Saints and Sinners

Fifty-one:

Fifty-one:

They wound up sleeping on the floor of Aleksander's office. Alina wasn't supposed to be there. She was supposed to be staying in the safehouse because they were supposed to be fighting. But staying away from him had been near impossible. Alina tried to fall asleep on Aleksander's chest, but she kept on waking up. Expecting to see the woman that had chased her coming after them.

Luda, Aleksander had said her name was. The Starless Saints ex-lover who was trapped in an immortal war with them because he had left her for his soulmate once he'd been Blessed. She wanted them dead because The Starless Saints descendants could affect her curse. Alina didn't fully understand it. All she knew was that Luda's face now haunted her with that wide-eyed, desperate, angry look that she had had. She felt vulnerable, naked on Aleksander's office floor, so she got up and dressed.

As she did, Aleksander stirred from his spot on the floor. "Lina," he murmured, half asleep, "what are you doing?"

Alina blushed at him. "I thought that since there was someone trying to kill us, being naked might not be the best thing."

He yawned, stretched, and looked up at her. "You have no sense of adventure."

Alina smiled. "Yes, I like staying alive."

Aleksander got up and dressed too. "I suppose you're right. You're not supposed to be here anyway."

She shook her head. "No, I'm not supposed to be." Her gaze softened as she looked at him. "Do you want me to go back to the safehouse?"

He shook his head as he walked over to where she stood, placing a hand on his shoulder. "No. I don't want you to go back to the safehouse. Come home with me, Lina."

"Of course."

The two of them left, and they drove back to their apartment. As the two of them made their way to their home, they both noticed that the lights were on. Aleksander and Alina exchanged looks with each other.

"Is your ancestor here?" Alina asked. "Or Zoya?"

Aleksander shook his head. "No. The Starless Saint said that he had arrangements to make, and Zoya was dealing with something personal."

"Something personal," Alina repeated, "is everything okay?"

Aleksander grinned. "To be completely honest, I think she was a little jealous of you interacting with Nikolai."

Alina raised an eyebrow. "Why? She knows I have you. I would never do anything to hurt you. The Blessing makes that impossible."

Aleksander shook his head. "It wasn't you that she was worried about. It was Nikolai that she was worried about. She's under the impression that he hasn't received his Blessing yet and thinks he still believes himself to be a free agent."

"What do you mean, he believes himself to be a free agent?"

"Nikolai was Blessed ages ago. I think when Zoya started working for him. But he doesn't trust his family, so he didn't want to tell her, and Zoya was Blessed after Nikolai was."

"But they're not together, together?" Alina said.

"They're a hot mess, is what they are."

Alina jumped then as she heard a sound. "There's someone here," she hissed, gripping Aleksander's hand tightly.

Aleksander held her close. "Stay right here. I'll go see what's wrong."

"I'm not going to let you go up there by yourself. I'm coming with you. It's better if there's two of us."

He shook his head. "You're a stubborn girl."

"I know," she said with a smirk, "I've learned that from you."

Aleksander would have laughed under different circumstances. As it was, the two of them made their way up the stairs of the apartment together. Alina clutched his hand tighter as the two of them went that way. How strange it was that he had someone to go up with him. Before Alina, he would have gone to see the dark things himself. Now he had someone that would go into the dark with him.

There was movement again from upstairs that made the two of them stop and look at each other. It wasn't just moving, it sounded like someone was searching. Tearing something apart. The two of them headed in the direction of their room. "Who do you think it is?" Alina asked. "Friend or foe?"

"Foe," a woman's voice answered, "definitely a foe."

Alina looked up and she saw that there was the enchantress that had chased her. She had checked on Mal after, and he had been sent to yet another safehouse Aleksander had shortly after the incident occurred. But seeing the woman that had taken her best friends face so easily standing before her left her with a bitter taste in her mouth.

"What are you doing here?" Alina asked. "This is our home. You don't belong here."

She laughed. "What a fool you are. I'm the only reason you have what you have. I created the very path that led you to this life. And now you are going to give me what I want. Aleksander, the original. As long as a version of you exists, he will always be chasing after that. But he doesn't need you. Not when he has me. I can end this all now if you make a bargain with me. Because he won't do the same."

"We don't make bargains," said Alina, "we have a plan, and we're going to put an end to all of this."

Luda laughed. "Really? And what does that plan entail? Stealing the egg that contains his soulmate?"

Aleksander flinched. "That's exactly the plan. How do you know?"

"Because it's always the plan. What he neglects to tell you fools every time is what comes after the souls are released from the egg, because he doesn't know everything about the curse. I do, because I created it, of course."

"And you're just what, going to ramble like a Bond villain and tell us everything?" Alina said. "You tried to kill me. Whatever you want from us, it doesn't end with s being alive."

Luda smiled. "You are so much smarter than your ancestors. None of them caught on quite so much. In fact, most of them met much more tragic ends because they couldn't stomach what was necessary to survive. They believed in honor, and all that nonsense. Seems that you have a touch more darkness in you than them. Perhaps you'll listen and survive."

Aleksander exchanged a look with Alina. "Should we? You're the one that has a moral compass of the two of us."

Alina hesitated. "I don't think a moral compass does anyone any good if you can't survive having it."

"So, we listen?"

"There are two sides to every story. Saints and Sinners. Both sides deserve a chance to tell their tale." Alina glanced at Luda. "Tell us your side."