Saints and Sinners

Forty:

Forty:

It was Nikolai that called him, early in the morning. He woke at four a.m. with Alina sleeping fitfully beside him. Since they'd gone to the church, he hadn't found it in himself to touch her. She looked at him now like he had told her that her puppy had just died. He knew he should have tried to do something, anything but it all felt strange now. There were too many questions up in the air with the case.

His phone rang and Nikolai's name flashed across the screen. He woke up swearing silently as the phone rang, and he glanced over at Alina's sleeping form. "Don't wake up, don't wake up," he whispered, and then he answered Nikolai's call.

He slipped out from the bed and went to his study. "Lantsov, you better have a good reason for calling me this fucking early. I don't care if you are the President's kid."

Nikolai snorted. "Good to talk to you too, Aleks. Listen. I know you sent me the Alexi kid's case. We've got two big problems, and all of them concern you, Morozova. Your pretty little soulmate, too."

Aleksander flinched. "Are you threatening me, Nikolai?"

"Not at all. I'm calling as a friend. You told me Jarl Brum had Alexie Kaminsky in custody and that his uncles had bailed him out using money from you, yeah?"

"Yeah," said Aleksander, "because that's what happened. There's some weird soulmate shit going on and I didn't want my girl thinking that there was a way out of being with me."

"Romantic," Nikolai drawled.

Aleksander rolled his eyes. "Oh, don't be like that Nik. You're not a Saint yourself when it comes to women. Be careful, or I'll tell Zoya all of your dirty little secrets too. Like that you begged me to offer her a job because you wanted her safe from your family interfering with her work because she's your soulmate."

There was a pause. "Don't bring her into this. This is about your shit."

"Look, I know you did it because you don't think you're good enough for her because of----"

"Morozova, I mean it. Stop. There's bigger fish to fry than whatever shit you're trying to pull with me because I woke you up at four a.m. We've got dead bodies, Aleks. Two of them that are being connected to you."

"Whose dead?" Aleksander asked.

"Alexie Kaminsky," Nikolai told him, "I know, because Pekka Rollins saw him when he was investigating the safe house again and Alexie shot him, and Pekka shot Alexie."

Aleksander shook his head. "No. That's impossible. That kid is safe, and he's awaiting trial until Brum drops the ridiculous stalking charges."

"Nope. He and Pekka shot each other this morning. And it gets weirder."

"Weird how?"

"Alexie didn't have a Blessing on him, Morozova. But he did have a tattoo you might be familiar with. The one you removed as soon as you had enough money to so that you could look squeaky clean for employers."

"The Gold Eagle? The Churches Symbol?"

"Old Ravka's symbol, Aleks. You know The Apparat and his bullshit. Thinks Ravka will rise again to what it once was under the Tsars if only he can find the secrets of the Saints. That's why he dips his hands into the shit that he's into, and uses people like you to do his dirty work."

"Okay, so Alexie and Pekka Rollins are dead. What does that have to do with me?"

"Because the Alexie that died with the eagle tattoo on him was carrying a note from The Apparat that mentioned you."

"What did it say?" Aleksander said, trying hard to make his voice not shake. He knew his father, and he did not trust his father.

"The Fold knows everything. And well...you are The Fold, Aleksander. They're going to come for you, and they're going to arrest you. If I were you, I'd take your girl and I'd get out."

The room went very cold all of the sudden. Aleksander thought that maybe he was losing it, stunned by what he had just heard. It darkened, there was static, and the papers blew off of his desk. "What the fuck----"

Then, standing before him, was...himself. Or at least, a man that looked strangely like him. He was wearing a kefta, the uniform of the old Ravkaan army, and it was all black. Aleksander squinted at him.

"Hello," the man said looking at him with a wolfish smile that Aleksander recognized as his own. Something that made the hair on the back of his neck stand up. "I believe you are in need of a----what do you call yourself? In my day, I was just called a villain. But I think I like your word for it much better. 'Fixer'? Is that right, Aleksander?"

He blinked at the stranger. "You have five seconds to give me a good reason why I shouldn't kill you."

"I'm your ancestor, for a start. It's generally frowned upon to kill family. Second, I can make all of your problems go away. If you just work with me. Hopefully you are smarter than the others."

"Others?"

"Previous ancestors. No ones ever taken me up on my deal, which has made things stretch on far longer than it should have. Everyone wants a bit of magic in their lives, and no one is keen to see that power taken away. Even if it means putting an end to something terrible."

"Something terrible?" Aleksander said.

"The Blessings, Mr. Morozova," said his ancestor, "they are not Blessings. They are a curse. Well, some of them. It's all very complicated and I think the truth will solve the impasse you and your Alina seem to be at over the whole Saint versus Sinner nonsense. I'll tell you everything, but if I do, you're going to have to help me do something quite devious. What do you say?"

"Is this going to make Alina happy?" Aleksander asked. "Whatever comes of it? That's all I care about."

His ancestor's eyes glinted. "Yes. It will make you both happy."

"Then, whatever it is----murder----bloodshed---chaos----if it makes her happy, I'll wade through the blood of all the sinners there is and ever shall be if that's what it takes."

"Good. Because we're going to have to drag her through the blood too, Mr. Morozova."