Saints and Sinners

Forty-one:

Forty-one:

"Where's your car?" Alina asked. She looked around for the rust bucket that Mal normally drove.

"Got a new one," Mal said, and he gestured to a Maserati.

Alina frowned when she saw it. "How'd you afford that?"

"Aleksander's very generous to his interns. You know that."

Alina shook her head. "You hate sports cars, though. You call them gas guzzlers and douche bag cars."

Mal put his hands into his pockets. "I'm a Morozova, Alina. I thought that I should start acting the part." Alina knew that it was true. Mal had gone a long time not knowing who his family was, and when Aleksander had reached out to him it had been a big deal.

Except there was something off that Alina couldn't place. Alina took every, single detail of her childhood friend in suddenly as if she was sure that she would find some visible sign of change there. That was when she noticed it. "Mal----where's your Blessing?"

Mal raised an eyebrow. "What are you talking about? I haven't been lucky enough to be Blessed, Lina. You know that. I'm always waiting for you. Always."

Alina raised an eyebrow. "Eva, Mal. She lives with you? She's your soulmate? You met her at the café?"

Mal's face changed before her. Gone was the easy smile she was used to, replaced with something cruel. "You're much smarter than your previous versions, Alina. Maybe you'll even survive me. But I wouldn't count on it."

"What are you talking about?" Alina asked. "Previous versions? Mal, you aren't making any sense."

"I know I'm not, you insipid little thing. I never did understand what it was that Aleksander saw in you. I thought it was just the Blessing that gave you power over him and that maybe if I could remove it, then it would make things easier. That we could be together. But he still went through the trouble of trying to keep you alive." The stranger with Mal's face reached out to grab her, and before she could, Alina took off running.

She could hear footsteps following her as the stranger with Mal's face chased after her. When she turned to look over her shoulder, she saw that the stranger had changed into a woman with brown hair, and pale skin.

"You can't run from me, Alina. I've been playing this game for centuries!" the woman called. "I know you and Aleksander as well as I know myself! You are one of the Blessed, one of the Saintly, you don't have it in you to survive this! You could never get your hands dirty enough. Your faith is your Achilles heel. It will kill you every, single time."

She ran. She ran despite the invisible hand that was tightening on her throat. As she got away, the invisible hand was released, and she could finally breathe. Alina looked up and she saw that the church was right ahead. Without thinking, Alina made her way up the stairs, and into the church.

When she got inside, she heard a voice say, "Miss Starkov. Whatever are you doing here? Is everything alright?"

Alina looked up and saw The Apparat standing there. "There was a.... there was a...." she couldn't get the words out. Nothing that she had seen made sense, and she could still feel the invisible hands of the woman that had been chasing her choking her throat. Her voice was coming out raspy.

The Apparat raised an eyebrow. "Do you need water?"

Alina nodded.

"Stay right there, I'll be back with a glass of water." The Apparat walked away.

Her stomach churned. She shouldn't have come to the church. She shouldn't have come to the place that had been responsible for arresting Aleksander. But she didn't know what was going on, and the church had been the first place that she had felt safe. She wished she could see Aleksander. She needed him. How had she become this? The girl who was so reliant on him. She should have tried to make it to the safehouse, somehow. And maybe she still could.

In the cathedral, there were statues of Saints. One of them, she noticed, looked like Aleksander's ancestor. His face was looking down at her. She remembered the night that she had received her Blessing, when she had seen Aleksander, with a bloodied knife in his hands as he had killed someone. Someone that he had been ordered to kill at the request of The Apparat. And Alina knew, suddenly, that she was exactly where she was supposed to be.

The Apparat came back with a glass of water for her. "Here, my child. Drink up."

Alina took a drink, downing the whole thing. She looked at him. "Apparat, I didn't know exactly where I was supposed to go. I saw the news. Aleksander's been arrested, and they're saying that he..."

"That he was blackmailing me," said The Apparat, "yes, I am afraid Aleksander's kindness came with some expectations."

"Can you tell me what kind of expectations, Apparat?" Alina asked. "He took this case, and I don't...I don't know what kind of world I got myself into. There's all this talk of soulmates being removed and I don't know what to think."

The Apparat placed a hand on her shoulder. "Why don't you have a seat, my dear? There's some things that we need to discuss. You're a believer, aren't you? I can see it in your eyes."

Alina nodded. "Of course, Apparat. Of course, I'm a believer. I'll listen to whatever you have to say."