It came from a company I had never heard of.The idea was to discuss "partnership opportunities" between the Ashbourne Prevention Network and Sentinel Solutions, a private security firm. They offered a meeting at their London headquarters."This feels wrong," Sarah said when I showed her the email. "Private security companies don't usually partner with nonprofits. What would they want from us?""Only one way to find out."I took Marcus and Detective Chen along with me to the meeting. Chen had contacts in the private security world and could assess whether Sentinel was legitimate or not.The Sentinel offices were sleek and corporate: glass and steel, expensive furniture, the atmosphere of money and power. We were shown to a conference room where three executives waited.It was the lead executive who introduced himself, Graham Pierce. Fifties, expensive suits, smooth confidence of someone used to getting what he wanted."Thank you for coming. We've been following your network with great

The message came through network channels six months after my return from sabbatical.Victoria, this is Thomas Wright. The former Circle member. I need to speak with you urgently. It's about the Inheritors. I have information that could stop them permanently. Please contact me.I was immediately suspicious. Wright had helped us convict Edmund Price, but he'd also been part of the Circle for fifteen years. Trusting him completely felt naive."Could be a trap," Detective Chen warned when I showed her the message. "The Inheritors might be using him to lure you somewhere vulnerable.""Or he has genuine information. He's helped us before.""Under immunity agreement. With nothing to lose. What's his motivation now?"Good question. I arranged to meet Wright in a public location with security present. A café in central London, busy enough that an attack would be complicated.Wright looked older than when I'd last seen him. Thinner, more worn. Prison time on the Circle members he'd testified ag

The documentary proposal arrived nine months after the Edinburgh event.A reputable production company wanted to create a comprehensive documentary about the Ashbourne Prevention Network. Full access to our operations. Interviews with practitioners, volunteers, clients. Behind-the-scenes footage of actual interventions."This could be powerful," Dr. Santos said when we reviewed the proposal. "Documentary format allows depth that news interviews don't. You could really show people what you do.""Or it could be exploitative," Marcus countered. "Producers might edit footage to create drama. Sensationalize our work. Make entertainment from people's supernatural crises."The filmmaker, a woman named Rebecca Chen (no relation to Detective Chen), came to Oxford to pitch the project personally."I've been following your network since the Edinburgh event," she said. "I'm fascinated by what you've built. Crisis intervention for supernatural emergencies. It's unprecedented. But most people still

The invitation list for the first International Supernatural Crisis Intervention Conference included three hundred practitioners from forty countries.We'd outgrown network meetings. The field had expanded beyond what started as the Ashbourne Prevention Network. Academic programs existed at seventeen universities. Regional organizations operated independently on five continents. The work had become a genuinely global profession."This conference establishes us as a serious field," Dr. Santos said. She'd been instrumental in organizing the event. "Academic conferences legitimize disciplines. We need ours."The conference was held in Geneva, neutral location, good infrastructure, and symbolic significance. Three days of presentations, workshops, networking. First major gathering of practitioners from around the world.I was terrified. As network founder and field pioneer, I was expected to give a keynote address. Speaking to three hundred expert practitioners felt more daunting than any

The letter arrived on an ordinary Tuesday, fourteen months after the tenth anniversary.Hand-delivered by a lawyer I'd never met. He apologized for the strange request but had been instructed to deliver it personally and watch me open it."Who's it from?" I asked, examining the sealed envelope. The paper was old, yellowed with age."I'm not at liberty to say until you've read it. Those were my instructions."I opened the envelope carefully. Inside was a letter written in elegant handwriting I didn't recognize. Dated twenty-three years ago, three years before my family's deaths.Dear Victoria,If you're reading this, I am long dead and you have survived whatever darkness consumed our family. I am Constance Ashbourne, your great-aunt, though we have never met. I am writing this letter as insurance, as warning, as a small attempt at redemption.I know what your parents are planning. I've seen the texts Margaret is studying. I recognize the ritual preparations. They intend to sacrifice yo