Title: Charmed and Dangerous

Leo dressed quickly after servicing the Queen; this time, she was the one ushering him out the door. Wrapped in red silken sheets, she tossed him his shirt. "Don't you dare return without the Armai'ach," she said.

"I gave you my word that I'd retrieve it, my Queen," said Leo, putting it on. "Have I ever failed you?"

"No," said the Queen, gazing up at him through her dark lashes. "You have been such a faithful son." Her ruby lips parted into a smile. "You'll reap the benefits when I walk the Earth again."

Leo smiled, even though his mind was back in his chambers with Piper– if she was still there. He hadn't been aware that Piper had any interest in siring Prue's friend. If Piper was trying to make a point to Leo, well, he got it. Loud and clear.

She reached over to her bedside table, and opened a large carved box. The Queen took out two sets of burnished silver cuffs, one per wrist, inscribed with runes. She handed the four bracelets to Leo. "These should help you with the witch and the demon."

Leo studied the cuffs; they were so strongly enchanted that they practically vibrated in his hand. "Where did you get these, my Queen?"

"A gift from a friend," she said. "One who has been very helpful over the years. No more questions." The Queen called Leo to her for one final kiss; he obeyed. "Make me proud, my child."

Piper tossed one of Leo's leather jackets onto Gary and led him through Čachtice. The night was at its darkest, and the realm at its emptiest. The bars were closed and the humans brave enough to go downtown were finding their ways home, but there was one place that stayed open all hours.

Amaranthine was the unofficial name of the bar the vampires maintained at Čachtice. The Queen had become jealous of watching her servants flitter out to the hotspots at night, so her children had built her a facsimile of the real thing when she needed an escape. There was a long bar with stools, and a few pub tables occupied by a handful of vampires. All of the light bulbs had been painted red, bathing the room in blood. But it was probably the cages that set it apart from the rest of the pubs like it.

Two girls and a boy, no older than drinking age, were crowded into something zoo-like with bars. Gary could hear the throb of their hearts from the moment he walked in. "Who do you want?" Piper whispered.

Every vampire hunter feared this moment, of potentially being sired. Gary and his sister were taught that even though they would be overwhelmed by the evil inclination, it was better to sacrifice themselves than to become a vampire. Gary's sister had been too weak to do so, and his entire family was dead because of it. He knew what he needed to do.

Piper waited behind him, her body brushing against Gary's just enough to throw his senses into overdrive. His own body was screaming for a million things. "You choose," he said.

Piper sauntered over to the cage. The lock opened at her touch. She yanked one of the girls out by the shoulder. The girl trembled, squeezing her eyes shut. Gary felt like every cell in his body was lunging towards her, aching for her, in an attempt to swallow the girl whole.

"Don't be afraid," said Piper, running her hands through the girl's hair. "You think you know what to expect, but you have no idea… it's better than you could dream of."

"I used to dream of a lot of things," Gary murmured. He heard himself lisping through his fangs.

Surprise crossed Piper's face, followed by… something dark that Gary couldn't put his finger on. She grabbed the girl's hair and held her neck taut; even in the dark Gary could see her veins throbbing. "If you've ever dreamed of freedom," said Piper, "this is what it tastes like."

A lifetime of fighting vampires had led to nothing, absolutely nothing. Was the world a better place than it had been four years ago? The dim red lights of Amaranthine reflected the way Gary looked at the world now. If he was dead either way, shouldn't he enjoy himself?

Gary tore into the girl, and the world sharpened into focus. He discovered Piper was right. His parents had been wrong about everything. And as Gary gasped at the final beat of his heart, he felt a flood of euphoria rush through him.

Gary drank heavily from the girl, gnawing at her neck to draw more blood. Piper's hand grazed his shoulders, pulling him back. "Good boy."

He dropped the body and turned to face his sire. Piper kissed the blood off Gary's lips, before sinking into a longer, hungrier kiss. When she pulled away from him, both of their lips were stained pink. "What was…" he tried to say, but the words died in his throat.

"Just a little lesson," said Piper, licking her lips. "What's the undead body for? Purely for pleasure." Piper swiped a stray drop of blood from Gary's chin and sucked it off her finger. "When the Queen rises, it's going to be a never ending party… and I think you should invite Paige to join us."

When Piper and Gary returned to her chambers, Leo was already there, waiting in his armchair. "Having a good time?" His tone was light, but his grip on his armrest was white-knuckled.

"We were. His conversion is sealed," said Piper. "Did you and the Queen enjoy yourselves?"

"It's time to attack the manor." Leo stood and looked over Gary, scowling. "Is he wearing my jacket?"

"I thought we were giving them another hour," said Piper.

Leo shook his head, smiling. "Now why would we do that, when we could surprise them?"

Prue flipped to the first page of The Book of Shadows. Her mind was racing: Gary was with Leo and Piper, Cole had disappeared. Her only allies were her estranged dead sister, and her newly discovered other sister. Prue felt like grabbing the Book and chucking it out the window, along with some heavy furniture, but she was afraid if she unleashed all of the rage simmering within her, it would never stop pouring out.

Paige and Phoebe crowded around her. "So when we say this spell, I'll be a witch?" said Paige. "And I'll have premonitions like Gary?"

"Right," said Phoebe. "The middle sister has the power to freeze time."

Prue wondered what Piper would have been like as a witch. As a human she'd been so nervous and eager to please; how would studying the craft with her sisters have changed her? Prue pushed those thoughts away. The unfulfilled promise was just too painful.

Phoebe and Paige crowded around Prue, looking at the Book. "You should say it, Paige," said Phoebe. For the first time that evening, she didn't sound like a robot. "Prue's already a witch, and you'll still be one after… I'm gone."

Paige nodded, and began to recite:

"Hear now the words of the witches,

The secrets we hid in the night.

The oldest of Gods are invoked here.

The great work of Magic is sought.

In this night and in this hour,

I call upon the Ancient Power.

Bring your powers to we sisters three!

We want the power!

Give us the power!"

The lights dimmed, and a sudden burst of wind blew through the attic. Twinkling white lights floated around the chandelier. Prue looked at her sisters; Paige's mouth was half-open with awe. Phoebe looked serene, beaming at the lights. It was a beautiful moment.

But with any moment involving her sisters, Prue felt the presence of the missing one more than ever.

The twinkling lights faded. The sisters looked at one another. "Wow," said Paige. "That was pretty cool."

Cole reappeared in the attic as suddenly as he'd disappeared, although this time not in a ball of flames. Paige grabbed her chest, but didn't scream. "What happened?" asked Prue.

"Just my bosses checking in," he said. "Nothing to worry about."

Phoebe flipped through the pages of the Book, barely looking up at Cole. "Prue, don't concern yourself with him," said Phoebe. "We need to find a spell to destroy the Armai'aich."

"So you've awoken the Power of Three," Cole said slowly. "But what about Gary? Can you really trust Leo and Piper not to hurt him?"

"That's what I've been saying!" said Paige.

Phoebe looked at Cole, drumming her fingers on the page. "Why are you so interested in saving a mortal?"

"Phoebe, cut it out," said Prue.

"Who cares why he wants to help?" asked Paige. "At least he wants to do something to help Gary, unlike you." Paige reached out to grab the Book– and gasped, freezing in place her eyes snapping shut.

Prue and Phoebe exchanged a look. "Premonition," said Phoebe.

Paige's eyes flew open. She took in a deep breath, looking like she was trying not to panic. "What did you see, Paige?" asked Phoebe.

Paige shook her head, fighting back tears. "Gary…"

Prue's heart sank. "What? What happened to Gary?"

At that moment, three bats pierced through the attic window with such speed they shattered it. Shape shifting before their eyes, Prue stared back at Leo, Piper, and–

"Oh, God, no," said Prue when she laid her eyes upon Gary. He already looked different; Prue couldn't explain how vampirism filled the features with a gaunt, grasping hunger, but somehow Gary now resembled Piper more than she did.

"Don't let them get the Armai'ach!" said Phoebe.

Cole shimmered across the room to grab the tablet; Leo backhanded him, sending him flying across the room. Cole connected with the couch, slamming it back into a corner's worth of antiques.

Prue and Leo met each other's gaze, and both made a run for the Armai'ach. Piper was about to as well, until she saw Phoebe. Her mouth dropped open. "Oh my God," she said. "Are you… real?"

Phoebe smiled. "Very real, sis." She reached into her sleeve and pulled out a stake. "Now it's time to send you to Hell. Where you belong."

Prue waved her arm, and sent the Armai'ach flying into her arms. Leo shifted course, running towards her. She activated her astral projection, reappearing in the farthest corner of the room. Prue hurled the stone as hard as she could before Leo hit her like a freight train from the left. Her astral self caught the Armai'ach.

Leo knocked Prue to the floor, hard enough to break her left arm and bruise her entire side. She couldn't move it; it hung helplessly at her side, screaming with pain. "Stupid witch. The last thing anyone needs is two of you," Leo snarled. Pressed on top of her, he punched her in the face once, twice. Prue cried out, and lost her concentration. Her astral self disappeared. Cole shimmered into place just in time to catch the Armai'ach before it hit the floor.

Gary charged towards Paige. Looking around wildly, Paige grabbed a water bottle full of holy water and squeezed it hard. The water sizzled and turned Gary's skin flaming red. "Don't do this, Paige," he said, hissing through the pain as he grabbed her by the neck.

Piper laughed and batted the stake out of Phoebe's hand. "I guess you have some hard feelings about the way we left things between us?" Piper moved to strike Phoebe again, but her baby sister got there first, punching Piper in the stomach hard enough for her to keel over. She brought her fists together and thumped them down on Piper's back, sending her to the floor.

"This isn't you, Gary," said Paige, trying to claw his hand off her neck. "You can fight it!"

Gary laughed. "There's nothing to fight. Don't worry, you'll see." In a quick, fluid movement, Gary released his hold on Paige and tore off the bandage he'd placed there the night before, before sinking his fangs into the holes Leo had already made.

"No, please!" screamed Paige. No one came to save her.

Leo reached into his pocket and pulled out two burnished silver cuffs. He threw them like small Frisbees; they flew over to Cole, snapping around his wrists.

Prue waved her hand as high as she could lift it, telekinetically throwing Leo across the room. The vampire nearly hit the stand with the Book of Shadows, but the book's wards bounced him across the attic. Leo caught himself by the ledge just before he sailed out the broken window.

Before Piper could move, Phoebe kicked her in the face, sliding her across the attic floor. Piper growled as she slid to a stop, transforming into a bat. She darted to Phoebe and started buzzing about her face. Quickly she transformed again, inches from Phoebe. Piper grabbed her by the shirt collar and punched her square in the face, before throwing her into a bookcase. When Phoebe hit the ground, her eyes were closed and she made no attempt to get back up. Piper moved towards her, but Phoebe's body dissolved into blue orbs, shooting up and out of sight.

Prue spat, leaving a puddle of blood and one of her back teeth on the floor. Cole raised his arm back to throw an energy ball– but nothing happened. He grimaced at the cuffs. "Anti-magic bonds," he told her. "I've got no powers."

Something cold and tight wrapped around her wrists. Prue looked down to see the bonds around her own hands, just as Leo lifted her up by the neck. She tried to astral project; it felt like turning the engine on a car out of gas. "Remember our last time up here, Prue?" he said. "Feels familiar, doesn't it?"

Prue's heart sank. She had failed. No, she thought, it felt worse.