Chapter 11

"Erin!"

Santa's house was cold and full of dark shadows. All lights had been extinguished by the chill midwinter air sweeping in through the wide open doors and broken windows. On the way to the stairs, he had to step carefully to avoid stumbling over the many dead bodies strewn across the floor; dead elves, mauled by sharp teeth and claws. The stench of death and dried blood filled his nostrils, stirring old instincts to life, and Cole's hand clutched in reflex around the non-existing shaft of an Athame he didn't have anymore,.

As he ascended to the second floor, the wood creaked beneath his feet as if the house itself was in pain from the atrocities that had been committed three nights ago. The door to the workshop swung open with no more sound than a broken sigh.

In the draft from the broken window, a single candle fluttered, throwing gigantic shadows dancing across the walls.

"Erin? I know you're in here." There was a rustle in the denser shadows by the cold fireplace as something scuttled across the floor. "Oh no, you don't!"

The ball of energy was low charged but enough to throw the elf off his feet. Before he could get up, Cole was already leaning over him.

"You…?" Erin's eyes flickered back and forth, as if searching for an escape route.

"Surprised to see me?"

"I thought you were someone else. The Shapeshifters..."

"No, you thought I was somewhere else, didn't you? Like back in limbo."

Licking his lips, the elf squinted up at him. "Why would I think that?"

Cole raised a knowing eyebrow. "Because you told Elenea where to find me."

Erin's nervous look shifted into indignation "I did no such thing!"

"No? Are you sure? Because that's not what she said."

"What?! She promised…" Seeing Cole's raised eyebrow, he clamped a hand over his mouth, but it was too late and the elf seemed to shrink where he lay on the floor. "She never told you, did she?"

"No, but you just did."

Erin grimaced over his lapse. "How did you figure it out?"

"Tricks of the trade?" Folding his arms across his chest, Cole leaned back against the wall. "You forget that I spent the better part of a century setting people up – without ever being caught. But I have to hand it to you, I wouldn't have suspected you if it wasn't for one thing."

"What?"

"No way could that emissary have found me that soon on her own. Still, it was clear she hadn't spoken with her superiors, so someone must have tipped her off. Aside from Phoebe, only one more person knew I was out of limbo."

Since Cole had backed off one step, Erin crawled on to his feet. "There's no point denying it anymore, is there?" he muttered, brushing sawdust out of his beard. "I'm surprised you didn't kill me."

"Who says I won't?" Making an ominous pause, he gauged Erin's reaction to that. "Actually, I need your help," he offered at the elf's uncertain look. "To bring Santa's sleigh to the Winter Queen's castle."

"I can't do that."

"Can't what? Drive the sleigh?"

The elf was nettled. "Of course I can drive the sleigh," he snapped. "I just can't help you anymore."

"What? I thought you wanted me to save Christmas."

"Well, I don't anymore."

"I'm beginning to see that. Care to explain why?"

The elf gave him a defiant look. "Because I am a coward and a traitor. Your wolf was right from the beginning: I am a gnome. I used to be…" Agitated, he swung around, hesitated, and glanced back briefly at Cole. "I used to be like you."

"Like me?"

"Yes. It was a little before your time, but I too have worked for The Source. Spied for him. Led his mercenary killers to their targets. Spied on all his so-called loyal underlings. No one was safe from me. I spied on him too – gathered information I thought I could have use for some day."

Frowning, Cole tried to grasp the meaning of Erin's words. "I don't recall The Source ever saying anything about a gnome spying for him."

"He wouldn't." Erin let go a short, mirthless chuckle. "I almost got him dethroned." Grinning at Cole's disbelieving stare, he seated himself on a workbench. "I learned about an attempt to usurp The Source. The plan was a masterpiece – it couldn't fail. I was terrified, but I didn't tell him. After much thought, I went to the brain behind the coup; offered my silence and knowledge for a place in their service when they had taken over. I was well received; trusted even, but it all backfired. The foolproof plan was foiled; The Source expected the ambush, and crushed the uprising against him."

"The Seer told him, no doubt."

"No. You see, she was the brain behind the plan, but she was also too smart to be caught. When she realized what was happening, she switched sides, pretended to come to warn him; upset for being too late." Erin paused and frowned a little. "I wonder if her vision of her as the Source's successor ever came true."

Something dark passed across Cole's face. "It did. But if you didn't betray them, who did?"

"I don't know. I didn't care to stick around long enough to find out. The precious few renegades that survived thought I had betrayed them. The Source wanted my head for betraying him, and the Seer wanted me killed for knowing the truth – so I fled to the one place I knew they would never think of looking for me in; Santa's workshop."

"Smart move, but surely he realized you weren't a real elf."

"Probably, but he's never said anything and I wasn't about to tell him. It was supposed to be a temporary solution, a refuge until I could think of something better. But…" The self-confessed gnome drew a shaky breath. "But the Winter Queen found me out. She made it clear that she knew who I was and unless I obeyed her, or if I tried to warn Santa, she would send me back to where I came from." A dense silence followed his words, and then he lifted his grim and grimy face to Cole's. "I didn't have to think long about her proposal. What did I care who I worked for as long as I was safe from demon bounty hunters? Besides, all she wanted me to do was stay with Santa as one of his elves."

"As her mole?"

"Yes, she found that quite funny." Erin's bushy eyebrows collided above his nose in a fierce scowl. "Except she didn't contact me again – not for many decades – and after a while I started telling myself that she never would. Staying with Santa, I got used to doing good deeds instead of bad. I started to like it much better than working for Evil. I made friends, became Santa's right hand man."

That story sounds familiar somehow…

"And then she turned up again?"

"Yes. She said it was all part of the eternal cycle; that the legend had to be played out, and I was just being a part of the inevitable." Erin shook his head. "If I had known what she planned, I would have turned myself in, but as I said…I'm a coward."

"So she sent you to trick the girls into coming to her?"

Erin stared at his stubby fingers tightly interlaced on the tabletop. "No. Her hired warlocks planned their abduction. My job was to…betray Santa. I made it possible for the Snow wolves to strike early."

Cole nodded. "Because elves can't be killed on Christmas, but any other day…"

"That wasn't supposed to happen!" Erin burst out wretchedly. "I didn't know they would create a massacre." Taking a deep breath, he continued in a more subdued voice. "When I realized what I had done, I tried to warn the Charmed Ones, but I was too late. They wouldn't listen, so I..."

"Came to me instead. It's a touching story, but it doesn't explain the sudden change of heart after all that trouble to get me here."

"You haven't heard it all yet. Last night, after you had left me, I was foolish enough to think I could do something on my own…"

"She caught you?" In the poignant silence that followed, Cole's low voice cut like a scalpel through silk. "What did you tell her?"

Erin swallowed. "She knows you are here. She may even be watching us right now. Through her mirrors she can see everything. She will kill me if I disobey again."

"It's Christmas – she can't…"

Erin's dark eyes flashed. "That's elves – not gnomes. I may heal from wounds, but I can still be killed." Regaining some of his original gruff composure, he folded his arms across his chest. "I have done all I can. You're on your own."

As if that's news.

An energy ball appeared to shine menacingly where it rested on Cole's upturned palm. "What if I say I will kill you unless you do as I say?"

"You should kill me." A gnarled fist came down so hard on the tabletop, the candle toppled over to sputter and die in a pool of candle-grease, plunging the room into the maws of the dancing shadows no longer held at bay by the tiny flame.

"I would if I thought it was what needed to be done to fix this mess."

"Believe me, Cole Turner, it's the only way to fix it." Erin inhaled deeply through his nose. "You shouldn't have come here. I have orders to stop you from interfering. The last thing she wants is the only being unaffected by her spell, to come knocking." Reaching into his pocket, he brought out a fistful of snowflakes. "I'm revoking your wish."

We can't have that.

"Then you leave me no choice."

The surprise on the gnome's face remained even after the energy ball had thrown him to the ground in a lifeless heap; his gray beard singed and smoldering.

Damn it, Erin! You really leave me no choice at all.

"Ah, good." The Winter Queen smiled, and doused her scrying mirror of ice. "Did you see that, Kriss? Your 'savior' just killed to save himself. I guess there won't be any one coming to your rescue this time after all." Walking over to the prostrate man, she touched his cheek lightly. "Looks like it's just you and me this Christmas."

Stomping her feet to keep them from freezing, Phoebe peeked out between the snow-covered fir boughs. Night had settled in completely, but the lack of moonlight was compensated for by the snow, glittering as if all the stars in heaven had been sprinkled over it, while the never ending northern lights crackled and swept across the sky. In the distance, perhaps 300 yards away, the Winter Queen's ice-green castle rose.

Phoebe thought it wasn't just the cold that made her shiver. "You don't like me, do you," she said, keeping her back turned to the faux Snow wolf that was Tes.

There was a significant amount of silence before Tes answered. "Not particularly. Are you afraid I am going to hurt you?"

Sensing how the wolf moved closer to her, Phoebe still kept her back turned. "No. I saw you with the boys."

"The boys…" Tes's hoarse voice dropped to a near whisper. "They reminded me of my young. I miss them… I can understand why they wanted to kill me, but my young? They hadn't done anything."

"I'm really sorry. Fear makes people do evil things."

"Fear of what? They were just cubs with only a quarter of were-wolf in them."

"Your mate was not another werewolf then? If you don't mind me asking."

"No, he was just a wolf; like my mother. He sensed I was different, but there was this…bond between us. Because of what I am, other wolves hate me, but he…"

"Loved you for who you are?"

The werewolf glanced up at her, but Phoebe was staring straight ahead. "Yes. He gave his life to save me. I shouldn't have stayed with him, but I thought we were safe in the mountains…" Tes paused to gaze into the distance as if the memories were there to be seen. "They came for us; many men with torches and pitchforks, and a gun loaded with silver bullets. He jumped in front of it – took the bullet meant for me – and I let him. I sacrificed him to save myself."

Phoebe stared unseeingly at the Winter Queen's castle, shimmering like a mirage in ice-green tones. "You mustn't think that. It was his choice," she whispered, hands clenching and unclenching in the thick mittens that suddenly weren't enough to keep the cold away. It seeped through her from within, and leaked out in her eyes like crystal clear pearls of ice.

"Choice? He didn't have a choice," Tes rasped harshly, the words scratching at Phoebe's already badly scarred heart. "There was never a choice – only love." When Phoebe didn't speak, she continued tonelessly. "It took three men holding on to one rope each to hold me until one of them got his end of the rope over a tree trunk. I was hauled into the air to dangle by my neck while they killed my young in front of me." She paused as if to gather strength. "I watched my loved ones die. They screamed for me and I couldn't help them. It was more painful than any other pain I've ever felt…" her almost inaudible voice disappeared in a frosty breath.

"Oh, God…" Forcing herself to stand straight, Phoebe squeezed her eyes shut against the images that came back to haunt her. Images she thought she had long since locked away in the deepest recesses of her mind.

"The humans never understood what happened," Tes went on after a deep breath. "The thick branch they were hanging me from, suddenly broke and caught fire from the torches they carried. It spread out in a circle around me, driving them back. They let go of the rope, and even though I was half unconscious – half dead – I can still recall the look on their faces as I disappeared in front of their eyes."

"Cole?"

"Cole." The wolf nodded her head once, tail wagging a little. "He treated my wounds and spoke softly to me – even though I tried to snap his fingers off. I was so scared, and angry, and devastated. I had lost everything that meant anything to me. I didn't want to live anymore. I wanted to go back and kill them all; be the werewolf they thought I was."

"Why didn't you?"

"Cole stopped me. He offered to take me back, but also said going evil wasn't the way. There was no satisfaction or joy in revenge. No relief. It was just… gratification…and more pain."

Phoebe's hands, which had formed hard fists, relaxed slowly as the tension ran out of her cramped fingers. "Evil can't love, right?"

Tes's eyes twinkled like amber stars as she gave Phoebe a curious look. "I wouldn't know. He saved my life – we are tied together forever. I will stay with him for as long as he wants me to."

"But that leaves you stuck with him in limbo. Don't you miss being free?"

"I have all the freedom I could wish for. Unlike him, I am free to go – but my choice is to stay; that's my freedom. As Cole says; you make a choice, you…"

"Stick to it. Yes I have heard that one too. What if it's the wrong choice?"

"I believe that as long as you follow your heart, you can't go wrong, but it's also my belief that you can always make a new choice."

The werewolf was right by her side now. Phoebe could feel the warmth of its thick white fur against her legs. "What if it is too late?" she asked without taking her eyes off the castle.

"Is it?"

Phoebe's voice was a mere whisper. "I don't know."

* * *Nov 13

The Winter Queen startled badly as she realized that someone was watching her from the shadows of the arcade supporting the balustrade. Putting down the bunch of frozen grapes she was eating from, she got to her feet in a sweeping, languid move; like smoke rising on a cold day.

Leaning against an ice pillar, a very handsome, dark-haired man was smiling a slanted smile at her. "I had some spare time to kill, and thought since it's Christmas, I'd look up some old acquaintances."

"You?" Eyes narrowing, she took a couple of steps forward. "Belthazor? Is that really you?"

"Hello, Milady. Long time, no see."

"Aren't you supposed to be…?"

"Vanquished?" Pushing away from the archway, he sauntered over to her. "I get that a lot, but the rumors of my death are… well, not much but somewhat exaggerated. Disappointed?"

"Disappointed? Oh, Belthazor!" With an amused smile, the Winter Queen held out her hand to him. "You have no idea how happy I am to see you."

Without missing a beat, Cole placed a kiss on the offered hand. "The pleasure is all yours."

"Hmm. Always the gentleman." Her smirk soon dissolved. "But let me look at you!" Holding on to his hand, she took a step back to give him an appreciative scrutiny. "Death really becomes you, you know. When was the last time? 60 years ago? You tried to talk me into freezing the heart of a witch."

"I don't recall having to ask you twice."

"How could I refuse your offer?" Milady smiled coyly. "So tell me; what has brought you to my doorstep once more? You wouldn't come to me unless you had a reason. And since time isn't something you usually kill…" She batted her long-lashed eyes at him. "Should I start to worry?"

"Why? Because you tried to freeze me too, to stop me from leaving."

"Well, can you blame me? We had so much fun." Laughing her icicle laugh, she pulled him with her. "Come! You must meet my other blast from the past." Taking Cole back toward her throne, she brought him up to the raised podium of ice where Santa was placed in hibernation. "Impressed?"

"Very." Unnerved by the way the pale eyes immediately had fastened on him, Cole carefully kept out of reach, in case Kriss Kringle would try to grab for him again. "I know you two had a frosty relationship, but…"

Rounding the dais, Milady leaned down over the man to kiss his forehead – leaving a frosty mark on it. "I mean to improve that."

"By turning him into a Popsicle?"

The bright smile she gave his little quip could make a Snow wolf back off whimpering. "Watch that tongue of yours, Belthazor. It might slip and hurt itself." Sidling back up to lean on his arm, she gazed lovingly at the frozen Spirit of Christmas. "It's only until midnight." A distant look passed across her face, and then she was smiling again. "After that everything will be alright."

"World domination? It's not all it's cranked up to be, you know."

Milady gave him a sidewise glance. "You would know, wouldn't you," she teased. "But no," she went on, a pleased look on her face as the face of the former Source of All Evil clouded over at the reminder. "I'm leaving that to the Warlocks – if there are any left. I imagine you have something to do with all the mysterious disappearances."

"I might have disposed of some that refused to get out of my way as I looked for the Charmed Ones. Then I found out you were involved. Care to tell me why they are so important to you?"

The Winter Queen shot him a quick glance. "I guess I shouldn't be surprised that you found that out. Yes, I do have them. Oh, I'm sorry dear! Did you want to kill them too?"

Cole managed a shrug. "I hoped…"

"Oh, don't mope now! I need them to perform a little…service for me. If you're a very good boy, you can get to watch."

"Thanks, but I don't like to watch. I prefer to participate."

"Why, Belthazor! Did you just make me a proposition?" Tugging him along, she returned to her throne, gracefully accepting his offered hand in support as she sat back down. "But I have a feeling you're not here to, ah…" Letting the tip of her tongue slide over her lips, she gave him a sly glance,"perform any 'services'"

"Actually…" He flashed his teeth in a rogue smile. "I was hoping you would hand over the witches to me."

"Do you now? In return for what?"

"My help in destroying Christmas."

"Really?" Her snowy voice took on an icy edge. "I wonder why the gnome claimed you were here to save Christmas then. We had a long and very… exhaustive talk about it – if you catch my drift."

"The gnome would think that. I had to tell him something to get out of Limbo." Cole scoffed. "Unfortunately for him, I'm not the best choice for good deeds. I don't care about Christmas one way or another. I'm only here to get my vengeance on the Charmed Ones."

The Winter Queen eyed him with mild incredulity. "I knew your hatred for them ran deep, Belthazor, but to spend the few precious hours you have outside limbo on destroying them? Wouldn't you rather use it for something more…fulfilling?"

"I have my reasons. And believe me; they don't get more fulfilling than this."

The Winter Queen chuckled softly, sending tiny snowflakes from her lips to whirl in the air. "I love it when you try to lie to me, Belthazor. You're so good at it." Picking up the half eaten bunch of green grapes, she put one of them in her mouth. "But let's play your game for a while. Why the sudden urge to get rid of someone you once gave your life and soul to save?" Leaning her head in a slender hand, she gazed up at him with mock interest. "Do tell."

"Killing her is too easy. I want Phoebe to suffer like I have suffered. Now that she's in trouble, I will be there for her in the same way she was there for me four years ago."

"Sounds like the Belthazor I know." Her slender fingers reached up to touch his face. They softly traced the outline of his chin, and then grabbed it in an ice-cold grip; her nails cutting into his skin. "So why don't I believe you?" Giving Cole a long, penetrating look, she let go again and leaned back gracefully in her throne. "I think you are up to something, and I can't risk that, but it seems I also do need your help." She paused for effect. "So what if I made you a better deal? One you can't refuse. I promise you will benefit greatly from it."

"What kind of deal?"

"A very simple one. There's very little you can do to help me destroy Christmas, but I do need all three witches for my own plans. So if you were to bring me the third one, I could make sure you never have to return to limbo ever again."

'never have to return to limbo ever again'

The words reverberated through his body, shaking him all the way to the core of his

soul. In an effort to mask his reaction, Cole leaned down over the throne, his face close her ear. "I love it when you try to lie to me, Millie. We both know that's impossible."

"Is it? You may want to know there's something the gnome neglected to tell you when he enrolled you to save Christmas. You see, the moment the Spirit of Christmas is destroyed, so is the little curse put on you."

Hands balling into tight fists, he stared at her. "I don't believe you."

"It's all part of the Christmas magic," she assured him. "After midnight it will perish along with everything else that is good and you will be free to do what you like."

"I told you, there's only one thing I want to do. Unless I get Phoebe back – alive – there is no deal."

"I have already promised them to the warlocks in return for their favors, but I guess I can spare one in return for your services." With a chillingly sweet smile, she glanced up at his clenched look. "After all; it's Christmas."

Swallowing in indecision, Cole weighed his options. "How do I know you're not trying to screw me?"

"Oh, you would know if I tried that..." The Winter Queen purred and slowly put another grape in her mouth in a sensual, teasing way, and then her voice grew icicles again. "Lies are fussy things to keep you warm. You know I prefer the cold truth."

Free…to be with Phoebe…

His heart was racing at the thought. As was his mind.

"I will get her," he finally said, gritting his teeth. "But I want to make it clear that Phoebe is mine – to kill."

"I'm sure she appreciates that sentiment, my dear. Now, go fetch! The sooner you bring her here, the sooner we can start."

"Milady." With a curt bow, Cole shimmered away.

Pleased, the Winter Queen smiled where she sat in her throne. Her precautions to make sure she could control Belthazor had paid off greatly.

"I never thought you would make him do it."

"It's amazing what you can accomplish when you know where the weak spots are, Henbane."

"Can you be sure he won't try something? The witches treated him like a rabid dog – he just might change his mind about rescuing them."

"And do what? Kill them himself? Then he wastes his chances of getting out of limbo. No, his plan is to bring them together – and I just dealt him a hand he can only play one way –into my hands."

Wiping at her cheeks, Phoebe drew a deep, shivering breath. "Tes, I need you to tell me something. How did Cole get out of limbo?"

"The gnome did some sort of Christmas magic." Tes's voice was vaguely indifferent.

"So he didn't wish for it?"

The werewolf didn't miss a beat. "Why would you think that?"

"Because that emissary said she wanted Cole to give up his wish so she could bring him back to limbo. What did he wish, Tes? I need to know."

"Maybe he doesn't want you to know."

"And I've been down that road before and look where that led us," Phoebe pointed out, a hint of desperation coloring her voice. "If I had followed my instincts a little better – if I had tried harder to find out his secrets – maybe we would have been able to…part…in a different way." The last words came out in a mere whisper.

The wolf regarded the witch's turned back closely before she answered. "You're telling the wrong person. What happened to trusting him?"

"I am trusting him; with my life – not with my heart." She shook her head slowly. "Not again. I just…can't… I'm doing this to save my sisters, to save Christmas. I need to know this isn't another desperate, misguided attempt by Cole to get me back."

Tes gave her a look of incredulity. "You abandoned him when he had no place left to go; insisted he was evil and couldn't be good no matter what he did or how many times he saved your lives, and you still think he wants you back?"

"I did not…!" Phoebe began heatedly, stopped and closed her eyes for a second. When she opened them again, her voice was calm and quiet once more. "I didn't want him dead, but I didn't want anything more to do with him either. It wasn't a healthy kind of love. He became obsessive – suicidal even." Creases formed around her eyes as she recalled Cole's harried, haunted look; a step away from losing his mind. "Evil."

Tes snorted derisively. "I would've thought the chance of saving a soul from evil was something no good witch could pass up on."

"I tried. All I asked was that he would stay good."

"You asked an almost blind man to walk without guidance. He gave up his entire life as he had known it for you. What did you give up for him?"

The hint of accusation nettled Phoebe. "I became his goddamn queen of the Underworld!" she snapped. "So don't tell me about giving up your entire life as you have known it!"

Tes remained calm. "Did he ask you to do that for him?"

"No, he didn't have to, I…I…" Faltering, she fought to continue. "I wouldn't have to either, if he hadn't twisted the truth to his advantage." Having blurted that out, she rallied her forces. "I did it for us, for our son. The Seer said we would all die if I didn't."

"And this Seer has been known to tell the truth without twisting it to her advantage?"

"She tricked me! Okay? Is that what you want to hear?"

"I would like to hear why you abandoned him when he needed you the most."

"I couldn't help him!"

"All you had to do was love him."

"All? All I had to do? I loved Cole more than life. But don't you see?" Swinging around, Phoebe struck out with both arms in desperation. "All these evil powers… Cole would've drained me; be the bad boy I would kill myself trying to 'save'. I had to stop it, before I went down with him – again." Falling silent, Phoebe turned away again to gaze at the ice castle. When she spoke again her voice was muffled; her eyes locked on something far away. "If I couldn't be strong enough for me – then how was I supposed to be strong enough for him? For us? And now he is back. I can't let what happened then, happen again."

A strangled sound came from the wolf's throat. "D'you always think everything is about you?"

"When it comes to Cole? Yes!" Phoebe sighed and shrugged, wrapping her arms around herself. "I was his reason for everything."

Tes regarded her silently. "You still are, little witch," she said at long last. "But not in the way you think."

"What do you mean?" Tension crept back into Phoebe voice.

"Don't worry! He's not doing this to make you fall in love with him again. He just wants you to be able to love. That's why he sent Drake to you."

Utterly confused by that, Phoebe blinked in consternation. "Drake? When? I haven't seen him since…uhh…he…did WHAT!?"

"Would you like to raise your voice? I don't think they heard you inside the castle."

"Did you just say Cole sent Drake?" Phoebe hissed, staring in disbelief at the baffled wolf.

"I thought you knew since he helped Piper and Leo too."

"I didn't, because he couldn't have. Because Piper would have said if she…" Phoebe faltered, took an unsteady step back and leaned heavily against the spruce for support. What had Piper said? 'An old friend…' What was it Drake said? 'A little bird…' How come she had never realized that it could be only one? How else would Drake have known so much about what she liked and where she wanted to go? Only one man knew her to the core of her heart and soul. So that was what the emissary had meant when she accused Cole of meddling, she thought. "I felt him," she breathed, slowly sinking down to sit in the snow. "I thought I felt him in the room… He was really there, wasn't he?"

"Yes. He spoke to your sister. Didn't she tell you?"

"No!" Agitated and furious at the same time, Phoebe surged back to her feet, disturbing the snow on the laden branches, making it fall off in silent cascades around and over them. "Why?"

"Told you." Tes shook the snow off her back and head. "He wanted you to be able to love again, so you didn't have to share his fate."

"Then why did he talk to Piper?"

The wolf gave her an amused look. "Would you have listened?"

"Yes…No… I don't know! Why didn't Piper tell me?"

"I don't know. You should ask her."

"Oh, I will!"

"Ask Piper what?"

Startled, Phoebe swung around to stare at him, her effort to comprehend the incomprehensible ripe on her face. "You? It was you?" Her eyes flickered over him, a thousand things registering at the same time, and then her right fist shot out to land on his face, hard enough to make him take a step back.

"Ow!" He dabbed at his cracked lip. "What was that for?"

"For meddling in my life!" Hands balling into fists, Phoebe went after him. "For sending demons into my house, to love me!" Pummeling his chest, she pushed him up against the tree trunk, sending more snow down over them. "Damn it, Cole! Who do you think you are? Cyrano? You just couldn't stay away, could you? You just had to…ouff!"

"You ungrateful, conceited, selfish little witch!" Tes was standing over her in the snow, teeth showing in a ferocious snarl. "For someone with the gifts of both premonition and empathy, you are amazingly clueless to the fact that the reason you can't hold on to love is because you're too afraid to let go of yourself."

"Tes!" Cole's voice was sharp and angry. "Enough! Get off her!"

Still snarling, the werewolf stepped back to let her up.

Letting go of Cole's offered hand the instant she was up, Phoebe took a step back to brush the snow off her clothes.

"Phoebe, I'm sorry, she didn't mean…" he began, but her sharp gesture broke him off.

"Yes she did, but not now, Cole. Let's just forget for the moment about this. We need to do what we came here for first." Taking a deep breath, she shook her hair free and pulled the hood back up. "Did you find a way to get us in?"

Cole's eyes fixed her in an odd way. "Not the one I had hoped for, but this will work just as well."

"So why aren't we there yet?"

Cole kept eyeing her, his left thumb rubbing the palm of his right hand. "Small change of plans, but you'll be with your sisters soon."

"Change of plans?" Beginning to think something was amiss, Phoebe pulled back a little. He looked like a storm brewing; his ocean-colored eyes were dark like troubled water, and his jaw clenched as if he was gathering up strength. "Is there something I should know? Because now would be a good time to tell me."

Unwavering, his intense eyes gazed down at her. "Remember who I am, Phoebe – remember who you are. What you are."

A frown creased Phoebe's forehead beneath the fur-lined hood. The intense way he said that set off an alarm bell in her head. She got the feeling that he was asking her to hold the rope while he jumped over the cliff, and that he would take that jump whether she held it or not. "Cole…" she whispered. "What are you doing?"

His hands were clenching. "I'm trying to do what's right," he told her gravely.

Whatever happens next, however bad it may seem; trust that I am on your side.

She barely registered the hand that shot out to clip her under the chin, barely touching the knock out spot but hitting it hard enough to put the lights out. The last thing she saw was the look in his eyes, and then things just went black.

With a grim look, Cole caught her as she went limp, and gathered her up in his arms.

I'm sorry, Phoebe. But if you knew what I am about to do, you would try and stop me and I can't allow that.

"Why?" Tes gave him a questioning look.

"I had to." Putting his nose into her hair he breathed in the scent of orange flowers that always seemed to surround her. I hope you will find a way to forgive me. "Why did you tell her about Drake?"

"I thought she would trust you better if she knew…"

Cole shook his head. "Tes… You don't know what you have done."

"Did I screw up?" The werewolf seemed to shrink a little.

"You couldn't know… Phoebe is the bravest soul I know; there's only one thing she runs away from."

"And that is?"

"Herself." Giving the unconscious witch in his arms another look, Cole sighed, and then he straightened back up. "If Phoebe gets into trouble, I may not be able to come to her aid, Tes. I want you to stay as close to her as you can; protect her. Will you promise me that?"

"I promise."

"Okay, then. Ready to enter the hell that did freeze over?

Tes stepped up to his side, rubbing against his thigh. "I'll go any place with you, you know that."

"And I am grateful, Tes. You've been a good friend."

Some more snow rustled to the ground from the boughs, falling into the empty footprints in the snow beneath the spruces; glittering in the colorful curtains of the Northern Lights that sparkled and danced across the midwinter sky.