Lover's Leap
Chapter 4
A pounding on the door brought him back to full awareness. Cole groaned as he sat up. His head hurt and his mouth was dry. He rubbed his face.
"Phoebe? Phoebe, are you in there?" He recognized Prue's voice. "Phoebe!" She sounded very anxious and Cole frowned. What was going on?
"Cole? Open the door." That was Piper. He tried to remember the last thing that happened before he went to sleep, only to find that he couldn't. He remembered taking Phoebe out to dinner, dancing to salsa music, a red dress. After that, things got blurry.
"Hold your horses, I'm coming." He had to repeat it twice before any sound came out. He ran a hand through his hair, switched on the light in the living room and staggered to the door. He wasn't prepared for Prue to unleash her fury at him: as soon as he turned the lock, the door flew open and he found himself sailing through the air to crash-land against the cabinet at the other end of the room. Sparks danced before his eyes.
"Prue!" Piper said. "Leo didn't say Cole did something to Phoebe; all he said is that she was in trouble."
"Sorry," Prue muttered. She didn't sound sorry at all.
"Phoebe?" Cole asked. He was still dazed from the impact. "Did anything happen to Phoebe?"
"You hypocritical bastard!" Prue spat. She prepared to send him flying again. Cole barely noticed it. His attention was caught by a red blur in the dark niche between the cabinet and the wall.
"Phoebe?"
A sad whimper was his answer.
"Oh Lord, Phoebe!" Piper was at her sister's side in an instant. "What are you doing there? C'm here, honey. It's okay."
Cole began to crawl to them when a cold voice made him pause.
"You stay away from her," Prue hissed.
Cole thought it wiser to back down and he watched while the sisters helped Phoebe out of the niche. When they brought her into the circle of light, his breath caught in his throat. Her pretty dress was torn; her hair was in disarray. A large bruise colored the left side of her face and dried tears had created a mascara path upon her cheeks. Yet the worst were her eyes. Empty. Devoid of that merry sparkle he loved so much.
"Phoebe? Who... what... Who did this to you?" He sprang to his feet. He no longer cared what Prue would do. Someone had hurt his Phoebe. A terrible thought gnawed at the back of his mind and he suppressed it fast. No. Not that.
Phoebe raised her face and before the words left her mouth, he knew what she was going to say. "You did."
Two small words, six letters only. There wasn't even an accusation in her voice. Yet the cold fact was enough to shake his world, to make his dreams take a nosedive and scatter around him. The strength left his legs and Cole plonked back onto the floor. He moaned a name. "Belthazor."
"I knew we shouldn't have trusted you!" Prue said. "That was a mistake. A mistake we can correct right here and now." She held up her right hand. A small vial sparkled in the lamplight.
"NO!" Phoebe cried. She wrenched out of Piper's embrace and leaped to stand between Prue and Cole. "Prue, what are you doing?"
"I'm going to do what we should have done a long time ago," she said. "I'm going to vanquish him. Phoebe, please get out of my way."
"No."
Cole sat and watched them argue as if they were discussing someone else's fate. All he could think about was that he had let Belthazor get free and hurt Phoebe. Every time she moved, the light fell on her bruised face. It tore at his heart, the pain almost physical.
"Where did you get that?" Piper asked. She nodded at the small bottle with purple liquid in Prue's hands.
"I kept it," Prue admitted. "I thought it would be a waste to throw out such a powerful potion. I figured it might come in handy some day. Looks like I was right."
"No." Phoebe shook her head.
"Phoebe, look at yourself. He tried to rape you. How can you still defend him?"
Rape. The word jangled around in his brain. The worst crime a man could commit against a woman. And he had done it to her, the woman he claimed to love. Cole hid his face in his hands; he didn't hear the sisters anymore. With one brutal act he had taken away Phoebe's innocence, her happiness, her dignity. Prue was right: he didn't deserve to live, didn't deserve another chance. No matter the cause or the reason, he was dangerous. If it happened once, it could happen again.
"It was an accident. It has to be." Phoebe sounded like she was trying to convince herself as much as her sisters.
"Maybe we shouldn't decide in haste," Piper cautioned. "Leo did say there's another demon in town. That's why he couldn't come with us. Remember the body they found behind the Salsa Lite Club?"
"That's where we went dancing!" Phoebe said. "See?"
The sisters were so involved in their discussion that they forgot to watch Cole and he snatched at the chance. He stirred and climbed to his feet with slow, heavy movements. This was going to hurt him more than them. He crouched, lifted his hands. Blue fire flashed through the room. When silence descended, Cole searched out Phoebe. Her body lay crumpled against the couch; she was unconscious. He checked to make sure that he hadn't injured her and was relieved to find her merely knocked out. "I'm sorry, Phoebe," he whispered. He brushed a strand of hair from her temple. "I never meant it to come to this." He took a small pillow from the sofa and put it beneath her cheek so she would be more comfortable. Then he snatched the bottle with the vanquishing potion and shimmered.
TBC