Saints and Sinners

Twenty-one:

Twenty-one:

Aleksander stared at Jesper Fahey, wishing that the information he'd given him had come on any other day. "Are you absolutely sure that this happened?" Aleksander asked. "It's supposed to be impossible."

"Not, apparently, if you have enough money," Jesper told him, "the young man is claiming that The Apparat removed his Blessing from his soulmate."

"But if that were the case, wouldn't we have heard of it happening a lot more?" he said.

Jesper snorted. "Come on, Morozova. You know as well as I do that the rich like their secrets. Besides, it was Jarl Brums daughter, and the Brums didn't take kindly to Alexie's family background. Because he's from Ravka, not from his motherland. You know how Fjerda is about outsiders."

Aleksander shook his head. "I never liked him."

"No one does. He wanted someone from Fjerda. So, he paid The Apparat to come and remove his daughters Blessing. According to Matthias, he was supposed to marry Hanne Brum before the incident where he, you know, tried to kill the bastard. Alexie's been stripped of his Blessing, and well..."

"Well, what?"

"He's managed to survive this long because he and Hanne are still alive, but Hanne's gone missing and there are rumors..."

"Rumors about what?"

"That Brum had her committed. Alexie can feel everything that she feels still, and he's going mad. His parents are concerned. Alexie's being held for breaking into the asylum that she was being kept in. Nina's concerned, because she worked for the Brums one summer and Hanne and she have a history, apparently. Brums doing his best to keep Alexie from getting a trial saying that he's lying about the Blessing and to convince authorities that he was stalking his daughter."

Aleksander put a hand to the temples of his forehead. This was not the case that he wanted. Not one that involved the removal of a blessing, especially when he had a soulmate that was only just beginning to come around to the idea of him. If Alina found out about this, he had no doubt that she would try to get The Apparat to remove their Blessing too and that was the last thing he wanted.

"Send it to Lantsov," Aleksander said, "don't let anyone in the office hear about this, and tell Ivan, Fedyor, Matthias and Nina not to mention anything to Alina."

Jesper raised an eyebrow. "Are you sure? I mean, Feydor and Ivan specifically asked that I take it to you if I was able to prove that there was a grain of salt to any of this."

He sighed. "I know. Tell them I'll pay for everything, but Alina's finally starting to accept me and my world. I can't have her thinking that there is a way out of this."

Jesper frowned. "I mean, yeah, there's a way but it drives both soulmates mad."

"After what Alina saw me do, I think she would prefer that to being with me if she knew that was an option."

"Alina loves everyone." Jesper smiled at him. "She thought I was obnoxious the first time I met her because I kept on calling her Sunshine, but she eventually liked it."

Aleksander chuckled. "I know. I stole your nickname. I don't think she's put that together yet."

"I'm offended," said Jesper, "and you really aren't going to take this case? If you did, I think that Alina would appreciate that. She'd take that as you being the bigger person."

"I'm not willing to risk her getting any dangerous ideas in her head. The Apparat is the last thing that Alina needs in her life. He's dangerous, and he likes to use people for his own, sick ends. I went too long being alone, Fahey. I don't want to be alone again. Not a word of this gets out to Alina. You've got to promise me."

Jesper ran a hand through his hair. "I get that. Okay. I'll take the case to Lantsov. He was asking about it anyway. He seemed really eager to represent Alexie, though I can't possibly think of why. He's not normally a defense attorney."

"Freelancing for the enemy, Fahey?" Aleksander said. "I'm hurt."

Jesper winked. "Come on, you know as well as I do Morozova, I have two loves. Wylan and money. I go wherever the green is. Anyway, I promise Alina won't find out. I don't want her hurt anymore than you do."

"Thanks, Jesper."

"Of course, mate."

"Hey, have you thought about bringing her to The Crow Club yet? Inej is forcing Kaz to celebrate his birthday. Well, she's surprising him and he has no fucking clue."

Aleksander laughed. "Text me the date. I'll take her." And then, the private detective left.