Jenna picked up her glass again. "Maybe. Have you talked to the girls?"

"Not yet," Ric admitted. "It's never been a good time."

"Then it's not time for ours," Jenna said, not unkindly. "They have to come first."

"Of course," Ric agreed, something sparking in his eyes. "Thank you."

Jenna smiled sadly. "It's not my first time dealing with teenagers who've lost their mother."

Alaric reached across the table, touching her hand. "I hope you'll still consider the job."

Jenna was quiet for a few moments, taking a sip of her bourbon. "I want to discuss it with them first," she said finally. "I know why you're asking me, and you know why you're asking me; I don't want them to see it as 'Dad asking his ex to move in with us'."

"Fair enough," Ric agreed.

"And if I do this," Jenna continued, "you can't be my boss. It would be too awkward."

"Caroline is headmistress in everything but name," Ric said. "She can do that."

Jenna nodded. "In which case, give me a few days to talk to the girls, and then I'll make a decision."

"Thank you," Ric said. "Can you …?"

"Stay here in the meantime?" Jenna finished with a smile. "Of course. Even if the answer's no, I'll stay until you find someone."

The door opened just as someone tapped on the wood.

"Hope, the knock comes first," Alaric said, as she walked in with the other teacher from earlier.

"I knocked," Hope conceded. "Mr Williams opened the door."

"Sorry, Ric," Mr Williams said, glancing at Jenna. "We've got a problem."

"Dorian, this is Jenna Sommers," Ric said. "Jenna, Dorian Williams. He was my TA at Tulane and followed me here."

Jenna gave him a smile. "Hi. Sorry if I gave you a scare earlier."

"It's fine," Dorian said, sounding a little taken aback. "Sorry - you're Ric's Jenna?"

Jenna pulled a face. "Well, I like to think I'm my own person, but if you're asking if I'm the one that got resurrected last month, then yes."

"Sorry, just … Welcome back."

"Thanks," Jenna said. "What's the problem and do you need me to leave so you can talk about it?"

"It's fine." Ric's hand pressed hers (she hadn't even noticed he was still touching her) and withdrew. "What's wrong?"

"It's this." Hope stepped forwards, placing an object on Alaric's desk. "I strongly advise you not to touch it."

Jenna leaned forward to peer at it. It looked like a strange model of the solar system, except the planets weren't in the right place. "What is it?"

"I found it in Emma's office while she was packing," Dorian said grimly. "I managed to sneak it out, because it just … It didn't feel right. I'm no witch, but even I can feel that."

Ric nodded. "Black magic."

"Figured we could get it back to her later if it turned out to be nothing," Dorian continued. "I was bringing it to you when I ran into Hope and she recognised it."

"It's called an ascendent," Hope said. "I've only ever seen them in Aunt Freya's books."

"And what's an ascendent?" Jenna asked.

"It's a kind of … portal, I guess?" Hope said. "To a prison world. Witches used to use them to trap people, but they've fallen out of favour, because the prisoners don't age, or die, they just … relive the same day, over and over again. And obviously that goes against the balance of nature."

Jenna sucked in a breath. "Is there anyone in there?"

"I'm not sure," Hope said. "If it's okay with you, Dr Saltzman, I'm going to take this down to the cells in the basement …"

"Wait," Jenna interrupted. "Why are there cells in the basement?"

"That's where the werewolves transform on the full moon," Ric explained. "It's the safest option. Why there, Hope?"

"Because the only way to tell if there's anyone in there is to destroy it and let them out," Hope answered, "and there's a good chance they're in there for a reason."

"Fair enough," Alaric said, standing up. "I'll come with you. Dorian, Jenna's going to be staying with us for the time being - could you …?"

"Yeah, of course," Dorian agreed. "I'll show you to a room."

"Thanks," Jenna said. "Ric - let me know if you need me." She followed Dorian out of the office and up through the school to what she assumed was the staff quarters.

"The student dorms are on the floors above us," Dorian said, proving her right. "For the most part, it's two students to a dorm, although there are a few on their own for various reasons."

"Do you mix and match?" Jenna asked out of interest. "Or keep witches with witches and so on."

"We try and keep like with like," Dorian answered. "We have a couple that aren't, but only when both parties feel comfortable with it." He stopped outside one of the doors and pushed it open. "I think this is the only room that's fully made up. Bathroom's through that door; I'll get some toiletries for you."

"Thank you," Jenna said. "I didn't get a chance to pack."

"There is a mini-fridge," Dorian added. "I'll bring some blood bags up as well. Breakfast starts at seven-thirty and lasts for about an hour and a half. On weekends it lasts as long as people make it."

"Thank you," Jenna repeated as he left.

It was, at least, an unused room, and not the one Emma had vacated. She wandered over to the window, looking out at the grounds at the back of the house. Through the gathering darkness, she could make out a soccer field, and a vegetable garden, and what she thought might have been a covered pool.

Her phone buzzed in her pocket with a message from Elena - the first time she had noticed, but not the first message, she realised, when she realised that Elena had been texting her question marks every five minutes since she'd left.

With a soft giggle, she called back, unsurprised when Elena answered immediately.

"How is she?"

"She's fine," Jenna answered. "Thanks for calling Caroline."

"No problem," Elena said. "What happened?"

"Let's just say that the school needs a new guidance counsellor," Jenna said.

Elena was quiet for a few moments. "Lizzie's complained about Miss Tig before. I just put it down to being a teenager forced into counselling. I know I had some choice words about mine when Mom and Dad died."

Jenna sighed. "So had I, but Lizzie recorded the session this morning. It made for interesting listening. I'm going to be staying here for a bit."

"Just a bit?" Elena asked. "Hasn't Ric tried to hire you?"

"He offered," Jenna answered. "I want to talk to the girls first." At a soft tapping noise, she glanced over at the door to see Josie hovering with a basket.

Waving her in with a smile, she continued, "Either way, I'm staying here for now."

"That's fine," Elena said easily. "Do you want me to send your things or …?"

"I can go shopping tomorrow," Jenna said. "I'm sure I can find someone to go with me. Will you and Jeremy be okay?"

"We'll be fine," Elena said immediately. "Honestly, I'm starting to think we should move to New Orleans - everyone else has."

"I don't know if the city could handle that," Jenna said teasingly. "I'll let you go, sweetheart; you're on the night-shift tonight, aren't you?"

"Yeah, I start in half an hour. Give my love to everyone."

"Will do," Jenna said. "Love you."

"Love you too."

Jenna hung up and turned to Josie. "Elena sends her love."

Josie smiled, lifting the basket. "I ran into Mr Williams on the way down. I was coming to talk to you anyway so I offered to bring it. Are you okay for clothes?"

Jenna nodded, taking the basket from her. "I'll make do for tonight; I can go shopping tomorrow." She hesitated. "I don't suppose you and Lizzie would like to come? Since I don't know where anything is."

Josie's smile grew. "I'd love to. Lizzie might not - after an episode, she sometimes just wants to hole up with Disney movies and ice cream, but I'll ask her."

"Is she okay?" Jenna asked.

"She will be," Josie answered. "She's sleeping."

"Good," Jenna said, setting the basket of toiletries on the desk. "So what's up?"

"What's up?" Josie repeated.

"You said you were coming to talk to me," Jenna said. "What's up?"

"Oh, yeah," Josie said, fidgeting slightly. "I wanted to apologise."

Jenna sat down on the edge of the mattress. "For?"

Josie was quiet for a few moments, coming to sit beside her. "When you came back, I didn't mean to be so … difficult."

"Honey, you were not difficult," Jenna said immediately. "Considering everything that had happened, you were brilliant. You were shocked; that's to be expected."

Josie sighed. "Is it a counsellor thing to be annoyingly considerate?"

Jenna chuckled. "No, it's a 'my mom died when I was fourteen' thing. I had to deal with my dad and new relationships. I was difficult, Josie. You have definitely not been difficult."

"So … you and Dad … are you two getting back together?" Josie asked.

"At the moment, there is nothing going on between us," Jenna said honestly. "We're still friends, which is good. As I said to Elena, I'm staying here, at least for a while. Your dad has offered me the counsellor role, but I wanted to talk to you and Lizzie first. And even if I do take the job, nothing is going to happen between me and your dad unless you and Lizzie are okay with it."

"Oh, Lizzie's fine with it," Josie said immediately. "I'm … more okay than I thought I'd be."

"Yeah?" Jenna asked.

"You're not a stranger," Josie said. "Mom knew about you. Just before she died, she told us that Dad was the luckiest man in the world, and the unluckiest all at the same time. Because sometimes the love of your life isn't the only love of your life. And Dad had met his three times. But he'd also lost them three times."

"Josie …" Jenna began.

"Mom thought highly enough of you to name Lizzie after you," Josie continued. "She couldn't come back. I know that. If Hope had resurrected her, she would still be sick and she'd die again. Mom actually specifically cautioned Hope against it before she died. But if Mom couldn't come back … I'm really glad it's you. And I seriously believe that if Mom could have given you a push to help Hope along, she did."

"Sorry to interrupt," Dorian said, sticking his head round the door. "Jenna, we need you down in the cellar."

"Whoa, hang on," Jenna said hastily, before he could disappear down the corridor. "Come in, take a breath, and explain properly please. Is this about the ascendent?"

"The what now?" Josie asked.

"Some kind of device they found in Emma's office," Jenna answered.

"Should we be telling her that?" Dorian asked.

"Well, if you're looking for me, I assume there were actually people trapped in there," Jenna said. "I assume that at some point that will need to be explained."

Dorian sighed. "Hope said it was a portal to some kind of prison. Turns out there were three students trapped in there - Jade, Wendy and Diego."

Josie sucked in a breath. "I thought they ran away."

"Ric wants you to talk to them," Dorian said to Jenna.

"Okay," Jenna said. "Tell me about them."

"Now?" Dorian asked.

Jenna rolled her eyes. "Yes, now. It would help if I knew a bit about them."

"Jade's a vampire," Josie said. "Wendy's a witch; Diego's a werewolf. They ran away six years ago."

"How long had they been here?" Jenna asked.

"Diego and Wendy had been here about six months," Dorian answered. "Jade had only arrived a few months previously."

Jenna nodded. "Family?"

"Diego was adopted," Dorian said. "No idea about his condition until it was triggered; parents handled it well. Wendy was part of a coven but had an issue with authority; her parents sent her here to try and deal with that. Jade was turned by a vampire who got his kicks from turning teenagers and watching while they lost control and got killed by hunters. Thankfully, Caroline had picked up on the pattern, but not before Jade turned."

"Poor girl," Jenna murmured.

"Her parents wanted nothing to do with her," Dorian continued. "Caroline compelled them to forget and Jade came to us. She fell in with Diego and Wendy - difficult students really, all three of them - one day, Jade changed. Ric thought she might have flipped the switch but Emma insisted she hadn't. They ran away a week later, or so we thought."

"What made Ric think she'd flipped the switch?" Jenna asked.

"The night before, there was a murder outside town," Dorian said. "Eight bodies, burned to a crisp. At least one of them had injuries that could have been vampire bites."

"You think it was Jade?" Jenna asked, glancing at Josie who appeared to have frozen beside her.

"They were in detention that night," Dorian said. "We put a boundary spell on the detention room because there's no other way to keep them in, let's face it. They never left."

"Yes, they did," Josie whispered, eyes wide. "I let them out. I know I shouldn't have done, but … I had a bit of a crush on Jade back then, and she talked me into it. I didn't know about the bodies, I … I would have said something. She promised me she wouldn't tell and that they'd be back before the detention was over. And they were."

Jenna squeezed her hand. "Dorian, I assume if you saw the wounds, you had a hand in the investigation?"

"NOLA PD are aware of the supernatural," Dorian said. "Ric and I helped with the investigation."

"Anything on paper?" Jenna asked, getting to her feet.

"They eventually sent us a copy of the case file," Dorian said. "By that time, the three of them had disappeared, so we had other things to worry about."

"Can you get that," Jenna said, "and their student files, and meet me at the cellar?"

Dorian nodded, hurrying off.

"Are you coming?" Jenna asked Josie.

"Dad won't be happy," Josie said reluctantly.

"I know," Jenna said. "But I don't actually know where I'm going."