SEVEN

"How can you tell she's lying?" Piper asked.

"It's the way she's acting," said Cole. "I've seen it a thousand times in the Underworld. There are definite signs that a person – or demon – shows when they're trying to deceive someone. She's exhibiting almost all of them."

"I can assure you I'm telling the truth," protested Trinnsia. "I don't have any idea why the hierarchy would be afraid of a female hybrid."

"No, but you suspect something," said Cole.

"I . . . I don't know what you mean," said Trinnsia.

"Look," said Cole, "I've spent nearly a hundred years as a mercenary. I've been on dozens of missions where I had to study my prey to get close enough to accomplish my mission. I've learned to read body language. You'd be surprised how much information you can transmit without intending to."

"Look," Piper said to Trinnsia, "if you know or even suspect something you need to tell us. We can't help you otherwise."

"I don't know why the hierarchy would be afraid of a female hybrid," protested Trinnsia.

"But you suspect something," repeated Cole. "Don't deny it. You're practically broadcasting it. Just tell us what you suspect."

"Well," said Trinnsia nervously, "it is possible it has to do with a book I found a while back."

"A book?" questioned Phoebe. "What kind of book?"

"A very ancient book," said Trinnsia. "My master, Mephistan, had ordered me to prepare chambers for one of his newest concubines. He always likes to impress his new conquests as much a possible. He would set up a new chamber for each one. My job was to prepare the personal chambers for them so they would be comfortable."

"Since when are demons concerned with impressing females?" questioned Piper.

"It never hurts to keep your females happy," said Cole. "While they have no choice but to do as they're told it's always better if they cooperate. Mephistan was always particularly interested in that aspect although he was less interested in it with his underlings."

"Yes, well," continued Trinnsia, "while I was preparing the quarters I found a hidden chamber. It wasn't very big. Only about three foot square. I only found it because I did a thorough cleaning of the chambers. I wanted to make sure Mephistan was happy with my work. He can be a most . . . disagreeable master."

"Yeah, I've heard of some of his tantrums," said Cole.

"Inside the alcove I found a book. It was very old. More ancient than any book I had ever seen. And it was written in a very ancient demonic language. A language that hasn't been spoken in several thousand years."

"An ancient book written in a dead demonic tongue?" questioned Leo. "That sounds like the Book of the Ancients."

"What's that?" asked Paige.

"A legend, most likely," said Cole. "A book containing the complete magic of the first beings who used magic."

"That's what I thought at first, too," said Trinnsia. "But I soon found that it wasn't the Book of the Ancients. There were no spells or incantations in it."

"Wait a minute," said Phoebe. "If it was written in a language that hasn't been used in thousands of years how could you know what was in it?"

"Mephistan has a large collection of ancient books," said Trinnsia. "Since I was one of his most trusted servants I had access to those books. I was able to use them to learn the ancient language. At least enough of it to decipher what the book was. I thought if it was the Book of the Ancients then Mephistan would be very grateful and he would reward me for finding it."

"But you said it wasn't this Book of the Ancients," said Paige.

"No," said Trinnsia. "It was something just as old, though. I was able to determine that it was written by a demon named Calliston."

"I know that name," said Leo. "Something very old. Something about being an advisor to one of the early Sources of All Evil or something."

"You're right," said Cole. "He was an advisor to the very first Source. Legend has it that he went on to serve at least three Sources before he was finally vanquished."

"I never knew that's who he was," said Trinnsia. "What I did learn was that he was an historian of sorts. Someone who the Source tasked with keeping a written record of the history of the Underworld."

"That's impossible," said Cole. "The Underworld has never kept a written history."

"Not now," said Trinnsia. "But they did at one time. This Calliston called himself the official historian for the Source."

"It's obviously a fake," said Cole. "As I said there has never been a written history of the Underworld. Every Source has considered it too much like human society that seems obsessed with recording everything they do. It just doesn't make sense that they would do something like that."

"That's what I thought, too," said Trinnsia. "Except at the end of the book Calliston said he was tired of the fighting between demons. He said he planned to 'retire' and seek refuge in an out of the way place in the Underworld. A place where he felt no one would ever find him. That's where I found him."

"Found him?" questioned Cole. "You say you found Calliston? That's impossible. Calliston was vanquished during the fight to choose a new Source thousands of years ago. If he had survived someone would have found him by now."

"Not where he is," said Trinnsia. "As I said, he planned to retire to a place where he felt no one would look for him. In the last place any demon would ever think to look for him. In the Wasteland."