Author's note:

Almost 4000 words, this is a long one! Took ages to write and edit, so I'd really appreciate some feedback please? :)

* Also, a little self-promoting here.. I've started a new story called Dark Illusions. It features Gracie from this story and is a sequel to Innocent Illusions. First chapter is posted, check it out? :)

Warning: it's just full of violence basically.

Annnnnnd I'm pretty sure you're all going to hate me by the end of this chapter.

18th December 2013

It took two days for the savant net and the FBI to work together at getting enough people to go up against Oliver and his group – a lot of professionals refused to go so a lot of the people on the team were just volunteers. All the Benedict brothers were a part of the team; the soulfinders would all be in a van down the road in case their partner was seriously injured and they needed to be with them. Vivienne was with the soulfinders so she could heal people, and Saul and Karla were at their house taking care of Gracie and Mark.

Despite the two days of non-stop preparation for this moment, Xav was still pretty shell shocked this was happening. Strapped into a bulletproof vest with a gun in his hand, he moved closer towards Victor as their group crept up to the back of the hotel.

The 65 people they had going in there had been separated into small groups and would enter the hotel via different points. The plan was to harm people so they could be arrested, and only kill if it was absolutely necessary. Xav had a feeling there would be a lot of killing on both sides.

To break the tension he whispered, "what a story to tell the grandkids, eh? We broke into a hotel and killed all the guests just for the hell of it."

Victor rolled his eyes and didn't answer, but Xav knew he appreciated the joke. Getting ready to go into the hotel and knowing that he would see Ireland again soon had somehow made him stop thinking of how worried he was. Instead, he had slowly been morphing back into the old Xav, the one who cracked jokes and made people smile. He'd sworn to himself that even if Ireland didn't leave here with him, he wouldn't go back to the annoyed and miserable Xav. It wasn't what his family wanted for him, neither was it somebody he liked being.

They were waiting by the door, crouched behind a wall. Their dark outfits blended in with the night to hide them from view but he knew they didn't really have the element of surprise too much. No doubt Oliver knew they were coming since Evan came to them.

As if summoned by Xav's thoughts, Evan appeared at his right hand side. Evan had been staying with Uriel and Xav the last two days, and the two of them had actually been getting on kinda well. Evan had a good sense of humour and was very sarcastic, and like his sister wasn't afraid to speak his mind. "I'm going to go in there invisible," he announced quietly. "If anyone in there sees me, I'll be the first one they go for. I'll make finding Ireland my top priority and let you know as soon as I see her."

"Okay," Xav nodded before turning his head to look at the guy. "I swear to God if we go in there and you double-cross us, I will put you down like a dog. I don't care who you are to my soulfinder, I will do it to help my family."

"Yes sir," Evan mock saluted him. "Man, I bet when you and my sister argue it's explosive, right?"

Xav smirked. "Pretty much. Makes the make-up sex better though."

"Alright, that is not something that I want to-"

Evan's voice stopped straight away as everyone's eyes were drawn to a red flare going up into the sky. That was supposed to be the signal from Trace, who was going in through the front of the hotel with his group, that each group should go in now so they were attacking from all sides at the same time.

Xav stood up straight, aware of others around him doing the same, and saw Evan out of the corner of his eye disappear into thin air. Within a matter of seconds, Victor was kicking in the back door and they were all crowding into the building. They found themselves in a spacious, clean and pristine white kitchen. Besides them, it was empty.

Shouting and gunshots could be heard already, coming from the direction of the main lobby, and Xav's group started to slip through the doorway to join the fight. Victor was the last one through the doorway, but Xav lingered in the kitchen for a moment. He couldn't help himself from thinking of that last day he had spent with Ireland, in the kitchen baking. He didn't remember ever feeling that happy, that full of joy, before. Had she ever experienced happiness like that here, in this kitchen?

Xav let out of a grunt of pain as he was suddenly kicked in the back. Righting himself, he spun around to face his attacker. The guy was maybe a year or two older than Xav, with dark skin and a shaved head. He had an amused smirk on his face and was twirling a dagger through the air. He waited for Xav to make the next move.

"His name's Noel," a voice spoke into his ear from behind him, quiet enough that the other guy wouldn't have been able to hear. It was Evan. "Don't go easy on him. You want some motivation? He was Ireland's sex buddy for a while before she met you. Think of him touching your girl. Bet you don't like that, do you?"

He didn't. In fact, it made his blood boil with rage and he glared at Noel before charging at him.

Ireland was hiding in the shadows of the hotel lobby. There was no doubt in her mind that her dad would know if she ran or didn't do anything to help in the fight, so in spite of the fact that she didn't really want to hurt anybody, she was waiting in the shadows for when she had a good and clear shot. And when she did, she pulled the trigger. She never killed any of them, but instead gave them shoulder or leg wounds that would incapacitate them. It was the best she could offer her people.

More than anything though, she was simply scanning the crowds of people fighting. She tried to tell herself it was to see if her people were okay, but she knew that the truth was this: she was looking for Xav. She hoped that he hadn't been stupid enough to come here but she knew that he would take any chance he could to see her. It was what she would do if the situations were reversed. She was desperately trying to spot him in the crowd, not knowing what she would do. She wanted to drag him out of here, but she also knew what Oliver would be expecting her to do.

While observing the crowd, she saw a brute of a man working for her dad, fighting hand to hand with Yves Benedict. Sure, Yves probably knew how to fight if his family was anything to go by, but he stood no chance against Ramirez. Yves was barely even recognizable, his face swollen and bleeding. Ireland had to give it to him though, he was still standing and still throwing punches straight back at the bloke.

She couldn't watch this any longer though. Yves was still just a kid; what were his brothers thinking letting him come along? And why didn't he have a gun?

As she crept along the side of the room and got closer to them, she saw the answer to her latter question. There was a gun thrown off to the side of the pair, no doubt having been knocked out of Yves' hand.

Before Ireland could move, a figure jumped out at the pair and tackled Ramirez to the floor. Hitting him in the temple with the handle of a gun to knock him out, the figure stood up again. Ireland had to hold in a gasp when she saw that it was Richard that had helped Yves. Why? Sure, he hadn't been looking forward to the showdown as much as everyone else, but he'd shown no inclinations towards turning to the good side.

As Yves finally collapsed to the ground on his knees, breathing heavily and in obvious pain. He looked up when Ireland stepped out of the shadows and looked like he wanted to say something but was in too much agony to do so.

"Richard," Ireland said, shaking her head in awe. "That was-"

She didn't register the gunshot. There were that many going off it was hard to distinguish where they were all coming from. What cut off her sentence was the stun of seeing Richard's head whipped back as a bullet went straight into the centre of his forehead, killing him instantly. His body collapsed to the floor in a heap.

Ireland spun around, finding her dad stood behind Yves. He lowered his arm, his unusual air of calmness still in place. He simply looked at Ireland, his eyes showing that he somehow had known that she had been about to help a Benedict.

"NO!" The cry came from the left and Ireland turned in time to see Robbie running towards them with horror all over her face at the sight of seeing her brother dead. She fell to the floor beside him, sobbing. "No, no, no. Rich, please wake up. You have to… You can't leave me..."

Ireland's whole body flinched when the same thing that had happened to Richard suddenly happened to Robbie. She wanted to cry out at seeing her only friend's dead body slumped over her brother's. Ireland and Robbie hadn't really been that close, but she hadn't wanted her to die!

She turned to face her dad again and simply asked, "why? She didn't do anything wrong."

"She was a liability," Oliver replied in a flat voice. "She was far too upset about her brother to be helpful to us right now. Even after tonight, she would have hated me and I would have lost her loyalty. I did what I had to do."

Oliver looked down at the kneeling Yves, a look of disgust on his face. "Weak like the rest of his family. What a disgrace." He lifted his hand and shot Yves in the back. Yves fell to the floor face-first. He didn't move.

Ireland didn't let Oliver see her flinch again, didn't let him see how scared she was for Xav's little brother.

It was in that moment that Ireland realised her dad hadn't changed at all whilst she'd been staying with the Benedict family. He was evil, plain and simple. No matter how nice he acted to her, behind that façade he was heartless. He would never love her. He used her for his own gain and wouldn't be against killing her if she ever became a liability. If he could do that to his followers and innocent people, what was stopping him from taking it a step further and doing the same to his daughter?

"Don't just stand there, Ireland," Oliver looked back up at his daughter. "You have a job to do. Find your soulfinder and kill him. Otherwise I'll just have to kill you." He turned around and disappeared into the chaos.

The fight between Xav and Noel lasted a good ten minutes and Xav was thankful for when it finally ended. After realising who Xav was, Noel had taunted him about Ireland, saying the most vile and vulgar things about her. Both of them had quickly been disarmed of their guns, the fight resulting to hand-to-hand combat.

Xav was in good shape and went to the gym often, but he was still glad that Noel was about the same size as him. He knew that he wasn't a good fighter when his opponent was much bigger than him. At least he'd stood a chance.

In the end though, he'd had to kill Noel to save him own life. It was the first time he'd ever killed someone and he'd had to do with his bare hands, strangling Noel until the life finally seeped out of him.

As he stood up and looked away from Noel's lifeless form, he called out Evan's name to see if he was still in the kitchen. He wasn't surprised when there was no answer.

Heading into the lobby, the fight was in full swing. Bodies from both sides littered the floor, and most of the fighting was hand-to-hand now, whether that was from a lack of bullets or lost guns he didn't know. He caught sight of Victor and Trace fighting together, working in perfect sync, but couldn't see any of his other brothers. He hoped they were okay.

He walked over to the other side of the lobby, constantly on guard for an attack but looking for Ireland at the same time. When he finally saw her, he rushed forwards without paying any attention to his surroundings. God, it felt like so long since he had seen her. He felt such a sense of relief when he saw that she didn't seem hurt at all.

"Hello, Xavier Benedict."

Hearing the voice, he reluctantly tore his gaze away from Ireland. On the floor in front were the bodies of a boy and girl, and… "Yves?!" He made a move towards his brother, seeing him sprawled on the floor, unmoving.

"Stop." The word was a command and it came from Ireland. Stood next to her was an older man with dark hair that Xav remembered to be Oliver Hawk. He must have been the one that had said hello a moment ago. Ireland was holding a gun in her hand, pointing it straight at Xav with a grave expression on her face and not a tremble in her arm.

Xav held up his hands in surrender. "Hey, it's okay. It's me. Ireland, come on."

Her reply was directed towards Oliver. "Daddy, can I take him to your office? I'd like to be the only one to hear him begging for his life. It's a personal thing. You can understand that, right?"

Oliver chuckled and nodded his head. "Go ahead. Who am I to stop you from giving your soulfinder whichever death you want?"

Ireland didn't stop for a further chat with her dad. She started to lead Xav away from Oliver, keeping that gun pointed straight at him. Xav didn't say anything. What could he say that would make her stop? He'd planned on pleading with her to come home with him but her face had shown no emotions at all, making him start to think that she truly was a lost cause.

But she was his soulfinder and he'd be damned if he didn't at least try.

When she shut them into some kind of office together, he turned on her. "Don't do what he tells you to," he begged. Desperate. "Ireland, don't let him control you. Come home with me. Please. Come home with me, and we'll sort this out. We'll deal with the consequences for what you've done, I don't give a shit what I have to do to give you a good life. I promise I'll-"

Ireland launched herself at him, her arms looping around his neck as she collapsed into him. It took a moment for Xav to snap himself out of his confusion before his arms slid around her waist, pulling her to him tightly. Wow, he'd missed holding her.

When she lifted her head and put their foreheads together, there was a soft smile on her face. "I thought you'd give up on me."

"I almost did," he admitted in a whisper. He felt like speaking aloud would ruin the moment and that was the last thing he wanted. "But I don't understand… Evan said that you were fully on your dad's side again?"

Ireland nodded, the smile falling from her face. "I was. I thought he'd changed, that he just wanted the best for me. I was deluding myself though. I wanted him to love me, I've never had anyone love me before, and I just wanted that so much. I wanted to impress him but I know now that that's impossible."

"I could have told you that," Xav scoffed. "Men like him never change unfortunately. But you don't have to stay here with him anymore. I love you." It was the first time he had said it to her and he felt like it was a long time coming. "You don't have to impress me. I want the best of you yeah, but I want the worst of you too. I want it all! So come home with me and we'll figure out the future. Together."
Ireland's eyes were big and sad. She let go of him and stepped out of his embrace, moving around the desk and going over to the window on the opposite side of the room. Why was she putting distance between them at a moment like this? Xav was tempted to climb over the desk and just grab hold of her again and never let her go.

"I love you too, Xav." Her words made his heart race. "But I don't know if that's enough. I don't know if I can leave my dad."

"Why the hell not?!" He exclaimed. "You just admitted that he won't change-"

"Because he wants me to kill you!" She turned on him again, shouting now. "He wants the reassurance that I won't betray him. If I tell him you got away and suggest we leave town, he might go along with it and be okay with that-"

"He wants my family dead, Ireland. He's not going anywhere until that happens," he argued with her, furious that Oliver had left her feeling so naive about all this. "Don't you think we stand a better chance against him if we're together? We'll both be much safer. Wouldn't you rather be with me than him? Stop thinking about what he wants. What do you want, Ireland?"

She looked away from him, her body slumped as she stared out the window. "I want to be with you, of course I do. Part of me just thinks that I might as well stay with him though, because he's not going to stop coming after us unless I do."

"I don't believe that. I think you're thinking up excuses to stay with him because you're scared of the idea of actually having a good life from now on. You're terrified of letting yourself be happy and welcome in a family because you've never had that before. He's damaged you and made you think you deserve that but you don't. All the terrible things you've done… he made you do them. You are not to blame here."

"Regardless of why I did it, I still killed people Xav. I'm to blame for that and you shouldn't be so quick to forgive me for it." When her body suddenly straightened, tense all over, Xav knew that something was wrong.

"What is it?" He asked her, momentarily forgetting that he was supposed to be convincing her of something here.

"My dad's just drove off in a car." Quickly, she came back around the table and picked up her gun from where she must have put it down before hugging him. "I have to go after him. You stay here."

"What? You don't even know where he's going," he pointed out.

"Yeah, I do. He's going to your parents' house because he wants to kill your dad."

"You don't know that for sure."

"I do. I know my dad well unfortunately, and he has been asking me to kill Saul for ages now. Guess he's finally going to try and do it himself."

Xav moved out of the way as she swung the door open. "Well I'm coming with you then! If he's after my dad, he'll probably hurt my mom too. I've got to help them."

"Absolutely not," she snapped, shaking her head. "He will kill you on sight. I'll try my best to save your parents, Xav. I promise. I love you." She moved quickly then, slamming the door shut behind her as she left the room.

Xav didn't move until he heard a lock turning. He tried the handle, furious and panicked when he couldn't open the door. He smacked the wood hard. "Ireland, let me out! Open the fucking door!"

"I'm sorry, Xav. I'm just doing what I can to protect you!" She replied, her voice shaky.

Xav hit the door again. "Ireland! Ireland, let me out NOW!"

It took Xav at least twenty minutes to break through the door. All the while, he shouted for help that never came. As soon as the door was open, he sprinted through the hotel and left through the back exit he'd come in through. He wanted to check in with his family, especially in regards to Yves, but he had his parents and Ireland at the forefront of his mind.

It took another fifteen minutes for him to run to his parents' house as fast as he could. He was running on adrenaline so wasn't feeling anything but he was certain that tomorrow his muscles would be burning and his body aching.

Bursting through the unlocked front door, the first thing he heard was baby Mark crying from a room upstairs. The next thing he heard was a howling that didn't sound real. What the hell?

He walked into the living room and slowly scanned the room to give his brain time to process what he was actually seeing.

In the corner sat Gracie, knees to her chest and arms wrapped around her legs. She was rocking herself back and forth and staring into the centre of the room with a haunted expression on her face. Xav knew that he would never forget the look in her eyes; it would forever plague his nightmares.

On the floor in front of Gracie lay Ireland. Her head was turned to the side, eyes closed. Her black t-shirt was torn, sticking to her with blood. He couldn't tell how bad her injury was, but there sure was a lot of blood. Her chest was slowly moving up and down though so at least she was breathing.

Finally, he looked to the centre of the living room to see what Gracie was fixated on.

His legs went under him and his knees had a burst of pain as he fell to them. Breathing shakily, he couldn't look away from the frightful sight ahead of him.

Saul lay on the floor with his throat brutally slit open, blood pooling around him. His eyes were wide open, staring at the ceiling, but there was nothing in them. No pain, no shock, no anything. His face was pale and he wasn't breathing.

Karla was knelt next to him, hands clinging onto her husband and soulfinder, the love of her life and father of her children. The howling Xav had heard coming into the house was coming from her. It was so damn painful and heartbreaking. With this death, she had lost a part of herself too.

She finally realised that Xav was in the room and looked over at her son. Her face was yet another thing that he wouldn't forget about tonight. Words couldn't even begin to describe how distraught she looked.

"Xav, get over here. It's not too late, it's not! It can't be!" She sobbed hysterically. "Please, Xav. Heal him, you can save him! Heal him! It can't be too late..." She turned back to her soulfinder, resting her head on his still chest as she cried. "Saul..."

A hint about the next chapter: we'll be fast forwarding a few months.