"Are you sure about this?" Paige asked Piper as she settled on to her bed.

She nodded. "We need to know what Phoebe's next move is going to be. And Cole's the only one who can help us."

"But trying to send yourself into the dreams of a demon? That could be dangerous," Paige said.

"We've already talked about this, Paige," Piper said, making herself comfortable. "And it's better than the dreams of the Source, isn't it?"

"Yeah, but what if the Source is back in Cole?" Paige persisted. "We don't know."

Piper fluttered her hands at her sister. "Stop worrying. I know what I'm doing."

Leo sat on the bed next to her. "Be careful," he said, taking her hand. "If anything happens, call for me. Even in dreams I can hear you. We'll wake you up." He leaned over her and kissed her forehead.

Piper squeezed her husband's hand, then took a deep breath and cast the spell she'd found in the Book of Shadows, modified in hopes of it taking her into Cole's dreams. "Phoebe's love, wherever you may be, through our dreams take my spirit nearer to thee."

She felt instantly drowsy and sank back on her pillows. When she opened her eyes, she was standing in a grey mist. It billowed around her, and when it cleared, she found herself in a dimly lit rock cavern. Torchlight gave the chamber a hellish red glow and screams echoed in the distance. She could smell death and decay, and over it all, the scent of blood.

At the far end of the chamber, she saw Cole. He was chained to the wall, unmoving, his head hanging limply. "Oh my god," Piper whispered, running to him. She shattered the chains with her powers, catching him as he fell heavily to the ground. Lowering him as gently as she could, Piper was horrified to see wounds upon his chest and back, deep slashes that oozed blood. "Cole?" she said softly, fearfully touching his face. She couldn't be in his dreams if he was dead -- he had to be alive.

His eyes flew open. "Phoebe!" he gasped. Then he realized it was Piper who held him in her arms. "Piper...what are you doing here?"

"We're dreaming," she said. "I cast a spell to take me to your dreams. This...this isn't really happening to you, is it? It's just a dream."

He coughed weakly. "It is. She knows I told you about the Book. She had a premonition and she wasn't very happy about it. I must've passed out..."

"But...if she had a premonition, that means she can still use the Power of Three, so she's not lost to us, right?" Piper said hopefully. She used the sleeve of her shirt to try to wipe some of the sweat and blood from Cole's face, adjusting her position to try to make him more comfortable.

"She's still in there," Cole said. "She's fighting. The Source is getting more and more unstable as it tries to keep her emotions under control, but its power is getting stronger as the baby grows." He reached up to grasp at Piper's arm. "Piper, listen to me. She wants to give birth in the manor. Over the Nexus. She'll try to trick you out of the house, but you have to be there. When the baby is born, the Source will leave Phoebe and be in the baby."

"What about you?" Piper said.

"It's...it's too late for me," he said. "You'll have to kill me."

"Don't be ridiculous," Piper began.

"She's taking my soul, Piper," Cole interrupted. "If you see me again, it's not me. I'm dead. It's just going to be Belthazor. You have to kill him."

"Cole...no..." she protested.

"Do it!" he said, squeezing her arm. "You were ready to vanquish me as the Source, Piper. You can do this. You have to."

"Only because I didn't stop to think!" Piper said. "I knew if I did I wouldn't be able to go through with it."

"Do it, Piper," he said again, relaxing his grip. "The Source won't stay in the baby long. It's too helpless as an infant. It will return to me. Get Phoebe and the baby -- shield the baby, you can find a way. Then vanquish me."

Tears burned in her eyes. "There has to be another way. Some way we can save all three of you."

He weakly reached up to brush the tears away. "Don't cry, Piper. You know I'd die to protect her. And when the Source is finished with me tonight, I'll be already dead. I don't regret it. Not if it means Phoebe's safe...and you and Paige." He tensed, drawing in a quick breath. "She's coming. Break the spell, Piper. Get out of here. Don't let her sense you."

Piper pressed her forehead to his. "I'm sorry, Cole," she said softly. "I wish there was another way." She gingerly laid him down and moved back, her foot kicking a link of the shattered chain. Grabbing the piece of metal, she stood.

"Hurry, Piper!" Cole said urgently. "She's almost here."

"Leo!" Piper called.

Then she was suddenly back in her bed, Leo bending over her and shaking her. "It's okay, you're back," he said.

She threw her arms around him, hugging him in relief. Drawing back, she opened her hand. Paige peered at the metal link on her palm. "What's that?"

"It worked," Piper said. "A long time ago a dream sorcerer tried to kill Prue. She stabbed him in the dream and there was blood on the letter opener she used when she woke up. So I was hoping I could pull this out of the dream the same way."

"What for?" Paige said.

Piper tossed her the piece of metal. "Scry. Now. We don't have much time."


Phoebe slapped Cole across the face, bringing him back to wakefulness. "Wake up, baby," she said, standing on her tiptoes and stretching to kiss him, a strange contrast to the vicious slap.

He opened his eyes with a groan, unsure if what he had just dreamed was real or not. Every breath brought new agony to his body. Phoebe had taken a sadistic glee in punishing him, alternating soothing kisses with slashes from an athame. Enchanted chains prevented him from shimmering to freedom, so he stoically grit his teeth and held back his cries until the pain became too much. She faltered then, her hand unsure. Seeing her hesitation, he called her name, trying desperately to reach her, and she'd stormed from the chamber in confusion and anger over her inability to proceed. Not long after, he'd passed out from pain and loss of blood.

"Ready to pick up where we left off?" Phoebe said. "I think I've done enough damage to you. I don't want any permanent harm, after all. So I think it's time for the next step. Now, I can't exactly ask one of my Soul Blasters to do this for me, or else my secret gets out, but I did manage to acquire a little toy." A dagger appeared in her hand. "Do you know what this is?" she asked.

He blinked groggily at the dagger, trying to place it, then remembered Phoebe describing the black-hilted dagger with a glowing green blade. "The Dragon Blade..."

"A Dragon Blade," she corrected. "There were two, a matched set. The other is lost now, but this one is mine." She slid the blade over his chest, just enough to draw blood. "So you know what it does."

He winced, feeling the tug at his spirit. "Phoebe, don't do this," he pleaded one last time. "You're strong. Fight it!"

She pressed the blade harder against his chest. "If I take your soul, you won't betray me again."

"If you take my soul," Cole said, "I won't love you."

This made her pause. "Liar. You'll still want me."

"Want you, yes," he admitted. "I'll still desire you. But it will just be lust, not love."

She frowned. "No. You will still love me. You said you'd always love me."

He shook his head. "You know as well as I demons don't love. Not real love. Only a soul is capable of that."

"Maybe that's enough then," she sneered. "I will have your desire. I will have your loyalty. And after our baby is born, I will no longer be burdened by your troublesome feelings."

He looked deep into her eyes. "Phoebe. I love you. But this will be the last time you hear me say it -- and mean it -- if you do this."

Her hand faltered. "Cole..." She pressed her head against his chest, trembling. "I have to do this. I need you with me. But I have to be able to trust you. And as long as you have a soul, you'll resist me."

He ached to take her in his arms, but the chains prevented it. "Phoebe," he said. "Let me down. I promise...I won't betray you."

They both heard the sound of orbing then, and Phoebe jerked her head up. "Who dares!" she snarled.

"Phoebe, you don't want to do this," Piper said as she and Paige warily moved toward their sister.

"Who are you to tell me what I want?" Phoebe said furiously. "You're always telling me what to do! Not anymore. What I want I will have -- like this." She turned and drove the dagger into Cole's chest. He cried out in pain, then fell limp, dangling lifelessly from the chains.

"No!" Piper shouted.

"He's mine, and you can't have him anymore," Phoebe said, her voice like a spoiled child. Leaving the dagger embedded in Cole's chest, she turned to her sisters, conjuring a ball of fire. "And you'd better get out of here before I change my mind about killing you."

Piper looked desperately at Cole's motionless body, fearful they had been too late. Then she recognized something, and hope returned. "Is that what I think it is?" she murmured to Paige.

Paige nodded. "I think so. Dagger!" The weapon vanished in a cloud of orbs and reappeared in Paige's hand. With her free hand she grabbed Piper's arm and orbed them out of the chamber.

Phoebe threw the fireball as they orbed away, but it passed harmlessly through their vanishing forms. "Sisters," she hissed angrily. She turned back to Cole, moving before him, pressing her hand to his chest. "Wake up, baby," she said. "It takes more than a little knife wound to keep the big bad Belthazor down."

His eyelids fluttered and he lifted his head. "My liege," he said in a pained voice.

"My love," she corrected. She waved her hand at the chains and they vanished; he sank to the ground. "Healer!" Phoebe called.

A brown-robed demon shimmered into the room. "You called, my Queen?" he began, then saw Cole. "The Source is injured? What has happened here?"

"The witches," Phoebe lied. "Heal him." The demon did as instructed, and Cole's wounds vanished under the red light that came from the healer's hands. When he had finished, Phoebe said, "You know I cannot allow it to be known the Source is vulnerable."

The healer bowed his head. "As you wish, my Queen." Phoebe threw a ball of flame at him, incinerating the demon.

She knelt beside Cole, helping him sit up. "Finally," he growled. "I'm finally free."

"That's right, baby," she said, stroking his cheek. "You're what you were meant to be. And now nothing's going to stand in our way."