Elora Van Eck | Kaz Brekker

EIGHT | THE ZEMINI

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j e s p e r

  "DO YOU NEED ME to get the Heartrender?" Jesper asked as he entered the large living room of the ginormous apartment. Wylan was the only soul occupying the area. Kaz had withdrawn into his office. Koralina and Marcus did not leave Dunyasha's fragile body for even a minute. "You're hyperventilating," said the sharpshooter as he gently placed a cup of tea onto the table in front of Wylan.

  The redhead shook his locks, hands covering his face. Jesper slumped down next to the boy and for a few moments, the thick walls that built the room seemed to cushion every crumb of noise, not even a breath being heard.

  "I brought you tea." Jesper sliced the silence in half as he gestured towards the steaming porcelain. "Found it in a cabinet next door." No answer was granted. "Are you going to drink it, or does it have to be imported from some fancy neighboring village?"

  At those words, Wylan lifted his eyes. He turned his head, locks sprawling over his forehead and eyes as he met Jesper's grin. His blue eyes narrowed as he studied the boy's features for several seconds before letting his vocal cords break their rest, "I'm not a spoiled asshole, you know?"

  "Sure," Jesper chuckled in amusement, causing Wylan to roll his eyes. "Thanks for the tea," said the boy, reaching for the hot cup, the smell of chamomile lulling him straight into the memory of his childhood. Whenever he had been sick, a stuffy nose, or a repeating cough, Marya had never hesitated to rush for a chamomile tea, a lentil soup, a few pieces of crunchy rusk. And for a moment now, Wylan missed her more than usual.

  "You're very polite. Even though I seem to have offended you," said Jesper, his back pressed comfortably into the arm of the sofa. His dark eyes did not even attempt to turn away from Wylan's being, "I like it. Are you always like this or am I lucky enough to call myself the cause of this seldom occurrence?" Wylan looked up, frowning as he let the words play through his head like a cassette tape before turning towards the Zemini, astonished about what he thought to have figured out. "Are you flirting with me?"

  "Do you want me to flirt with you?" The attractive grin seemed glued to Jesper's face. Wylan cursed himself for letting that stupid smile make his heart beat faster. This fraud seemed far too practiced for Wylan to be anything special. "If you don't mind, I'll have my tea now." Wylan ignored the question, which only amused Jesper more. Nonetheless, he remained silent. He simply watched the boy's copper, curly hair, his pink lips wrapped around the rim of the cup, and the faint smile that whispered against it as he savored the familiar taste of chamomile.

  A silence pressed the oppressive mood into every crack of the room. Despite Jesper's many attempts at distraction, Wylan's thoughts kept being drawn back to his worries – worries about his twin sister's well-being. At some point, Jesper stopped trying, aware that it was of no use. The dark-haired leaned forward, his forearms placed firmly on his knees. His brown eyes soaked up the tension that ran through Wylan's entire body. "Are you close?" he asked, "You and your sister, I mean," added he.

  Once the tea had settled warm in his stomach, Wylan found fiddling with his fingers to be a useful movement benefitting the ease of his nerves. He was sitting in a house full of strangers, even though he knew Koralina, Dunyasha, and Marcus briefly. And half these strangers contributed to the high percentage of crime Ketterdam was well known for. His sister was missing, abducted by strange thugs. And all he could do was wait, hope, and pray.

  The Van Eck scion did not look at Jesper. With love- and worry-filled eyes glued to his hands, he nodded. "She is all I have. And I am all she has," sighed Wylan. "What about your parents? You live with your father, right?"