This was my favorite chapter to write. I'm not sure why, but I really liked writing this one. Let me know what you think!

Chapter 30

Tamsin slammed her foot into the wooden door right next to the knob. It splintered and broke away from the lock, swinging open with so much force that it slammed heavily into the wall behind it.

"Well there goes our chance of sneaking up on them." Hale chuckled.

"Oh please, they probably smelled us the second we stepped out of the car." Tamsin said. She heard heels stomping on the floor and Tatiana came around the corner, her eyes burning in anger.

"Tamsin what the hell are you doing?!" she shouted.

"Just the person we were looking for." Tamsin said. Tatiana approached quickly but Tamsin was much faster. Tamsin lashed out, grabbing a hand full of her silky black hair. By the time Tatiana had screamed there were already more members of family circling around them. But Tatiana was their Princess, they wouldn't make a move if she was in danger.

"Tell Duchess to meet us in the conference room." Tamsin held tight to Tatiana's hair and drug her toward to double doors. Once they were all behind the safety of the doors Tamsin released Tatiana. Hale pulled his gun and pointed it at Tatiana's chest, making sure she knew she was still in danger.

"That won't kill me." Tatiana glared at Tamsin.

"Yes it will Tati. Aros took your powers remember, that means no healing." Tatiana's face showed shock. She didn't know Tamsin knew about her powers being stripped.

"How do you know about that?"

"Doesn't matter. Here's what matters, I want to know where Aros is hiding out."

"How should I know?"

"You know. So here's how this is going to go. You're going to tell me or I'm going to shoot you." Tatiana frowned deeply and her yellow eyes narrowed.

"My mother will have your head."

"We'll worry about that later." Tamsin said. It was as if speaking of her called her to them, because the doors opened quickly and Duchess stepped inside. She looked almost as angry as Tatiana, but as always she had an air of calm about her.

"Tamsin, I'm surprised to see you." she said.

"No you're not, you knew I was coming. No more pleasantries, I don't have time for your crap. Tell me where Aros is and I let her go. If you refuse, then I shoot her."

"Sounds simple enough." Duchess smiled. Tamsin didn't like that smile. That smile made Tamsin a little nervous, and she was rarely nervous.

"Go ahead and kill her." Duchess nodded. Tatiana's mouth dropped open.

"Mother." She hissed.

"You worked very hard to get her powers back Duchess, I don't believe that you don't care about her." Tamsin said.

"Getting Leila was supposed to be easy, with a normal human it would be. But your human has so many protectors, it's too much work. I told Aros to keep Tati's powers. She's really more of a bother than she's worth. So kill her." Duchess shrugged. Tamsin stared at Duchess in disbelief, but she had a feeling she was bluffing, but how would she test that theory. The only way was to actually shoot Tatiana. Tamsin sighed and shrugged.

"Fine." she pulled her gun out and pulled the trigger. The bullet slammed into Tatiana's shoulder and she spun to the ground with a loud shriek. The blood and tears were almost immediate.

"You shot me!" Tatiana cried. Tamsin looked to Duchess who only smiled.

"A flesh wound. So what?" Duchess chuckled and shook her head. Tamsin was angry now, but another shot went off, scaring her. She didn't expect it at all and she jumped. When she looked back Hale was standing over a dead Tatiana, a bullet through her skull, blood pooling on the ground around her.

"Tatiana!" Duchess screamed and ran to her daughter. Tamsin almost…almost felt bad for her as she gathered her bleeding daughter in her arms and sobbed. Tamsin looked at Hale like he was crazy. What on Earth had prompted him to do that? After listening to Duchess cry for a few more seconds, Hale reached down and grabbed her arm, hauling her up.

"One of my best friends is dying and you know where the person that can fix her lives. Now you're going to sit down and tell me where he is, or I'm going to start killing more of your family members. Tamsin, does she have more kids?" Hale asked. Tamsin looked at Duchess who was crying hysterically.

"Yes, a son and two young daughters, neither of the daughters have developed their healing powers yet. They're too young." Tamsin said.

"Good, we'll start with the youngest. Tamsin can you go grab her?" Hale asked.

"Please! No!" Duchess cried.

"Then tell me where he is?" Hale shoved her down into a chair. Duchess hesitated for a moment and Tamsin went for the door.

"FINE! I'll tell you." she dropped her head into her hands and grabbed a piece of paper.

"This is the address. There are guards everywhere, you'll never get in, not without the girl." She said. Hale snatched the paper out of her hand and nodded.

"Let us worry about that." Tamsin was first out of the room, she pushed past a lot of the waiting family members. She paused outside the conference room doors until all the Jinx's piled into the room, and then Tamsin carefully and quietly closed the door. Hale handed her the nearby lamp and Tamsin jammed it though the handles. She removed the bottle from her back pocket and emptied it's contents onto the floor outside the door. As she and Hale neared the door she could hear gasps and cries as they discovered Tatiana's body.

"Didn't think you had it in you." Tamsin said. They stepped out onto the sidewalk.

"Kenzi is one of my best friends. I'd do anything for her. We can't lose her, she's the only thing that reminds us all of what humanity is. Plus, Duchess was calling our bluff. She just knew we wouldn't shoot Tatiana, so she was not going to give up Aros. But after we shot her, she really believed that we'd shoot another of her children." Hale shrugged.

"I could've shot her. I didn't want you to have to do that." Tamsin said.

"We're doing this because we have no choice. Duchess will come after us, and bring all of her family, they will hunt us until we're all dead. It's us or them and I'd rather it be them." Hale said.

"Good, I thought you would take more convincing." Hale chuckled and shook his head.

"Does Trick know?" he asked. Tamsin looked down at her feet for a second.

"No, it's better this way, if he doesn't know, then he doesn't have to lie for me. Which is why you should go and get in the car so you don't have a part in it."

"No way. We're both in this. Plus I hate Jinx's anyway. They're all evil sons of bitches who kill humans for sport." Hale pulled a lighter from his pocket and handed it to Tamsin.

"For Kenzi." He said. Tamsin smiled and bent down. She clicked the lighter and with a deep breath she touched the flame to the gasoline. Tamsin watched the fire spread quickly, shooting inside the house and into the conference room where they'd stood. No one had smelled or even saw the bottle of gasoline that Tamsin had poked a hole into. She'd let it slowly drip, leaving a trail of gasoline into the house. Fire was one of the few things that could kill a Jinx. When the screams erupted Tamsin clenched her jaw.

"For Kenzi." she said.