Chapter 5

"Is this a private party? Or can anyone join in?"

Furious with the disturbance, the warlock swung around. "Adrian! Didn't I tell you to…?" He stopped abruptly to stare at the tall man leaning casually against the doorpost, arms folded leisurely across his chest. "Who the hell are you?! Where's Adrian?"

Cole threw a slow glance over his shoulder. "I think something's… eating him," he remarked ambiguously, and turned back. Now his eyes were flashing dangerously. "I see you have already met my wife. Would you mind stepping off her now?"

"Or what?" Sneering, the warlock glared at the dark-haired stranger, clearly not wanting to believe what his brain was screaming to him. "Your… wife…?" he then said, his mind slowly grasping the impossible. Slowly, he looked down at the limp, naked body of a semi-conscious Phoebe Halliwell and back at the intruder, who had pushed away from the doorway. "You can't hurt me!" he maintained, his sneer on the frantic side. "The Winter Queen's powers are protecting me!"

"And my powers protect Phoebe."

The way he was holding himself sent chills down Enrico's spine. "No! You're dead!" the warlock suddenly screamed, his hand lifting to smite the apparition with his magic.

An energy-ball sped across the room, taking Enrico off the bed and straight through the window to fall in a screaming ball of fire toward the ground, exploding halfway down in a grand firework flower.

Turning to look at the still body on the bed, Cole scowled fiercely. "Phoebe…" he breathed, voice shaking as badly as his clenched fists. Her beautiful dress was torn to shreds, her hairdo badly tousled and the mascara was smeared out over her face, making her look like a messed up hooker – and he still thought she was the most beautiful thing he had ever seen.

Beautiful, but messed up.

Swallowing back the lump in his throat, he wondered what to do now. He so longed to touch her again, but he shouldn't even be here.

Slowly, he sat down on the bed. The draft from the window was leaving a trail of goosebumps on her naked skin, and without thinking about it, he waved at the window, barely noting that the glass mended itself.

Two hours ago, back at the manor, he had heard her message, and been very close to pick up the phone to answer, but resisted the urge. He simply couldn't risk revealing himself to her – besides, what would he have said? 'Hi, honey! I'm home.'? Deciding she was safe in a fashionable hotel, he tried to locate Paige instead.

Snooping around, he finally found a note in Paige's room about meeting 'B' on Time's Square, Friday the 23:rd at 5 p.m., and glanced at the watch on her bed stand. It said 8.30. After a lot of hesitation, he tried to call Billie.

To his relief someone did answer, but it wasn't she.

"Hello, Billie Jenkin's phone!" a young girl's voice half shouted, half slurred, the unmistakable sounds of a party in the background almost drowning her out.

"Eh, hi," Cole began, caught a little unprepared. "Is Billie there?"

"Yeah, see, she can't get to the phone," the girl giggled. "She's… busy."

Cole caught the underlying meaning and decided not to push his luck. "That's okay; I was actually looking for a friend of hers, Paige Matthews, visiting with her over the holidays."

"What? Page who? I can't hear you!"

"Paige!" Cole shouted into the receiver. "I'm looking for Paige Matthews. Is she there?"

"Oh! I'll check!"

He heard her yell into the room for a Paige, and then her slurry voice returned. "Sorry. There's no Paige here. She's that friend of Billie's in San Francisco, right?"

"Yeah, have you seen her today at all?"

"No, sorry. You know we're in New York here. I wouldn't be able to." She burst out laughing.

Cole hung up and took the decision to shimmer to New York to look for her himself.

With Tes' sharp nose to help him, he had walked around Time's Square several times without finding more traces of Paige than there was of Piper at P3. According to Tes, a witch with the same smell as the clothes in Paige's bedroom, had been standing for quite a while on the sidewalk, stepped up to the curb and disappeared.

"A cab," Cole muttered. "She wouldn't have orbed with all these people around. Any chance you can trace it?"

Tes shook her head. "Too many cars here."

"Hm. I'll see if I can sense her." Stepping back into the shadows of a wall, he closed his eyes and spread his arms a little, trying to pick up Paige. It was a long time ago since he had tried it, so he concentrated a little extra, opening wide to any trace – and reeled as something hit him with such force, it made him gasp.

"Did you find her?" Tes looked up at him worriedly. "What's wrong? You smell terrified."

Pale as a ghost, Cole stared emptily in front of him. "Phoebe…" he breathed, grabbed Tes by the scruff of her neck and shimmered faster than he had ever shimmered before.

And here he was, rescuing her again, although he had promised himself not to go near her. Once again, he was risking everything for the sake of a love he had no idea if it would ever be requited, but he simply couldn't give up on it. It was all he had left.

Now, what do I do with you?

He couldn't take her with him because of the implications it would bring, but taking her to a hospital was out of the question. Not only would her name be all over the tabloids; how did they explain what had happened to her? No mortals, especially not any cops, should know what had happened in this room. "What am I supposed to do?" he murmured, reaching out to put a shaky hand on her cheek. God, it felt so good to be able to feel her again.

Knowing he had no choice, Cole shook his head. "What am I supposed to do with you?"

Barely conscious, Phoebe was aware of Enrico interrupting himself before he had been able to do the unmentionable, and then he had somehow been lifted off her. There had been a distant bang and someone else had sat down beside her. She wondered vaguely if it was Adrian, but it felt differently. It felt like that time in the manor when Piper was dying… It felt like…Cole. But that was impossible.

A warm hand touched her face and she tried to open her eyes, but all she could discern was a dark suit. Before her overloaded brain shut down completely, she felt how she was wrapped up in the bedspread, and lifted into someone's arms. A vaguely familiar voice whispered to her not to be afraid, that everything was going to be all right, and oddly soothed, she let herself relax and be carried away. There was a swirling sensation and then she knew nothing more.

All through the night, he held her while she – more or less delirious – alternately cursed or wept in his arms, when she didn't threw up as the drugs were wearing off. He had cleaned her up and found a nightie for her to wear. In Piper's cupboards, he had found some herbs he knew would counteract the effects of the drugs the warlock had used, and forced her to drink it – and then cleaned up some more.

It was early morning, Christmas Eve, when she finally fell asleep naturally, and he could breathe a sigh and relax. Tucking the blankets around her lithe body, Cole quietly left the room.

"Will you guard the door while I catch a few minutes' rest?" he asked the wolf who had settled outside in the hallway.

Tes gave him a curious glance. "You, sleep?"

"Yeah…" He let go a faint laugh. "It's a waste of time I don't have, but I haven't slept since God knows when, and I think I need to. Wake me up in two hours, or if anything at all disturbs you. If everything is quiet, we will leave as soon as Phoebe wakes up."

"Aren't you going to talk to her?"

"Not if I can avoid it. With any luck she won't have any memory of what has happened tonight and I will just be a weird dream in her memory." He exhaled slowly in a drawn-out sigh. "I'll be next door."

He more or less fell down on the duvet. The feel of a bed was like a little taste of heaven and he fell asleep almost immediately.

Being a light sleeper by force of habit, Cole stirred awake as he sensed someone else enter the room. Quiet footfalls betrayed a being approaching his bed and he waited silently until it was close enough. In one, swift move, he grabbed the hand that reached out toward him, flung the owner down and turned on the lights by way of magic. Across the bed, a naked woman sprawled in his tight grip, her yellow eyes gazing up at him with a mix of fear and guilt.

"Tes? What are you doing?" He let go and she sat up slowly, rubbing her wrist. "Is anything wrong with Phoebe?"

"No, she's sound asleep. I'm sorry, I didn't mean to scare you," she whispered.

"Scare me? I could have killed you before you got halfway through the room. What were you thinking?"

"I… I thought, being alive again… you might want some… company."

"Company? Oh…" Realizing that he was shown a rare offer from her side, Cole rubbed his forehead and tried to come up with a smooth way out of the situation. "Tes, I… I am flattered – to say the least, but… Maybe this isn't such a good idea."

"How do you know?" Yellow eyes were suddenly very close to his. "Come on, Cole," she pleaded with him with in an urgent whisper. "I'm in heat." Before he could stop her, she had wriggled down next to him and slithered up on his chest to gently place her hands on his face.

"Tes…"

Her lips were slowly, almost hesitantly, placed on his and he was too much gentleman to refuse her shy kiss.

As he didn't reject her, Tes became a little bolder, and in spite of himself, Cole found himself responding to her. She was small and lithe and her body warm and soft to the touch. He let his hand slide over her back and the sensation of naked skin was just as pleasant an experience as he remembered it. Having been able to touch things but not to feel them, he now found that a surprisingly large part of him longed to touch and feel, and be felt, by a woman, again. Giving up struggling, Cole let himself get swept up in the sensation of being aroused.

Not inexperienced, but definitely unused to making love to a human, Tes had some ideas of her own that he found a little quaint, but never the less appealing, and he didn't stop her sometimes-awkward efforts to please. Gently placing his hands over hers, he guided her right and enjoyed the way she picked up on what he preferred.

Not really wanting to, but too caught up in the escalating excitement to desist, Cole let Tes have her way with him, and simply immersed himself in the present – until the past caught up with him in a much unexpected way.

He couldn't say if it was a scent, a sound, or a touch. Maybe it was just the whole situation and the feeling it called up in him. Whatever it was, it brought back a memory so strong and so vivid, that he actually believed it was real. For a brief second he felt, smelled and even saw her; frosted hair falling in soft curls over her naked shoulders, dark eyes aglow with love and passion, and an immense feeling of joy welled up inside him.

Smiling with happy wonderment, he opened his mouth to speak her name; when she said his instead, and the illusion burst apart as he blinked to see Tes's face.

Shocked, he inhaled sharply and pulled away, almost pushing her out of the bed.

"Cole! What's wrong?"

Falling back, Cole hid his face in his hands, trying to get some hold of himself. "N-nothing. Ah, I-I just… I can't Tes. I just can't do this." Pushing her aside, he sat up on the edge of the bed.

Tes' composure fell completely where she cowered beside him. "Is it because I am a werewolf? I'm sorry; I shouldn't have forced myself on you. I just can't stop myself when I'm…"

"No, Tes." He reached out to take her arm to keep her from creeping out of the room. "It has nothing to do with that. I've slept with… Look, I was a demon for over a century; you'd be surprised to know what I have slept with. It's just… I don't know." He sighed heavily and rubbed at his face with both hands.

Tes looked all confused. "Oh, I don't know how to behave with humans. It's so much simpler with wolves; if you're in heat you just find a good mate and… mate. "

Cole let go a faint laugh. "Humans are not all that different. This has nothing to do with you. It's all about me and my…demons. Pun intended. I thought I had dealt with them, but…" Gesturing helplessly, he sighed and let his hand slide down her arm, his fingers easily reaching around her slender wrist. "I'm sorry, Tes. You are a very pretty and sexy girl, and I do care about you. I like you a lot, but I…"

"You don't love me," she filled in for him.

"I don't love you in that way," he said in a voice set just above a whisper. "It shouldn't matter. It never did before, but now it does. You said once that wolves mate for life; well, apparently half-demons do as well. I just want one woman. I can't ever have her, and I thought I had moved on, but…" He shrugged and sighed in tired defeat. "I guess I never will…"

"You could pretend I was her," Tes suggested hopefully. "You have your magic and I wouldn't mind. I just want you to be happy."

Recalling the last time he had tried something like that, Cole let go a faint, self-derisive laugh. "Thanks, but no. It wouldn't be fair on either of us. Besides, you deserve to have someone who loves you for who you are." He caressed her chin and a wan smile crept to his lips. "Don't fall in love with me, Tes. It's a waste of time and energy."

I'm cursed to live without for eternity…

"But I already love you," she said, fairly surprised over his words. "How could I not? You saved my life, you found me food and shelter, and you keep me safe and treat me nice. But that's not why I came." His confused look had her smiling. "Please, understand that in my eyes you are the… how do you say? The 'Alfa male'? All females in a flock want to mate with the Alfa male. It's not 'love' – not in the sense you mean it – it's a flock thing; heavily surrounded by rules of rank. I am content and happy to be in your flock. If I had realized there already was an 'Alfa female', I would never have come on to you like this."

Cole tried to suppress a smile. "Phoebe, Alfa female? That's actually a good one." He rubbed at his face again. "What time is it?"

"Almost seven. It's still dark."

"Okay, I have some things to do. Keep an eye on Phoebe for me, will you. If she wakes up, try to stay hidden – unless she tries to leave. I want her to stay here until I get back, or past midnight if I don't, but don't harm her."

"I can do that." Sliding down to the floor, Tes resumed her wolf shape. "Where are you going?"

Cole took a deep breath. "To get a shave and then I'm going to see if I can fix at least part of this mess."

"And how are you going to do that?"

Cole sneered. "I'll improvise."

Cole regarded his surroundings from behind one of many spruce so covered in frozen snow they had twisted with the weight of it, looking like they were contorted in excruciating pain. Up ahead where the spiraling towers of the Winter Queen's ice castle. Glittering in green and white shades against the blue moon shadows on the snow, it mirrored the aurora borealis above, crackling and shimmering in giant curtains, full of colors.

It was cold – mercilessly so. Cole blew on his hands and rubbed them. Standing here was a waste of time, but he still hesitated, bothered by Tes' irritating insinuation that he was trying to take the easy way out just because he did not want to be around when Phoebe woke up.

Easy, my ass! I hate improvising!

He was amazingly good at it, though, especially for a demon once famous for his meticulous and elaborate plans. It was mainly because he had realized early on that while careful planning would save you a lot of later headaches – mental ones as well as physical – there was no such thing as a foolproof plan. You just had to be ready to improvise at all times; learn to play it by ear. Like right now. This was so far from planning as he could get. This was playing it by ear from the word 'go'.

Coming here was just a hunch he was following. He would never have connected the abductions of the girls to the Winter Queen, if it weren't for what that warlock had said: 'The Winter Queen's powers are protecting me!'

Cole was quite certain the warlock hadn't made that up at the spur of the moment. It just wasn't something you said unless it was true. Assuming she had contracted them to take care of the Charmed ones; what exactly was their mission? To kill them? It would be the obvious choice in most cases, but the whole set up had him thinking she wanted them alive. But what would the Winter Queen possibly want from the Charmed Ones? Why would she want them at all?

Moreover, what was the warlocks' motive in this?

Some skulking and lurking might take care of that lack of information.

It was amazing what you would hear if you just waited around long enough – that was something else life in the Underworld had taught him.

I hope a 100 years worth of experience has taught me something – or I'm in for a lot of headaches.

Taking a deep breath, he shimmered away from the marginal safety of the trees, hoping this little trip would pay off. With any luck, he might be able to rescue two foolish witches.

The hall was vast. Built up from ice and snow, its architecture was vaguely reminiscent of a gothic church with its high, vaulted ceiling and many windows. Rows of thick ice pillars supported the upper galleries circling the walls on each side, leading to the turrets. Opposite the giant portals was a raised dais, holding a large but delicate ice-throne. There were no candles or other lights. Instead, the ice seemed to contain an inner light that lit up the place from floor to ceiling.

Moving silently through the upper gallery, invisible in the shadows, Cole was not looking at the fantastic tapestries, covering the wall behind the throne, nor admiring the beautiful rose window above them. His full attention was on the area in front of the throne. There was another raised dais there, covered in furs and with a suspiciously humanlike shape lying on top of it. He wanted to take a closer look, but the woman in a flowing, ice-green dress, leaning over it, prevented him.

Milady…

She was keeping her voice low, speaking softly, yet her words carried up to him clearly, and he took care to make no sound for fear of betraying his presence.

"Soon, my dear," the Winter Queen said, caressing the furs. "Soon we will be together forever."

There was a commotion by the doors and a number of very large, white wolves trotted down the hall, dragging a limp form with them. As they neared the Winter Queen, they stopped and the foremost wolf sat back on its haunches, lifting its front paws as if to beg.

Beg was not what it did, though. In front of Cole's eyes, the wolf started to straighten out, rise up and change until there was no wolf, but a man.

Shape-shifters? That explains why Tes couldn't identify their scent.

"We have found another one," the Shape-shifter was saying, bowing deeply for the Queen.

"I'm not surprised." She prodded the heap of rags with her toe. "They're like vermin."

"Shall I feed him to the wolves?"

"Yes." She started to turn, but hesitated and changed her mind. "No. I want to talk with this one. Send the wolves back out, and then bring the gnome to me! I will be downstairs, seeing to my other guests."

"Will do, Milady. Have they all arrived then?"

"No. One is still missing, and neither Adrian nor Enrico have been in touch."

So, you do have Piper and Paige.

"Do you think something is wrong?"

"Idiot!" The back of her hand slapped hard across his face. "Of course something is wrong. I just don't know what. Enrico was just a little bit too eager to trick that particular witch," she muttered. "If one of your men screws this up, I will tear him apart limb for limb."

Not if I find him first; and I will scourge Hell for his sorry black soul to tear apart for what he did to Phoebe.

It had, in fact, been all he could do to refrain from unleashing his wrath on the warlock in the hotel room, but taking care of Phoebe had taken precedence. In retrospect, keeping one of them alive long enough for some answers, might have saved him the trouble he now had. Then again, considering the circumstances, he didn't regret a single thing.

"Enrico may very well be screwing something, but not this deal," the Shape-shifter argued, a hand going to his burning cheek. "I'll look into it."

The Winter Queen glared down at him. "I strongly suggest you do! Before I regret this deal and send you back empty-handed."

"You promised us the witches!" the Shape-shifter objected angrily.

"After I am done with them!" the Winter Queen snapped back. "I've invested too much into this spell to bleed the Christmas spirit from every mortal human's heart, to have you ruin this because of your impatience."

"Impatience? We have waited years for this!"

"Then you can wait another day!" Dismissing the upset Shape-shifter, she swept around to walk back through the hall.

So that's the deal. But I still don't understand what she needs the witches for.

Cole watched raptly as the Winter Queen swept past below him. Before she veered right and disappeared through a door behind the throne, she stopped briefly by the bier, her fingertips dragging lightly across the fur.

And what is it you really want with him?

By the entrance doors, the warlock was sending the wolves back out and picking up the prisoner to drag with him to the same doorway the Queen had left through.

Just before they left the room, Cole could hear a guttural voice slur something through cracked lips. "I'm not a gnome, I'm an elf!"