EIGHT

"Shouldn't he be here by now?" Paige whispered to Piper. "He seems to be taking an awfully long time."

"He probably just wants to make sure dad is safe," Phoebe whispered. "He did say he'd make sure dad was okay before he shimmered down here."

"Well, I hope he has a plan," said Piper, looking at the bracer on her wrist. "Unless we can get these off we aren't going to be much use to anyone."

"Don't worry," said Phoebe. "I'm sure he has something in mind. Dad probably told him about the bracers so I'm sure he has some way around them. I just hope Leo is okay. Impersonating Belthazor is dangerous even for him. If this Malevant discovers who he really is he could be in real trouble."

"There's no reason he'll discover who Leo really is," said Paige. "Remember what Cole told us? Malevant hates humanity. He won't even allow demons to appear before him in human form. As long as Leo remains in the form of Belthazor he should be okay."

"But he doesn't have his powers with that bracer on," said Piper. "The Source wants Cole dead. What if he decides to have 'Belthazor' vanquished? Leo won't be able to protect himself or orb out or anything."

"We can't worry about that right now," said Phoebe. "Right now we have to figure out what we're going to do without our powers. Until we get these bracers off we're as vulnerable as anyone else."

"Shut up," said one of the guards. "I'm tired of hearing your three whispering. Whatever you're planning isn't going to work. No one knows you're here."

The two demons moved into the room and stood before the girls. Without their powers they were as helpless as any mortal. Not knowing what these two had planned frightened them. One of the demons had said they had orders not to kill them. But as he had also said, they didn't have orders about not roughing them up.

"Actually," said a voice behind them, "someone does know where they are."

The two demons spun to see Cole standing directly behind them. He had his hands behind him and was smiling at them as if he hadn't a care in the world.

"Belthazor?" questioned one of the demons.

Before either of the demons could react, Cole pulled out two athames from behind him. He plunged the daggers into the demons vanquishing them where they stood. He moved over and began to remove the bracers from the girls' wrists.

"Sorry I'm late," he said. He pulled three bracelets out of his pockets and handed them to the girls. "Put these on. No one will know they aren't the real thing. It took me a while to get here. After Victor told me about the bracers I knew I had to get some to replace the ones you were wearing."

"I'm just glad you're here," said Piper. "Is Leo okay?"

"I don't know," said Cole. "Victor said something about Adasar taking him to Malevant. That was unexpected. But they won't do anything to him for a while. Once the Source knows that I've been captured he'll want to make an example of me. He'll probably keep Leo in a holding cell somewhere until he can gather the demonic hierarchy."

"Then we need to find him," said Piper. "In case you're wrong about that."

"I think I know where they'll be keeping him," said Cole. "Just like I knew where they were holding you. Some demons are so predictable. This is where Talistar holds all of his victims before he deals with them."

"Well I feel better now," said Paige. "Now that we don't have those binding bracers on our powers should work, right?"

"I hope so," said Cole. "But there's no telling how they're gong to work down here. Victor is safe at the manor. I suggest we get Leo and get back there right away. The sooner we get out of here the safer you're all going to be."

"We can't," said Phoebe. "Our guards let it slip that Beelzbor has a human female down here. From the sounds of it he's had her here a while. We can't just leave her here. There's no telling what kind of torture he's putting her through."

Cole looked at the sisters. Staying in the underworld was dangerous for all of them. If the girls' powers didn't work, or didn't work fully, they could be at a distinct disadvantage if they came across other demons. Which was a very real possibility.

But Phoebe was right. If Talistar had taken a human prisoner he had a reason. And they couldn't just leave without at least trying to save her. If she was still alive they had to do whatever they needed to in order to save her.

"Okay," said Cole. "First we need to get Leo. I know where he'll be. If Talistar has a female down here finding her is going to be more of a problem. Depending on why he has her she could be just about anywhere. And we can't be worrying about him while we're looking for her."

"Sounds good to me," said Piper. "I'll feel better when we have Leo anyway. I know he can't be permanently hurt except by a Dark Lighter but I don't want to take any chances. The longer he's with Malevant the better the chances he'll discover it's not you."

"I'm afraid that's all ready happened. What I want to know –what you are going to tell me – is what the Charmed Ones are doing with the traitor Belthazor in the underworld."

They all turned to Malevant standing in the doorway to the chamber. He had a fireball in each hand and was staring intently at the four.