All the cards

40

Amity soon headed down to see her family all around. Izzy had disappeared, probably with his father and Hope was still asleep. Hayley was awake, and alert, and had no doubt told everyone of what Tristan had done to her, judging from the murderous expression on her brothers' faces.
"So what's the plan?" Amity asked.
"Three original vampires- two of whom are hybrids, an old vampire, a hybrid and two powerful witches. I quite like our odds."
"By which you mean you haven't got a real plan?" Amity rolled her eyes. "I do."
"What is it?"
"I want him to suffer. I want him to feel powerless and helpless. I want to take from him that which he loves most and use it to destroy him."
"What do you propose?" Klaus asked and she shrugged.
"Well, he took one of ours. Why don't we take one of his? Aurora's not very well guarded, right now."
"Do you know where she is?" Amity nodded and closed her eyes.
"She's in the back of a car. Heavily sedated, and under the care of a few of the Strix."
"Well then, let's go get her." Klaus walked out, Elijah by his side. Amity looked at Amira who smiled and followed. Amity looked back one last time. Vincent and Freya stood beside Hayley. Amity looked up to the doorway where Cami stood, partially hidden. Cami nodded and Amity walked away.

Amity led her family in the direction of Aurora, sure she could lead them taking shortcut after shortcut. She parked the car in the middle of the road and they waited for Aurora's car to come. Soon enough it emerged as they stood in a line. Amity turned off the engine, and watched as the Strix piled out of the SUV. There were four of them. Amity readied herself to a fighting stance and saw as her brothers and Amira did the same.
"One for each of us. It's almost as though they knew we were coming." Amira said.

Klaus carried Aurora over his shoulder as they walked into the house. Cami sat next to Hayley on the chair. Klaus looked at her and turned to Freya.
"What is she-?"
"Wasn't me!" Freya defended.
"It was me." Amity crossed her arms.
"When?" Klaus asked.
"Well..."

Flashback, an hour earlier.

Amity walked out of the kids' nursery and headed to the stairs. She stopped and backtracked. She walked into a study and saw Cami pacing angrily.
"Cami?"
"What do you want?" Cami glared. "Come to gloat?"
"Not my style." Amity folded her arms. "I know my brother. He loves you, and he's afraid to lose you. And when he's afraid to lose somebody, he will do whatever it takes to keep them safe."
"This should be my choice."
"And I agree. I'm rather sympathetic to your plight, Cami. Like you, the choice of life was taken from me. My parents forced me to turn into a vampire. And for me it was a curse. I lost a lot more than I gained. For Nik, it was somewhat of a gift- he gained more than he lost. Eternal loyalty from us, and Esther may have bound his wolf side, but he finally knew the truth, and he did eventually unbind his curse."
"My humanity is all I have left. What if I lose that?"
"It's a risk you get to decide if you want to take." Amity waves her hand, breaking the boundary spell. Cami glanced at the door and then at Amity.
"Thank you." She smiled. "This is... the nicest thing anyone's done for me all day."
"Then I sincerely apologise for the way my brother has treated you."

Present.

"You let her out because you would allow her to choose whether she wants to die?"
"She's already dead, Niklaus." Amity glared at her brother. "And it isn't up to us to allow her her choice."
"Thank you, Amity." Cami said, pointedly.
"But now that she's out, Cami has agreed to help us out." Amity frowned as Freya began to explain her plan. "We need to get the Serratura from Tristan, but he would never allow us close enough."
"I-" Amity stopped herself. "What do you propose, sister?"
"That was easy." Freya pointed out.
"Well, I assume you have a plan, and I often like your plans."
"Tristan will allow Aurora close enough. A simple glamour spell should hold up. You said the Serratura holds all that is dead and all that is living. But what about that which is neither dead nor alive."
"A transitioning vampire. When Mal made it, vampires.." Amity glanced at Vincent, and decided to censor her words. "Weren't exactly well-known. There was no reason to account for transitioning vampires."
"Tristan will want his sister back. So let's give her to him." Amity nodded.

Klaus was loading Cami, disguised as Aurora on a chair in the warehouse. Amity called Tristan, using her brother's phone.
"If you touch a hair on her head-" he threatened.
"I can't promise to restrain my brother. After all, he does harbour quite a bit of anger towards her."
"Amity?" He sounded surprised, but he soon waved it off. "Pretty desperate attempt, taking my sister, don't you think?"
"No, I don't." Amity said.
"If you wanted the cure to your niece's mother, all you had to do was ask. You didn't have to take my sister."
"What cure?" Amity asked. Tristan stayed silent. "Oh right, to the hex. That's not a problem. Hayley's fine."
"Are you sure?"
"By now, Tristan, surely you've realised you have no idea what I'm capable of. I'm a thousand years old, and for a thousand years, my magic has been growing and evolving. And now, I have all this power that you could not possibly imagine. A simple hex didn't take long to overcome." She heard him growl in frustration. "Meet us at Patrick's dock. The warehouse. We'll exchange Aurora for the Serratura. And do hurry. I don't know how much longer Elijah's willing to hold Niklaus back from eviscerating your sister."
"Do you think he's over his crush, yet?" She looked at her granddaughter and shrugged with a smile.
"I think it's a safe bet."