ELEVEN
"You might want to get a second opinion before you agree to that deal."
They all turned toward the door to see who had spoken. Cole stood just outside the door behind Phoebe and Paige.
"Mr. Turner?" Dolman questioned.
"Cole, what are you doing here?" Phoebe asked.
"I'd thought I'd stop by and see how things are going," said Cole. "Looks like I got here just in time. All three of you present and Leo, too. I'm thinking this isn't a social gathering."
"Not exactly," said Piper. "Seems Dolman here wanted to give me an athame. And not in a good way, either."
"Well, now that wasn't very nice," said Cole, looking at Dolman. He looked over at Gildarren. "I guess you're Gildarren. I've heard some interesting things about you."
"I don't care what you've heard, human," said Gildarren. "This doesn't concern you."
"Human?" Paige questioned. "Don't these guys know who you are? Or at least were?"
"Probably not," said Cole. "They're Souse demons. Really low level. They're used primarily to set up plans for higher level demons. Many of them rarely make it out of the lower levels where they make their home. A lot of information they get is only bits and pieces."
"You seem to know a great deal about us," said Gildarren. "That can be very dangerous for a human."
"Under normal circumstances I'd agree with you," said Cole. "Only these aren't normal circumstances."
"We figured they were working for a higher level demon," said Piper. "Gildarren here was just about to spill the proverbial beans."
"In exchange for letting them go, yeah, I heard," said Cole. "Actually, they're working on their own. The plan was to use their blood to take control of humans. It has a mesmerizing affect on humans. Makes them very susceptible to suggestions. So they just put some of their blood into whatever the chefs were making and anyone who samples it is controlled by them."
"So that was their plan," said Leo. "To take over the chefs and people in the competition."
"Yes," said Cole. "Once they had accomplished that each chef would return to their own restaurant. Along with a new Souse chef. Then it was just a matter of spreading out after that. Eventually, according to their plan, they'd be able to take control of key humans. And it would a simple matter to control them after that."
"So they were trying to take over the world?" Paige questioned.
"Not exactly," said Cole. "The idea was to get enough key humans under their control and then use them to eliminate any witches that might pose a threat to them. It was an ambitious plan. Too ambitious. As you saw there are just too many things that could go wrong with it. My question is which one was using their blood to control the humans?"
"I'll not give any information to a human," hissed Gildarren.
"That's the third time you've called me that," said Cole. "And quite frankly, it's beginning to annoy me. In all fairness, however, I can understand how the name Cole Turner may not mean a whole lot to you. But I was known by another name for quite a long time. Phoebe, you remember the other name I used to go by, don't you?"
"You mean Belthazor?" Phoebe asked.
"Belthazor?" questioned Gildarren, fear evident in his eyes. "The Source?"
"Yeah, I went by that title for a while, too," said Cole, his eyes flashing. "So you can understand how your responses so far might make me just the tiniest bit testy. Let's try this again. Which one of you has been using their blood to control the humans?"
"It was Gildarren," said Dolman, pointing at the other demon. "It was all his idea from the very beginning."
The other two demons eagerly joined in agreeing that Gildarren was the culprit.
"It was all Bishops' fault," Gildarren demanded, trying to pass the blame. "He made the deal with me. He said if we guaranteed that he'd win he make sure we got as many victims as possible.
"Randy Bishop?" Piper questioned. "He's contestant number four."
"See, now, that wasn't so bad, was it?" asked Cole, smiling at the group. "All I asked was which one of you was using their blood to control the humans. And you made us go through this whole deal just to find out."
The four demons seemed to relax. Suddenly Cole reached out and lightning shot from his fingertips. Gildarren was vanquished in seconds.
"Of course," said Cole, "Gildarren did know the penalty for disobeying a master."
"Please, master," pleaded Dolman, "don't vanquish us. It was all Gildarren's doing. He planned the entire thing. We had no choice but to go along with him."
"You can relax," said Cole. "I'm not going to vanquish anyone else. I only vanquished Gildarren so the humans would no longer be under his control. With him gone his control will also be vanquished. The humans should return to normal in a few hours."
"Oh, thank you master, thank you," said Dolman. "You are both wise and generous."
"Well, to be honest," said Cole, "I'm not he one you need to apologize to. I don't really concern myself with what goes on in the underworld any more. Oh, that reminds me. Malevant said he'd like to speak to the three of you when we're done here. I wouldn't keep him waiting too long if I were you. You know how he can get."
"M…. Malevant?" stammered Dolman.
"Yes," said Cole. "It seems he's a bit curious why four lowly Souse demons would try to execute a plan he had told them to forget about. I think he has a couple of questions for you."
With looks of abject terror on their faces the three Souse demons shimmered out of the room.