Chris was numb. He could not believe what he had just heard. It couldn't be true. He had trusted Bianca and she had lied to him. As he stood there, paralyzed by a combination of fear and rage, it was as if everything and everyone else in the room had disappeared. It was just him and Bianca. And as he stared at her, he could feel the rage boiling within him. It was Bryan voice that brought him back to reality...
"Chris! Did you hear what I just said?"
Chris ignored him and addressed Bianca instead.
"You lied to me." He said softly.
"No..." Bianca insisted. "I didn't."
"That's bullshit!" he hollered at her. "You lied to me."
"Get out!" Bryan commanded, stepping toward her.
"No!" Bianca replied. Then turning back to Chris she added, "Chris...please listen to me. I did not lie to you. I told you I was witch and that's true! You never asked me what kind of a witch."
"And of course, it never crossed your mind that you should tell him." Bryan said matter of factly.
"Of course it did." Bianca replied. "But why would I? Why should I? How would that have helped me? Everyone knows about Phoenixes..."
"I didn't." Mace interrupted.
"Me either." Jess agreed.
"Yeah...I'd never heard of them." Nikki said.
"Shut up!" Bryan and Bianca hollered back at them in unison.
"Look..." Bianca continued. "The point is...we have a reputation. Historically, Pheonixes have been hired guns, offering their services to the highest bidder-good or evil. No one trusts us."
"With good reason." Bryan stated.
"You right!" Bianca agreed. "But I'm not like other Pheonixes."
"So you're saying you didn't come here to kill me." Chris said skeptically.
"No!" Bianca insisted. "No I didn't."
"So what did Wyatt want?" Chris asked. He needed to know. Although, if Wyatt had, in fact, approached Bianca about killing him, he wasn't sure he would be able to deal with it.
Bianca paused a moment and looked at Chris sadly. Her heart was breaking for him. She could only imagine what it must feel like to think your brother wants you dead. Of course, she knew that wasn't true. But she also knew she still had to lie to him.
"I don't know." She said softly.
Chris looked away. It wasn't the answer he was looking for. If Wyatt wanted him dead, he needed to know. The uncertainty was eating him up inside.
"I told you..." Bianca continued. "I never met with your brother. That's why that demon was after me. But I'm sure it had nothing to do with you."
"How would you know?" Bryan wondered aloud.
Bianca paused, realizing she had almost given herself away. How would she know, unless she knew Wyatt. She had to think quickly.
"I...I don't know" she stammered. "I'm just saying... I mean...the point is, I turned him down. Whatever it is he wanted...I said no. That's why I'm here."
She turned back to face Chris.
"Please Chris. Say you believe me."
Chris stared at Bianca while Bryan stood off to the side, shaking his head. Finally, Chris spoke.
"I do." He said.
"Chris!" Bryan began to protest.
"I believe her Bryan!" Chris hollored at him. "You weren't there. OK? I was. That demon tried to kill her. Do you really think he would do that if she were working for Wyatt?"
Bryan said nothing, just stood there shaking his head.
"She's staying." Chris informed the group. "Anyone else have a problem with that"
"Would it make a difference if we said yes?" Mace asked.
"No!" Chris spat back angrily.
"Alrighty then." Mace replied taking a step back.
"Come on," Chris said, taking Bianca's hand. "You can stay in the office with me."
As the rest of the group watched, not daring to say another word, Chris led Bianca into the office, slamming the door behind him.
When they were gone, Bryan threw his hands up in frustration and angrily kicked a piece of broken chair across the room. Then, without saying a word, stormed off toward the front door. Mace and the girls exchanged panic looks.
"Hey Bryan! Wait a sec." Mace cried out. "Where are you going?"
"Out!" Bryan snapped at him."
"You're just going to leave us here.?" Jess asked.
"With an assassin in the house?" Nikki added.
Feeding off the older kids panic, Tag tore free from his brother's side and rushed to Bryan, grabbing him by the arm.
"Don't go Bryan! I'm scared!"
Bryan sighed and turned to face the small boy.
"Don't be scared Tag." Bryan said calmly, placing his hands on the boy's shoulders. "Chris won't let anything happen to you. And I'll be back soon."
"You promise?" Tag whimpered.
"Yeah. I promise." Bryan reassured him.
Later, in a dimly lit bar, in a run down section of San Francisco, a disheveled looking, middle-aged man sat at the bar nursing a beer. In a room filled with demons, drunks and other seedy patrons, he seemed to fit right in. But there was something different about him, although no one else seemed to notice. As he brought the beer bottle to his lips and downed the remainder of the warm liquid, his eyes shifted nervously around the room -as if anticipating danger. As he continued to scan the room, his pale green eyes were filled with anger and hate. He polished off the remainder of his beer and slammed the bottle down on the counter.
"Hey Bartender! Bring me another." He said gruffly.
The Bartender frowned, before reaching into a cooler below the bar to get the requested beer. He removed the cap from the bottle and slammed it down in front of the man, who quickly picked it up and started to take a swig.
"You're welcome!" the Bartender barked at him, then walked away muttering, "Don't no one teach manners no more?"
The man at the bar laughed.
"He's got a bar full of demons and low-lifes and he's worried about manners." He said, shaking his head. He raised the beer bottle once again and was about to take a sip, when he felt someone slap him on the arm. He jumped and spun around quickly to find a young man standing before him.
"Bryan!" he said, looking shocked.
"Hello Leo." Bryan greeted him, in a less than friendly tone.
"What the hell are you doing here?" Leo asked in an equally unfriendly manner.
"We need to talk." Bryan informed him.
Leo shook his head.
"Not now." He said, turning back toward the bar.
"Oh yeah. Right now!" Bryan replied. Then, reaching forward, he grabbed Leo by both arms and orbed the two of them out of the bar.
To be continued...