Saints and Sinners

Seven:

Seven:

"Did you kill her?" Mal asked, glowering at him over his desk.

Aleksander, who was in the middle of doing paperwork, looked up at his irate cousin. "Are you honestly asking me that? Are you forgetting how the whole soulmate thing works? If she dies, I die."

Mal scowled. "If anyone could find a way to cheat that, it would be you. Tell me she's alive and breathing at least."

"She's alive, breathing, and completely and totally stubborn."

Mal raised an eyebrow. "What did she do? Alina's normally so easy going. I've never heard anyone describe her as stubborn before."

"She's refusing to eat," Aleksander said, "apparently, she's very against our union, and has decided to starve herself because she's made me her villain in this scenario."

Mal snorted. "Good on her."

"You would rather Alina die instead of being with me?" Aleksander said.

He sighed. "I thought..." he trailed off, a sad look in his eyes. "I thought we were soulmates, to be completely honest. I figured it was just timing. But every year, nothing happened, and then I met Eva at the café and it was..."

"Instant?" Aleksander said.

"Yeah. Even when the tattoo didn't appear until later, I still knew."

"That's how it was when I met her the first time."

Mal frowned. "That was at my graduation. How long have you had your tattoo for?"

Aleksander hesitated. "Since I helped you move into your apartments last summer."

"Does she know that?" Mal asked.

Aleksander sighed. "She hasn't exactly been in a communicative mood. I lied, and told her it only happened a few days ago. I don't want to give her hope."

"Hope. What the fuck are you talking about, man?" Mal sat down in the chair across from him.

"You know as well as I do soulmates are really about the balance between good and evil. Saints and Sinners. How many people get consumed by the light, versus how many people get consumed by the darkness. If you believe in Saintism, that is."

"Which you don't," Mal said.

"I don't. If I tell her that I was the one who got marked first, she'll try to say that there's still good in me. She'll work to change me. I don't want that for her."

Mal sighed. "So, you'd rather make her rotten to the core instead?"

Aleksander put down the paperwork he'd been going over and leaned back in his chair, crossing his arms over his chest. "If I had it my way, I wouldn't have a soulmate at all to worry about. She could stay in the sun, forever untouched by my world. But you know Saints and their blessings..."

Mal snorted. "They're cruel bastards."

"That they are," said Aleksander. Aleksander ran his hands through his hair. "Any idea how long Alina could last on this little hunger strike of hers?"

Mal grinned. "Starving?"

"Ravenous," he muttered, "I almost had a doughnut from the breakroom today. You know her, cousin. What's something that will make her break?"

"Chocolate covered zefirs," Mal answered, "when we were younger, the woman that ran the orphanage was gifted a box, and we snuck into her office and stole them. We ate the whole thing. Alina said it was the sweetest and best thing that she had ever tasted."

Aleksander raised an eyebrow. "The Do Gooder stole?"

Mal smirked. "I mean, I stole. She stayed in the hallway and kept lookout hissing at me the whole time that the Sinners would see."

Aleksander chuckled. "That sounds more likely."

"Yeah, well, that's Lina. Always wanting to believe the best in people."

Aleksander sighed. "She's going to lose that. Being around me, there's no way that she won't. The sooner that happens, the better."

"Are you so sure that she has to?" Mal asked.

Aleksander raised an eyebrow. "You've only been around me for a few months, Oretsev. Tell me, you still believe the best in people?"

Mal sighed. "No. I don't. But Alina's always been a lot stronger than me. I wouldn't have gotten through law school without her. She might surprise you."

"I'm a fixer, Oretsev. People come to me with their dirty little secrets, and I hide them in the shadows. The 'Saints' saw fit to give Alina her so called 'blessing' as I was in the middle of stabbing a man to death in a dark alley way. Her reaction to that was to decide to try to starve us both to death. I can't believe she'll handle the rest of my life very well."

Mal scratched his chin. "Look, you're not the villain you think you are, Aleks. There's a reason why people are loyal to you. The money you take and the things you do to get it might be bloody. But you've got a lot of good things going on too, cousin. Show Alina that side of you and you'll win her over in no time. Just don't make her give up all of her light, yeah? She needs it."

Aleksander groaned. "I should have known connecting with family would bring me nothing but trouble."

"Most people don't consider family trouble, Morozova. You got to be open to a different perspective."

"Can't see new perspectives when you walk through the shadows. They hide too well." He sighed. "So, the one thing that she can't say no to is zefirs?"

"Chocolate covered zefirs," Mal reminded him, "the chocolate is a big part of that."

Aleksander smirked. "I'll remember that."

"Look, you're looking at this whole light and dark thing the wrong way. You yourself said that soulmates are all about balance in the universe, right? It's not about the light trying to snuff out darkness or the darkness trying to snuff out the light. It's about the sun and the moon. Working together. That's what the Saints are looking for. That's what balance really is. It's not a seesaw. It's a...tightrope. You need to have balance to make it across to the other side."

Aleksander groaned. "I hate that you're right."

Mal winked. "Yeah, well, it does happen from time to time. Chocolate zefirs, man. And you'll be in, one hundred percent. I promise you, Morozova."