Saints and Sinners

Twenty-four:

Twenty-four:

Peace was a short-lived thing in Alina's life. She had learned, early on, not to get attached to anyone or anything. Alina had bounced from foster home, to foster home and then from orphanage to orphanage. College was the longest she had stayed anywhere in her undergrad year. She'd been roommates with Genya for all four years, and then when she'd gone to law school, she had lived with Mal.

The apartment with Mal was the second place that she had lived the longest. A month into her life with Aleksander, Alina realized that the apartment with him was now her permanent home. She would never go anywhere else, unless they decided to move, which Alina thought was unlikely. She went to classes, and then she was at her internship Wednesday, Thursday, and Friday. She hadn't picked a specialty yet, and Aleksander had told her that was okay. Most of the interns didn't and helped everywhere. Mal was used for everyone.

So, Alina had settled into a rhythm where she showed up and went to her office she shared with Mal. She arrived at The Fold and there would be a list of things for her to do left from Zoya. Her and Mal would work on them together, and the two of them would catch up on everything. Which was a strange feeling, since they usually always knew what was going on together.

"Did she move in?"

Mal nodded. "Yeah. It actually works out perfectly, because we're super close to her work and her old place was at least one subway ride away. Oh, and she wants you and Aleks to come over for dinner if you're cool with that."

Alina smiled. "I would like that. When is it though? Aleksander says Inej is planning a surprise party for Kaz, and we've got to keep our schedule opened for that."

Mal chuckled. "A surprise party for Kaz? That's like planning a surprise party for Bies. I didn't think that was possible."

"It is, if you're Inej and you've got him wrapped around your finger."

Mal smiled. "Yeah, I guess there is that. It all becomes very, very different when you find your soulmate doesn't it?"

Alina nodded. "You know how I used to have panic attacks? Because I was always worried, I would wake up and be in a new place?"

Mal nodded. "Those were always awful. You'd scream like someone was trying to murder you."

"Yeah, well I haven't had them the whole month at Aleksander's."

Mal made a face. "Are you two lovebirds uh...."

"What?"

"You know. Doing The Deed?"

Alina blushed fiercely. "MAL!"

"Hey, you were all sweet and innocent and I had to beat people off with a stick to keep you that way. I've got a right to know if my cousin is corrupting you."

"Actually, you don't because that is between him and me. But no, he promised me that we wouldn't do anything unless I felt ready. He likes for me to sleep in his----well our---bedroom though, and we've..."

"You've what?" Mal asked, waggling his eyebrows.

"We've done some things, but well..."

"Well, what?" Mal said.

"Its strange. We actually haven't really done anything since the first week that I moved in. I mean, other than him kissing me. But he was mister gung ho about it in the beginning, and there's been nothing. Nada. Zilch."

Mal shrugged. "Maybe you've turned my cousin into a gentleman. Stranger things have happened."

Alina shook her head. "This is Aleksander Morozova we're talking about. The man radiates sex. I don't think that he knows how to be a gentleman. No, somethings wrong. My first week here, we were jumping each other in showers, and hoping for desk sex and now there's just nothing? None of that makes any sense to me. No, there's absolutely something going on and I'm going to find out what it is."

"How are you going to do that?" Mal asked. "We've got files to work on, you know. Research to do. Coffee to get. All of the important, interny things."

"I'm going to go see my soulmate, who is also my boss. I think I'll be fine."

"LINA! Come on, if you have sex with him on the desk I'm never going to be able to be in his office EVER again. LINA!"

But Alina ignored Mal's protests, and she went up to the top level of The Fold where Aleksander's office was. Aside from the late afternoons, when she met him there to go home, Alina was never up there. That was on purpose. The last thing she wanted was to distract from his work, or to make it seem like she was getting special treatment. But now that she had noticed how much Aleksander hadn't been trying to seduce her, she had a problem with it. It had started after their dinner at The Emerald Palace, when he had asked that strange question about how she felt about him out of nowhere. Alina could hear talking inside the office, and probably should have waited but she couldn't help herself. She knocked.

There was a pause, and then the door opened. Alina was surprised to see Fedyor answering it, a glum expression on his face. "Ah, Miss Starkov," he said, "you must have felt something was wrong through your Blessing. We were just about to come and get you."

"Come and get me?" Alina asked. "What for?"

"Better come in, Sunshine," Aleksander said.

Fedyor stepped away, and Alina stepped inside. Aleksander had a grave look on his face, and Alina was surprised to see Nina sitting in the office.

"Nina?" Alina said. "Is everything okay?"

Nina shook her head. "It's Matthias. I think he's missing."