Wylan Van Eck came into his fortune through a complicated and well formulated series of events. Once disowned and shamed for his inability to read and write, recent months found him almost single-handedly running his father's merchant business at only sixteen years old. If being a business man at sixteen was not remarkable enough, Wylan Van Eck also regularly associated with the crow club, not as a costumer, but as a friend of Kaz Brekker and Jesper Fahey.
On the same rainy night that Kaz and Jesper were meeting in secret, Wylan lay flat on his back in the upstairs bedroom waiting for the searing pain in his limbs to pass. It had been nearly an hour since he took the antidote and it had only vaguely lessened the painful muscle spasms. Every time he tried to move the pain flared up and he let out a strangled cry of pain. Tears slowly traced the side of his face. He'd sent the servants to bed hours ago and his mother was soundly asleep. No one would hear him if he slowly stopped breathing.
Oh, Saints, I've gone too far this time...
Slowly, the pain subsided. But so did his strength. His hands gripped the sheets tightly and his vision began to fade.
His hands fell limp as he lost consciousness.
...
"Wylan! Wylan!" A hand shook the mercher boy roughly. "Wake up! I'm not taking you to a medik!"
Wylan slowly opened his eyes, blinking several times. He moaned and tried to focus his eyes. A tall, dark skinned figure loomed over him, shaking him and nearly shouting his name. "Jesper...?"
Jesper sighed and pulled away. "I thought you were a goner! I told you not to drink too much or you're stupid heart is gonna stop." Wylan felt a sharp poke to his sternum.
"Ow." He sat up slowly, gradually becoming aware of the ache in his muscles. "I wasn't drinking." He said defensively. "I was experimenting."
"With what? Poison?"
"Yeah."
"You've got to be kidding me." Jesper's voice was low and annoyed. "If you want to die, man, there are easier ways."
"I don't want to die." Wylan said touchily.
"You don't seem to want to stay in one piece, either. How are we supposed to explain that to your mom? 'Sorry, Ms. Hendricks, your son died of poisoning. It was for a noble cause though. He was experimenting.'" Though his tone was light, Jesper's grey eyes looked at Wylan as if trying to discern what poison he used.
"Why are you here?" Wylan complained.
Jesper stepped away and leaned against the oak dresser. "Kaz wants to talk to us both. He wants us to meet in a dark alley tonight."
"What does he want?" Wylan straightened.
"He says he wants you to pull out of the deal with the Shu scientists. You gonna be okay to meet?"
"I'll be fine. What time is it?"
"Six bells."
"Saints..." Wylan groaned. As he stood, Jesper realized he was in his day clothes already. "What time did Kaz want to meet?" He said, looking in a mirror and inspecting his face.
"Just after dark in alley behind Holden."
Wylan nodded. "How is Kaz? I haven't seen him in almost three weeks."
"I don't know. I haven't seen him much either." Jesper admitted.
"Why does he want me to pull out of the deal? It was his idea in the first place." Wylan asked, turning back to Jesper.
"Again, I don't know. Just come tonight. Hopefully he'll be more obliging with information then." Jesper pushed off the dresser and stood upright. "Anyway, I've got business to attend to. See you tonight, merchling." Jesper tipped an invisible hat and walked out.
Wylan looked back at his reflection. There didn't seem to be any lasting effects to the poison other than fatigue, but that was to be expected. He took a sip from a clear vial on his bedside table and lay back down. Within minutes he was asleep.