All the cards

67

"Whew!" He overcame his pain and stood up, facing the trio. "Well, I admit, Freya, this is a truly valiant effort. Inspired, I assume, by your grief over Finn's demise?"
"Did no one tell him Finn's alive?"
"He didn't believe us." Amity replied. Freya turned back to Lucien and smiled fakely at him. She flicked her wrist, subjecting him to a painful aneurysm.
"Pop goes the weasel! Oh! A rather potent aneurysm spell. You never fail to impress."
"Oh, I have all kinds of tricks." She taunted him. "We even brought an audience to enjoy the show!" The Strix vampires filed into the room surrounding Lucien.
"Oh, come now, my darling sister. The Strix are the show. Well, actually, they're the first act. Act two, Lucien's buried beneath 1,000 tons of cement. Act three? Spoiler alert- you're a parking lot."
"Oh, even after a thousand years, you've never managed to curb your hubris. You still wander through a smog of your own self-importance. I can kill anything. Even them. Even you. And, since the Ancestors have made me their champion... They will not allow me to be detained." The sigil on the ground began to dissipate as Lucien stepped forwards. The Strix began to circle around him, ready to fight and pounced at him. In the midst of the chaos, Elijah and Amity sped off with Freya.

They arrived at home the same time as Hayley and Cami stumbled in with Klaus and Aurora. Klaus was still shackled to a stick with runes carved into the wood and Aurora was unconscious, carried by Hayley. Amity scanned them for Amira.
"Where's Amira?" She asked, but Hayley shook her head.
"She wasn't at the penthouse."
"Lucien left with her- took her to some other place." Amity walked over to her brother's side, studying the runes on it.
"Wait here." She sped away and came back holding a curved blade.
"What is that?" Cami asked.
"It's called a Janbiya."
"That's from your collection." Freya pointed out.
"Yes." Amity raised the knife and used it to cross through the runes. "This is an impressive artefact. Egyptian runes warding against evil. Impossible for a supernatural to get through unless you have one of these." She held up her weapon before getting back to slicing through the runes, rendering them ineffective. She then focused on the shackles, scratching through the metal with some ease. She hung the knife on her trousers and broke apart the shackles, freeing her brother. She placed the stick and shackles on the table behind him and sped away again. When she came back she had two brass cuff bracelets on, one on each hand, and walked towards the
"Where are you going?" Elijah called.
"To find my granddaughter." He sped in front of her.
"If Lucien finds you, he will kill you."
"I'm not leaving Amira to rot, Elijah."
"I'm not asking you to."
"He's angry. We took Aurora and Nik and bested him. He'll bite her for revenge, and I'm not letting her die." She pushed past her brother and continued away.
"Leave her be, Elijah." Freya stopped him from going after her. "Trust that she knows what she's doing."
"She's going to get herself killed."
"She's not going into this blind. She has a plan and she has weapons." Freya said.

Amity was heading down the road to Lucien's Penthouse. If she could get there while Lucien was still there, maybe she could find Amira. She finally got to the building, only to bump into Lucien as he was walking out.
"You." He snarled and tried to grab her throat. She raised her hands in front of herself, defensively, in an 'x' gesture, her metal bracelets connecting. Lucien stopped in his tracks.
"Me." She repeated. "Where is my granddaughter?"
"You think that can hold me?"
"Well, yes, actually. The ancestors have no domain over me. To go against me would be to cross a force not even you could understand. So tell me. Where's Amira?"
"You'll have to let me go if you want me to lead you to her."
"I'm not an idiot, Lucien. You brought Nik here and took her someplace else. It's got to be someplace nearby."
"You can let me go, or never find her."
"Or you can tell me where my granddaughter is or I can keep you in place until we figure out a way to end you. And trust me, we will."
"Why do the ancestors refuse to go against you?" He asked.
"Stalling me won't work. The ancestors won't help you, and Aurora's not going to come to your rescue. Face it, Lucien. No one is going to save you. So answer me and tell me where the bloody hell my granddaughter is."
"You're desperate." He let out a chuckle and Amity moved her hands closer to her body, tightening the grip she had on him. "I don't recognise your artefacts."
"You wouldn't. They're older than you. Stop stalling. I'll count to five before I rip your heart out."
"You won't kill me."
"I know. But it'll hurt, and it'll give me enough time to trap you in a boundary spell until I can kill you. Two."
"What?"
"Three... Four"
"Five blocks north of here. It's a small office building. Kingmaker Land Developments Inc. She'll be in a room somewhere."
"What measurements have you put in place to guard her?"
"Just a few vampires."
"I don't believe you." She said. "You're coming with me." She pulled her hands apart slightly and moved forward, Lucien following her actions.
"What are those bracelets?"
"Greek. Rumoured to have belonged to the amazons once upon a time."
"Interesting. How do they work?"
"Let's skip the chit chat. Walk." Amity demanded and he complied having no choice but to do as she said. He led her down a couple blocks and stopped gesturing to a building.
"Here we are."
"You first." She said and Lucien took an exaggerated breath but walked in, switching on the light. She followed him past the receptionist who stood up immediately, recognising Amity as a threat.
"It's okay, Amanda." Lucien said. "I'm fine over here." She sat back down and Lucien led Amity back through some doors, only pausing to unlock them with his key card. He finally stopped and Amity walked in to the room. Amira was huddled in a corner, chains on her wrists. Amity let go of her hold on Lucien, kneeling by Amira's side.
"Oh, darling." She said softly, touching her face. "I'm sorry."
"Grandma?" Amira asked.
"Yeah. Come on, let's get you out of here." She said, helping her up. Lucien took a step in front of the door. "Do you need another show where the ancestors can't come to your aid, or will you be smart and move out of my sight?" He stepped away and she nodded, walking past. She took Amira home, unshackling her wrists as she set her on the couch.
"Amira." Klaus sped straight to her side when Amity set her down.
"Hi, uncle Nik." She sounded tired.
"What did he do to you?" Freya arrived. "Did he bite you?"
"No, I'm fine." Amira said weakly. "It was just vervain. A lot of it. I'll be fine."
"Go to sleep, sweetheart." Amity said. "It's okay. You're safe now." Amira leaned forward, touch the metal around Amity's wrists.
"You used them."
"Yeah."
"But they're a one time thing. I thought you never wanted to use them."
"For you, I'd use everything I have."
"Heartwarming."
"Don't be jealous uncle Nik. Doesn't look good on you."
"Everything looks good on me."