Hello again! Oh dear lovely reviewers...how I love you so!

Time for more emo-ness.

Enjoy!

--

"Bloodlust" – Chapter 4

All three froze at the doorway. Piper and Paige had their mouths hanging open in angry surprise. Leo stood behind them staring at the still kneeling Cole with wide eyes.

Piper was the first to react. "You bastard…what did you do to her?!" she cried, raising a hand to use her exploding power on him. Cole quickly held Phoebe tighter and turned his shoulder towards Piper to protect the unconscious girl in his arms.

Before Piper could use her power, Leo caught her hand. "Piper, stop! If you hurt him, you'll hurt Phoebe. He is still holding her."

"Well why is he holding her?!" Paige exclaimed this time, and then turned to Cole. "Let go of her! Why are you here? Can't you get it through your thick demon skull by now that she can't stand the air you breathe?!"

Cole was taken aback. He looked down at Phoebe, biting down hard on his slightly quivering bottom lip. Her fist still clung tightly to his shirt. The smell of the blood from her was insanely enticing. Cole ground his teeth to keep the hunger down and focused on Phoebe's face which was buried into his chest. He hadn't felt this closeness from her in so long. She couldn't really hate him, could she? His eyes almost softened to tears. They all could tell Paige had definitely struck a chord in his heart. Cole looked back up at the others, but before he could say anything, Piper noticed the blood on his shirt from Phoebe's hand.

"Oh my God! What did you do? Why is she bleeding?" she questioned. "You know…there's something different about you. You look different, you're acting different…" This time she hurried over to her sister and tried to pull her out of Cole's arms. The moment she attempted this, Cole instinctively drew Phoebe closer to his body as a low animalistic growl rose in his throat. This caused Piper to jerk away in fear.

"No, you'll hurt her!" he protested, genuinely afraid.

Piper was speechless. Paige took the initiative and came to crouch down next to Piper in front of Cole, speaking to him as she would to someone mentally unstable: carefully and cautiously. "Cole…we're not going to hurt Phoebe. We're her sisters. We love her and we only want to help her and protect her, just like you do. Please let Leo take her so he can heal her hand." Paige was silent for a moment and Piper could tell she was struggling with what she was about to say next. "You can stay right next to her the whole time."

Cole was silent and still for a few moments as Piper and Paige held their breaths. But then his tense, protective hold on Phoebe began to relax as he leaned close ever so slightly to her sisters to allow them to take her. Piper looked at Leo who quickly stepped forward and lifted Phoebe out of Cole's arms. Cole had to gently pull her grip on his shirt away because at first, she had moaned in her unconscious state and wouldn't let go of him.

As Leo carried Phoebe over to the couch in the living room, her sisters followed. Piper leaned over to Paige and whispered, "Nice job."

"The talents of a social worker," Paige replied with pride.

When Leo lay Phoebe down, she moaned again until Cole came to her side and stroked her face softly. Her sisters were staring at this in disbelief the entire time. "I thought she hated him…" Paige thought out loud.

"Yeah, me too. She's been plotting his death all this time!" Piper agreed.

Leo took Phoebe's hand in his and turned it over. There was a deep bloody gash across her palm. "How'd this happen?" Leo asked Cole, who couldn't say anything, but winced when he saw it and looked away. He gripped the arm of the couch and swallowed hard, concentrating to keep his breathing normal. It was hard enough trying to focus with her blood staining his shirt. Leo noticed this and widened his eyes at Cole in warning to tell him to keep it under control. "Hold her hand palm up," Leo directed him. Cole cradled Phoebe's hand in both of his, but kept his gaze averted. Holding his hand a few inches from Phoebe's cut, a light emitted from Leo's hands and after a few moments, the cut disappeared, along with the blood surrounding it.

Slowly, Phoebe's eyes fluttered open as Cole still held her hand in his and his anxious face was the first one her eyes rested upon. "Cole…" she whispered softly. She gave him a small, tired smile and he returned it with a breath of relief.

"Phoebe! Phoebe!" Piper exclaimed, pushing Cole slightly aside. "What happened?"

"What did Cole do to you?" Paige joined in, coming to Piper's side. "What the hell is he doing here?"

Phoebe was silent as she looked to Cole. His gaze locked with hers and just as she was going to open her mouth to speak, a slithery, fluid voice spoke from behind them. "Well, well, well…never thought I'd find you here."

If Cole's heart still beat, it would have stopped the moment that icy voice reached his ears. His back tensed like a cat's and his fingers clenched into a fist. Standing up, he turned slowly to face the voice.

"Lucius…" Cole growled.

"Yes…isn't absolutely wonderful?" Lucius replied lifting an eyebrow and smiling in self-appreciation.

Piper lifted a hand for the second time that morning ready to use her powers. This time Lucius stopped her. "Now, now, love, don't do that. I'm only here to talk to the new addition."

"What new addition?" Paige asked, as she and her sister stared at Lucius in bewilderment.

Lucius looked to Cole with a dramatic short gasp. "You haven't told them? Tsk…tsk…tsk…tsk…"

"How did you find me? What the hell do you want?" Cole cried urgently, desperate to get Lucius out of the manor.

Lucius chuckled deep in his throat. "I told you, my pet, you can't escape from us. You chose to join us, and now we can find you wherever you are." He moved gracefully, almost dancing, towards Cole.

Cole instinctively backed up against the couch, shielding Phoebe, who had found the strength to prop herself up slightly with Leo's support.

"Oh Cole, don't get so jumpy. I won't hurt her…at least not right now. But obviously, she did love you then, didn't she?" Lucius shook his head in feigned dilemma. "This is going to be a problem…she is a pretty little thing though. I can see why you were so utterly in the throws of devastation."

"You leave her out of this!" Cole half-shouted.

"No need to get so hostile. I only want to talk to the little darling." He cocked his head to one side to look around Cole's broad shoulder and at Phoebe. Cole was so close to Lucius, afraid of what he would to do Phoebe, he was practically breathing down his neck.

"Tell me, little one," Lucius addressed Phoebe, taking on a softer tone. "Do you know what your dearest lover has become?"

Phoebe was silent for a few seconds. Her eyes flashed to Cole. She could tell he was feeling terrible, his eyes pleading her to forgive him. She knew she would have to answer to her sisters for what she was going to say next. "Yes, I do."

"Wow, you do? Were you with him when he turned?"

"Yes…"

"Tell me…didn't it just excite you to see him suffer? It's absolutely wonderful to see such beauty like that in pure agony…" A vilely seductive grin spread on his pale lips.

Phoebe gazed at Lucius in horror. "How could you say something like that, you dirty piece of--" She fought to sit up straighter. Leo quickly held her to keep her from exerting herself too much.

"Now now, you feisty little one, I was just asking a simple question. I myself sure do know the answer. He is quite gorgeous isn't he?" Lucius purred, turning to Cole. He traced a line with his forefinger from Cole's temple, down his defined cheek, and rested it under his jaw.

Cole slapped Lucius's hand away. "Don't touch me," he spat coldly.

Lucius didn't seem phased. "Beauty finds beauty," he mused, glancing at Phoebe who was staring daggers at him. "Phoebe, sweetheart, have you given any thought to joining your lovely darling here?"

"I said leave her out of this!" Cole shouted, seething. He picked up Lucius by his shirt and threw him halfway across the room. Lucius caught himself gracefully with one hand against the ground before his body hit it. "I've had it! What the hell do you want? You've done the damage you wanted to do to me, but I won't let you ever touch her! Don't you dare speak to her, or even look at her!"

Lucius pulled himself to his feet in one fluid motion. He was silent for a while, his cold eyes fixed straight into Cole's angry ones. Then, "I will leave her alone…if you come with me, and never ever come back to her."

Cole swallowed, staring at Lucius in complete devastation.

"No, Cole!" Phoebe called desperately from behind him. "Please don't say yes! I can fight him! You can't leave me!"

"Okay, Lucius. I'll go with you," Cole agreed in a shaky voice.

"No!" Phoebe protested again, this time she drew all her strength to stand up and run to Cole. Sensing her coming, he turned and caught her in his arms. He was about to kiss her when Lucius place a cold, stony hand on Cole's shoulder.

"Don't," he told him. "I mean it."

Cole looked at Phoebe for a moment before he leaned into her ear. "I'm so sorry," he breathed, and let go of her.

Phoebe stood only a few feet from Cole, but suddenly felt as if they were separated by an ocean of desolation. Tears began to fall from her eyes and she gasped, choking back a sob.

Cole's lifeless heart shattered at the sight of Phoebe and the sound that emitted from her. With Lucius's hand still on his shoulder, he mouthed 'Goodbye…' to her. Phoebe caught sight of his sapphire eyes glistening with restrained tears just before he and Lucius faded and disappeared.

--

Will Phoebe and Cole ever see each other again???????????? Find out next time...

Please review!!