It went just as planned.

Neither Tristan nor Aya were among those who snuck in to get the Serratura. Freya had placed a magical alarm system over the decoy, and Ryan and Andra had taken the kids to the Jardin Gris while the Mikaelsons handled the start of the invasion.

The two golems swept in near the end to finish off a few vampires together, pretending that Hayley had called for reinforcements. The injuries were minimal: Freya had been stabbed, but recovered easily with Elijah's blood. Andra's heart had been ripped out and Ryan's neck had been broken after a topple down the staircase. Klaus, Elijah, and Kol were indestructible, so they'd sustained no major injuries. Rebekah had only sprained an ankle when ducking behind her brothers to avoid a body sailing their way. Overall, a great turnout.

And, of course, they kept it up and put on the performance of a lifetime afterward.

"What the hell were you thinking?" said Andra sharply as Marcel came by her apartment, a much less secure area where anyone could be listening. They'd purposely left the faucets and television off this time, inviting someone to eavesdrop. "Marcel, if the Mikaelsons find out you helped with this plan, they'll kill you! They may not know now, and you may be able to get away with lying and pretending they didn't say anything, but it'll come back to bite you in the ass sooner or later. You have to demand protection, you have to ask that they be ready to defend you at a moment's notice!"

"I will," he said. "I just– I thought that it would be better, that if they were put away, we could all be safe."

"I know," she sighed, hugging him and holding the back of his head. "But you were willing to risk your life for me, for Landon, for Davina. As heroic as you think it is, none of us want you to die for us!"

"I'll do anything for you all, and for this city, you know that."

"I know that, and it scares me."

They pulled away from each other, smirking and hoping that some Strix vampire had, in fact, been sent to spy, and was now convinced that Marcel had nothing to do with the Mikaelsons' defenses that day.

"The attack was a success," said Andra when they met in the Compound the next day (with Marcel on the phone from the gym). "Tristan has agreed to protect Marcel. After he helped cure some of those bitten vampires and let them think they nearly got the Serratura– while also becoming well-aware that the Mikaelsons are not as weak as they think them to be– he's become much more valuable and steadily making his way to the inner circle. Twenty-one Strix vampires were lost in yesterday's struggle. Many very old, and probably leaving some open seats at that round table. Marcel is much more likely to find out about further plans now, and he will be able to tell us sufficiently in advance if anything else is planned. As long as we manipulate the situation each time to make sure it's not obvious an attack is expected... we can work things out, or see if we can have the information leaked somehow. Make it seem like someone else is a traitor, like someone else is letting things slip. Elijah, how possible would it be to get a mole in there?"

He pursed his lips. "Possible, yes, but unlikely to be simple or even run smoothly. To isolate any one of The Strix will be extremely difficult. To hold them long enough to bleed them fully of vervain without detection would be harder."

"And as we saw from Shen Min," said Kol, voice laced with venom at the idea that The Strix were after his girlfriend, "the blokes have trained to resist compulsion as best as they can and would rather die than spill secrets."

"We need to try," urged Andra. "I don't think it's safe for Marcel to be the only inside man, they could expect it even after yesterday if something in the future is foiled. That, or we need to see if anyone in there would be willing to betray The Strix of their own volition."

"I'm still doing some digging about whose loyalties are a little compromised," said Marcel on the other line. "Haven't found anything yet but it's super clear that not everyone likes the way Tristan runs things. And after yesterday, it's even more obvious that they're upset with the fact they were dragged here. They want to stay alive but it seems a lot of them were under the impression this wasn't going to take so long. My guess is, they have multiple plans to get this done. The Serratura is one but I bet there's another. I'll try to find out something on that end, too."

"Good," said Klaus gruffly. "I want them gone. If it drags on much longer, the bloodshed will not be able to be avoided. I will launch an attack and kill them all myself."

Ryan snorted. "I think you should try to keep things civil a little while longer. Once the danger has passed, they'll stop being antsy. Gotta remember these vampires are essentially going to protect Elijah from threats to save their own skin, same as your sirelings have to do for you. Causing a fight won't make them as willing to do that. They may be the invaders but considering their feelings can help us figure out what they're thinking so we can use it against them and have them leave this city intact when they go."

It was proving difficult to destroy that wretched Serratura. No one could seem to figure out how to render it useless without first activating it and using it. And it didn't help that The Strix were now watching the house, making it very difficult for them to follow any external leads without worrying that one day, one of them was going to be jumped by a gang of vampires.

"Okay, our time is up," said Marcel, entering Andra's apartment and immediately turning on the faucets, then grabbing the remote to amp up the volume on her television. "Aya is running an idea by Tristan and I don't like it one bit."

Andra furrowed her brows. "What idea?"

"She says if we can't get in to retrieve it and if we can't catch them with it outside, we need to lure them out with it. She wants to take someone hostage and trade them for the Serratura."

"And who the hell does she plan to–?"

"Hayley. Because she goes to the Bayou often, she's the easiest to grab. She could take Hayley and ask for the Serratura and the Mikaelsons' surrender in exchange. Elijah and Klaus will do it for her, because she's Hope's mother."

Andra lowered herself onto the couch, hands clasped together as she tried to think. "Okay. So we need to activate it and use it so that they can't. But we can't just use it anywhere. It has to be productive. And they have to know we used it. I would say it would be best to let the kidnapping happen so that it makes sense that we retaliate that way but I don't want to risk Hayley getting hurt, or the wolves being killed in trying to protect her. That being said, I don't entirely know if they will buy us luring them somewhere when Aya dropped this information on you. They may realize it's a lie. Unless, of course... we create another fake."

Marcel held out his hands. "Another fake? What the hell do you mean?"

"We made a golem of Hope to lure Dahlia in. And the Serratura creates a boundary that can't be crossed by anything living or dead. If we made Hayley as a golem to let them think the kidnapping was successful and then used that to trigger the Serratura when they take her to a secondary location..."

"And how exactly would–?" He immediately became serious. "No. Hell no."

"I'm neither living like a witch, wolf, or human, nor am I dead like a vampire or a corpse of any kind!" said Andra. "I am in between. I think I could–"

"And if you can't? If a golem still counts as living? That is one hell of a gamble and it could leave you trapped and unable to get out."

"It's a risk I have to be willing to take–"

"At that point it's better to launch and attack and let the city burn! You could be trapped with them and even if you can get out, it doesn't mean you will. They can still overpower you and they could keep you trapped, they could kill you repeatedly and torture you–"

"I know, Marcel," she insisted, trying to silence him. "I am well aware of what could happen. But I have an idea. I think I can make this work."

Despite his protests, Andra continued to formulate her plan. Freya, Rebekah, and Kol were all on board and willing to help her enact it. Klaus and Elijah were especially supportive if it meant keeping Hayley safe (though she felt the pressure from their glares; if this didn't go well, nothing would stop them from decimating The Strix after what they would have attempted to do).

"Marcel anticipates a lot of inner circle people, including Aya, to be on this job," said Andra, seated in a chair as Freya and Rebekah prepared the spell to make her look like Hayley. "Ryan has already prepared an arsenal of weapons. If my theory is right and we can cross the boundary, then we're going to be the only ones who can stop them inside the location they choose."

Her brother wagged his finger at the table, where the weapons were laid out. "Klaus and Hayley were kind enough to donate loads of venom that we used to bathe our stakes, darts, wooden bullets, and vervain bombs in. The big finale is going to be a kaboom that'll fry them all. We'll be tracking Andra the whole time, making sure we know exactly where she goes. We anticipate the kidnapping to happen somewhere where we can place a reasonable witness. The main players are Cami and Vincent, who are constantly moving around the city because they're not as closely associated with us. We get someone to see it, wait until Andra's at the secondary location, then have someone tell the Mikaelsons that Hayley's been taken."

"And then," said Andra, "you all contact Tristan. Demand to know what the hell is going on, make sure he can't monitor what is being done. Meet with him if you can. By then, I should have been able to get the Serratura to stick. Which is where Ryan, Freya, and Kol come in."

"We swoop in," said Kol, picking up one of the guns, "attack from the outside in while the Clarkes attack inside out. Freya places her hand as close to the surface the Serratura was stuck on as possible... preferably a wall. She will channel it through the metal to deactivate their daylight rings. Then, the kaboom. The place will blow open, the sun goes in, and they are burned. More Strix killed, the Serratura used, their plan foiled."

Freya turned to Marcel, "I assume you've continued telling Aya this is not a good idea?"

"Yes," said Marcel. "Adamantly. She insists that it will work. I guess we have to see if she really is foolish enough to try it."

"Wow," said Hayley as Freya wove her hand in front of Andra's face, morphing her into a replica of the younger hybrid. "Now that... is terrifying."

"And now the body," said Rebekah, hands flowing from Andra's head to her feet, which were sitting in a bucket of mud. When she sat up, she was the same height as Hayley, body a tad slimmer to match.

"Aren't we forgetting one thing?" said Marcel worriedly. "Hayley is susceptible to wolfsbane darts. That won't do anything to Andra. And if she gets her neck snapped, will the spell–?"

"I will control her heartbeat with this," said Freya, sliding a locket over her head. "Kol's idea. Andra, if you get shot with enough wolfsbane, I want you to concentrate on slowing your heart down. I will sense it and I will stop it, putting you to sleep. As long as that necklace stays on, she will look the same. They won't dare actually remove Hayley's heart. If this were the real thing, they'd need her alive for the exchange."

Andra fastened the now-activated Serratura to her jacket, concealed with a spell to keep anyone from sensing it. If she was slammed hard enough into a wall or the ground of any building or room, it would activate, and she need only slide the jacket off to detach herself from it. She had to hope The Strix didn't toss her around too much before they got to a secure secondary location.

"Last thing," said Kol, offering Andra a small seashell. "To mimic Hayley's voice." He popped it inside the locket, shutting it tightly. "And to mimic her blood..." he smeared some of the hybrid's blood over her forehead. "Freya, if you please."

His sister wove her hand one last time, securing the locked and letting the smear sink into her skin. At least if she bled, it would look more like blood and less like mud.

She walked out of the Compound, moving quickly. There was no guarantee the attack would happen today, or even now, but she had a feeling Aya wouldn't wait if she found out Hayley was on her own.

"Hey," she said, stopping at Rousseau's when the first block didn't yield any attackers. "Cami, can I ask a favor?"

"Of course," said Cami, kept in the dark about the plan for safety. "What's up?"

"Do you think you could go to the Compound sometime after your shift to help keep an eye on Hope? I may be out late in the Bayou today."

"I'd love to! Is everything okay?"

Andra smiled tightly. "It will be, after today. That's my plan, at least. I'll see you around, Cami."

She made her way back out, bringing out her phone and pretending to check some messages while she kept speed-walking toward the road that Hayley and Jackson normally took out into the Bayou. When together, they'd either walk or drive. Hayley had her vampire speed, and could zoom away once she was out of sight. Andra had to hope they attacked her before then, or they might find it odd that she was alone and still walking at a normal pace.

She tried to be as alert as possible while also feigning distraction. Hayley could be on a phone call and would still manage to sense an attack about to hit. Though, she wondered how easy it would be if that phone call was unpleasant...

She dialed Klaus's number, hoping he would know to play along with whatever she wanted to do without asking questions.

"Before you say anything," she cut in, making sure to stop him, "yes, I asked Cami if she could help you watch Hope later tonight. I'm going to be back as soon as I can and I know you're capable of watching her–"

"It does not sound as though you think me capable," said Klaus smoothly. "Hiring my therapist to keep me company while supervising my own daughter as if I don't already know what's best for her."

"You haven't exactly been in the best mood lately. I just thought Cami would help–"

"Of course you believe she is of the utmost necessity to tame the beast–"

"Admit it, you've been nervous ever since you found her at Lucien's penthouse, I didn't think it could hurt anyone if she was there for awhile, and Hope loves her–"

"You believe any of this will stop me from remembering why you're off to the Bayou?"

"I am not talking about this with you!" she scoffed, catching sight of a few pebbles bouncing as if a car was approaching. The hairs on the back of her neck stood; she knew this could be it. "If everything goes alright with the wolves, we'll talk. Just keep an eye on our daughter. I'll see you later."

Not even a full second after she'd hung up, the first dart hit.

She let out a grunt of pain (because it did hurt), whirling around to throw a punch as one of the vampires swept forward, kicking her in the abdomen and nearly throwing her to the floor. She ducked, barreling into him and slapping him across the face. Another appeared behind her, yanking her arms behind her back as a second dart made its way into her neck. Two more vampires worked to restrain her as she struggled. A third dart arrived, then a fourth. Andra let her body relax, eyelids fluttering purposely as she tried to steady her breathing, wheezing and making her heart slow as much as it could.

The necklace burned against her chest momentarily before she felt herself falling asleep.

When she awoke, she was chained to a chair, an IV attached to her that likely had wolfsbane and vervain in it. She didn't feel very weak, but she knew she was supposed to. She let her head hang, waiting for someone to come in and check on her.

It looked like she was inside a mechanic's warehouse, perhaps an auto repair shop. There wasn't enough light to see much of what was around her. A few cracks in the brick walls allowed small streams of light in, letting her know it was still daylight.

Let's hope everyone else is doing their part.

"Are you going to show your faces?" she croaked out, blinking as a drop of blood from her forehead slid into her eye.

"Will you?"

She sensed someone behind her. "Tristan," she said tightly.

"Andra Clarke, is it?" he asked, coming to stand in front of her. "Well, to anyone else you'd be Hayley Marshall. But ah... I expected this. At least, I thought Marcel might tell you. In fact, I was hoping he would."

He knelt in front of her. "You are... brilliant, yes. But not as brilliant as I am. You see, I had that same idea myself. Appeal to Niklaus, ask him to stand guard over his siblings, promise that in a year's time, they'd be released when the prophecy was no longer a threat. Imagine my surprise when Marcel offers this same idea. Now, I do not claim him dull and unable to come up with it. I am sure he would have done it... if he were still obsessed over Rebekah Mikaelson. But I knew that was no longer the case. And I realized... who else but his girlfriend, who only wants to protect him, would have devised something so ingenious? Of course you would have done it to keep him safe from us. Yes, you were right, it did make us tell him more. But his probationary period was going to last a little longer than you anticipated."

He ripped the necklace off of her neck, exposing her true face. "There she is," he whispered. "The very same face I once drew because you, my dear, killed some of my best men."

"Weren't very good, were they?" she muttered. "Otherwise I wouldn't have managed to kill them. You can get rid of the IV, too, it isn't doing shit."

This seemed to amuse him, and he gently removed it. "A golem. How... bizarre. And yet, despite my lack of memories, I can still understand how rare that is, how much of an asset you could be."

"Go on," she said slowly. "Your offer–?"

"You wish to keep Marcel safe. And your brother fancies my sister. In fact, he loves her. He's quite the gentleman, certainly not someone I am inclined to have a problem with despite what he did to The Strix alongside you. After what was done to his previous love, I don't think Ryan Clarke would be very opposed to the Mikaelsons being locked away permanently."

"Let me guess," said Andra. "I get a clean slate for me and my brother, I keep Marcel safe, and in exchange, I make sure you get the Serratura to lock the Mikaelsons away for good?"

"Precisely."

"And what makes you think you can even get to that point? The sole fact you all planned to go after Hayley won't be forgotten. They won't hand themselves over and the city will be destroyed if you try to take them by force. You know what you're risking, don't you? They could go after Aurora, they could hurt her. And even if you hide her away first, they will hunt you down, they will tear apart everything you've built. You've always been more reasonable than Aya, Tristan. You know that locking them away does nothing. They always rise above, one way or another, and then they do, they will come for you. Which makes me believe..." she tilted her head, "that Marcel was right. You have some other plan. The Serratura isn't the main weapon, is it? It's your safety net because... you don't know what the real weapon is, do you?"

"We have a lead," said Tristan. "One of our Strix witches is just as proficient in prophecies as Alexis was. Though, in the event we cannot decipher her message, the Serratura will work just fine." He stood back up. "So tell me, what is this plan? I take it they use you, as a decoy, to track where we are, and they attack en masse? Perhaps they were hoping to bring the Serratura and use it on The Strix? Surely they've become aware by now that the only way to get rid of it is to use it."

Her lips curled. "You're a smart man, Tristan, I do believe it. But I reiterate– do you think it'll go well for anyone if you make me call them now, if you make me tell them that the attack can happen?"

"The Mikaelsons cannot escape the boundary made by the Serratura. The entire Strix order is here, waiting, and they willtrap the Mikaelsons. You can have your pardon, along with ensuring the safety of Marcel, Ryan, your littlest brother, and even Davina Claire if you wish... you need only agree to help me trap the wretched Mikaelsons permanently."

"Really?" she said suspiciously. "You'll truly pardon me? You aren't just saying it because I mentioned it? And I'll be completely safe? My whole family, too?"

"You can make a list and I will protect every single person on it, including you. There need be no further animosity between the infamous Monslayer and The Strix ever again. In fact, we can go forth being allies. I've no intention of ruining whatever it is my sister and your brother have going on. Aurora seems pleased. And I want it to stay that way. Which is why I insist on locking the Mikaelsons away, where no harm can come to them."

"Prove it. Pardon me in front of the whole Strix order or whoever the fuck is here so I know you mean it."

"Very well then."

He left the room briefly, and returned with a group of vampires behind him. One knelt down to undo her chains as they lined themselves up. Andra slowly backed herself closer to the wall, gesturing to Tristan. "Go ahead. I want the pardon now. For myself and my brother, for whatever we did to The Strix in the past. Then and only then will I call the Mikaelsons and tell them to come here with the Serratura."

She could still feel it pressing against her back, and she knew the time to make her move was now. Freya and Kol likely wouldn't be anywhere nearby, given they intended to meet with Tristan and distract him first. Ryan might be close. Keyword: might. It seemed, unfortunately, that she may need to do this on her own.

No problem.

You'll have to forgive me for this, Aurora.

"Andra Clarke has agreed to help us," said Tristan. "In exchange for a pardon for her and her brother's past crimes as vampire hunters who killed many of our past members. As of today, the slate is wiped clean. No harm will come to her or Ryan Clarke or any of those they consider kin, namely their younger brother Landon, the witch Davina Claire, or our very own member Marcel Gerard."

"Marcel is a traitor," said Aya sharply. "It's the whole reason we are here!"

"And because of his traitorous actions, we will have the Mikaelsons trapped tonight. They placed a mole in our ranks..." he motioned toward Andra, "and now we place one in theirs and call in our favor quickly."

"You leave Marcel alone," warned Andra. "Everyone has to swear it or I'll just stay right here and not say anything. They'll know if I don't contact them that things went astray and they'll sooner throw that Serratura in the ocean than come looking for me with it."

She was almost hoping Aya would come and pin her to the wall by the throat, just for the sake of making her be the reason they were trapped. When she didn't, Andra threw herself into the wall.

The entire shop shook violently, as if an earthquake had hit. Andra lifted her arms, letting gravity do the work as she lifted her legs, sliding out of it and falling to the ground. As soon as she stepped away, the vampires saw the Serratura up against the fabric, now stuck to the wall.

"What have you done?" said Tristan darkly. "How is this possible?"

"It just is," said Andra. "And you can go ahead and try and enact your vengeance. You'll learn today as you did hundreds of years ago that you can't kill me. I'll keep popping back up. You're all stuck here. And I wouldn't get too comfortable... because you're all going to die soon."

She braced herself for their attack, stunned when it didn't arrive. The ceiling burst open, a horribly loud screech sounding as the metal in it was forced upwards, sunlight streaming in but causing no damage just yet. The vampires and Andra stared up at a dark circle hanging over where the ceiling had come off, attached to a long pole. An engine roared outside, masking the shrieks as the vampires' hands were forced up, daylight rings, metal cufflinks, and other accessories beginning to fly onto the circle.

"Ryan, you are brilliant," whispered Andra, knowing who was out there.

The shrieks turned to screams as the rings were removed, rays of sun striking every vampire they could reach. When the last ring had been taken, the engine roared again, moving away quickly before the machine was turned off. A full blast of light entered the shop, with hardly any shaded areas left to hide in. The majority of the vampires ignited, running around and screaming. Andra took the opportunity to sprint out of the building, managing to throw herself out the doorway just as Tristan came after her, colliding with an invisible barrier.

"Sorry, my ride's here," said Andra, saluting at Tristan as Ryan came to stand with her, weapons in hand. "But here, enjoy this–"

Ryan aimed the poison/wolf-venom dart gun at Tristan, shooting right into his leg. Andra took the wooden bullet gun from his jacket pocket, beginning to shoot into the dusty windows before throwing in a vervain bomb, hopefully getting a few more people in the sunlight. Those shot would succumb to the venom soon enough. And anyone who did survive would be stuck in there forever, avoiding the light until they desiccated.

"I cannot tell you the satisfaction it gives me to know that guy is gonna die," said Ryan.

"I didn't think about Aurora until it was too late," said Andra nervously. "She's not gonna be happy."

Ryan winced. "We'll deal with that another time. I'm still riding the we-killed-Tristan-de-Martel high."

Andra faced the building, a column of smoke exiting the hole in the roof where the majority of The Strix order had burned. She held up both hands, flipping the building off. "And I'm riding the we-defeated-The-Strix high."