Saints and Sinners

Twenty-nine:

Twenty-nine:

The head of the stad watch was a man name Pekka Rollins. Normally, he wouldn't have jurisdiction in a place like Kerskii but because it involved Matthias, who was an international, they sent him. Rollins was someone that Aleksander had dealt with many times before. As such, he knew the type of man that he was. Unsavory. He wasn't the type of officer that cared about justice. He was the type of officer that cared about money.

When Pekka came in, the first thing he noted was the soulmate tattoo on Matthias's wrist. "This man was blessed."

Aleksander nodded.

"That means we've got a double homicide."

Aleksander shared a look with Fedyor. "Rollins, the man in question was someone employed previously by Jarl Brum. Brum recently went to The Apparat and if you believe the rumors, he removed his daughters Blessing and has her locked up. Matthias was supposed to enter into an arranged marriage with Brum, and I believe he may have done something to alter his soulmate markings."

"Why do you suspect that?"

Aleksander took a deep breath. "Because I know his soulmate, and she's still alive."

"How do you know that?"

"She's the one that told me that he was missing, and I've been checking in with her during this time."

Pekka raised an eyebrow. "It's impossible for a soulmate to be alive after they are killed."

"Strictly speaking, that's not necessarily true." Aleksander, Pekka, and Fedyor turned to see a girl that they had never seen before. She had russet colored hair, and bronze eyes. "Not many people know the mechanics of Blessings because they don't bother to look into them. Of course, my father is a sick bastard who made a sport of torturing the Blessed. So, I learned a lot about how it worked."

Pekka Rollins took out his gun and pointed it at the girl. "Who are you?" he demanded.

"Easy," said the girl "there's no need to shoot. I'm not running. I'm turning myself in."

"Are you responsible for the death of Matthias Helvar?" Pekka asked.

The girl shook her head. "No. That would be my father. I came here to try and stop him, but I wasn't able to. Obviously. I would never hurt Matthias. He was a friend, and he was Nina's soulmate. If Nina couldn't be with me, I was alright with her being with Matthias. He at least respected women which was a lot more than most of the men in Fjerda that tried courting Nina when we were at school. But I did have to knock my mother unconscious and a few guards because I was being held hostage and I stole one of my father's cars because I was trying to come to warn Matthias of my fathers plan."

"Who are you?" Pekka asked.

"Hanne Brum," Aleksander answered for him, "Nina's old girlfriend."

Pekka made a face. "Matthias's soulmate dated before she was Blessed?"

"Not everyone is so Saintly as they wait for their Blessing, Rollins. If I had waited for mine, I never would have had anyone," said Aleksander, "humans aren't meant to be alone. The existence of Blessings proves that."

Pekka's disapproval of Nina was evident on his face, but there was nothing Aleksander could do about the older mans outdated views. "Hanne Brum, if that's the case, I have to arrest you."

"You can't," Aleksander said.

Pekka glared at him. "What do you mean I can't? She was found at a murder crime scene, and she confessed to assault. Those are crimes."

Aleksander turned to Hanne. "Where's the car?"

Hanne smirked. "At the bottom of a lake."

Aleksander glanced back at Pekka. "You find the car, then you can arrest her. But there's no evidence connecting her to the murder of Matthias Helvar. And no evidence tying her to any crimes at all. So, you find evidence, and I'll happily turn her over. But until then, she's coming with me."

"She's in the country illegally," said Pekka.

Hanne took out her passport. "I've travelled everywhere with my father. I always bring my passport." She handed it over to Pekka, who examined it with a frown, and then handed it back to her.

"Fine," said Pekka, "but if we find any evidence at all connecting her to this case, I'll be coming for her."

"Sure thing." Aleksander glanced at Hanne. "Come with me, Miss Brum."

"Where are you taking me?"

"To Os Alta."

"You're not sending me back to Fjerda?"

"Of course not. You're connected to an on-going criminal investigation. Besides, from everything I've heard, Fjerda isn't some place you want to go back to."

Hanne's lips twitched into a smile. "No, it's not."

"Then, you're coming with me. Feydor, we're leaving."

Hanne glanced over at Feydor. "You're Alexie's uncle?"

Fedyor nodded.

"I'm sorry. I tried to get him set free, but my father's insisting on holding him and unfortunately, his powers extend to Ravka too because of his connections. If I can help get him out while I'm here, I'll do whatever it takes."

Fedyor shook his head. "That's not necessary. Aleksander posted bail for him, although if you are up to it, I think if you were to see him it might help with his case."

"Of course," Hanne said, "but you should know that I don't have his Blessing on me anymore."

Aleksander raised an eyebrow. "How's that possible?"

"I told you, Mr. Morozova, my father made it a point of torturing and studying the Blessed. He didn't think that they were from the Saints. He thought that they were witches, cursed for their sins and that was why their free will had been taken. Of course, my father is insane. But I kept the knowledge that he learned, and I...I fixed my problem. Although I didn't know that it worked at the time that I did it."

"What do you mean?"

"When I was sixteen, I stole Blessed ink from The Apparat on one of his visits. I took it to a tattoo parlor, and I had a friend's name tattooed onto my skin in hopes I would be blessed to be her soulmate. It didn't work, of course----"

Aleksander's phone rang then, and he saw Alina's name flash across the screen.

"Give me a moment," said Aleksander, "this is my soulmate."

"Of course," said Hanne.

He answered the phone. "Alina?"

"Aleks, you'd better come meet us at home quickly. Something's happened." There was panic in her voice.

"What is it? Are you okay?"

"I'm fine, but it's----" he could hear a woman's voice screaming in pain, one that Aleksander was sure was Nina. "It's Nina. Something weird is happening."

"What is it?"

"She's being Blessed, again, and it isn't Matthias's name that's on there."

"Is it Hanne?" Aleksander asked.

"Yes---yes----how'd you----"

"Get home, and I'll be there as soon as I can. Don't let Nina out of your sight." Aleksander glanced up at Hanne. "Miss Brum, come on. We're leaving."

"Is it Nina?" Hanne asked. "Is that what that call was about?"

"Yes," said Aleksander. "Though I suspect you already knew that."