"You might be pleased to see this, or not," Amy told Elijah as Selina led her and Klaus into Elijah's office. "It seems like we've been invited to a dinner party. Tonight."
"Tonight?" Elijah asked. "Whoever's idea it was had very poor taste, not to mention bad manners. I'm not going."
"Well, no one said you were invited," Klaus told him. "We were."
"Have fun," Elijah replied. "And while you're out partying, I'll deal with this whole Phoenix situation by myself. It's probably better that way."
"Actually, the invitation is from the Phoenix," Klaus said with a wolfish grin. "That's the interesting part. I'm eager to go."
"Eager to hop out of the frying pan and into the fire?" Elijah scoffed. "Of course you are."
"Wait a minute," Selina said. "Amy, may I see that envelope?"
"Sure," Amy nodded and handed it to her.
Selina took it in hand and looked it over. "Just a minute," she said, and then came back a few minutes later with a similar envelope in hand. "Looks like we've been invited to this little soiree too, Elijah." She plopped the envelope in her husband's lap. "Are we gonna go?"
"Of course we'll go!" Elijah told her. "We have to get to know our enemy!"
"But I assume you'll have to be more subtle than that," Selina reminded him. "If you give away your intentions to kill him now, we won't get anywhere."
"I know that!" Elijah snapped. "I'm not stupid."
"I didn't say you were," Selina told him. "I was just making a point."
"Well, if we only have until tonight to get ready for this party, we might as well start now," Klaus remarked. "There's so much to do."
"Yes," Elijah nodded. "There is indeed. Let's get to it then."
"What are you guys doing?" Stephanie asked her parents after coming into their room.
"We are picking out clothes to wear to a party tonight," Selina replied. "It might be the last one we ever go to because our host allegedly wants to kill us, so if we don't come back, you know why. And make sure your brother knows too, please."
"All right," Stephanie nodded. "And if you die, don't worry. I'm sure I can find a place to live. Kai and Victoria take in people without homes. Maybe if I ask, they'll take me too."
"Now don't get too excited," Selina warned. "We don't know for sure that we're gonna die tonight, but it's good to be prepared if we do."
"I still don't understand why anyone would want to kill you," Stephanie said to Elijah. "You and the family are the most powerful vampires in the world. That's what you've always told me. That's why I'm more special than anyone else."
"I'm sure I did tell you something like that," Elijah said. "But if you use that as an excuse to be nasty to other people, I'd like you to stop."
"Why?" Stephanie wanted to know.
"Cause it's not nice to treat other people badly when they don't do the same to you," Elijah told her firmly.
"Oh, all right," Stephanie huffed. "I'll try to be nicer, especially if you two make it back alive."
"Good," Elijah smiled as Selina rejected a green dress, tossing in on the bed and reaching for a red one. "That's all I ask."
"So tell me," Kol said to Kai as he and his wife, Amy's equally red-haired sister Margot, sat at Kai and Victoria's kitchen table. "We got this invitation to a dinner party tonight. One of the people who's hosting it is your mother. Do you know anything about this?"
"No," Kai shook his head. "My mother and I don't talk much, except to yell at one another. If she has an evil scheme planned, I'd be the last one to know about it. However, is it at their house?"
"Yes," Kol said, after checking the invitation. "Looks like it is."
"When you're there, keep an eye out for Finny then, please," Victoria requested of her grandparents. "I mean, I doubt that he's dead, but I just…I would sleep better at night if I knew that he was safe."
"All right," Margot said and gave her distraught granddaughter a hug. "We'll look out for him, Victoria. I promise."
"Seems like you and I have been invited to a dinner party at the home of your friend the Phoenix," Gwen said as she handed the invitation to Mikael. "It's tonight, though." She sighed. "It means we'll have to cancel that bridge game with Rebecca and Eli."
"Good," Mikael said firmly. "I hate bridge."
"You mean you'd rather spend an evening with a man who's out to murder you than spend one night playing bridge with my daughter and her husband?" She scoffed. "That figures."
"Now is not the time to be petty, Gwendolyn!" Mikael countered. "This is important."
"Well, all right," Gwen huffed. "I suppose it is. Oh, and be sure and wear a suit to this party. If we're going to our death, we want to look our best."
"I wouldn't have it any other way," Mikael told her. "Except I don't plan to just surrender. If I'm going down, I'll be going down fighting."
"I'll be at your side then," Gwen smiled and took his hand. "What a good way to go for both of us. If we have to, of course."
"Good," Mikael nodded, and then began talking in an irritable voice because he was beginning to feel emotional and he didn't want Gwen to know. "Now, don't be silly. We don't know for sure that will happen. Why do you always have to think the worst?"
"I guess I like to be either pleasantly surprised when proven wrong or satisfied when proven right," Gwen told him and then led him to the bedroom to pick out their clothes.
"Thank you for telling us about this," Alistair told Elijah as he and Astrid squeezed next to Klaus and Amy in the back of Elijah's car to go to the dinner party. "It's going to be a bit cramped, and we technically weren't invited, but it's something I'm glad we know about."
"Yes," Astrid agreed. "Keeping a handle on this is just the thing I need to get back into the good graces of the Council. They're still mad that I just came back and took my place like before."
"Still?" Amy asked, looking amazed. "You would think that getting the entire mess that happened while you were gone under control would get you some points, but apparently not."
"No," Astrid sighed. "They feel I made a big mess of things before, so it's gonna take something much bigger than getting them back in order to make them like me again."
"You can do it," Alistair told her. "I know you can."
Selina began to back the car out of Astrid and Alistair's driveway and Elijah huffed from the seat beside her, "I don't know why you didn't let me drive. This is my car, after all."
"Well, we both know that you're on the fence about me going near this Phoenix, so I want to show you that I'm capable of doing something," Selina shot back.
"Oh, I'm not on the fence," Elijah corrected. "I'm very certain that I don't want you having anything to do with it at all."
"And why the hell not?" Selina asked. "I don't see what the big deal is! I'm skilled. I can fight!"
"I don't question your ability to fight!" Elijah told her. "I question your ability to return to a sane, non-dangerous state after your bloodlust is sated. That's difficult for you, isn't it? Be honest."
"I admit that it used to be," Selina replied. "But now…now that I'm not so angry, it could be easier. We'll never know unless we test it out! Let me be a part of this, Elijah! Please!"
"No," Elijah told her firmly.
Selina then glanced at Klaus in the mirror. "Can you believe him?" She asked. "If you were in his position, you'd trust me, right?"
"Well, yes!" Klaus nodded. "Of course!"
"And that's all we're gonna say," Amy replied firmly. "Cause we don't feel it's right to get involved when it's not our affair."
"I wasn't just butting in," Klaus defended himself. "She asked me directly."
"And you answered," Amy nodded. "But you don't need to say any more. This tiff is between Elijah and Selina and that's it."
"Good job," Elijah told Selina now you've made everyone uncomfortable. I hope you're proud of yourself!" Selina then turned her head for a moment to hiss at him and he did the same to her.
"Why don't we just sit quietly until we get to the dinner?" Astrid suggested quickly. "That's a good idea, isn't it?"
"All right," Elijah nodded. "Whatever you think would be best, Astrid."
When they reached the Phoenix's house, they found Mikael and Kol already there with their wives, sitting in their cars in the driveway.
"So were you all just going to sit here all night without going inside?" Elijah asked his father.
"I tried to leave, but Gwendolyn suggested it might be better if we all arrived in a group," Mikael said as he got out to join his sons. He saw Selina and then said, "It was so nice of you to come. Maybe if we hand you over as some sort of tribute, they'll be willing to leave us alone. I can't think of any other reason why you'd be here."
"I'm here cause I was invited," Selina spat. "Cause I'm family."
"Of course you are," Mikael said and patted her on the head before swearing as she grabbed his hand and bit it hard.
"Oh, damn!" He yelled and frowned deeply. "Damn you!"
"This is why it's best to keep your hands to yourself," Gwen remonstrated her husband while trying not to laugh.
"Well, fuck her," Mikael mumbled and rubbed the sore part of his hand which was beginning to bleed just a bit, the marks of Selina's teeth very obvious.
It was then that a figure came toward them. They assumed fighting stances, thinking it was the Phoenix himself, but as he came closer, they saw that it was Finn.
"Finn, are you all right?" Margot asked, noticing her great-grandson's pale, drawn look. "Have they hurt you?"
"No," Finn said, but he sounded like a zombie. "My father wants to know if you plan to come inside, or if you'd rather eat out here. Either way, he'll see you. There's no way to get out of it."
"We know," Gwen said. "We were just waiting for everyone to come so we could go into the house together. But we're ready now. Lead us to him, Will you, Finn, dear?"
"Right this way," Finn said in that same monotone voice.
"Well, we can tell Victoria that he's not hurt in any way," Margot whispered to Kol. "That's good."
"Yes, but they've turned him into some sort of zombie or something!" Kol pointed out. "He's not right in the head!"
"I think it's a spell," Astrid told him. "We can fix whatever's been done once we get him away from here."
Once they'd gotten inside and surrendered their wraps and coats, a servant came with aperitifs, and then Finn the zombie excused himself to go tell his parents that their guests had arrived.
"Do you think we should drink these?" Amy asked Klaus, holding her glass up to the light and eyeing the amber liquid doubtfully. "What if it's poisoned?"
"I would go ahead and drink it," Klaus advised. "We don't want to offend our hosts and if he went to all the trouble to make dinner, he wouldn't poison us the with the before-dinner cocktail."
"All right," Selina nodded and gulped down the drink in one go before Elijah had a chance to stop her. Once her glass was empty, she smiled and licked her lips. "Hey," she said appreciatively. "That's not bad. If anyone else is nervous, I'll take theirs."
"Well, well," Mikael chuckled as he looked at Elijah. "It seems that for once, the fact that your wife drinks like a fish has come in handy."
"Oh, this isn't typical," Elijah assured his father. "She's just mad at me and is trying to get some sort of revenge and prove how childish she is."
Selina, whose cheeks bulged with alcohol, paused to give him a dirty look before she swallowed and sucked in a breath. "Wow!" She said. "That's really strong stuff! You're welcome for saving all your lives, by the way."
"It's amazing she can still stand up after all that," Kol said with admiration as he watched her teeter away. "You think you should go after her?"
"Fine," Elijah sighed did that, but when he tried to grab her and bring her back, she punched him in the nose.
"All right," he said, picking her up and putting her over his shoulder. "I tried to be nice, and now we're doing this the hard way."
"Excuse me," said a low, pleasant voice. "I don't mean to interrupt. Are you ready for dinner?"
Elijah paused and turned so that he was facing in the direction of the voice and when he said 'Hello', Selina did too. "You're not interrupting anything," Elijah assured him and put her on her feet. "We're just…having some difficulties right now."
"Ah," John replied with a toothy grin. "I am the Phoenix. I suppose you're wondering why I invited all of you here today."
"To kill us?" Selina asked.
"Well, not you," John told her. "You're not an Original vampire, are you? They're the only ones worth killing."
"Why I oughta…" Selina took a run at him, but once again, Elijah held her back.
"What a spirited woman you have there," John told Elijah with a chuckle. "If it means so much to her, I'll be more than happy to kill her too."
"Not if we can help it," Alistair got out. "We've got magic."
"Oh, how cute," John chuckled and then turned to yell over his shoulder. "Come here, Edele. They came and brought some magical little friends too. I suppose that's all right. It's only fair for us to make things as even as they can be, even if you can't possibly beat me."
"If we're going to eat, let's do it now," Amy said firmly. "Enough of this messing around."
"All right," John nodded. "I hoped you wouldn't be the type to dawdle. This pleases me."
When they reached the table, several courses were laid out in front of them, but none of them touched any of them.
"Oh, please, eat!" John urged when he saw. "Everyone deserves a last meal."
"No, thank you," Elijah said firmly. "We're not hungry."
"Except for your blood," Kol added, showing his teeth. "I'd be more than happy to take that."
"There's no chance that will happen, but it's nice to see that you still have hope," John said.
"And could you tell us what you've done to poor Finn?" Margot got out. "I promised I'd report to his mother."
"He's proven to be far less useful than I thought he would be," John huffed. "His mother sees hope in him, but I'm not so sure. If his parents want him, they've got three days to come and collect him."
"Well, that's very merciful," Margot told him. "Thank you."
"I'm only doing that for Edele's sake," John told her. "She'd get testy with me if I didn't at least give Finn a chance to live." With a flick of his wrist, the food disappeared and little bowls of crème brulee appeared. "If you won't eat dinner, at least enjoy dessert," he told them. "You'll live longer that way."
He left then and Selina cracked the sugar coating and began eating the vanilla custard underneath.
"Selina what are you doing?!" Elijah asked.
"I was okay with passing up all the dinner food, but there's no chance in hell I'm letting a crème brulee go to waste," she said. "I don't give a damn if there is something wrong with it."
"You're either very brave or very stupid," Mikael told her as he watched her eat. "I can't decide which one." Then he looked around the table. "I don't think he'll kill us now," he told them all. "This is just a test so he can see what he's up against."
So they ate their crème brulee, and just as Astrid was about to zap them out to their cars, John said, "Just one minute. I have one more surprise before you go. Someone else who'd like to say hello to you all, since she hasn't seen you in such a very long time."
"Who is it?" Elijah asked.
"I'll let her tell you for herself," John smiled. Then, all the Original family gasped as a blonde strode into the room, wearing a white dress, diamond necklace, and silver flats. "Hello, family," she said. "Long time no see."
Klaus, Kol, and Elijah rose to their feet and said in unison, "Freya?"
Freya Mikaelson then smiled at her half-brothers. "Surprise," she said. "I bet you weren't expecting to see me here."
