uncontrolled kills occurred when he had been overcome. There were some that Alex discovered Kyle wasn’t even aware he’d done. All with Alyssa sending wave after wave of anger and rage to him, overwhelming his mind until he was lost.

  Alex shook his head and pushed the memory aside; it threatened to overwhelm him with anger, as it had every time he thought about it. Alex walked through the almost deserted streets, to be expected at this hour. As he walked, Alex kept an eye on the rooftops and side streets. He made it to the apothecary, the site were Kyle had first known he was losing control. The shop was boarded up with a sign saying it would reopen soon. Alex had been told it was the man’s son who was redesigning the shop. Alex made a mental note to keep tabs on the place once it reopened as it didn’t take much of a stretch of the imagination to think the son might have the same connections as the father.

  Shaking his head, Alex pushed off the wall he’d been leaning against and walked toward his final destination for the night: the small house where Kyle had slaughtered the entire family. Kyle may not have remembered, but from what Alex had seen of Kyle’s memories, he’d been almost driven that night by equal desire to find Alyssa and to kill. If the poor, unfortunate man hadn’t come out of his rear door that night and challenged Kyle, it was likely that both he and his entire family would be alive today. Or at least, would not have fallen to Kyle’s blade that night.

  Alex figured Kyle had been making a straight line from his suite at the palace to where he sensed Alyssa was. That was one thing about the bonds. They may have given Alyssa a great deal of control over Kyle but they also made it easier for Kyle to track her through those same bonds.

  Kyle hadn’t realised yet that buried deep in his brain he had a good idea where Alyssa and Alex believed the League of Skulls lair was situated. Alex jumped, grasping the top of the fence, and flipped over into the small yard beyond it. The small dwelling sat abandoned and only just showed the signs of its uninhabited state. Alex knew it wouldn’t be long before someone took advantage of that to take it over. That an entire family had been slaughtered here would only hold them back for so long.

  Looking around, Alex sighed as he walked toward the door, not even pausing at the bloodstain on the rocks that formed the courtyard, and tried the handle. The handle turned, showing that the town guard hadn’t even attempted to secure the premises when they’d left. To the left of the doorway, he noticed what looked like a dirty mark down the wall, except Alex knew it was where the wife’s head had smashed into the wall. It was blood.

  Taking one last breath, Alex walked into the small home and paused just inside the door. It was obvious that even the tragic deaths hadn’t prevented people from raiding the home and cleaning out anything of value. The place was almost empty except for a few broken plates and a chair. There was also the blood-stained rug in the centre of the floor. Alex shook his head and wondered if thieves would even take that eventually and attempt to clean or mask the blood stain. Alex paused, closed his eyes and played the awful memory of the slaughter through his mind once more, trying to get his bearings on the direction to Alyssa from Kyle’s memories. With one final look around the deserted home, Alex walked out and headed off. Leaping up and over the tall fence, he landed in a yard almost identical to the one he’d been in, these neat little homes in rows that marked the division between the Old Town and the Docklands. Alex knew from Kyle’s memories he’d believed he was close to Alyssa’s location right before he’d been distracted by the bloodlust.

  Now the true search could begin. Alex didn’t expect he’d find the lair of the League of Skulls tonight, but he knew he’d made a good start. He’d also been correct in visiting the sights of the kills that Kyle had made with Alyssa and the place of that final slaughter he’d made before slamming his barriers up and running away. They had all helped him piece together the fragmented memories he’d gained from Kyle. Kyle had run away from Alyssa on pure instinct; before that he’d been trying to track her hiding place down.

  Alex sat on his perch on the roof of an inn. He glanced at the horizon and grimaced; dawn was not far off. Still, he felt he’d made good headway tonight and had found at least one likely hideout for members of the League of Skulls. He was in an area he knew well since it housed several inns, bars and houses of pleasure—right on the edge of the markets and general business district. Not the worst part of town, but not the best either. The shops his sister would attend, if she was so inclined, were on the other side of the Old Town, in a small section that had been redeveloped and had some exclusive merchants. The area was all the rage amongst the High Lords and Ladies of the court, or at least the ones who could afford it.

  Alex grinned in memory. There was also a respectable bar that his father and brother would much rather he frequented instead of his usual establishments here in Docks Row or The Quarter where he ended up when he was at his worst, although he hadn’t been back since the abduction attempt. Alex returned his attention to the trio of men.

  Nondescript, the type of men you’d be hard pressed to give much of a description of afterwards. Their height, their features, their clothes—all of it was similar to what he was wearing right now. Although despite appearances his own, he suspected, was of much better quality. At odds with their overall
appearance, their weapons were of unusual quality and they bore on their person a surprising amount of them. Alex stopped himself from snorting out loud; he was likely bearing more arms right now than they were and than Kyle did when he was out on the hunt.

  Still, Alex was certain if he could check them out closer they would bear the Skull tattoos on their bodies. Alex had never worked out why the Skull’s mercenaries insisted on branding themselves with the distinctive tattoos that gave away their profession and allegiance to the shadier dealings in the Realm to anyone who spotted them. Still, these three were well covered and Alex couldn’t make out if they bore them or not from this distance. Alex grinned as he watched all three walk into a seedy bar called The Brothers Arms; it was a bar he’d been in himself a time or two. Glancing again at the horizon, Alex figured he had just over an hour before dawn hit and the bar would close its doors.

  Alex figured they were having drinks before heading to their hideout for the night. Either that, or the entrance to their hideout was accessed from the bar. Deciding what to do, he rose and walked around the side of the inn and dropped into a darkened lane on the other side. Walking forward, he didn’t pause but dropped the shadows from himself as he walked from the shadowed lane, across the road and through the doors of The Brothers Arms. Alex kept his hood up, but in this place it wasn’t so unusual—half the clientele did. He couldn’t risk being recognised, although given everyone knew he was at the Summer Palace with the rest of the Royal Court, they most likely would discount it, even if they thought he looked like the King’s youngest son.

  Alex was glad he knew the bar well. He paused as he walked through the doors, although his eyes scanned the room and picked up his targets at a table in the far rear corner of the dimly lit, yet spotless bar. Or it would be spotless if it was at the start of the night, rather than the end of it. Still, few in the court would have ever believed the disreputable bar not only was clean but had some of the finest ale in the city.

  Alex moved to the corner of the bar and perched on one of the empty stools where he could see both the doors and his targets. He leaned and rested his back against the wooden wall and slumped as if he’d had a long night, which was the truth, only he wasn’t exhausted. Taking coins from his pouch, he slid them onto the bar toward the barkeep and was rewarded with a mug of the town’s finest brew. Kyle would kill him when he found out Alex had been here without him. Alex took a long swallow of his beer and sighed. He placed the mug on the bar before snagging the hand of the bar wench he knew from his previous visits.

  “Ah, Vicki, it’s been way too long.”

  He pulled the unresisting woman into his arms and kissed her, vowing Amelia could never find out or she would kill him. As Vicki drew away from the kiss, her eyes widened in recognition. She leaned into him, her hand trailing up his chest and he heard her breathy voice whispering in his ear.

  “Alex, what are you doing here? It’s not safe.” Vicki drew back and her green eyes stared into his own.

  It reminded Alex why he’d spent more than one night in her company. Alex laughed and drew her onto his lap and kissed her again, holding her in place.

  “Mmm, I’ve been busy of late. The men in the far corner, are they regulars?” Turning his mind to business, he glanced briefly to his targets.

  Vicki threw back her head and laughed as if he’d said something funny before resting her head on his shoulder.

  “Yes. Most nights they come in—before you ask, they always leave just before we close and head toward the back of the Siren, down the street.”

  With that, Vicki pulled his head down and gave him a lingering kiss that Alex admitted he enjoyed too much. She slipped off his lap with a giggle and he let her go as though unwilling to do so. Alex sat and was rewarded when one of the men pulled off his gloves and he saw the silver Skull ring on his finger. He saw a flash of the trail of Skulls across the back of his hand before it disappeared, hidden by his shirt.

  Having the information he wanted for the night, Alex finished his brew and, pushing two more coins across the bar toward Vicki, he nodded to the barkeep and left. Alex looked down the road and spied the Siren but turned and walked down one of the side lanes.

  Alex considered his options and the light touching the horizon and swore. He turned and watched the entrance of The Brothers Arms and was rewarded as the three men walked from the bar. They paused just out the entrance and scanned up and down before the three of them turned and, as Vicki said they would, headed toward the Siren. Considering his options, Alex closed his eyes then climbed to the rooftops and made his way to a vantage point where he could just make out the rear yard of the Siren. There was a small, dilapidated building leaning up against the rock wall at the back of the building he’d never noticed. Of course, on the occasions he’d frequented the Siren, he hadn’t been inclined to explore the back yard.

  A smile touched Alex’s lips as he saw his quarry enter the back yard of the Siren and with a final glance around they disappeared into the building.

  Alex cursed; he wanted to explore now he knew where his targets had entered. He guessed that the small shack leaning up against what was the old stone wall of the city was the entrance to wherever the League of Skulls called home. Or, at the very least, it was where those men who were Disciples of the Skull called home. If that was the case, he’d only have to follow them—they’d soon head to their master’s lair.

  Still, Alex knew either way the men were about to bed down for the day. He also knew if he didn’t get back to the palace soon that they’d likely send Jess out to look for him. He didn’t want that to happen since it would leave Kyle unguarded by anyone who could access the power of the veil. He didn’t want to assume that Alyssa was the only one within the ranks of the League of Skulls that had the Taint. She had quite clearly been about to access the palace and get past the normal guards. Although if they did have another as skilled as Alyssa, he doubted they would be able to get past Jess. If Kyle hadn’t been so shaken, Alex knew she wouldn’t get past him either but Kyle had to learn to trust himself and his own judgement again.

  Resisting his desire to investigate, Alex pulled himself onto the shadowed paths and concentrated on his room in the Summer Palace. He found it interesting that it was always quicker heading to somewhere that he knew well, versus a vague memory of a location. Then again, maybe it was faster going back to the palace because he was relying on his own memory, not one he’d gleaned from someone else, as on the way out. Regardless of the reason, he ended up looking at his own room; he found William sitting in one of his chairs, sipping what Alex guessed was coffee, waiting for him.

  Taking a steadying breath, Alex left the Shadowed Path and walked into his own room.

  William looked up at him, startled. “Damn it, Alex, no matter how many times I see you do that you scare the life out of me every time. It’s uncanny.”

  Alex chuckled, only now realising how tired he was. “Sorry, William, I’m not sure there is any other way for me to do it. I think the servants would be even more startled than you if I left the shadow paths out there instead of in here.”

  Alex slipped the hood of his cloak off his head and undid the tie, throwing it over the back of a couch. He then stripped off his vest, disposing it on top of the cloak. He walked around and almost collapsed onto the lounge, pulling a pillow under his head.

  “I know you’re tired, Alex, so I’ll let you get some sleep. You can brief me when you wake so I’ve got something to report to Father. How did it go?” William sat, waiting for Alex to gather his thoughts.

  “It was a long night, but I’ve tracked at least three Skulls Disciples to what I believe is their daytime sleeping place. I won’t know if it is just theirs or the entrance to the lair for the League of Skulls itself until I do a little more digging. I’ll head back tonight and explore when most of the occupants are off pursuing other interests.” Alex turned his head and cracked his eyes open to see if he’d given enough information to satisfy his brother.
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  William stood and shook his head. “I’m still not sure this is a good idea, Alex, but I understand why you are doing it. Just show common sense and caution. We’ll speak again tonight before you go out.”

  Alex grimaced and sat up, hauling off his boots. “I’m sorry, William, but I have to do this.” He rose and placed his hand on his brother’s shoulder. “I’ll be careful. I promise.”

  William looked at him with a serious expression on his face before nodding and heading out the door.

  Alex shook his head and headed to his bathing room to clean up.

  He made short work of his bath before he headed to his bed and collapsed. Groaning, he pulled up the covers, rolling over onto his side. He was asleep almost before he’d completed the action.

  32

  Treason

  Jess dressed in her comfortable hunting attire, one set without the crest of the Fourth on it, and grimaced. It had taken a few days to decide on the perfect day to follow up on the information that Damien had provided. It was Tuesday night and Alex had gone off on a pursuit of his own. She hoped he wasn’t out hunting down Sundered by himself; she should track him down and go with him, but had decided this was more important. Kyle was distracted, with Elizabeth.

  That meant she was free to try to follow up on the information she’d gained on Daniel and the guard, Baine. Jess didn’t know what to think of the information but hoped it proved to be wrong. If Daniel had been involved, she hated to think of Alex’s reaction when he found out. Jess closed her eyes. Worse, if Daniel was involved, what did William, Elizabeth or his father know? She had to know if he’d acted with their knowledge.

  She shook her head; it may be nothing. She knew what Damien had reported to her did not prove anything. The guardsman who went by the same name and fit the description of the man who’d organised the kidnapping, well, it could be an unfortunate coincidence. At least that was what she was hoping, despite some things she’d seen and heard. Things she’d dismissed in the past as her imagination pointed in a direction she didn’t like at all.