Author's note:

This is a short chapter compared to the last one but I felt like this was the right place to end it. You'll see what I mean. I thought it'd end up reading like a filler chapter but I don't think it does because it shows things changing a little, I hope you feel the same way.

Thank you for the reviews! Please remember to review this chapter, it's just so nice to get some recognition for my writing and hear what people are thinking about the story.

Charlotte.x

16th December 2013

Do it. Just bloody do it.

Ireland was clenching her jaw in frustration at herself. The situation was the usual story: someone owed her father money but refused to pay so he had sent her to kill the guy. She had the syringe in her hand, full of the death serum, and was hiding in a large wooden wardrobe, watching the guy as he cleaned his bedroom. All she had to do was step out of the wardrobe and plunge the needle into his neck. She had done this countless times before.

So why couldn't she do it now? She should already have done it by now, should already have been leaving. But it was like she was frozen. Her body refused to move no matter how much she internally screamed at herself to get the job done.

The guy, Sam something, was whistling to himself. He didn't know that his life was about to end.

It wasn't even Ireland that was originally meant to kill him. Oliver had first given the job to Evander, wanting to get him back into the swing of things. Evander had refused, although Ireland wasn't surprised. It had been three weeks since she had broke him out of prison. A month since she'd last seen Xav.

Ireland had spent the last three weeks trying to make her dad happy. She was in the gym every day, she went back to her fighting lessons with Chéng, she helped keep her dad's employees in check. She'd even been helping Oliver with the stacks of paperwork he had, something he'd never let her do before. It was quite obvious that she's gained his respect while she was staying with the Benedicts. He thought that it had been hell for her, that she'd only stuck with it for him. He thought she'd had sex with Xav just to mess with his feelings. In Oliver's opinion, Ireland had finally proven that she would do anything for her father.

Evander was another matter entirely. He'd lost Oliver's respect and was instead irritating their old man. Evan had barely left his bedroom the last three weeks and would barely talk to anyone. Oliver knew that prison was bound to have affected him, but clearly he wanted the old Evan back. He wanted both his children to be killers, not weak and defenceless.

Looking back out at the guy through the slit of the open wardrobe doors, she breathed in deeply. Would the guy's family miss him when he died? He looked to be in his late twenties, he should have had years of life ahead of him. Did he have a wife and kids? Would his last thoughts be of the love of his life?

She'd never had these questions when she'd killed somebody. This was a first. She dreaded the answers to them.

She didn't want to do it. She didn't want to kill him. It made her think that perhaps she had never wanted to kill anyone and the personalities had made her. She certainly remembered not wanting to kill people before that dreaded night her family was torn apart. When it came down to her own free will now, she just couldn't do it.

She was being weak. Her father would punish her for it, most likely send her to the confinement room. Then he'd just send somebody else here to get the job done. God, this was a mess.

Thinking quickly, she pushed the wardrobe door open with a creak and stepped out. Sam something turned around, blue eyes widening at the sight of her. "Who the hell are you? Get out or I'll call the pol-"

"I'm with Oliver Hawk," she interrupted him. Sam fell into silence immediately. "He sent me to kill you."

"What? Why?" Sam exclaimed, confusion written all over his face. "I paid him back, that doesn't make sense."

Ireland had been nervously walking towards him, still unsure what she was going to do. She stopped when he said this though. "Explain," she commanded.

"I owed him $3000, plus $160 interest. I was a week late paying him back, but I gave him the money two weeks ago. It went straight into his hands and he said that my debt was paid," Sam spoke in a rush, desperately trying to save his own life.

Hearing people so desperate used to make Ireland happy. She enjoyed seeing them plead. Now it just made her sad.

The thing was, she believed what Sam was saying about having already given Oliver the money. She wanted to trust that her dad hadn't lied to her, but she wouldn't put it past him. Oliver only did things that benefited him, but she didn't know what he would get out of her killing Sam.

Was he testing her? Seeing if she would chicken out and run back to the Benedicts? She thought of an alternative to killing Sam and could only think of one thing that wouldn't make Oliver mad.

"You need to give me the money, plus another $40 for the trouble of me having to come after you. Don't argue with me. Whether you already paid him or not, giving me the money is the only way to save your life right now. I will have to kill you otherwise," she said slowly and clearly.

On a few previous occasions, the person had given Ireland the money they owed when she'd gone to kill them and she'd left them alive. Oliver hadn't minded as long as he got more money than they owed. He never turned down extra money.

Sam, flustered, nodded that he understood. He pulled his wallet out of his pocket and dumped $30 onto the bed. Falling to his knees, he started reaching for something under the bed. "I have some money saved up," he pulled out an old shoebox. "I've been adding money to it for over a year now, saving for my mom's retirement. But if I have to use it, I will." He started counting out the money, leaving it in a pile on the bed. It was a good ten minutes later when he finally looked up at Ireland with horror on his face. "I'm $50 short. Please, don't kill me. Come back tomorrow and I'll give you the rest then."

"I can't do that," Ireland shook her head. "Hawk expects either your death or the money today." She could have sworn the syringe was burning in the back pocket she'd put it in as she'd stepped out of the wardrobe. "Screw it." She put her hand into the front pocket of her jeans, pulling out the bills she had in there. She had $100, had meant to be going clothes shopping for herself when she was done here. A treat from Oliver. She put half the money on the bed and the rest in her pocket. "Get me a backpack or something to put the money in."

As Sam busied himself stuffing the money in a plain black rucksack, Ireland clenched her fists. When he handed the bag over she looked him straight in the eyes, her face schooled into a threatening expression. "If you go to the police or tell anybody about this, I will come back and kill you. Understand?"

She hoped Oliver would be okay with getting extra money instead of Sam being killed. She hoped that he didn't punish her for this.

Ireland knew without a doubt now that no matter what she told herself about being her father's daughter, she couldn't kill for him again. Ever. She wasn't tough enough to do that anymore. She knew that she couldn't get away with always coming up with an alternative, so she planned to just busy herself with things back at the hotel from now on and avoid having to go out on jobs as much as possible.

God, she was dreading having to go back to Oliver after this.

All the Benedict family were out in good form, gathered in the back garden. Music was playing from the stereo, the barbecue constantly had something cooking. It was a regular occurrence for them all to have a barbecue when the weather was as warm and sunny as it was today. They were all there: Karla and Saul, all the brothers, the three soulfinders – Georgie, Hazel, and Blue. Gracie and baby Mark were both there. Blue's father and her younger sisters Poppy and Daisy were here. Uriel had even invited his savant friend and colleague Vivienne, who had brought her two sons with her: four year old Cai and two year old Owen.

Xav wanted to be happy. He was nineteen years old, he wasn't supposed to be moping around about a lost love. He should have been up on his feet, maybe joining in the soccer game Zed, Yves, and Will had going on with little Cai. Maybe helping Trace and his father see to the food. Instead, he was sat on the patio steps just watching them all.

He thought about going over to get a burger until he saw Georgie head over to Trace. Giving her husband and soulfinder a kiss on the cheek, she wrapped an arm around his waist. Trace brushed her blonde hair out of her face. As they smiled at each other, their love for one another was written clearly across their faces. Xav was more envious of them two than anyone else. Sure, they'd been separated for years but when they did find each other again, there'd been nothing stopping them from being together. Victor and Hazel had their love triangle, Blue had only wanted to be friends with Zed for a long time until she felt stable enough during her recovery from an eating disorder. And Xav and Ireland… Well, there was a hell of lot standing in their way, wasn't there.

As someone sat down next to him, he was surprised to see that it was Vivienne. Her red hair was tied in a side plait, and there was an easiness around her that suggested she had no worries in her life. Xav had only met her once before, briefly, but she seemed nice enough.

"Don't give up on Ireland," she said softly. "It's probably very confusing for her. If you think about what her childhood was like then you know that she's only ever known cruelty. She's always been told that killing people, fighting against the net, is the right thing to do.

"When I was growing up, I was always told that being a savant was a bad thing. My mum was French and moved back to France shortly after I was born, leaving me in Wales with my dad. I never saw her again. She was a savant; my dad isn't. He made sure that I knew what I was, but always told me to never use any of powers and to act as if I had no idea what a savant was. I think he was just scared what I might have been capable of, to be honest.

"It was only two years ago, when I was twenty-one, that I met other savants and realised that what I am isn't a bad thing. But it was hard for me to adjust and change my way of thinking.

"I know that Ireland's situation isn't the same, but I can still relate. Her dad brought her up to be a certain way and it was you that made her realise that life can be different. However I'm guessing she no doubt feels loyalty towards him still – would you want to give up on your father?" When Xav didn't answer, Vivienne took that as agreement and continued. "When you see her again, just give her a chance."

He didn't answer because he didn't think he would ever see her again. She would no doubt make sure of that. He appreciated Vivienne opening up to him though, so he smiled and said, "Uriel would be lucky to have a girlfriend like you."

Vivienne's cheeks blushed blood red and both looked up when they heard a screech. Owen was on the floor, screaming and crying, seemingly have fallen over or something. Before Vivienne could even stand up to rush over to her son, Uriel was there. He scooped the boy into his arms and cradled him to his chest, comforting him. Owen calmed almost instantly, it was miraculous to watch, and giggled when Uri tapped him on the nose.

"You know," Xav gently said to the woman beside him, "you should tell him how you feel. It might snap him out of what he feels for Hazel."

She didn't even try to deny that she was in love with Uriel Benedict. "I couldn't," she shook her head. "He needs a friend more than anything right now. I don't want to ruin our friendship."

Xav kind of admired her for that, that she was willing to put Uri's need for a friend before her unrequited love. For a moment, he let himself wish that his soulfinder was as nice as she was. Then he stopped wishing. He liked how Ireland was feisty, how she'd fight with him and would say what she was thinking. She was a firecracker and he wouldn't want her any different.

"Guys!" He heard Zed shout, telling everyone to be quiet. His eyes were distant and unseeing and Xav knew that to mean he was having a vision.

Blue rushed over from where she'd been talking with her sisters and took Zed's hand in her own, looking up at him patiently until he blinked and came out of the vision. He looked at her first, then round at the rest of his family. He looked worried.

"What did you see?" someone asked.

"Evander Hawk is going to pay us a visit within the next ten minutes," was the response.

A hint about the next chapter: Evan and the Benedict's meet (pretty obvious after the last line, but I can't tell you anything else without spoiling you!)