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“The deal is the deal, Van Eck,” Kaz said. His voice was low, and yet it still carried clearly over the sounds of the storm. “If the Merchant Council fails to honour its end of the bargain, no one from the Barrel will ever traffic with any of you again. Your word will be meaningless.”
Jesper watched, fingers twitching on the triggers of his guns. He’d been waiting for something to shoot at, and if this went badly, he was going to get his wish.
He glanced at Kuwei, standing beside Van Eck. His golden eyes were large and bright against the night sky. Was he afraid? It was hard to tell.
“That would be a problem, Mister Brekker,” Van Eck said idly, examining his fingernails. “If the Council knew anything about this deal.”
Jesper saw the exact moment understanding passed over Kaz’s face.
There was no thirty million kruge for them. No grand prize at the end of this life-threatening quest. They’d been conned, eager pigeons desperate for money and glory, falling right into the trap Van Eck had laid for them. Hook, line and sinker.
Kaz was talking, but Jesper could barely hear him over the wind. Or was it the sound of blood rushing in his head? All he knew was that they had lost.
They never lost. They couldn’t. Especially not now, after everything they had been through. Jesper thought of the way Matthias had clenched his fists in the Ice Court, forced to betray the country that he had called home for so long. He thought of Inej, still shaky and trembling even hours after she had emerged from the incinerator shaft. He thought of Nina, pale and almost angelic as she razed the Fjerdan soldiers. He thought of Kaz, and the way he’d almost imperceptibly flinched every time someone’s bare skin brushed against his in the prison.
He thought of Wylan. Wylan, who’d been revealed as Van Eck’s son. Who’d had his loyalties and aims questioned by everyone, including Jesper. Who’d been thrown out of his home for something as small as not being able to read, by his monster of a father.
In hindsight, Jesper should have known Van Eck was never going to pay them the money he owed.
He jolted out of his thoughts to hear Inej say, “You will be ensuring slavery and death for Grisha everywhere.”
He knew she was thinking of not just Nina, but him. Jesper was zowa, and proud of it, despite having hidden it for so long.
He thought of a world where he was forced to work for a master who didn’t give a damn about his health or wellbeing. Who used him simply for his powers. Kaz was harsh and aloof, but at the end of the day, they all knew he cared about them more than he chose to let on.
He thought of being at the mercy of a drug that would eventually kill him. He thought of all the other Grisha he knew- Nina, Tomar, Alina, all the others he had met when they went to Ravka.
They’ll destroy us, he realised. They’ll use us to turn the world to ashes, and they won’t give a fuck if we burn too.
Van Eck was smiling coldly. “Power always has a price.” He turned to Kaz. “What’s that old Kerch saying? This city’s price is blood. I’m just paying in yours.”
“When the Council hears about this-” Inej began.
“They won’t,” Van Eck interrupted. “Why do you think I chose scum from the Barrel as my champions? Because you won’t be missed. You will all die here tonight.”
Van Eck lifted his hand. One of the Tidemakers flicked their fingers. A wave crashed over the longboat, drifting near the shore. Inej cried out, her hands reaching automatically for her knives. Jesper watched in horror as Rotty swam for safety.
Then a large wave rose over the Ferolind.
Jesper screamed, enraged, raising his guns. He could not lose Wylan. He would slaughter everyone on this damn island if it meant his boyfriend was safe.
“Van Eck!” Kaz shouted. Kaz never raised his voice.
He’s afraid, Jesper thought, stunned. Kaz hadn’t planned for this. There was no Nina to save them this time. No one to bail them out. All they had was Kaz’s wit, Inej’s dexterity, Matthias’ strength and Jesper’s guns.
“Your son is on that ship,” Kaz said calmly, composed once more.
Van Eck turned. “My son?”
“Wylan Van Eck.” Kaz tilted his head. “And if you want him back alive, you will pay us our kruge and let us go.”
Van Eck looked shocked. Then he smiled. Then he began to laugh.
Jesper’s grip on his revolvers tightened.
“You think I want that fool back?” Van Eck said, still chuckling as if Kaz had made a particularly funny joke. His eyes were cold, cruel, uncaring. “I couldn’t give less of a damn if that imbecile lives or dies. I sent him packing months ago.”
There was silence throughout the Crows, but Jesper could feel everyone’s rage. They all cared about Wylan. Even Matthias, who had only known him for a few weeks, was narrowing his eyes at Van Eck, straightening up to his full height.
“My son,” Van Eck spat, “is a moron who cannot do what a child of six years old can. Wylan is a useless boy who is a disgrace to the Van Eck name.”
Anger bubbled in Jesper’s gut. How dare this man speak about Wylan that way? How could he stand there and judge Jesper’s boyfriend when all he saw were his flaws?
Wylan was incredible . He was smarter than half of the Barrel put together. He could design and build bombs in less than five minutes that grown men spent hours concocting. He was kind, brave, and loyal to a fault. He could do ungodly things with his tongue that made Jesper want to pin him to a wall and take him apart, slowly, with his mouth. He was funny, and sweet, and caring, qualities that were severely lacking in the Barrel. He told the truth, even when people didn’t want to hear it. He made Jesper want to be the best possible version of himself.
But Van Eck simply held up his hand. “Thank you for your concern, Mister Brekker. But it was sorely misplaced.”
Van Eck blew the whistle twice. The Tidemakers raised their arms.
“ No !” Jesper screamed.
But he was powerless to stop it. Two huge walls of water rose and shot towards the Ferolind. They crushed the ship between them. A loud boom echoed across the sea, and debris flew everywhere.
Time seemed to go still. All Jesper could see was fragments of the ship floating across the tides. He could hear his heart pounding in his chest. His hands were shaking.
“No.” It came out as a whisper. All he could think was Wylan. Please, not Wylan. “ No !”
Jesper saw red. He raised his guns and fired straight at Van Eck.
The Squallers above flicked their hands. The pistols flew from Jesper’s grasp, the bullets twisting and changing course midair. Jesper didn’t care. He was going to tear Van Eck apart with his bare hands.
“Jesper!” Kaz was yelling at him, but Jesper didn’t listen. How could Kaz just stand there? Didn’t he know that Wylan was dead, and the world as they knew it was gone, and nothing would ever be the same? Didn’t he know that Wylan had just died, and happiness and laughter and everything good in the world had died with him?
He hurled himself at Van Eck. The merchant simply blew the whistle, unbothered.
Jesper fell to his knees, forced to the ground by some invisible hand. He jerked his head up to stare at Van Eck.
“What’s this?” Van Eck stared down at him. He had Wylan’s blue eyes, Jesper noticed. No, not Wylan’s eyes. Wylan’s eyes were warm and bright and sparkled every time Jesper flirted with him. They were like pools of water on a summer’s day, inviting Jesper to dive in. Van Eck’s eyes were cold and heartless, like the relentless, icy glaciers of Fjerda. “Some pathetic attempt at vengeance?”
Jesper growled. He tried to move his hands, but couldn’t. Either the Squallers suspected he might be Grisha, or they weren’t taking any chances.
“Oh, I see.” Van Eck’s face split into a cruel smile. “You loved him. How utterly pitiful.”
An animal sound tore itself from Jesper’s throat. He flung his hands forwards, aiming for Van Eck’s whistle, clutched in the merchant’s grasp. He called, and the metal answered.
Van Eck bellowed in pain as the whistle melted down and moulded itself to his hand, the silver sinking into his skin. He stumbled back from Jesper, clutching at his hand, trying to tear the metal off, but he couldn’t.
Matthias ran forward, grabbing Jesper and yanking him back. The Fjerdan gripped him tightly, as if afraid he would try to attack him. “Be still,” Matthias murmured, as if Jesper was nothing more than a particularly unruly toddler throwing a tantrum.
“Calm down, Jesper,” Kaz said. His tone was even and steady. In that moment, Jesper wanted to kill him.
Van Eck bared his teeth in what might have been a grin, but came out more like a grimace. “So little sympathy for your crew, Mister Brekker.”
“Perhaps I might have more compassion,” Kaz said, his eyes like a man who was about to strike a killing blow, “If Wylan had actually been on that ship.”
Jesper went still. Please. Please.
Van Eck snorted. “A sorry bluff, at best.”
“I’m not big on bluffing, am I, Wylan?” Kaz looked at Kuwei.
“Not typically, no,” the boy who was not Kuwei said in perfect, unaccented Kerch.
Van Eck startled at the sound of his voice. Jesper gazed at Kuwei as if he had never seen him before.
Wylan, looking nothing like Wylan, held out a hand. “Pay up, Kaz.”
Kaz sighed. “I do hate to lose a bet.” He turned to Van Eck, who was looking a little like someone had pulled not just the rug, but the whole floor out from under his feet. “You see, Van Eck, Wylan bet me that you would have no qualms about ending his life. Call me sentimental, but I didn’t think a father could be quite so heartless.”
Wylan walked to Kaz’s side. Though his face was Kuwei’s, his mannerisms were unmistakably Wylan’s. How had Jesper not noticed before? He thought of the nights he’d spent on the Ferolind, gazing out at the sea as Kuwei stood silently on the deck beside him. It had been Wylan. The whole time, it had been Wylan.
Nina had tailored him, Jesper realised. The night they left Fjerda, when she was still drugged. She’d never been a very good Tailor, but with parem , she’d managed to completely alter Wylan’s looks.
“It’s not possible,” Van Eck breathed. He glanced around wildly. “How?”
Jesper couldn’t give less of a shit if it was possible. Wylan is alive. He’s alive.
As if hearing his thoughts, Wylan looked over at him. The ghost of a smile tugged at his lips when he saw Jesper’s expression of shock and awe.
Van Eck was slowly turning an unflattering shade of purple. “ Where is Kuwei Yul-Bo ?”
“Give us our money, and we’ll tell you.” Kaz checked his watch, his tone the one of a person who was explaining to a child why they had to clean their room for the hundredth time.
Van Eck looked like he might combust from pure rage alone. He lifted a hand (the one untouched by metal, Jesper realised with satisfaction. He hoped it hurt) and yelled, “Guards! Kill everyone except Brekker!”
Jesper grabbed his guns from the ground. The rage that had been slowly pooling in his gut swelled to a crescendo. Finally.
Then- he didn’t know why, and perhaps he never would- Van Eck cried, “Leave the others! Get the girl and the money!”
Jesper started firing at the Tidemakers that flew towards Inej. They crumpled, one from Jesper’s bullets, one from Inej’s knives. Two Squallers swooped down towards her next. Jesper aimed and fired, taking one of them down. Wylan hurled a bomb at the second. The Squaller screamed in pain as he went up in flames, crumpling to the ground.
A third Squaller swooped towards Inej. Jesper lifted his gun, but before he could fire, he heard Wylan yelp behind him.
He should have shot the Squaller. That was what Kaz would have told him to do. Instead, in that split second where he could have saved Inej, Jesper turned towards Wylan, frantically scanning to make sure he was safe.
An Inferni was looming over him, arms outstretched. The bombs attached to Wylan’s belt started sparking uncontrollably.
Jesper aimed and shot, the bullet striking the Inferni right in the heart. Wylan stumbled back, slightly stunned but unharmed.
Jesper spun back around when he heard Inej cry out. The Squaller was carrying her away, a tiny, unconscious figure in the brutish arms of the Grisha. Matthias and Kaz stood helpless below. Inej was gone, lost to the sky and the stars.
Van Eck had fled back to his ship, sailing away across the sea, the kruge gone with him.
“I can make the shot,” Jesper called, eyes fixed on Van Eck.
“No.” There was something unreadable in Kaz’s expression.
Jesper turned to Wylan. He was standing a few feet away from him, golden eyes glittering in the dim sky.
“Why?” Jesper asked, his throat dry.
Wylan shrugged. “We needed leverage.”
“That’s Kaz talking.”
“Jesper-”
“Nina might not be able to turn you back! Not with another dose of parem !” Horrifyingly, tears started pricking at Jesper’s eyes. He forced them down. This was not a time for tears.
“Jes,” Wylan said softly, “it’s okay.”
“No, it’s not .” Jesper stared at Kaz and Matthias. “You both knew. Everyone knew but me.”
How could you? He asked Kaz with his eyes. You know what he means to me. Why would you do this to me? How could you send me into this blind?
Instead, he asked, “Why?”
Kaz’s eyes were the colour of obsidian. “Because you ratted us out to the Dime Lions, Jesper. You endangered this whole mission because of your stupid gambling debt.”
Jesper blanched. He’d said something to the Lions, yes, but only because they were threatening his father’s farm. Didn’t Kaz know that? Didn’t he care?
“I- I didn’t-”
“Because of you, we all almost died.” Kaz’s eyes bored into his, murderous and cruel. “Because of you, Inej is gone.”
Something in Jesper snapped. “I thought Wylan was gone!” He yelled, pointing an accusing finger in Kaz’s face. “You made me think he was dead !”
Kaz stepped forward, pressing the tip of his cane into Jesper’s chest. “If you can’t handle being on the same team as your boyfriend, you shouldn’t have been on this mission. Next time, I’ll get another sharpshooter.”
Jesper’s eyes widened, before he stepped back, shoving the cane away from him. “Fine. But for now, you’re stuck with me. You’re going to save Inej, and I’m going to help.”
Kaz considered this. At last, he nodded.
It wasn’t forgiveness. It wasn’t even close. But it was something.
As he turned away to talk to Matthias, Wylan took Jesper’s hand. “I’m sorry for not telling you,” he murmured, clearly regretful. “I just- I’m really sorry, Jes.”
Jesper nodded. His throat felt like it was clogged with knives. “It’s okay,” he croaked.
He looked at Wylan, breathing him in. It was still him. His boyfriend, his merchling, his not-just-one-night-stand (Wylan always groaned when he made that joke). He was here, and he was alive.
Jesper pressed his forehead to Wylan’s, the way his mother used to when he was little. “Don’t ever scare me like that again,” he breathed, cradling Wylan’s face in his hands.
Wylan leaned against him, wrapping his arms around Jesper’s waist. “I won’t,” he whispered. “I promise.”
He couldn’t promise, not really. But right now, Jesper let himself believe that he could. He stood there with Wylan and inhaled the cool night air, holding his boyfriend like he would never let go.