FOUR

Just as Cole had promised they didn't have to wait long for Talistar to contact them. Piper decided to check the Book of Shadows for both Talistar and Beelzbor to see if there was anything they could use. As she entered the attic a demon was waiting for her.

She had to fight the impulse to blow the demon up. She called for the others who immediately rushed to her side. As they entered the attic they all saw the demon sitting in one of the chairs. He was in human form but no one had any illusions that he was anything but a demon.

"Chilbon," said Cole who apparently recognized the demon instantly. "So Talistar is behind this."

"Yes," said the demon. "He knew you would check your precious Book of Shadows for him. So he sent me to give you his ultimatum. He's willing to let the human go. But for a price."

"Of course," said Piper. "He wants us."

"Actually," said Chilbon, "he wants more than you. He also wants the traitor. Belthazor is worth a great deal to the demon that can vanquish him. So in addition to you he expects the traitor as well."

"Well I have to say that's not totally unexpected," said Cole. "Talistar always was a coward. And hiding behind a human instead of coming after me himself just proves that."

"You won't provoke me, Belthazor," said Chilbon. "My assignment was to deliver the message, not confront you. And I really have no desire to spar with you right now anyway."

"You're smarter than I've always given you credit for," said Cole. "So, what's this message?"

"Ah, the direct approach," said Chilbon, standing up. "It's very simple. You and the Charmed Ones are to go to the warehouse district in the morning. Be at this address at precisely eight a.m." He handed a piece of paper to Cole. "If you're late, don't bother to come at all. And no tricks. You try anything and Talistar will send the human back to them. A piece at a time. Oh yeah, one other thing. The White Lighter stays here."

"How do we know you really have him?" Piper asked.

Chilbon reached into this pocket and pulled out a ring. He handed it to Piper. She looked at it for a moment and then looked at Phoebe.

"This was dads'," she said. "It was the ring he had when he first came back. When he was involved with those shape changers that tried to steal the Book of Shadows."

"Talistar thought that would catch your attention," said Chilbon. "And no spells. You try casting any spells and you'll never see him again. Once Talistar has you safely in custody he'll release the human."

"Now why do I think that's not going to happen?" asked Cole. "Once he has us he'll probably just kill Victor anyway."

"You don't really have much of a choice," said Chilbon. "If you don't do it, he'll definitely die. At least this way you have a chance of getting your precious father back."

"I swear," said Piper, "if anything happens to our father…."

"Just be there on time and he'll be fine," said Chilbon.

"He'd better be," said Phoebe. 'Because if he isn't Talistar isn't the only one we're going to hold responsible if something happens to him."

"My, my, my," said Chilbon, "you are rather feisty. I've heard you could be somewhat impulsive."

"Just go tell Talistar we'll be there," said Cole.

"My pleasure," said Chilbon.

The demon shimmered out of the attic.

"So what do we do now?" Paige asked. "Maybe we should prepare a Power of Three spell for this Talistar?"

"Didn't Chilbon say no spells?" Leo asked.

"And how is he going to know?" Piper asked.

"Trust me," said Cole, "he'll know. My guess is he'll have some kind of detection set up to see if you have prepared any spells. And if he finds out that you've broken his rules he will kill Victor."

"I don't get it," said Phoebe. "Why take dad to get to us? They know we're strongest together. And with Cole there we have just that much more power available. He said this Talistar wanted all of us there together. Wouldn't it make sense to try and separate us?"

"You'd think so," said Piper. "But since he isn't trying to separate us the question is what is he up to?"

"Cole," said Leo, "you know Talistar better than any of us. Any ideas what he might be up to?"

"Not really," said Cole. "As I said, he normally operates in the docks and warehouse district. Other than killing you, which is what most demons want, I can't think of what he might be planning. This whole situation is just so confusing. This is just not like Talistar."

"Well, we'd better come up with something," said Piper. "It's not just us that's at stake. Dad's life is, too. And he doesn't have any powers to protect himself. If we screw up he could die."

"I'll see about writing a Power of Three spell," said Phoebe. "Chilbon said not to cast any spells. There's no way he can know if I write one or not. We can at least have it ready to use just in case."

"That's a good idea," said Cole. "But he's bound to have underlings with him. Not even Talistar is crazy enough to go up against you by himself."

"The underlings we should be able to handle without a problem," said Piper. "It's the main demon we have to be concerned with."

"The underlings could be a bigger problem than you think," said Cole. "If he has enough of them even you guys would be hard pressed to take them all out."

"I just wish I knew what he was planning," said Piper. "At least we'd be able to plan a defense against it if we knew."

"We'll just have to be on our toes," said Cole. "Remember, you're the enemy. He probably wants to take you out. But I'm considered a traitor. They'll have something special planned for me if they can take me alive."

"I'll have the spell ready before the morning," Phoebe promised. "In the meantime we should learn everything we can about Talistar. The Book of Shadows should have something on him. And I'm sure Cole can tell us what may not in the book."

"Good idea," said Paige. "I'll check the book."

"I'll tell Piper and Leo what I know about Talistar," said Cole. "When you two are done I can fill you in. To be honest I'm not sure how much I know that's not in the book. He rarely comes to the mortal plane so I'm not sure how much is actually known about him."

"Anything could be helpful," said Piper. "Let's get started. I want to get dad back as soon as we can."

Everyone set about preparing for their meeting with Talistar.