The Love of a Crow - Wesper/Crows Fanfiction/AU

35. Inej

"No. It wouldn't be Love if you didn't go after him." Inej shrugged. "But come back first and reload, ok? Don't do anything stupid before you've even arrived."

Jesper nodded fiercely as the carriage pulled to a stop. He got out quickly, but Inej took her time, waiting for what she suspected would come. Jesper poked his head back around.

"You'd go after Kaz, wouldn't you?" He mumbled. Inej nodded. Jesper sighed and hesitated, before continuing. "He would go after you too, and probably burn half of Kerch doing it."

Would he? Inej didn't know, and she wasn't sure if she was ready to find out. Kaz Brekker could use her and leash her and lead her like a dog and she would still give him the world if she could, along with the small, broken pieces of her heart. For she was one of the few that knew beyond his leathered armour Kaz was someone different, someone new, someone that came alive in the strangest of places. But it was someone that Inej wanted to meet, and maybe even save.

Yes, Inej thought to herself as she stepped out of the carriage and watched Jesper bound towards the club, whilst Matthias wrapped an arm around Nina, and Kaz Brekker, her Kaz Brekker, turned his gaze towards her. There he was, she realised. The Kaz she had yet to meet. The Kaz she longed to wrap in her arms and comfort in the late thickets of nightfall.

Slowly she walked forward, her heart thumping as he joined her. Inej was ready to meet him.

Wylan:

Pain. That was all he knew.

It had grown inside of him since he was small, blossoming like a withered flower, extending its cool embrace inside of his heart. He had grown used to it always being there, always present in his mind and his life. Then one day he escaped, shedding the flower's rust-coloured petals, letting them bloom into something new. Something beautiful. Something that he could treasure to his heart without it poisoning him.

But now, as Wylan watched the Crows disappear from sight, he realised he had been tricked, and the withered flower had never left. It was there again now, feeding off his sorrow, gorging itself on every perfect memory that had begun to rot right in front of his eyes.

Wylan was powerless to stop it. Just like he was powerless to wrench the rope away from the man dragging him out of the Exchange. He didn't have the strength to fight as they tied a blindfold around his eyes and shoved him into a carriage. It was pointless; he knew exactly where they were going. Home.

Could he call it his home anymore? He had called the Crow Club his home as well, but both had turned out to be facades. So where was his home? Answer: Wylan had no home.

Wait... the carriage was turning Right, leading them to the East. The Mansion was directly North of the Exchange, so that meant... that meant they weren't taking him hom- back to the house. They were taking him somewhere else to finish the job. Well, his father always had been good at planning ahead.

Wylan still had trouble comprehending how far ahead he had really gone. Somehow he had known that Wylan would end up under the gaze of Kaz Brekker, so had struck a deal with him to have him assassinated. That part he still didn't understand; if Kaz had been working so close to Van Eck in the first place then why hadn't he just killed him there? Maybe he wanted Wylan to feel more emotional pain, but that was risky, even for Van Eck. Still, plausible. He had gone to great lengths to make sure Wylan felt like nothing in the past, so why would today be any different?

Low, milky light flooded the carriage once again, and the rope was yanked, forcing him back onto the street. Wylan couldn't ignore the soft sound whispering in his ear, a sound he had often heard when he used to play in the Van Eck garden. It was the soothing lullaby of the Geld Canal.

"Make sure he gets there without any problems, and without being seen." He heard Van Eck order from behind him. The carriage, he realised. Van Eck was going home.

"Yes sir." The man holding him replied. Suddenly he felt the ground tip beneath his feet as he was picked up. The air turned salty around him as he was chucked onto a boat, wincing in pain as he landed on his tied-up hands.

"Cause any trouble and we'll have you swimming instead." The voice said as it boarded. Wylan didn't bother responding, and he didn't bother processing the words. He was tired. So tired. Tired of being picked on and thrown about, tired of being used up and disposed of, tired of trusting people who considered him less worthy of love than a speck of dirt on their coats. Van Eck, the Crows, Jesper... they were all the same in the end. Life was meant to be enjoyed with others, so what was the point if he was forever alone?

Maybe they'll change their minds, Wylan comforted himself. Maybe they're coming for me right now. But as he felt the water drift slowly past them deeper and deeper into an unknown part of Ketterdam, Wylan's hopes fell deeper inside of him as well.

Finally, after what felt like hours the boat nudged roughly against stone. Wylan didn't resist when they picked him up again and hauled him out the boat, walking away from the canal and further into wherever the boat had taken them.

Soon their party stopped and Wylan heard the creak of a padlock being opened before he was shoved into a building. He fell hard on the coarse wooden floorboards, but the guards were already dragging him down a staircase, shouting orders to each other.

The lower floor smelled like rats and decaying lives. The blindfold was yanked off him and Wylan's eyes squinted to adjust to his surroundings. He was in a cell not very different from the Crow's Barrel, except this room was devoid of any light or furniture, minus a small lantern. Wylan almost sighed in relief when the rope was taken off his wrists, before his heart sank again; it was being replaced by shackles that would attach to the wall.

This is where I'll die. This place will be the last thing I see before they kill me.

Wylan was scared, yes, but mostly he was disappointed in himself. He had hoped that his death would be surrounded by people he loved, in a nice house nestled against the Geld Canal. When plans had changed and fathers had grown bitter he had wanted to die by the open mouth of the sea, a free man. Once again, the world had changed, and Wylan had realised he wouldn't mind dying to the harsh pierce of a bullet if he was next to his friends. Any death was worth it when protecting those you loved, right?

But now? Now Wylan just wanted to sleep, even if it was pressed against the freezing-cold stone of a cell, watching as the world moved on without him in it. There was no honour in that. But it sounded less painful.

The man who he assumed had been dragging him all this time crouched in front of him, his toothy grin cold enough to crack rocks. "Are you ready to feel real pain, little boy?"

Real pain. Real pain! Wylan laughed, much to his, and the man's, surprise. He finally faced him, glaring into his attacker's soulless eyes, or was that his own reflection?

"Good luck."

A cold wind blew the flame out, and the world plunged into darkness. 

A/N: Saints, I love the cliffhangers! There is just something really satisfying about knowing something nobody else does. Anyway, I hope you have a good day/night and I'll see you later. Bye!