Saints and Sinners

Forty-nine:

Forty-nine:

"Do you think you'll manage without him?" Hanne asked.

Nina and Hanne had insisted on being together at the new safe house. Since they were able to confirm that they were soulmates, Aleksander couldn't see any reason why they shouldn't be. The Starless Saint, Aleksander's ancestor, had protested. He insisted that they were the key to ending the curse. They had changed things, said The Starless Saint, and if something happened to them it could restart Luda's curse all over again.

Alina sat at the kitchen counter, while Nina and Hanne were cooking in the kitchen drinking wine. "I don't know." She shrugged. "We haven't been apart very long. The one time that we were, he was far worse than I was."

"We know," said Nina with a smirk, "it was quite satisfying, honestly. I have never seen Aleksander come undone so much. He's usually Mr. Big And Mighty."

Hanne shrugged. "I've only met him a few times, and he always seemed very stoic. I'm quite surprised that he ended up with someone as sunny as you."

She smiled. "A lot of people have said that."

"A lot of people, or Fedyor?" Nina asked.

Alina laughed. "Yes, Fedyor."

"Was he really that mad at you?" Nina said. "When you told him that you had gone to Nikolai's to look for an internship?"

"I'm here, aren't I?" Alina said. "Not that it matters. I don't think that they're going to even give me an internship. Fedyor was the one that told him that I went there. He went ballistic. But I can't give everything I have to him, even if he is my soulmate."

"Do you think it's because of the curse?" Hanne asked. "That maybe the curse is working its magic to get in between the two of you?"

She shook her head. "I don't know. I'm not sure. We've been off since we got together, and I didn't exactly see him at his best when I was Blessed. I don't know that I'm ever going to get past the things that I've seen him do." Alina took a sip of the wine that Nina had given her. "But then, of course, when I'm not with him...."

Hanne and Nina exchanged glances. "You ache," they said in unison.

Alina nodded. "It becomes impossible to think of anyone else. I don't do things rationally. That was why I went to Nikolai. Because I needed to have something that was for myself. I know that Aleksander does good work too, and I understand him a lot better, but after everything that happened with the church.... I don't want my future to be ruined because of the things he does, you know?"

"Well, I hope it works out for you," said Nina, "it's probably safer for you to stay here anyway, with that copycat out on the loose. If they don't think that you and Aleksander are together, maybe they won't try to hurt you."

"Maybe," Alina said softly. "He hasn't answered any of my calls or texts. Fedyor said he wouldn't even let me back into the apartment. I don't know if..."

Hanne reached out and took her hand. "It's going to be fine. He'll come around. It's just a job, right?"

Alina laughed again. "Not even. It's an internship. Barely. I just...if you love someone, shouldn't they want what's best for them? Why can't he stop to consider that I am more than what he wants me to be? That I've got my own ideas?"

Nina shrugged. "Soulmates are strange, sometimes. They fill you up until there is nothing else left. Anything that is separate seems like a personal attack because the Saints say that you're supposed to move when they do. You've just got to let him know that you aren't running away, you're just exploring a bit."

"How do I do that if he won't even see me?" Alina asked.

"It's been what, two days since he sent you here? Why don't you go see him?" Hanne asked. "Fedyor did say that the only place you were allowed to go was to go see Aleksander."

Alina took another sip of her wine. "Yes, but only if he said that he wanted to see me."

"Would that stop Aleksander from coming?" Nina said with a wry smile.

She grinned at her friend. "No, I suppose it wouldn't." Alina went outside of the safehouse where she knew that Fedyor was standing guard. "You're taking me to him."

"What?" Fedyor's eyes widened. "Now? You've got to be shitting me. Alina, he said that you were supposed to stay here. That after your little betrayal you couldn't be trusted. He hasn't called for you yet. Why would I bring you to him and risk his wrath?"

"Because, he's my soulmate, Fedyor. I want to see him. Are you really going to interfere with a Saints Blessing and keep the two of us away from each other? Besides, it's been two days. He's probably weak already."

"He took your blood for the occasion if you recall. And you took his. This wasn't a spat. This was a fight, a betrayal----"

"If you don't take me, I'll walk there myself, Kaminsky. I mean it."

He glowered at her. "You're a monster."

Alina smirked. "No, but I did fall in love with one. Now, are you going to take me to my soulmate or not?"

Fedyor sighed and gestured to the black SUV he had parked outside of Nina and Hanne's safehouse. "Fine. Get in, you demon girl." He opened the door for her.

Alina slid inside and closed the door behind her. "Take me to him, Fedyor."

Fedyor swore in old Ravkaan the whole drive. He did not stop until they reached The Fold, and then eventually, they went up to Aleksander's office. Alina knocked three times on Aleksander's office door. She could hear him talking to someone on the phone, and then there was a pause.

"Whose there?" he asked.

"Your Saint," she replied.

There was the sound of movement, and he opened the door. "Get the fuck in here," he growled, pulled her inside, and slammed the door shut.