FOUR

Cole suddenly appeared in the same living room he had appeared in only

three days earlier. It hadn't seemed to have changed much. Almost as if it had

been set up solely for his benefit. He looked around and saw Craggen standing

at the same door he had been standing at before. Corlin, as usual, cowered

behind Craggen.

"Welcome back, Belthazor," said Craggen.

"The name's Cole Turner," said Cole. "As I told you Belthazor doesn't

exist any longer."

"Of course," said Craggen. "I trust you've had a chance to consider my

offer."

"Yes," said Cole. "I do have some questions, though."

"I thought as much," said Craggen. "I've learned a great deal about your

alter ego in the past few days. It's my understanding that as Belthazor you

were quite efficient. That would imply a high degree of organization. Which,

of course, means you would be most interested in the specifics of the

opportunity."

"Exactly," said Cole. "I need to know exactly what you have planned."

"It's quite simple," said Craggen. "We shall lure the eldest Charmed One

to a private location where I shall incant the spell that will provide me with

her power. At the same time the power of her sisters shall also be transferred

to me."

"How do you plan to lure her away?" Cole asked. "You know I'm acquainted

with them so I can tell you she isn't easily fooled. And if she gets even a

suspicion that a warlock is involved, you can pretty much forget about anything

fooling her."

"Oh, that is the simple part," said Craggen. "Corlin has informed me that

you have been.... intimate with the middle sister. And as I understand it, that

sister has no offensive powers. Premonitions and levitation I believe are her

powers."

"Yes," said Cole. "But she is proficient with the martial arts. What

does that have to do with your plan?"

"I do not know what this martial arts is," said Craggen, "but it cannot

compare with my magic. My plan is simple. You shall bring the middle sister to

me where we shall hold her hostage. Then we lure the eldest sister to us using

the middle sister. I'm sure if she feels her sister is in danger she will come

to rescue her."

"Hold on a second," said Cole. "I'm not going to do anything that puts

Phoebe in danger. If this weasel told you everything then you must know that's

not an option."

"No, no, you misunderstand," said Craggen. "Your Phoebe will be in no

danger. We will only make her sister believe she is in danger. A couple of

baseless threats to implant the idea that we intend harm to her. Her elder

sister will come to her rescue and we will complete the ritual."

"What about Paige?" Cole asked. "She's the youngest. She'll want to come

help. So will Leo, their White Lighter. How do you plan to deal with them?"

"I don't," said Craggen. "We simply wait until the eldest is alone and

then Corlin will blink into their manor. He will inform her that if she does

not come immediately she shall never see her sister again. With the others not

around she will have no one to assist her."

"And you don't plan to harm any of them?" Cole asked.

"As I said," said Craggen, "my interest in them is their powers, not their

lives. Once I have their powers, there will be no need to harm them."

"How do I know I can trust you?" Cole asked.

"You have my word," said Craggen.

"Forgive me," said Cole, "but warlocks aren't exactly known for their

honorable motives. Your word is not exactly a guarantee."

"You cut me to the quick, sir," said Craggen. "My word is my bond. I do

not know what type of society this is now but in my day a man was only as good

as his word. You have my word that no harm shall come to either sister."

"And once you're finished?" questioned Cole.

"As I said," said Craggen, "you shall have your powers returned to you. I

reward those who assist me. Besides, you may be useful in the future. Once I

have disposed of the Source, I will need to make changes in the underworld.

Your knowledge of the underworld will be quite helpful in that respect."

"Okay," said Cole. "I'm not completely sure I can trust you but I don't

seem to have any choice. This seems to be the only way for me to get my powers

back. But I warn you. If you do anything to harm either sister, I'll vanquish

you myself. And if Corlin told you about me then you know I can do it even if I

don't have any powers. I'm not without friends, you know?"

"Relax, my friend," said Craggen. "Most of my brethren are satisfied with

merely gaining the powers of a few witches. My ambition runs much higher than

that. I have no desire to settle for the mere powers of a witch or even a

number of witches. It is the power of the underworld I seek. And only those

who have the power to oppose me will have cause to fear me. Once the sisters

have given me their powers they will be no more a threat to me than any other

mortal."

"Just make sure it stays that way," said Cole. "I don't make idle

threats. Just remember that."

"I shall," said Craggen. "Now, as for the best way to accomplish my

goal."

"Leave that to me," said Cole. "Phoebe is liable to be suspicious of

anyone who tries to trick her. But she won't be suspicious of me. I can

deliver her to wherever you need."

"Excellent," said Craggen. "That was a portion of the plan I had yet to

work out. Now, since you know them best, how would you suggest we go about

keeping her subdued until I can use the spell?"

"Let's see," said Cole. "You should be able to hold her captive just as

any other mortal. As Corlin told you, she has no offensive powers. She'll have

to gagged, though. She will still be able to cast spells and call for her White

Lighter. Either one could put an end to the plan very quickly."

"Very well," said Craggen. "That means she shall have to be bound as

well. Otherwise she would simply remove her gag."

"I guess so," said Cole. "She'll also have to be watched. She's very

resourceful. If we leave her alone she's liable to escape."

"Excellent point," said Craggen. "I suppose I could deliver the ultimatum

to the eldest sister myself. Only I had wished not to involve myself so

directly until the last moment."

"No," said Cole. "Have Corlin watch Phoebe while she's held captive. It

shouldn't take long to do all this. He won't have to watch her more than a

couple of hours. I can get Piper to you to complete the ritual. Like I said,

it will be less suspicious if I do it. I'm not exactly on the sisters' top ten

list of people they trust but they trust me a lot more than they do strangers."

"Of course," said Craggen. "I believe everything is in readiness. We

should be able to complete this tomorrow. I can have the preparations for

keeping the middle sister here by then. Simply bring her here at two o'clock

and we can have this finished very soon after that."

"Only I don't know where here is," said Cole. "Each time you've brought

me here and I've never seen the outside."

"Right you are, Cole," said Craggen. "Corlin, please be kind enough to

give Cole the address to this location."

Corlin wrote out the address on a piece of paper and handed it to Cole.

"Here you go, Cole," said Corlin, smiling slightly.

"You can call me Mr. Turner," said Cole coldly to Corlin.

"You're just a mortal now," said Corlin. "Not even any powers. You might

want to be a little nicer to me, human."

"No powers now," said Cole back very deliberately. "But that's about to

change. Do you really want to antagonize me just before I'm about to get my

powers back, warlock?"

Corlin blinked. He may be a warlock but he was also a coward. Even a

demon with no powers frightened him. The hand holding the paper with the

address on it began to tremble. Cole took the paper and smiled slightly.

"Just remember our deal," said Cole. "Phoebe isn't to be harmed at all.

If even one hair on her head is out of place...."

"Don't concern yourself with it," said Craggen. "You have my word that

she will not be injured in any way."

"Okay," said Cole. "Now, if you'll send me back, I can start getting

everything ready for tomorrow."

Craggen waved his hand and Cole vanished from the house. Craggen smiled

to himself.

"Is everything ready in the basement?" he asked Corlin.

"Yes, sir," said Corlin. "The chain is all ready set in the wall. No

human is going to be able to break it, trust me. The witch will be securely

bound once we attach the chain."

"Excellent," said Craggen. "The demon was much easier to convince than I

thought. It seems you were right. Since his involvement with the witches he

has certainly become weak. From what I've heard of the great Belthazor would

never have agreed to something this easily."

"I think it was your offer to restore his powers," said Corlin. "He

seemed very interested in that."

"Of course he did," said Craggen. "He's a demon with no powers. What

demon wouldn't jump at the chance to get his powers back?"

"What do you think he'd do if he knew what you really had planned?" Corlin

asked.

"In his present state," said Craggen, "there's not much he can do. He's

just a mortal, as you so excellently pointed out. He would be no threat to me.

Nor even to you. But I'm sure he would not be happy with my plans."

"You're planning to destroy not only his girlfriend but her sisters," said

Corlin. "Not to mention disposing of him once his usefulness is ended. Can't

say I'd be very happy with those arrangements if I were in his place."

"Well, I certainly can't have him around to threaten me," said Craggen.

"As for the sisters, they are witches. After I take their powers they will be

of no use to me. Besides, disposing of the Charmed Ones will bolster my

reputation in the underworld. If I can do something that not even the Source

can do man demons will join me when I take over the underworld."

"Very ingenious," said Corlin. "And I shall be there at your side the

entire time."

"Yes," said Craggen. "You have been a great help to me. Now, check on

the arrangements in the basement once more. I want no mistakes tomorrow when we

put my plan into action."

Corlin just smiled and headed for the basement to check on the

preparations.