THREE

"How's the studying going?" Piper asked Paige the next morning at breakfast.

"Fine," said Paige. "I'm learning a lot. I think my decision to quit my job and concentrate on magic was the right one. I should catch up with you guys real soon."

"It's not a contest," said Leo. "Don't push too hard. Ever learns a their own pace."

"I know," said Paige. "I'm not going too fast. Pass the sugar, please."

Of its own accord the sugar bowl suddenly slid across the table to Paige.

"Whoa," said Phoebe. "Did you do that?"

"I don't know," said Paige. "My power's never worked that way before."

"It looks like your powers are increasing," said Leo. "You knew they would eventually."

"Prue used to do that," said Piper. "Guess it's just a natural extension of your orbing power."

"Cool," said Paige.

She concentrated on the pitcher of milk and it began to slide across the table. Halfway across, it suddenly tipped over. Piper barely froze it before it could make a mess all over the table.

"Practice somewhere else," said Piper. "It's hard enough to keep this kitchen clean as it is."

"Sorry," said Paige. "Guess I do need to practice with it some."

"You always do when you get a new power," said Phoebe. "Believe me, getting a handle on the can be a real challenge some times."

Paige spent most of the morning practicing with her new power. For a while, Piper was grateful. Paige was able to move heavy pieces of furniture so Piper could clean behind and under them. But the novelty soon wore off for Piper when Paige began to rearrange the living room. In little time, Piper ran Paige out of the manor completely.

Paige's control over her new power grew quickly. She spent the afternoon in the backyard away from the prying eyes of the neighbors. She quickly came to realize jus how useful this power was going to be.

"Can I come back into the house?" asked Paige, walking into the kitchen. "I promise not to move anything else."

Piper stood in the kitchen looking around. She put her hands on either side of her head with just the index fingers extended giving the appearance of horns.

"Demon?" whispered Paige.

Piper nodded. Just then the demon materialized next to Paige. It looked similar to the one they had fought the day before. It raised a dagger in one hand. Before it could move, Paige raised her hands and an invisible force knocked the demon back into the entryway.

Piper moved up next to Paige. As the demon began to rise to its feet, Piper brought her hands up. The demon exploded into a thousand shards, evaporating away instantly. Piper cleared her throat.

"Thanks," she said. "That thing just popped in and stole my voice before I knew what was going on. I couldn't make a sound, let alone call for help."

"No problem," said Paige, smiling. "Two attacks in as many days. Someone is serious about replacing the Source."

"Looks like it," said Piper. "We'd better be on our guard. They might just try again.

The two sisters went into the entryway. Phoebe would be home soon and they could fill her in on what had happened. As they passed the living room heading for the stairs, a demon suddenly appeared in the living room.

Unlike the two previous demons, this one was in human form. It didn't say a word. Instead, it cast a fireball at the two sisters. Piper dived for cover as Paige orbed out.

The demon moved toward Piper, not seeing Paige orb back in behind it. Piper had dived toward the kitchen and rolled through the swinging door as a second fireball narrowly missed her. Counting on the element of surprise, Piper pushed the door open and stepped through. The startled demon stared at her for a moment, giving her the opportunity to explode it. But the demon reconstituted itself almost instantly.

"It will take more than that, witch," hissed the demon.

"Then try this," said Paige, extending her hand.

She had planned to throw the demon away from Piper using her newfound telekinetic power. Instead, an energy ray shot from her hand engulfing the demon. It covered the demon for several seconds, and then the demon just faded from view. Piper stared at Paige as Paige just stared at her own hand in total surprise.