The waiting was the worst part.
As the days passed and they waited for Jeanette to return, it wasn't just Caroline who was on edge.
"If Dahlia killed Damon and Katherine, we wouldn't hear anything," Kol said one afternoon, staring out of the window. "What if she's already won?"
"They are protected by protective spells formed by me, Sophie, Madeleine and Bonnie," Davina pointed out. "If something had happened, at least one of us would have felt something."
Kol sighed. "Maybe I should have taken Mother's offer so we had another Mikaelson witch; it's not like Freya can help us, she's terrified of Dahlia."
"Kol, we've talked about this," Davina said, setting her paintbrush down and wiping her hands. "It was never going to be a good idea."
"What about children?" Kol asked, finally turning to look at her. "Do you want them?"
Davina hesitated. "That's a moot point, Kol."
"It wouldn't have needed to be if I'd taken the offer," Kol said, turning back to the window.
Davina wrapped her arms around his waist, resting her head against his back. "I was sixteen when I met you. I hadn't got around to thinking about children. If we were both human, things would be different, yes. But …" she said, over Kol's almost interruption "… if you'd taken Esther's offer, any children we hadn't wouldn't be your children. They'd be the children of whatever poor asshole you'd been jumped into."
"I hadn't thought about that," Kol admitted.
Davina pressed a kiss to his shoulder. "We'll get through this, Kol. And we'll get through it with you. Not witch-possessing you."
Caroline felt like she had more or less moved into the nursery. Once again, she was sat in the window seat, gazing out at the street below. There was so much magic around the compound that she swore it was tangible in the air.
Jeanette was due back any day now and she was starting to get impatient.
A soft knock on the door got her attention, and she glanced over to see Adrian just outside. "Sorry, Caroline, but Camille's downstairs. We've checked and it's definitely her; she's not possessed or anything."
"Thank you, Adrian," Caroline said quietly. "I'll be right down."
"Of course." Adrian paused. "She seems upset."
That caught Caroline's attentions and she jumped to her feet and hurried down to the living room where Camille was waiting.
Sure enough, her eyes were rimmed with red, and she started crying again as soon as she saw Caroline.
Wrapping her arms around her, Caroline led her into the kitchen and sat her down at the table, before busying herself with making a cup of tea.
"Here," she murmured, pressing the mug into Cami's hands. "What happened? Is it your uncle?"
"Yes," Cami sniffled. "He's okay," she added hastily. "But … did you know that he knew about vampires and everything?"
Caroline hesitated. "I did. I didn't find out until after I told you, and I assumed that he'd found out recently."
"He hadn't," Camille said. "He told me what happened to Sean."
Caroline froze. "What …?"
"He had an argument with the coven elders," Cami whispered. "He told them that the Harvest ritual was a desecration and that he couldn't support it, even to get rid of Marcel, and Agnes gave my brother a cursed object that drove him mad."
"Oh God …" Caroline tugged Cami closer, resting her head atop hers, letting her cry into her shoulder. "I knew Agnes was a problem," she said, once the tears had subsided a little. "Given the mess in the coven, I left it to the other elders to deal with. Agnes was the last 'proper' elder so to speak, and the others needed her guidance. One of the others, Madeleine, got all the old secrets from Agnes and she's been imprisoned in the Dowager Fauline Cottage, which is their prison."
"I'll take that," Cami said, pulling back to wipe her eyes. "Honestly, I'm more upset with Uncle Kieron. He knew all about vampires and never gave me any way to protect myself."
Caroline winced, her words cutting a little too close. "Maybe he didn't have one. Vervain isn't actually that common anymore. It has to be cultivated. I thought that about my mom when I turned. I'd been compelled when I was human and when I found out that she knew all about vampires, I had that exact thought. But vervain was thin on the ground at the time. By the time it wasn't, Elena had given me a bracelet."
Camille sniffed. "Maybe. Anyway, I didn't just come to tell you that." She reached down and picked up a bag Caroline hadn't noticed earlier. "When my parents died, they left me this huge collection of old artefacts. I keep them in a little room in my apartment - I didn't know what any of them were, but they stipulated that I had to keep them because they didn't want them leaving the family."
"Okay …" Caroline said slowly.
"Turns out they're almost all supernatural or black magic in origin," Camille said, pulling out a set of shackles. "I thought that these might help you. They're anti-magic shackles. Any witch wearing them won't be able to do any magic."
"Cami, that's …" Caroline began, when the building suddenly shook.
"What's that?!" Cami asked, jumping to her feet.
Caroline did the same. "Nik?!"
Klaus appeared in the doorway. "I've been informed that's an attack on the compound protections. Jeanette's just got back; Sophie's going to create the dagger on the move - stay here; we're going after her."
"Wait …" Caroline called, but he'd disappeared. "Oh, for the love of …"
"Caroline?" Cami asked, her voice shaking. "What do we do?"
"I'm going to take you home," Caroline said firmly. "Then I'll go and find them."
"Take the bag," Cami said. "I can make my own way."
"I'd rather you didn't," Caroline said, peering out of the front door.
The darkening street was empty, except for Adrian and Felicia, who were speaking in quiet undertones. They broke apart when Caroline stepped out of the compound.
"What can we do?" Adrian asked.
"Glad you asked," Caroline said. "Can you please walk Cami home; I'm going to find the others."
Cami's phone rang and she glanced at it, pulling a face. "I don't want to talk to Uncle Kieron right now."
"Caroline, do you want me to stay with Hope?" Felicia asked.
Caroline hesitated. "No," she said finally. "She's not here. But Matt and Davina are, so I'd appreciate it if you could keep an eye out and let me know …"
Cami's phone went to voicemail before she could finish. "Cami, I know you're angry with me, and I understand that. But please … don't go near the church today. Something's happening; I don't know what it is, but it feels evil. Stay home, sweetheart, and stay safe."
"I'm taking that as a hint," Caroline said grimly. "Felicia, let me know if anyone comes by."
"Of course," Felicia said. "Good luck!"
Caroline gave her a wave and took off in the direction of St Anne's.
She arrived expecting a fight, but the church was quiet. She entered cautiously, but still almost immediately fell over Rebekah, who was picking herself up.
"Well done, Caroline," she grumped.
"Well, I didn't expect you to be right there," Caroline said, helping her up. "What the hell happened?" Her eyes fell on Sophie, who was lying motionless a few feet away, and she hurried over to check on her.
She was breathing, but didn't respond to Caroline's attempts to wake her.
"It was a spell," Rebekah said, tugging Kol to his feet as well. "The dagger didn't work, and then Dahlia destroyed it."
"How?!" Caroline demanded. "They were so certain!"
"Clearly they were wrong," Klaus growled.
"And, quite frankly," Kol added. "That was rather humiliating."
"She's far stronger than I gave her credit for," Klaus said, scowling. "And she …"
"Caroline!" Madeleine came sprinting into the church, almost skidding on the flagstone floor. "Oh, God, what happened?"
"The weapon didn't work," Elijah answered flatly.
"That doesn't make sense," Maddi said frowning. "Everything said it would."
"Well, it didn't," Klaus snapped.
"Nik, please," Caroline said. "Maddi, how did you know I was here?"
"Adrian called me," Maddi answered. "Said you might need some back up, but then we had our own problem."
"What?" Caroline asked.
"Dahlia," Maddi said grimly. "She came to the cemetery and took Freya - she's going to sacrifice her in order to find Hope."