But Josef was not listening to him. Something jangled at his nerves. His head snapped around, his face pointed unerringly through the buildings around them toward the back of the club. "Kill him," he hissed to Serena. "My prey is in the open." He took off at a run, just one of the minor vampires following him, leaving Serena with five to play with.

Valerian's heart leaped in his chest when Josef took off, apparently sensing Nick's departure, as the plan was for him to take Lauren and her companions back to the penthouse. "No!" he shouted, altering the others as they shuffled into the nightclub. "Tobias is here!" he called, hoping to alert the others to Josef's departure, as well as warn them that they had arrived. He'd hoped it would give Josef pause and keep him here, but that hope evaporated when Josef took off at a run.

"Now, why would you tell him that?" Serena asked, turning to question him again. "What is it you're not telling me, Valerian?"

The thump of the doors closing behind them, shutting the world out, was loud in the cavernous darkness of the club. The minor vampires crowded around Serena, clearly created to protect her above all costs, even as a voice broke the dark silence that surrounded them.

"Little one, you have proved a great disappointment to your sire. You cannot be allowed to continue."

"Freya," Serena whispered, a shudder going through her as she recognized not only the voice but the presence of the elder vampire - of her maker. There was someone else, too. Someone whose blood she knew very well. "Julian." There was no point in trying to escape, but there was still a chance she could get what she wanted, if she played her cards right. "I have your grandson, Freya. Blood of your blood. Give me my childe, and I'll give you yours," she said, Valerian just behind her, flanked by two of her minions.

Somewhere not far away, Val could almost feel Adelia seething, raging, eager to rip Serena's heart out and feed it to her own minions.

"I think not." Freya was not visible, but her presence was palpable. She had kept her power in check for so long, it was a shock to realize that she held so much within her own form. Her being seem to permeate the entire space around them, making Serena's collection of protectors more than a little edgy. "Do you believe we are here alone?" And for the benefit of Valerian's volunteers, for Adelia, for Julian and Tobias waiting in the wings, there was a soft echo to her voice. "Now."

Sensing she had only a moment before the trap was sprung, Serena whirled, intent on making good on her threat. She wasn't going down without a fight, and Valerian would be the first one to fall. As soon as she turned her back, Adelia was upon her, appearing as if from nowhere out of the shadows to draw first blood, scratching her claws down Serena's exposed back. The attack took her minions by surprise and gave Valerian the time he needed to get free.

Adelia was not the only one to move. As she charged, so did the four vampires who had been asked for their assistance, their intention firmly on the fledglings that Serena had gathered to herself. For a moment, there was nothing but the chaos of bodies struggling before the tang of Serena's blood touched the air, and the struggling group separated, revealing their mistress to the two older vampires who were advancing on her.

Though they were vicious and wild with hunger, the older vampires had little trouble with Serena's minions. It was Serena who was the problem, and Valerian couldn't help but be distracted by the knowledge that Josef had sensed Nick's departure. That meant that, at this very moment, Josef was trailing Lauren and the others, who were heading for the penthouse.

Tobias was furious, the rage boiling off him at the threat Serena had made to his childe. He spared only a glance to be certain that Valerian was clear before springing at the older vampire, trusting that Julian was close. Trusting more that Freya would not allow things to go too far. He reached for Serena's throat, longing to snap her for causing harm to his family.

Clearly distracted, Valerian took the worst of it as he fought his way toward the door, unlucky enough to have engaged the one with the blade, who was sneering wildly as he swiped at the vampire, slicing through cloth and flesh and drawing fresh blood. Though it wasn't a lethal injury, it hurt all the same, agony like fire with each sweep of the blade, but Valerian had the advantage, and that advantage was Adelia.

As wild with rage as Tobias, Val's blood only fueling her anger, she had her own blades in hand, easily tearing open the throat of one, before coming around to drive the blade home into the middle of the other's chest. Meanwhile, Julian was tangling with another, their fight almost even.

Annoyed not only with the fact that she'd been led into a trap, but that Freya had apparently chosen sides, Serena felt power fueled by anger surge through her. She knew she was fighting for her life, and she wasn't about to give up so easily. As Tobias reached for her throat, she grabbed hold of his collar and effortlessly threw him across the room, like he was nothing more than rag doll - a bug to be squashed. That finished, she looked to Julian, calling him to her with her mind, willing him to do her bidding.

Though the room was filled with the sounds of fighting, everyone heard the sickening crack as Tobias hit the bar edge on, crumpling down onto the floor in extreme pain. Though a broken back was not a lethal injury for a vampire, it was excruciating, enough to keep Tobias from the fight until he was healed once more.

Freya's eyes swept the club. She took in the crumpled form of her son, Valerian's hasty exit to seek out Josef, the whirling dervish of blades that was Adelia. And in the center of it all was Serena, maddened with pain, focused with terrible purpose on Julian. She could not allow this to continue. With terrifying grace, she leapt from the mezzanine where she had been standing to land in front of Serena, between her grand-childe and Julian.

"Enough, Serena," she said, her quiet voice cutting through the chaos around them. "This is over."

"What are you doing here, Freya" This is no business of yours," Serena spat back, outraged that the elder would dare take sides against her and interrupt her little game of cat and mouse. After seven hundred years of life as a vampire, there was little pleasure left for her but that of causing chaos and strife. "Your precious Tobias will be fine. Serves him right for coming between me and mine," she said, in reference to Julian, clearly believing he belonged to her.

"I am not yours, Serena," Julian pointed out, coming to his senses now that Freya had interceded on his behalf. "You murdered those I cared for and made me what I am against my will. If there is anyone here who desires justice, it is I," he said, taking a step forward.

Serena laughed. "I gave you the gift of immortality, Julian. I asked so little in return, and this is how you choose to repay me?" she asked, her voice full of scorn, one arm sweeping wide to take all of them in.

The fighting had ceased. Valerian and Adelia were gone. The only vampires left standing were Freya and Serena and Julian, with Tobias collapsed on the floor. All of Adelia's and Serena's chosen few were either dead or dying around them and posed no further threat.

Freya spared no further thought for the dead and the dying, nor for Tobias as he groaned in pain. He would heal, she knew. Serena was the focus of her attention, the cone of her influence narrowing down to pin the vampire where she stood. "You ask for nothing, little one," she said softly. "But you demand the world, and the world is not yours to play with. You ally yourself with the insane, and you expect us, your elders, to stand back and let you play your games. There is too much at stake to let you carry on. I will give you this one chance. Return to Beatrice. Forget your jealous obsession. Or you will not walk from this place."