Path Of The Broken

2. A Betrayal

2

A Betrayal

Edward heard his nephew’s mental cry ringing in his mind again and winced. No matter what the reason, it felt like a betrayal and hurt a lot more than he’d thought it would. He had gotten closer to the boy than he had ever imagined was possible. He sent his words out to the far-off mind even though he was aware Alex would not hear them.

Forgive me, Alex.

Edward closed his eyes before sighing and turning to look at the three people who had been at his side through what seemed like an eternity.

“Kat, I know we’ve done the right thing, but the betrayal of their trust still hurts. He may never recover from this. Not all who go through transition alone do.” Edward looked towards Kat, his eyes almost begging her—although he couldn't work out for what.

“Alex is stronger than anyone knows, Edward. In case you’ve forgotten, that was the idea: push him to early transition so that some of our less sociable brethren do not learn about him until it’s too late.” Kat looked at him, calm as always; growing up on the streets like she did as a child thief meant it took quite a lot to shake her. “They would have killed him if they’d known his potential. They would have assessed that he would grow and, at full power, threaten their power base. He will pull through this.”

“We’ve discussed this ad nauseam, Edward. We had to push him, all of them, to transition. Their survival depends on it. We could not continue to hide their existence much longer. We already failed.” Cal was practical, always.

Joanna’s lips thinned, eyes narrowing. “Besides, abandoning him to learn for himself will make him stronger.”

Ed saw the mad gleam in her eyes; there was no reasoning with her when she was inflicted with a psychotic break. He cursed himself again for being too late all those years ago when she’d been attacked. They’d spent a great deal of time in the intervening years monitoring Joanna and not just because she was the former queen and Alex’s mother. He’d been horrified the night he’d heard her mind voice scream from her tomb, where she’d been buried alive. It hadn’t been hard to keep track of her with the three of them, although sometimes they left her to her own devices. Unfortunately one of those times it had been long enough that she’d made Kyle her thrall. That was a circumstance he hadn’t been able to convince her to change.

“Expediency is one thing, yet it doesn’t mean it wasn’t a betrayal. Still, they all would have transitioned, eventually. My lady, now that Kyle is aware of your existence, it won’t be long before he passes on what he knows to Alex. I fear Alex will not react well.” Edward did not bother to hide his concern.

The mad light in her eyes faded, and a satisfied smile spread on her lips.

“No, I was lucky enough to be there when Kyle showed up in Simon’s lair. He is mine now, which is just as well. To give himself to another is technically treason.”

Simon tried to suppress his annoyance, knowing that Edward would not take it lightly. As far as Ed was concerned, Joanna was under his protection. “Now Joanna, if you hadn’t been there, all I would have done is called for Ed, Kat or Cal. I may be the Skull Lord, but I’m really not all that bad. I try to keep that den of thieves in line.” A pained look crossed Simon’s face. Somewhere in her crazed mind she seemed to think if she came to his place it put her closer to Alex but didn’t break Edward’s injunction not to go to the palace. It had been most unfortunate that Joanna had decided to pop in at that time to check on Alex as she did periodically over the years—right at the precise moment when Kyle had shown up in his lair. “Still, I’ve met Alex, and I fear Ed is correct. He will not take this news well.”

“Kyle won’t tell Alex anything.” She closed her eyes and a flicker of pain crossed her face, tears tracking down her cheeks as her mood swung to the opposite end of the spectrum, as it often did. “Do you think me speaking with Alex drew attention to him? I was meant to stay away, it wasn’t safe, but he was in so much pain all these years. I had to help.”

Ed shook his head. It was hard to keep track of her mercurial moods when Joanna was like this. She fluctuated from murderous, to psychotic, to filled with guilt and pain. He walked across the room to Joanna he gathered her in his arms. He had known that she had been keeping track of Alex’s progress, speaking with him. He had stood watch when she had done so; the contact seemed to soothe her guilt.

“No, Joanna, I think your interactions helped him stay sane.” Edward smiled as she tilted her head up and he kissed her obligingly.

“Joanna, can you help Kyle become strong again? It is not good for him to be bound to you for too long. The longer he stays bound to you, the harder it will be for him to be independent again.” Kat’s face remained impassive with a flicker of what Ed suspected was concern in her eyes. It didn’t surprise him. Joanna taking Kyle was a concern for them all. Edward cursed again the fact that he’d been away when she’d bound him as her own. That had been a nasty shock. Still, Kat had many virtues, but compassion, kinship or concern for others were generally not among them—yet the situation with Kyle got under her skin.

“He’s not ready to be on his own. Kyle is broken, hurt. I won’t abandon him to suffer the madness alone.” Joanna stiffened, her face closing down, obstinate, blue eyes flashing with anger.

“You didn’t answer my question, Joanna.”

“Kat, enough. He’s mine. I’ll decide what is best for him. I know his mind in a way you cannot understand.” Joanna smiled possessively as she thought of Kyle; he was hers and they wouldn’t take him from her. “Kyle is safe with me now. We’ll secure Alex as soon as we can, once he’s grown strong. What of Jess? Where is she?”

Cal frowned, his first sign of concern. “I don’t know. She’s disappeared, and it appears there is yet another player in this game.”

Edward knew that while on the surface Cal was displaying concern, his friend was grateful that Jess was out of Joanna’s reach. Even if he would rest easier knowing where she was, he recognised that she was better off out of this.

Edward looked up as Joanna stood up abruptly.

“I must check on Kyle. He needs me.” Joanna smiled at them all and walked out of the room with a single-minded purpose.

Simon watched patiently as Joanna left the room to check on her thrall. He was almost grateful that she felt compelled to check on Kyle. Joanna was extremely unstable, and it was never easy to predict how she would respond. Sighing with relief as the door closed behind her, he looked back at Ed.

“You can’t afford to check on Alex. Leave it to me.” Simon smiled, hoping his sincerity was apparent.

“Simon, you’ve put yourself at risk enough. Leave it to us, we will sort it out.” Ed’s voice was firm.

“Ed, you know as well as I do you all need to keep an eye on the situation here. Alex has met me before, he’ll trust me. I’ll keep an eye on him. If any of you try, Joanna will likely follow, and if she takes Alex as well, then where will we be?” Simon glanced between Edward, Cal and Kat, smiling with relief to receive their consent all around.