'Taric, he's the guy you're after' Cole said matter of factly as he settled himself comfortably in an easy chair. He shrugged casually. 'He's your typical upper level demon, a little talent, a little charisma and a bucket load of ambition. You see the Underworld's been in chaos ever since my departure.' He allowed himself a brief smirk, then seeing Phoebe's pained expression continued hurriedly 'he basically wants to establish himself as the new Source. It's kinda disappointing actually, the complete lack of originality.'

'Okay and his plan is what exactly?' Phoebe asked looking at Cole intently.

Cole lent back in the chair and rested both hands behind his head, thinking for a moment. 'My guess. Take out the covens, thereby knocking out the protective shield. Then announce open season on the Charmed Ones, and sit back and let someone else do the dirty work. Once the power of three is destroyed, he steps up and takes all the credit.' He sighed. 'It's simple yet deliciously effective.'

'Oh please' Paige scoffed. 'Do you really expect us to buy that?'

I'm telling you Taric is dangerous. You have to listen to me' Cole insisted. I know him; he's not your usual run of the mill demon, he's real smart. He used to work for me back when I was the source, and I really think he's got what it takes to pull this off.'

Noticing their sceptical looks he continued hurriedly 'If you don't believe me look in the book, I'll bet you'll find he's in there.'

'Okay' Phoebe agreed, picking up the Book of Shadows and flicking through it until she found what she was looking for. 'He's right Taric is in here.' She quickly scanned the entry in the book 'Cliff notes version, he's a soldier of fortune, one of the source's assassins.' She hesitated unsure how to continue.

'Like Shax' Piper said softly, sharing a look of understanding with Phoebe before shooting a dark look in Paige's direction. Paige her attention focused upon Phoebe didn't notice, but Leo did. He gave his wife a questioning look, but Piper quickly looked away.

Phoebe cleared her throat, which had gone dry. 'Yeah like Shax' she said quietly, swallowing hard.

'So what's his power?' Paige asked breaking the awkward silence that had developed.

'Energy balls.' Phoebe responded, reading from the book.

'Really, energy balls, how convenient' Paige exclaimed. She shook her head in disgust 'Phoebe he's playing you. C'mon he knows about the shield, he was right there at the park. It's obvious he's involved, he's just trying to throw us off course.'

'Maybe' Phoebe said doubtfully, glancing at Cole, but he wasn't giving anything away.

Paige shook her head in frustration 'Oh come on, he already said that he knows this guy, so he knew exactly what you were gonna find in the book. Hell it's probably not even in the book, for all we know he could be making you see something that's not really there, it could be another one of his new powers. This doesn't prove anything.'

'Hey.' Cole said indignantly 'I just gave you top quality information, I think that calls for a little respect.'

'Right, top quality information' Paige sneered. 'And just how pray tell did you happen to come across this information.'

'I've got connections' Cole said huffily. 'I was a warrior, a soldier of fortune, the source of all evil. You know that kind of reputation opens a lotta doors in demonic circles.'

'Okay' Paige said slowly. 'But that still doesn't explain what happened at the Park. You coulda saved those witches but ya didn't, ya just let them die.'

'I didn't get there in time' Cole said stiffly, looking down at the floor. 'I wanted to help, but it was too late.'

Paige threw up her hands in frustration 'Now isn't that convenient.' She turned to the others 'Aw c'mon please tell me I'm not the only one who doesn't buy this. Piper back me up here, you know I'm right.'

Piper hesitated. Sure she was suspicious of Cole, who wouldn't be after everything he'd done in the past, but so far he'd done nothing but help. He'd warned Phoebe about the covens, he'd shown up at the park to help Phoebe and Paige, and he had just saved Paige's life. She fully understood why Paige was so suspicious of him, and Paige had been right about Cole before, but that didn't mean that she was right about him now. Paige was always going to be paranoid about Cole no matter how hard he tried to prove himself; it was just a fact of life.

After last time when she hadn't listened to Paige until it was almost too late, she and Paige had made a pact that if one of them were suspicious of Cole the other one would always listen. Even if they didn't immediately agree they would always take the suspicion seriously, and take the time to consider it. She knew that Paige had every right to expect her support today, but when she looked at Paige she saw Prue, and she couldn't help but feel bitter and resentful. Paige was the reason Prue had been taken away from her, why the hell should she support her? 'I'm sorry Paige' she said firmly, 'But it kinda makes sense to me.'

'Finally one of you's seen sense' Cole grinned. He looked at Piper curiously. That was the second time she'd acted off around Paige. He wasn't sure what was going on, but there was definitely some tension within the power of three.

'Hey you don't have to gloat about it' Piper said grumpily. 'Nobody likes an arrogant half-demon.'

'I don't believe this' Paige fumed, looking at Piper as though Piper had lost her mind. Sure it had taken her a while to convince Piper the last time, but in the end her sister had believed her, trusted in Paige's instincts. She'd really thought that she and Piper were on the same wavelength when it came to Cole. They'd both agreed that they should keep an eye on him for Phoebe's sake; neither of them really trusted him and they weren't about to be caught out a second time.

Piper had promised that when it came to Cole she would always take Paige's suspicions seriously, and yet here she was agreeing with him. The betrayal felt like a knife through the heart. She couldn't understand it; it just didn't make any sense. She knew that she and Piper hadn't spent a lot of time together lately, and she had been feeling like an outsider again these last few weeks, but she'd managed to convince herself that it was just her imagination that she was being paranoid. Had she been right all along? The doubts that she had been feeling over the last few weeks began to grow.

She looked at Piper again, her eyes full of questions. When Piper refused to look at her she gave up and turned to Leo instead. 'Leo, you remember what happened the last time around - Phoebe, Queen of the Underworld, pregnant with a demon child, Piper drinking herself in to oblivion- do I really have to go on?'

'That was different Paige' Leo began hesitantly.

'How was it different?' Paige demanded.

Leo sighed. As a whitelighter it was his job to act as guide. He had to remain objective, to be the voice of reason. Paige had always been suspicious of Cole, and it would be easy to go down that path, but Paige was a little biased when it came to Cole. She had been right about him last time, and by the time they had listened to her it had almost been too late. It was little wonder that she was finding it hard to give Cole the benefit of the doubt this time around.

He looked at Paige, wincing at the desperation he saw in her eyes. She badly needed his support right now, he'd seen the hurt in her eyes when Piper sided with Cole, but he was afraid that Paige was acting on emotion. She'd never forgiven Cole and she was seeing things that she wanted to see, making connections that weren't necessarily there. Leo wasn't completely sure that he trusted Cole himself, but so far there was no evidence to show that Cole was involved, in fact so far Cole had been nothing but helpful.

'Cole was under the influence of the Source back then, it wasn't really his fault' he began gently.

Cole grinned broadly, interrupting Leo before he could continue 'You know it's so great to be welcomed back in to the fold like this. I've missed this, I really have. And you know I really like what you've done with the place for the holidays.' He gestured at the room, which Paige had decorated 'Great tree, very festive.'

'Phoebe' Paige said urgently, ignoring Cole's comments. 'Are you gonna tell me that you believe him too?'

After a long pause Phoebe said slowly 'Right now I don't know what to believe Paige.'

'What!' Cole turned to her in shock, his smug grin vanishing. 'Phoebe I thought that you of all people would have a little faith in me after everything we've been through.'

Gently Phoebe reached out and touched his face 'I want to believe you Cole I really do. It's just hard y'know after everything that's happened. I don't think I can let myself get hurt like that again.'

'Phoebe, hurting you is the last thing I want to do' Cole said softly. 'You mean everything to me, surely you know that?'

'Hey' Paige interrupted, unwilling to allow Cole the opportunity to change Phoebe's mind. 'Enough with the mind games. She already said she didn't trust you, so why don't you take a hint pal and get outta here.' She gestured towards the door.

'Because I can help you' Cole said tersely, still looking desperately at Phoebe.

'Oh really.' Paige, hands on her hips in a posture of defiance, looked down at him archly. 'Interesting. How?'

Caught off guard by the direct challenge, Cole looked at her blankly for a moment, and then tried stalling 'I'm sorry what?'

'I said, how exactly can you help us?' Paige repeated, clearly enunciating each word for him.

Cole opened his mouth to respond, but before he could, the phone rang loudly making everyone jump.

'Talk about saved by the bell' Paige complained bitterly, shaking her head in disgust and sitting back down on the arm of the couch.

'No wait, don't answer it' Phoebe commanded.

Piper, her hand already on the receiver looked at her younger sister questioningly.

'It'll be Elise wanting to know if I've finished this week's column. I told her I'd work on it from home.' She grimaced 'I switched off my cell so she couldn't contact me, but she must've gotten my home number.'

'Phoebe' Piper admonished. 'You can't afford to lose this job, we need the money you bring in.'

Phoebe looked suitably chastened. 'I know, I know, but I've been so busy, and what with everything that's happened today, I haven't had a chance to finish my column.'

'Alright, but I have to answer it, it might be important' Piper said reasonably.

'Okay, okay' Phoebe relented. ' But if it's Elise, tell her I'm upstairs working, and that I'm nearly done. Oh and say that I said I wasn't to be disturbed.' She looked pleadingly at Piper 'Okay?'

Piper shrugged. 'Okay, but if you get fired I do reserve the right to say I told you so.'

'I love you' Phoebe said, blowing her a kiss.

Piper pulled a face and then picked up the phone. 'Hello.' She covered the mouthpiece with her hand 'It's Darryl.'

'Ssshhh.' She placed her finger to her lips indicating that she needed them to be quiet. 'What? Darryl, I can't hear you very well……. Oh that's not good. That's not good at all.' Two minutes later she replaced the receiver and turned and looked at them, her face ashen.

'Well?' Phoebe demanded impatiently.

'That was Darryl' Piper explained unnecessarily. 'He found another coven- already dead.'

To be continued …