Blessing In Disguise

[noazmale]

CHARMED
“Blessing In Disguise”
By J. B. Tilton
Email: [e-mail]
Rating: K

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Disclaimer: “Charmed” and all related characters and events are the property of the WB television network, except for those characters specifically created for this story. This is a work of fan fiction and no infringement of copyright is intended.

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(Authors’ note: This story takes place between season 4 episodes “Hell Hath No Furry” and “Enter The Demon”.)

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When Paige is attacked by a demon, a homeless man comes to her aid, leading the Charmed Ones to a house in the neighborhood inhabited by demons.

* * *

ONE

Paige came out of the electric company office and looked around the street. She had been able to get the electric bill paid before they had disconnected her. It was the same every month. The bills came in in plenty of time and yet she always seemed to wait until the last minute to pay them. Then she’d have to rush around and hope she got to the offices in time to prevent them from disconnecting her services.

And things were even crazier now. It was a mere three weeks ago that she had been nothing more than a social worker for the Bay Area Social Services. Then, two weeks ago, she had discovered she had an entire family she had never known about. And she was a witch ad half White Lighter to boot. It was a great deal to take in and she still wasn’t sure she had adjusted to it all.

Piper, especially, seemed to resent her. She really couldn’t blame her. She had dealt with enough people to know Piper had her own issues to deal with. Her eldest sister killed fighting demons she had suddenly discovered a younger sister. Well, half sister really. And it must seem to her like was trying to replace that sister even though that would never be possible. Slow and easy, that was the way to take things until everyone was comfortable with the changes that had taken place.

She turned and hurried up an alley. It was a shortcut she often took to get back to her office. If she hurried she’d get back before her lunch hour was over. God knows she was late often enough. And she was not interested in listening to her boss lecture her yet again on the importance of punctuality. Suddenly a figure stepped out from behind a nearby dumpster startling her.

“Oh, lord,” she gasped. “You scared me. I didn’t see you there.”

“You weren’t meant to, witch.”

The man swung out and struck her across the face with the back of his hand. Paige was knocked back across the alley and slumped against the wall. Other than a sore jaw she seemed to be unhurt. She looked as the man drew an athame out of his belt.

Demon, she thought. She hadn’t seen that many demons but he had called her a witch. It wasn’t hard to figure out that this “man” must be a demon come to kill her. Instinctively she orbed out but immediately orbed back into place. Leo had told her she would eventually learn to orb properly but that would take time. Time she did not have at the moment.

“White Lighter?” questioned the demon. “How can you be a White Lighter? You’re a witch.”

“I’m both, slime ball,” said Paige. “Dumpster.”

She extended her hand and the dumpster the demon had been hiding behind suddenly sprang to life and slid across the alley. It struck the demon from behind sending him sprawling away from Paige. The athame he was holding was knocked from his grasp as he rolled with the blow.

Paige stood up and gauged her distance to the street beyond. If she could make it to the street the demon wouldn’t dare attack with so many people around. She turned and headed for the street, running as fast as she could run. Suddenly the demon shimmered and appeared in front of her, athame in hand.

“You don’t get away that easily, witch.”

The demon struck out with the athame. Paige brought her hands up in a reflex action to fend off the weapon. The tip of the blade cut through her skin creating a gash from her elbow to her wrist. It wasn’t deep and if she had it treated right away she might even escape without a scar. But at the moment her only thought was to get away from the demon.

“Don’t fight me, witch. I want you alive. You’re worth a great deal to me alive. Kumak wants a live witch for his experiments. You aren’t worth anything at all dead.”

The demon began to advance on Paige holding the athame menacingly. Paige glanced around but saw no way to escape. There was nothing close by she could use as a weapon and her orbing was of little use to her. Desperately she tried to think of a spell that would help but she had little practice with spells.

Suddenly a figure rushed past her and struck the demon full in the chest. The demon went sprawling on the alley and the athame it was holding was knocked from its grasp. As the demon came up on his knees a very large dog stood in front of him, its ears laid back, snarling, and showing a mouthful of extremely sharp teeth.

“A canine?” questioned the demon. “You have no canine with you.”

“It’s not hers,” said a man picking up the athame the demon had dropped. “And if you don’t want Sheba to tear out your throat you’ll sit there quietly until the police arrive.”

The demon eyed the human. He had picked up the athame by the tip and stood holding it in a manner that suggested he was ready to throw it if the demon made a move. And at that distance not even a human could miss.

“There will be another time, witch,” said the demon. Suddenly he shimmered and was gone.

“What the?” questioned the man. The dog looked around for the demon. “How did he do that?”

“It’s hard to explain,” said Paige, nursing her wounded arm. “It would probably be best if you just forgot all about it.”

“You’re hurt,” said the man, pulling a shirt out of a knapsack he was wearing. He handed the shirt to Paige and she used it to wrap around her cut arm. “That’s probably going to need stitches. We’d better get you to the hospital.”

“Oh, uh, I’ll be okay. I have a relative who’s a doctor. I think I can drive well enough to get home and let him have a look at it.”

The man appeared to be about thirty years old. His clothes were dirty but seemed to be in reasonably good shape. His hair was long and unkempt and he was badly in need of a shave. The knapsack he was carrying seemed to be filled to capacity and he was leaning on a cane.

“This is an interesting knife,” said the man. “Not sure I’ve seen anything like it before.”

“It’s called an athame. Oh, my name is Paige Matthews.”

“Scott. Scott Drayson. Well, Paige Matthews, you’d better go have that arm looked at. I imagine it hurts pretty bad.”

“Yeah, it does. Where can I get hold of you? I’d like to replace the shirt you let me borrow.”

“Don’t bother,” said Drayson. “It’s no big deal. Come on, Sheba. Let’s leave Miss Matthews alone so she can get some medical help.”

Paige just watched as the man partially limped up the alley with the dog close at his side. Paige winced at the pain in her arm as she watched her benefactor move away from her. As he disappeared down the alley she turned and headed for her car.

[noazmale]

TWO

“It’s a good thing you came by here as fast as you did,” said Leo as he healed Paige’s arm. “This was pretty serious.”

“That healing thing is really handy,” said Paige. “Sure wish I had that ability.”

“You are half White Lighter,” said Phoebe. “Who knows? Maybe that will be one of your powers eventually.”

“It is a possibility,” said Leo.

“Who was this demon that attacked you?” Cole asked.

“He didn’t bother to introduce himself,” said Paige. “But he did mention someone named Kumak. Something about wanting a live witch to experiment on.”

“Cole, do you know this Kumak?” Piper asked.

“Not personally,” said Cole. “I’ve heard of him, though. He’s not a demon. He’s an alchemist. He often hires demonic bounty hunters and mercenaries to get him things he can’t get himself. If he’s after a live witch it can’t be good.”

“You were just lucky you were able to get away from him,” said Phoebe. “It’s unusual for a demon to attack in broad daylight like that.”

“I didn’t exactly get away,” said Paige. “I thought I was dead when this homeless guy just showed up out of nowhere and saved me.”

“Homeless guy?” Piper questioned.

“Yeah,” said Paige. “He had this dog with him. The dog attacked the demon without any hesitation and then stood guard over the demon. I swear if the demon had moved I think the dog would have ripped him to shreds.”

“It probably would have,” said Cole. “Many animals can sense demons no matter what form they take. Especially dogs. And they can sense the evil inherent in demons.”

“Well,” continued Paige, “Scott picked up the athame the demon had dropped. When the demon saw that it just shimmered away.”

“Scott?” Phoebe questioned.

“Scott Drayson,” said Paige. “That’s what he said his name was. Then he took his dog and walked away. Well, he didn’t exactly walk. He was limping. And he carried a cane. I think he was suffering from an old injury or something.”

“I think I know him,” said Piper.

“You do?” Cole asked.

“Well, I don’t actually know him,” said Phoebe. “There’s a house a couple of blocks over. I remember the name on the mailbox out front said ‘Drayson’ on it. And if I remember correctly the man who used to live there started walking with a cane just before he moved out.”

“What makes you remember that particular house?” Leo asked.

“It has a real fancy mailbox out on the street,” said Phoebe. “It looks like a barn or something. I remember thinking it would be cool if we had one like that. And if I remember right the man had a dog, too.”

“You think it’s the same man?” Paige asked.

“It sounds like it,” said Piper. “If this guy has a house how come he’s homeless?”

“Maybe there’s more to this than just some homeless guy helping Paige,” suggested Cole. “Maybe the demon attack was part of some elaborate plan. It is odd that a demo would attack during the day out in public. They don’t want to expose themselves or magic to the world any more than you do.”

“But why have a demon attack Paige only to have this Drayson save her?” Piper questioned.

“I don’t know,” said Cole. “If it is a demonic plan you’d better find out what it is. Most demons don’t go through such elaborate planes. Most of them prefer a more direct approach. The demons who would set up a plan this elaborate are very powerful and very dangerous.”

“Which means we need to find Mr. Scott Drayson,” said Piper.

“That’s not going to be easy, “said Paige. “When I asked him how to get hold of him to replace the shirt he loaned me he brushed me off. I have no idea where he is or how to find him.”

“I might be able to help there,” said Leo. “I can check out places where the homeless gather. It shouldn’t be hard to find him. There can’t be that many homeless men who have a dog.”

“You might be surprised,” said Paige. “A lot of them have pets. Many homeless have no choice being homeless and having a pet makes them less lonely.”

“Okay,” said Leo. “What kind of dog did he have? That might make it easier to locate him.”

“I don’t know,” said Paige, somewhat annoyed. “Just a dog. I was paying more attention to the demon that was trying to kill me at the moment.”

“Calm down, Paige, “said Phoebe. “Leo wasn’t making light of your being attacked by a demon. But if this is a demonic plan it’s best if he finds Drayson as soon as possible.”

“We should also check out his house,” said Cole. “Even though it’s been empty for a while there might be something there that could give us a clue what demon is involved and what it’s up to.”

“We will check it out,” said Phoebe. “You’re staying here. With every demon in the Underworld looking for you it’s not a good idea for you to be wandering around the city.”

“Look if this is a demonic plan,” began Cole.

“We’re more than capable of handling it,” finished Piper. “And we don’t need the added problem of having to protect you as well.”

“I’m quite capable of protecting myself,” said Cole.

“And there’s no sense putting that to the test unless we absolutely have to,” said Piper. “Besides, all we’re going to do is check out his house. I doubt we’ll find anything of interest anyway. But it’s best if you stay here until we find out what’s going on.”

“I might be able to find out what demon is behind this,” protested Cole.

“Well, once we’ve figured out if a demon is behind it,” said Phoebe, “then we might need your help figuring out which one it is. Right now we aren’t sure what’s going on. There’s no need to put you in any danger until we’re sure.”

“You might as well just agree, Cole,” said Leo. “You know as well as I do that once the girls set their mind to something no one is going to change them.”

“Just be careful,” said Cole. “This could be exactly what the demons behind this want you to do.”

“Oh, we’ve all ready thought of that,” said Piper. “That’s why we’re all three going to the house.”

“What?” questioned Paige. “I can’t. I have to get back to work. I’m all ready late as it is.”

“It will have to wait,” said Piper. “We don’t know what we’re up against. It’s going to be a lot safer with all of us there.”

“And what do I tell my boss?” asked Paige.

“Well,” said Phoebe, “a demon attacked you in public once. If it’s desperate enough it might even attack you at work. Care to explain that to your boss?”

“Oh, I hadn’t thought about that,” said Paige. “That wouldn’t be good.”

“Look,” said Piper, “just call your boss and make up something. As soon as you’re ready we’ll go check out Drayson’s home. Leo, you’d better go see if you can find Drayson. If he isn’t a demon he could be in danger, especially since he stopped a demon from getting Paige.”

Leo orbed out of the manor as Paige headed for the kitchen to call her boss.

“Okay,” said Cole to Phoebe, “you know as well as I do that a demon is very unlikely to attack in a crowded office.”

“True,” said Phoebe, “but it did get Paige to change her mind. Just a little white lie to forestall any arguments she might have had. After all, she’s still getting used to being a witch. We need to give her time to adjust.”

“We didn’t get that much time,” said Piper. “She needs to learn that fighting demons comes first and she needs to learn it now.”

“I’m sure she will,” said Phoebe. “Let’s just give her some more time.”

In a few minutes Paige would come out of the kitchen and the three sisters could go check out Drayson’s home.

[noazmale]

THREE

“I thought you said the house was empty?” Piper questioned as they stood in front of the Drayson’s house. “It looks like someone has been taking pretty good care of it.”

“I didn’t say it was empty,” said Phoebe. “I said the guy who lived here moved out. It was empty the last time I was past here. Of course, that was a couple of years ago. I haven’t had much cause to come by here lately.”

“Well, Piper’s right,” said Paige. “The yard is immaculately tended, those flowers look new, and it even looks like it’s had a fresh coat of paint recently. Whoever’s here now seems to be taking real good care of it.”

“Maybe no one lives here,” said Piper. “Maybe whoever owns it now it just fixing it up to sell it.”

“I don’t think so,” said Phoebe. “There appears to be mail in the mailbox. If it’s been empty since Drayson moved out there shouldn’t be any mail.”

“Maybe someone bought the house,” said Piper. “It’s possible they’re the ones who are keeping the place fixed up.”

“We aren’t going to learn anything standing out here,” said Paige. “If we’re going to learn anything we’ll have to go inside.”

“That may not be a good idea,” said Phoebe. “If someone lives here they might still be home. It would be hard to explain why we’re breaking into their home.”

“Can I help you?”

They all turned to see a young woman standing at the corner of the house. She looked to be about Piper’s age and she was dressed casually. She stood smiling at the sisters.

“Hello,” said Phoebe. “We, uh, we were driving by and noticed the house. It’s very beautiful. I really like the pillars out front. Kind of makes it look like those old southern plantations we’ve seen in pictures.”

“Why thank you,” said the woman. “My husband and I are very proud of it. We’ve spent a great deal of time and money fixing it up. When we moved in it was in dreadful shape. So you just stopped by to admire the house, Miss . . . .”

“Oh, I’m sorry,” said Phoebe. “I’m Phoebe Halliwell. These are my sisters, Piper and Paige.”

“Melissa Albert,” said the woman. “Pleased to make your acquaintance.”

“Actually,” said Paige, “we’ve been looking for a new house. Piper recently got married and they’ve been looking for a bigger place. We thought this place might be for sale.”

“Oh, I’m afraid not,” said Albert. “My husband and I searched a long time to find just the perfect place to make our home. We plan to live here for a very long time.”

“It was just a thought,” said Paige. “How long have you lived here?”

“About five years,” said Albert.

“You certainly have done a magnificent job fixing up the house,” said Piper. “I guess Leo – that’s my husband – and I will have to keep looking.”

“Well, I certainly wish you luck,” said Albert. “Houses like this aren’t easy to find.”

“No, they aren’t,” said Phoebe.

“What does your husband do for a living?” Paige asked.

“He’s a city official,” said Albert. “He works in the tax department for the city.”

“Well, best of luck to both of you,” said Piper. “We really should be going now. We, uh, promised to meet Leo downtown. Wouldn’t want to keep him waiting.”

“Thank you for your time,” said Phoebe. “We’ve enjoyed it very much.”

“My pleasure,” said Albert. “I hope you find a house that suits your needs.”

“Thank you,” said Piper.

The sisters walked back to Piper’s car and got in. As Piper started the car and drove away, a man walked out from behind the house and stood next to Albert.

“Who was that?” the man asked.

“Oh, just someone looking at the house,” said Mrs. Albert. “They said they were looking to buy a house and they thought this one might be for sale.”

“That’s odd,” said the man. “Why would they think the house was for sale? There’s no ‘for sale’ sign out front nor any other indication the house might be for sale.”

“Probably just wishful thinking,” said Mrs. Albert. “They seemed nice enough. Apparently one of them got married recently and they were looking for a bigger house for her and her new husband.”

“Any idea who they are?” asked the man.

“Halliwell,” said Mrs. Albert. “Phoebe Halliwell and her two sisters.”

“Halliwell?” questioned the man, fear evident in his voice. “You fool. They weren’t looking for a house to buy. Those are the Charmed Ones. If they were checking out the house they must know we’re here. We’ll have to contact the others and let them know.”

“The Charmed Ones?” questioned Mrs. Albert. “I didn’t know. Why do you think they just left like they did? Why didn’t they do anything?”

“I don’t know,” said the man. “But it can’t be coincidence they were here. Get back inside. And don’t talk to anyone else. Not until I can talk to the others and we figure out what to do.”

As Piper drove back to the manor, Paige looked out the back window of the car.

“There’s a man with her right now,” said Paige. “He came out from behind the house.”

“Strange that he didn’t come out when we were there,” said Piper. “Or that Mrs. Albert mentioned that he was home.”

“Well, she wasn’t being honest,” said Phoebe. “I know they haven’t lived there for five years. I know for a fact that Mr. Drayson was there at least two or three years ago.”

“She didn’t say they had lived there for five years,” said Paige. “She said they bought the house five years ago. They may not have moved in until recently.”

“That’s not the impression I got,” said Piper. “The way she was talking it sounded like they had been living there the last five years.”

“It doesn’t make sense,” said Paige. “What does a homeless man have to do with the couple living at the house now? And if they are connected why would he move out only to have them move in?”

“We don’t know they are connected,” said Piper. “For that matter, we really don’t know if this is even demonically related. Other than the demon that attacked you there’s no indication that any of the others are demons.”

“What else could it be?” Phoebe asked.

“I don’t know,” said Piper. “Until Leo locates this Drayson and we can ask him some questions we probably aren’t going to learn a whole lot. We need to get back to the manor so we can find out what Leo has learned when he gets back.

“Paige, do you need to be getting back to work?” Piper asked.

“No,” said Paige. “I told my boss I was the victim of an attempted mugging and that I had to spend some time at the police station. Which isn’t really that far from the truth.”

Piper drove back to the manor to see if Leo had returned yet. While she drove back she wondered what was so important about that house.

[noazmale]

FOUR

“And you’re sure they haven’t lived there for five years?” Cole asked when the girls told him what they had learned.

“I’m positive,” said Phoebe. “In one of my college classes I had to do some community service to get credit for the course. I had to drive past that house every day to do the community service. I know Drayson was still there then. That was about two years ago or so.”

“It doesn’t make sense that they’d lie about something like that,” said Cole. “There’s no reason to lie about how long you’ve lived somewhere.”

“Unless they’re hiding something,” said Piper. “The question is, what are they hiding?”

“Maybe I can find out something,” said Cole. “I can check with the district clerk’s office and get some information about the house. That might give us a clue about what’s going on.”

“Isn’t that dangerous?” Phoebe asked. “Not even counting the demons after you, if someone at the district clerk’s office recognizes you that could cause a whole lot of other problems.”

“Relax, it’s not going to be a problem,” said Cole. “I can call and get all the information I need.”

“You think they’ll give you any information?” Piper asked.

“Absolutely,” said Cole. “The kind of information I’ll be asking about is called public knowledge. Anything on file with the district clerk’s office is in the public domain which means anyone can get the information. I won’t even have to identify myself.”

“Well, I guess that will be okay,” said Phoebe.

Just then Leo orbed into the manor.

“I’ll use the phone in the kitchen,” said Cole. “I’ll let you know what I’ll find out.”

“Did you find Drayson?” Piper asked Leo.

“Not exactly,” said Leo. “I was able to locate a couple of homeless guys with dogs but none that fit Paige’s description. You’d be surprised how many homeless men there are in this city.”

“Well, we found something very odd,” said Piper. “We checked out Drayson’s house. There’s a couple living there that claim they’ve lived there for five years.”

“But didn’t Phoebe say that Drayson had lived there until just a couple of years ago?” Leo asked.

“Yes,” said Phoebe. “That’s what’s so odd about it. There’s no reason for them to lie about something like that. Cole’s checking out the house right now to see if he can find out anything about it.”

“Well, we still need to find Drayson,” said Piper. “Leo, do you think you can search some more for him?”

“I can try,” said Leo, “but it’s not going to be easy. Homeless people rarely stay in one place very long. Even when they stay in a shelter or mission they’ll move around. It’s the proverbial needle in the haystack. If I get lucky I might find him but there are no guarantees.”

“Paige, is there anything else you can tell us about him that might help Leo find him?” Piper asked.

“Not, not really,” said Paige. “He needed a bath and a shave and his clothes needed cleaning but other than that there’s nothing that jumps out about him. Other than the dog he had with him. I really wasn’t paying that much attention to him. My arm was hurting and I wanted to get here so Leo could heal my wound.”

“The wound,” said Phoebe. “You had a shirt wrapped around it when you got here. You said Drayson gave you the shirt.”

“Yes,” said Paige. “I was bleeding pretty badly. He gave me the shirt to staunch the bleeding.”

“That’s it,” said Phoebe. “I can use the shirt to scry for him. With any luck we should be able to locate him pretty quickly. If he’s mortal there shouldn’t be any magic to block the scry.”

“If he’s mortal,” said Piper. “If he’s not we might have a problem.”

“It’s worth a try,” said Phoebe. “We don’t have anything to loose.”

“Can you really do that?” Paige asked. “Use the shirt he gave me to find him?”

“It’s possibility,” said Piper. “I think the shirt is in the trash. It was so bloody I didn’t think it was good for anything else. Phoebe, you get the map and the crystal and I’ll get the shirt. Leo, as soon as we locate him you’ll need to orb us there so we can have a chat with him.”

“That may not be a good idea,” said Leo. “Homeless people are used to being picked on. If we all go there it might make him nervous. We might not get any information out of him we can use.”

“Leo’s right,” said Paige. “We don’t want to spook him especially if he’s not a demon. I think Leo and I should go alone. Leo can orb me there and he all ready knows me. In fact, he saved my life. He might be more talkative if I talk to him alone.”

“Just be careful,” said Piper. “He might be a demon and it could be dangerous. If there’s any hint of danger, Leo, you’re to orb her out of there immediately.”

“We have to find him first,” said Leo.

“I have the map and the crystal,” said Phoebe. “Piper, get the shirt. I think we’ll get a good reading from it.”

As Piper went to get the shirt, Cole came out of the kitchen. He had several sheets of paper in his hand.

“I found some things about Mr. Drayson’s house,” said Cole. “It was built in 1897 by Randy Drayson. Apparently it survived the big quake of 1906 with only minor damage. Drayson died in 1937 and it was inherited by his son, Jack Drayson. He died in 1999 and his son, Scott Drayson inherited it. Three years ago Scott Drayson lost it because delinquent taxes. The city took it and Drayson was evicted about six months later. It’s lain empty ever since.,”

“Well, it’s not empty now,” said Piper. “And the couple living there has done a great deal to fix it up.”

“I did discover a few interesting things about it, however,” said Cole. “It was never put up for sale by the city. That’s a little odd. Normally when the city takes a property for delinquent taxes it’s put up for sale. Either someone can pay the delinquent taxes on it, in which case they get the title to the house free and clear or the city will put it up for auction. Whoever bids the highest buys the house.

“Except in this case the paper work on the house was never put through. So it was never put up for back taxes or auction. The procedure used to dispose of the house was never used. And the different departments that handle disposition of confiscated property each think another department is handling it. It’s typical bureaucracy red tape. The departments handling the various aspect of the house’s disposition haven’t received the proper paperwork so they just file the house in some pending file. Until they get the proper paperwork it will probably sit in some filing cabinet gathering dust.”

“Typical bureaucratic laziness,” said Paige.

“Not necessarily,” said Cole. “I did find out that one of the people involved in processing the paperwork is named Spencer Albert.”

“That’s the name of the couple who are living there right now,” said Piper.

“Exactly,” said Cole. “It appears that Mr. Albert has used his position in the city government to keep the house from being sold so they can live there.”

“That’s a nice trick,” said Paige. “As long as the house is in limbo they don’t have to pay rent, a mortgage, or taxes on it. And with him being able to control the paperwork no one will ever be the wiser. All he has to do is make sure the proper paperwork is never filed and he can live there as long as he wants.”

“It’s not a bad plan,” said Leo. “They could live there forty or fifty years before anyone discovered their plan. Once one of them died the house would go into probate and it would probably be discovered what they were doing then, but until that happened no one would have a clue what was going on.”

“I doubt it,” said Cole. “More than likely, unless someone actually checked, they’d never find out what Mr. Albert had done. And he’d be able to make sure that no one checked enough to discover his plan.”

“He couldn’t do that after he died,” said Piper. “And as Leo said, once the house went into probate, what he did would probably be exposed.”

“Except our Mr. Albert would have someone in place to take care of that in case something did happen to him,” said Cole. “I don’t think we’re dealing with a corrupt public official. I think we’re dealing with demons.”

[noazmale]

FIVE

“What makes you think he’s a demon?” Leo asked.

“Because it’s not the first time demons have done something like this,” said Cole. “Part of the reason I was sent to law school was to help demons assimilate into human society easier. By helping to produce legal documents on property demons can enter human society without suspicion. Most people wouldn’t believe a demon owns a house or a restaurant or a nursery. They’ll move in and take over defunct properties while demonic lawyers prepare paperwork showing them as the legitimate owners. Once enough time has passed it just becomes accepted that they legitimately own the property and it can be very difficult to prove otherwise.”

“You sound like you’re talking from experience,” said Piper.

“I did some work like that myself on occasion,” said Cole. “My guess is that Mr. and Mrs. Albert are actually the fronts for a group of demons setting up the fake identities for other demons.”

“Setting up fake identities?” questioned Paige.”

“Yes,” said Cole. “Demons don’t have the understanding of a lot of human things that you and I take for granted. Like working together for the common good. Like emotions such as caring, love, forgiveness. Demons rule by fear and intimidation. It’s unheard of for a demon to do something without some kind of ulterior motive. They have to be trained to respond in the proper ways that most humans don’t even think about.

“There are training centers set up for just that purpose. Entire communities comprised of only demons far out of sight of humans. In these communities they’re taught the right and wrong ways to act in human society. Once they graduate, so to speak, from those communities, they’re sent to live in human cities to test their newly acquired skills. Usually under the supervision of other demons who have all ready successfully been integrated into human society.”

“Demon training schools?” questioned Piper. “That’s a new one.”

“Actually, they’re as old as society itself,” said Leo. “Demons may look human or have a human form, but without the proper training that’s where the similarities end. If they were to send an untrained demon into human society it wouldn’t take long before the demon gave itself away.”

“Exactly,” said Cole. “It can take years to properly train a demon to blend into human society. That’s one reason you rarely see demonic children in human society. For most of them it takes their entire youth to properly train them so they don’t give themselves away.”

“There are demonic children?” Paige asked.

“Being immortal doesn’t mean they can’t reproduce,” said Cole.

“So what makes you think this Albert is a demon?” Leo asked. “Other than the fact that he’s been able to get the house without paying for it?”

“Because according to his secretary,” said Cole, “He didn’t get the job until a little over three years ago. And according to her, his resume listed his previous job as working for a private financial institute called Bricker and Associates in Denver, Colorado.”

“So?” questioned Paige. “You did say that demons tried to blend into human society. It stands to reason he’d work for someone else to help establish his fake identity.”

“Except that Bricker and Associates is a front,” said Cole. “It’s a business owned and run by demons. To give demons the credentials they need to infiltrate other businesses.”

“Are you sure?” Piper asked.

“I should be,” said Cole. “I helped set the company up in the late 50s. I worked for the law firm that helped them establish the credentials they needed.”

“So the Alberts are really demons establishing a front for other demons,” said Piper.

“Yes,” said Cole. “In a few months or so his brother will move in with them after a rather nasty divorce back east. He will have moved here to get a new start. He’ll get a job, bank account, and drivers license, everything he needs to establish his identity here. Once the Alberts are convinced he can live in human society on his own he’ll get his own place. Then, after a while, another ‘relative’ will move in. This pattern will go on for years as each new demon gets established.”

“Is that how you did it?” Piper asked.

“No,” said Cole. “Unlike other demons I have a human heritage. And a human identity. And since I’m half human I understand things that most demons can never truly understand. So I needed very little training to blend into human society.”

“Got him,” said Phoebe.

They all looked over to see the crystal she had been using to scry with pointing at a point on the map.

“It looks like he’s near the waterfront,” said Phoebe.

“That makes sense,” said Leo. “There are a hundred places someone can hide down there and never be found.”

“Then you and Paige need to get to him and find out if he’s involved in this demon training school Cole described,” said Piper.

“He probably isn’t,” said Cole. “If he were, he’d be at the house with the others. My guess is he’s a mortal who just fell on hard times and the demons took advantage of it.”

“Be careful all the same,” said Piper. “This could still be a plan to get to us.”

Leo orbed himself and Paige out of the manor, heading for the docks on the waterfront.

“Cole, what else can you tell us about these demonic training schools?” Piper asked.

“Not much, I’m afraid,” said Cole. “For obvious reasons their locations are a closely guarded secret. And since I never had any reason to go to one I never learned where they were.”

“Maybe we should try to locate them,” said Phoebe. “If we could take out one of those we could stop a lot of future demons from infiltrating human society.”

“And get yourselves killed in the process,” said Cole. “I’d like to take them out as much as you would but there would be far too many demons for you to contend with. Even with the Power of Three you’d be overwhelmed by sheer numbers.”

“It was a nice thought,” said Piper. “I suppose we can think about those later. Right now we have demons in the neighborhood we need to take care of. Any idea what type of demons the Alberts are?”

“Not really,” said Cole. “It could be just about any type of medium to upper level demons. They’d have to be high enough in the echelon of the demonic hierarchy before they’d be trusted alone on the mortal plane.”

“I’ll check the Book of Shadows,” said Phoebe. “There might be something in there about them.”

“Good idea,” said Piper. “Cole, is there any way for you to learn more about the Alberts? Maybe something that might tell us who – and what – they are?”

“Well, if they’re establishing human identities,” said Cole, “they’ll want to leave a substantial paper trail to corroborate their identities. I can make a few calls and see what kinds of identities they’re establishing. It may not tell us what kinds of demons they are but it could give us something to use against them.”

“Get started on it,” said Piper. “I’m going to see what we have in the way of potion ingredients so we can make a potion to vanquish these two demons.”

Cole headed for the phone as Phoebe headed upstairs. Piper went into the kitchen to start her inventory of potion ingredients.

[noazmale]

SIX

“Someone actually lives in this place?” Paige asked as she and Leo searched through a dilapidated building on the waterfront. “This place should be condemned.”

“It probably is,” said Leo. “Homeless people don’t have a lot of choices when it comes to where they stay. There are shelters for them but sometimes those are full. And a lot of the homeless won’t accept the services they offer. They consider it charity and they’re too proud to accept charity.”

“That’s crazy,” said Paige. “You’d think they’d be appreciative of any help they could get.”

“For a lot of them it’s their last shred of self-determination,” said Leo. “They’ve lost everything. Their jobs, their families, their homes. All they have left is their pride.”

“Phoebe said he was in here,” said Paige. “But there are a hundred places he could be hiding and we’d never find him.”

“That depends on who you are and who you’re looking for,” said a voice behind them. “And what you want with them when you find them.”

They turned to see Drayson standing several feet from them holding the athame he had taken from the demon that had attacked Paige earlier. Beside him was Sheba. He was half obscured in the shadows and Leo couldn’t see him clearly.

“Scott?” Paige questioned. “It’s me, Paige Matthews. You . . . helped me earlier.”

“I remember,” said Scott. “Who’s your friend?”

“This is Leo. He’s my brother-in-law. He’s not a threat to you, I promise. He brought me here so we could find you.”

“What for? I didn’t hurt her. In fact, I stopped someone from hurting her. Didn’t she tell you that?”

“As a matter of fact, she did,” said Leo. “Look, Mr. Drayson. We’re not here to hurt you or cause you any trouble. We’d just like to ask you some questions, that’s all.”

Drayson looked down at Sheba who sat passively next to him. She didn’t appear to be a threat at all. Not like the snarling beast that had kept a demon at bay only a little while earlier.

“It’s strange,” said Drayson, looking at Leo. “Sheba doesn’t usually take to strangers very quickly. But she seems to like you. I’ve never seen her act like that so quickly before.”

“Leo has a way with animals,” said Paige. “Look, Scott, you helped me earlier. And I appreciate it. Like Leo said, we just want to talk with you for a bit.”

“You aren’t going to call the police because I’m in here?” Drayson asked.

“No police,” said Leo. “You don’t seem to be hurting anyone. It’s none of our business where you decide to hang out.”

“Okay,” said Drayson, lowering the athame. “What do you want to talk about?”

“We, uh, were curious about your house,” said Paige. “My sister remembered that you lived a couple of blocks from them. She also said you moved out a couple of years ago. We were just wondering if you knew anything about the people who live there now?”

“Moved out,” chuckled Drayson. “That’s a nice way to put it. You mean when I was throw out. My grandfather built that house before the turn of the century. My dad inherited it from him and I inherited it from my dad. Then I got behind in the taxes and they evicted me.”

“We’re sorry to hear that,” said Paige. “I know it must be hard on you. Maybe there’s something we can do to help.”

“Not unless you have fifty thousand dollars,” said Drayson. “I was told the only way to get the house back was to pay the outstanding taxes on it. I don’t have that kind of money.”

“Fifty thousand dollars?” Leo questioned. “That seems like a lot of money for some back taxes.”

“Apparently my father neglected to pay any taxes after he inherited it,” said Drayson. “That, with the interest and penalties they leveled with it, began to add up quickly.”

“Do you know the people living there now?” Paige asked.

“I didn’t know anyone was living there,” said Drayson. “I was told if I set foot on the property again I’d be arrested. I haven’t been back since. There were a couple of things I would have liked to have gotten from the house before they evicted me but I was told if I removed anything I could be arrested for theft.”

“So you wouldn’t know anything about them?” questioned Leo.

“I just said I didn’t,” said Drayson. “I guess someone picked up the house for a song. Fifty thousand dollars for that house is a steal.”

“It’s possible they didn’t,” said Paige. “We, uh, suspect that they may be living there illegally.”

“More power to them,” said Drayson. “Better they go to jail than me. I just want to be left alone.”

“Pardon me for asking,” said Paige, “but I notice you limp. And you walk with a cane.”

“I was a construction worker,” said Drayson. “After I inherited the house after my father died I was doing some work on it, fixing it up. I fell off a ladder and got hurt. I was hurt pretty bad. I was in the hospital for weeks. The medical expenses wiped out my savings and being unable to work I had nothing coming in. That’s when I got behind in the taxes. But I didn’t have any health insurance and when my money ran out so did my medical coverage. The doctor said I’d need some more surgeries to walk normal again.”

“I’m sorry,” said Paige. “I didn’t mean to pry.”

“No, it’s okay,” said Drayson. “You were polite about it. That’s more than I usually get.”

“Well, since you don’t know anything about the people living there,” said Leo, “I guess we should be going. Thanks for answering our questions.”

“What’s so important about those people anyway?” Drayson asked.

“Oh, well, it’s kind of complicated,” said Paige. “Since you don’t know about them it doesn’t really involve you. Thanks. We appreciate all the help you’ve been.”

“Just in the right place at the right time, I guess,” said Drayson.

“Look,” said Paige. “My sister lives at 1329 Prescott Street. If you want to come by we could give you a hot meal. You can take a shower and get cleaned up. We can even wash your clothes. It might help you get your life back together.”

“Charity for the downtrodden?” questioned Drayson, more than a hint of sarcasm in his voice.

“Not at all,” said Paige. “Call it payment for saving my life. If it wasn’t for you that, uh, man would have killed me. It seems a hot meal and a bath is little enough to repay you for that.”

“I’ll think about it,” said Drayson. “I’m not making any promises, mind you.”

“The offer is open whenever you want,” said Paige. “We’d better get going. My sisters are waiting for us.”

“That was foolish,” said Leo as he and Paige walked away from Drayson. “There was no reason to invite him to the manor. You could be putting him in danger if a demon decides to attack.”

“He saved my life, Leo,” said Paige. “And he needs a hand up. The least we can do is give him a hot meal and a shower. And I’ll check at work and see if maybe I can’t find some work for him to do. He seems like a decent guy. He’s just fallen on hard times, that’s all.”

“You still should have checked with Piper before inviting him over,” said Leo. “She’s not really crazy about surprises.”

“She’ll understand, you’ll see,” said Paige.

“I hope so,” said Leo.

They reached a section of the building that was private and Leo orbed them both back to the manor.

* * *

“You did what?” Piper nearly shrieked. “Paige, you shouldn’t have done that. We have no idea who – or what – this guy is. For all we know he’s a demon trying to get into the manor to kill us.”

“I doubt he’s a demon,” said Cole. “For one thing, being a homeless man wouldn’t give him much of an advantage. Most people would tend to avoid him and he wouldn’t be able to complete any mission he might be on. For another thing he has a dog with him. As I said before, animals, especially dogs, can sense demons. And the evil they possess. The dog would be more likely to attack him than stay with him.”

“You stay out of this,” Piper snapped at Cole. She turned back to Paige. “As for you, you need to check with me before you invite someone over for dinner.”

“Sorry,” said Paige. “The guy did save my life. I just thought it would be a good idea if we did something to thank him. I couldn’t invite him to my place. For one thing I’m not that good of a cook. And I thought you might like to meet the man who saved your sister’s life.”

“Well,” said Piper, her anger subsiding, “you do have a point. He did save your life. I guess we do owe him something for that. A hot meal and a hot shower aren’t too much to ask.”

“Besides,” said Phoebe, “when we were kids Piper was always bringing home stray animals. So I guess that’s something the two of you have in common.”

“Did you learn anything from Drayson that might help us?” Pipe asked.

“Not a whole lot,” said Leo. “I don’t think he’s involved in the demons at his house. He just seems to be a regular guy who’s down on his luck.”

“I didn’t find anything in the Book of Shadows about the demons,” said Phoebe. “At least nothing like Cole described.”

“I’ll go fix some dinner,” said Piper. “At least the demons aren’t after us this time. Which gives us some time to sort this out. I think we should all get a good night’s sleep and start fresh in the morning. It’s too late for Cole to call anyone tonight to check on the Alberts anyway.”

[noazmale]

SEVEN

“Well,” said Cole the next day after making nearly a dozen phone calls, “Albert is a fake name, just as I suspected. Nothing I can find out about him or his wife goes back more than five years. There’s a diploma in his name but no transcripts for the school he attended. Or any other indication he ever went to that school.

“And his employment history is completely fictitious. Some of the companies he has listed don’t even exist or have been out of business for years. That’s an old trick for faking a new identity. You pick companies that have gone out of business years before so there’s no one around who someone can check with. And his drivers license and social security card were only issued five years ago. I’m betting that’s when he went out on his own.”

“Well, the drivers license I can understand,” said Phoebe. “But how does a grown man get a new social security card?”

“There are ways,” said Cole. “You pick the name of someone who died shortly after birth. You get a copy of their birth certificate and claim to be them. Then you say you grew up overseas in a foreign country and just recently came back to the United States. You pick the right office at the right time and some of the clerks will give you a ‘replacement’ card without much hassle.”

“You seem to know a lot about faking identities,” said Paige.

“I’ve done it a time or two,” said Cole. “Besides, I was an assistant district attorney. You learn a lot about the criminal element prosecuting them.”

“So the Alberts didn’t exist until five years ago,” said Piper. “But they’ve only lived in the house for about two years or so. What have they been doing the rest of the time?”

“They would have gotten their new identities but remained wherever they were for a couple of years,” said Cole. “Once they were established in the community they would have moved out on their own.”

“To set up a new place?” Leo asked.

“Yes,” said Cole. “You can only have ‘relatives’ show up to live with you so many times before the neighbors begin to get suspicious. Besides, demons don’t age. After a few years that would become suspicious. So they will routinely set up new places. The demons in the old place will ‘sell’ the house and move somewhere else. The ‘new’ owners will start the cycle all over again.”

“It all sounds very efficient,” said Phoebe.

“They’ve had centuries to perfect it,” said Cole. “What I find extremely odd is the location for this new house. It’s only a couple of blocks from the manor. Most demons know the manor by now. It doesn’t make sense they’d set up so close to you.”

“Unless they’re planning something,” said Piper. “Maybe they aren’t setting up one of these houses you’ve described. Maybe they’re planning an attack against us.”

“That’s hard to believe,” said Cole. “There are only the two of them. No one else has been in the house since they moved in from what I can tell. And from the way you described it, the house is being fixed up to be used as a safe house for demons.”

“So what do we do now?” Piper asked. “I don’t like the idea of demons setting up house especially that close to the manor. But unless we can find out what kinds of demons they are we don’t know how to vanquish them.”

“Is there any way to find out what they are?” Paige asked.

“We could ask them,” said Cole.

“That’s not even an option,” said Phoebe. “They certainly won’t tell us what kinds of demons they are. And if you go there you’ll give yourself away. They’ll probably go right to the Source and tell him you’re around. Or they might try to take you out to collect on the bounty the Source has put on you.”

“That’s exactly what I’m counting on,” said Cole. “If I show up there I’ll be able to figure out what kinds of demons they are. Once I’ve done that you can figure out how to vanquish them.”

“And they’ll know where you are,” protested Phoebe.

“It’s only going to be one day – two at the most – before the bounty hunters on my trail will figure out I’m not where they think I am,” said Cole. “When that happens they’re going to backtrack until they pick up my trail again. This way I get to pick the time and place they find me again and can lay another false trail for them.”

“It still seems awfully dangerous to me,” said Piper.

“It is,” said Cole. “But I’m going to have to do it anyway. At least this way we can use it to our advantage.”

“He has a point,” said Leo. “The longer that house is in commission the harder it’s going to be to get rid of them. Especially if more demons begin moving in. There’s no telling how much damage they can do until you’re able to get rid of them.”

“Well, I don’t have to like it,” said Phoebe.

“No one is asking you to,” said Cole. “But you know as well as I do that sometimes we have to do things we don’t want to do. This happens to be one of those times. But we do have an added advantage. The demons won’t be looking for me there. So I’ll have a head start on them.”

“When will you go?” Piper asked.

“Later this afternoon,” said Cole. “If they are trying to establish themselves as a normal family he’ll be at work, doing whatever job he was trained for. It’s best if I wait until they’re both there. That way I don’t have to worry about any surprises. Once I find out what kinds of demons they are I’ll lay a false trail and then double back to the manor. This is the last place a bounty hunter will look for me so soon after I’m spotted at the house.”

“You just be careful,” said Phoebe. “I always worry when you’re gone.”

“I will be,” said Cole. “It won’t take long for me to lay a trail for the bounty hunters to find. Then I’ll come right back here.”

It was nearly six o’clock before Cole shimmered out of the manor. He said that would give the male demon enough time to get home and get relaxed before he showed up. He also told them it might be a while before he could make it back so they shouldn’t be concerned it was late when he returned.

There was nothing for the others to do except sit and wait. Piper couldn’t even work on a potion since she had no idea what kind of demon they were dealing with. Phoebe had rechecked the Book of Shadows with no luck. Apparently no one in the Halliwell lineage had ever encountered the training centers Cole had described.

It was just after nine o’clock when there was a knock at the door. Cautiously, Phoebe opened the front door as her sisters and Leo stood behind her. As she opened the door they saw Scott Drayson and Sheba standing on the front porch.

“I’m sorry to disturb you so late,” apologized Drayson, “but I understand a Paige Matthews lives here.”

“Scott,” said Paige, making her way to the door. “So, you decided to take me up on my offer.”

“Well, like you said,” said Drayson, “it’s not like charity or anything. And I couldn’t stop thinking of a hot meal and a shower. It’s been so long since I felt like a normal human being. I figured once couldn’t hurt.”

“Come in, come in,” said Paige. “You remember Leo.”

“Sure,” said Drayson. “How are you doing?”

“I’m good,” said Leo.

“This is Phoebe and Piper, my sisters,” said Paige. “Well, half sisters.”

“Hello, Mr. Drayson,” said Piper. “It’s nice to meet the man who saved my sister’s life.”

“Actually Sheba did it,” said Drayson, petting the dog. “There was something about that man she didn’t like. I’ve never seen her react like that. She went after him before I could stop her. I’m just glad no one got hurt.”

“Have a seat,” said Phoebe.

“I’m kind of dirty,” said Drayson as he limped into the living room. “I wouldn’t want to mess up your nice furniture.”

“It will be okay,” said Piper. “It’s almost time for the yearly cleaning anyway. Oh, I’m sorry. That didn’t come out right.”

“No offense,” said Drayson. “I know how I look. There’s just not a lot I can do about it, I’m afraid.”

“I was thinking about that,” said Paige. “I work at the Bay Area Social Services. I’m sure with a little searching I can find some kind of work for you. Maybe you can get back on your feet.”

“Except I don’t have a permanent address,” said Drayson. “Even if I had a job I don’t have any place to live.”

“There are places that you can go stay until you get your own place,” said Leo.

“I don’t want charity,” said Drayson. “I’ve always paid my own way.”

“Then you can pay them rent while you stay there,” said Paige. “Maybe do some repairs or something for them in exchange for a place to stay. Those places can use all the help they can get. It’s worth looking into.”

“What about Sheba?” said Drayson, petting his dog. “I’ve had her for about eight years. I can’t just turn her loose and if I put her in the animal shelter they’ll just end up putting her to sleep. I couldn’t do that to her.”

“I’m sure we can find a place that will let you keep her,” said Leo. “She seems friendly enough.”

“Once she gets used to people,” said Drayson. “Oh, she’s not usually dangerous. But it does take her time to get used to new people. I really don’t understand why she’s taken to you as quickly as she has. That’s really unusual.”

“Yeah, well, like Paige said, I’m good with animals.”

Suddenly Cole shimmered into the entryway of the manor.

“We’re about to have company,” he said as he dived into the living room.

Suddenly two demons shimmered in where Cole had appeared only seconds before.

“We have you now, Belthazor,” said one of the demons. “Might as well give up and make it . . . .”

He looked around to see the others in the living room. He looked at Drayson.

“You?” questioned the demon. “You’re supposed to be dead. How can you be alive?”

“We’ve been tricked,” said the other demons. “It’s the Charmed Ones. Belthazor has led us in to a trap.”

Piper brought her hands up and the first demon exploded into a thousand shards. The second demon formed an energy ball and was about to cast it when Sheba suddenly sprang to life. She launched herself at the demon, striking him full in the chest. The energy ball the demon had formed evaporated as he fell to the floor, the dog on his chest. As the two fell to the floor, Sheba’s teeth sank into the demons’ throat and the demon was vanquished.

“Sorry about that,” said Cole standing up. “When I go to the house those two mercenaries were there. One of them recognized me. I barely got out of the house alive.”

“So you decided to bring them here?” questioned Piper.

“Not initially,” said Cole. “But I couldn’t shake them. And they were too good for me to take on by myself. Thanks for the assist.”

“Uh, in case you hadn’t noticed,” said Leo nervously, “we’ve got company.”

Cole just looked at Drayson as Sheba turned and began to growl at him.

“What’s going on?” Drayson asked, standing up from the sofa. “What just happened here?”

[noazmale]

EIGHT

“Someone want to explain to me what just happened here?” Drayson asked.

“Uh, I’d appreciate it if someone would call the dog off,” said Cole backing slowly away from Sheba. She had her ears back and was baring her teeth growling as she advanced on Cole slowly. “I have nothing against dogs but I’m not going to just stand here and become her next victim.”

“Scott,” said Paige, “we’ll explain everything to you. Just please call Sheba off first.”

“Sheba, unten,” said Drayson. Sheba advanced another step toward Cole. “Sheba, unten,” said Drayson more forcefully.

Sheba immediately stopped her aggressive stance. But she sat in the entryway eyeing Cole suspiciously.

“Unten?” questioned Phoebe.

“It’s an old dog training trick,” said Drayson. “You train a dog in commands in a foreign language so that no one else can command them. Unten is German for ‘down’. It’s a trick I learned from an old friend I used to have. Now, you want to keep your promise and tell me what’s going on here?”

“That’s a bit difficult,” said Piper.

“He,” said Drayson, looking at Cole, “just appeared here. And he appeared here just like that guy in the alley that attacked Paige disappeared. Then those other two show up in the same way. And to top it off, those other two just kind of exploded. That’s not exactly normal. What are you people?”

“We’re human,” said Piper. She glanced at Leo and Cole. “Well, mostly human anyway. We’re witches. Those two guys were demons and that’s what happens to them when they’re killed. The man that attacked Paige in the alley was also a demon. And we contacted you because demons have taken over your house and we thought you might be able to tell us something about them.”

“Mostly human?” questioned Drayson, looking at Cole and Leo. “What are you two?”

“I’m a White Lighter,” said Leo. “Kind of an angel of sorts. That’s why I get along with Sheba so well. She can sense what I am and inherently trusts me. I’m what you might call an advisor for the girls.”

“What about him?” Drayson asked, looking at Cole. “Sheba obviously doesn’t like him. She acted the same way she did toward the guy that attacked Paige.”

“Yeah, well, that’s a bit hard to explain,” said Cole. “I am human. I’m also half demon. My mother was a demon. But I’m not like those other demons. I’ve changed sides, so to speak. I’ve been helping the girls fight the demons.”

“Demons?” questioned Drayson. “In the 21st century? Am I supposed to believe that?”

“Do you have another explanation for it?” Paige asked. “Look, I know this is all hard to believe. Trust me, I’m still getting used to the idea myself. But it’s all true. But that one demon recognized you. He said you should be dead. Any idea why he would think that?”

“None at all,” said Drayson. “I never saw either of them before as far as I know.”

“I know why,” said Cole. “Remember the houses I told you about earlier? Sometimes if they can’t find a suitable house they’ll take one. They’ll locate an appropriate house owned by a single owner who has no family or close friends and ‘arrange’ an ‘accident’. I’m willing to bet that’s what happened here. Drayson’s ‘accident’ was no accident. And he was probably injured badly enough that the demons thought he would die. Unlucky for them the hospital staff did an excellent job of saving his life.”

“You mean they tried to kill me?” questioned Drayson. “So they could get my house?”

“Sounds like it,” said Piper. “The question is, why your house and not someone else’s?”

“Pure happenstance,” said Cole. “They identified him as an appropriate victim.”

“But so close to the manor?” Leo asked. “That doesn’t make sense.”

“Actually, it does,” said Cole. “I was able to find out that the demons in the house are Courier demons. They’re moderate level demons that gather information on the mortal realm for higher level demons. Most of them live on the mortal realm with identities very similar to the Alberts. Now, it’s a pretty safe bet they’ve heard of the girls. Most demons have. But living on the mortal plane most of the time it’s also possible they don’t know exactly who you are or where you live. It was just pure luck they chose the house they did. I’ll bet they had no idea the girls lived so close to that house.”

“At least we know what demons we’re dealing with now,” said Piper. “We can create a potion to vanquish them. Under the circumstances, Scott, I think it’s best if you stay here until we take care of these demons.”

“Look,” said Drayson, “I don’t need your charity. I can find a decent place for the night.”

“It has nothing to do with charity,” said Phoebe. “Demons tried to kill you. If they learn you’re still alive they may try again. And we need to be there to protect you if they do.”

“Sheba can protect me,” said Drayson. “Besides, I have this.” He held up the athame he took off the demon that attacked Paige.

“That won’t be enough,” said Paige. “Trust us on this, Scott. It’s not charity. We’d do that same thing for any innocent in danger. If we let you leave here and anything happened to you I’d never forgive myself.”

“Well,” said Drayson, “you do have a point. Can’t say I like the idea of a demon after me.”

“Good,” said Piper. “Leo, why don’t you show Scott upstairs? He can take a shower before he eats. And he looks to be about your size. Why not let him borrow some of your clothes while we wash his?”

“Come on, Scott,” said Leo. “Looks like their maternal instincts have kicked in. I’ll show you where the bathroom is.”

“Do we have to worry about more demons showing up here?” Piper asked Cole as Leo and Drayson went upstairs.

“I don’t think so,” said Cole. “The only reason those two were able to trace me was because they were right on my trail. By the time any other mercenaries pick up where I was they’ll have a difficult time following me. I led them on a pretty merry chase and my shimmer trail will have degraded quite a bit before someone else can pick it up.”

“I’ll check the Book of Shadows for Courier Demons,” said Phoebe. “There’s probably a potion for them in there.”

“There’s another problem,” said Cole. “The Alberts now know who you are. The male demon recognized your name when you visited the house. They’ll probably contact their superiors to find out what to do next. I think that’s why the mercenaries were there.”

“And when the mercenaries don’t return they’ll probably send for some more,” said Piper. “Which means we have to take care of them before they can do that.”

“Then we’d better hurry,” said Cole. “The Alberts will wait a while until they're sure the mercenaries aren’t coming back. But it also means that their superiors all ready know about you, too. And I’m pretty sure they’ll tell their superiors about me showing up.”

“That’s going to make it dangerous for everyone,” said Phoebe. “Any idea how we’re going to do it?”

“Seems to me the direct approach is the best in this case,” said Piper. “Cole said they were moderate level demons. We’ve taken out some high level demons before. These shouldn’t be that big of a deal. I say we just go over there and vanquish them before they know what’s going on.”

“And risk their superiors sending in more powerful demons to take over,” said Cole. “What we have to do is make the place undesirable for them. So they won’t want to use the place.”

“It seems to me,” said Paige, “that these two are just sort of middle management, so to speak.”

“So?” questioned Piper.

“Well,” said Paige, “I’ve dealt with that type before. They’re just following their orders. If we go after whoever gave them their orders it seems to me they’ll move on on their own.”

“She has a point,” said Phoebe. “If they’re just following orders it seems the best way to is to remove the ones who are giving those orders.”

“Cole, any idea who are giving the Alberts their orders?” Piper asked.

“It could be any number of higher level demons,” said Cole. “But they know who’s giving them their orders. I suggest we just ask them. I’m sure they’ll be more than happy to tell us everything they know.”

“And just why would they do that?” Piper asked.

“Let’s just say that Courier demons are exactly the bravest demons in the Underworld,” said Cole. “Especially when they’re outnumbered and outmatched. If we all show up there at the same time, trust me, they’ll spill their guts.”

“Us?” questioned Phoebe.

“If the three of you go by yourself they’ll just shimmer out,” said Cole. “But they knew who I was when I was over there. Most demons are familiar with Belthazor’s reputation, even if they don’t know him personally. If they try to shimmer away they know I’ll be able to follow them.”

“Not if they shimmer to the Underworld,” said Phoebe. “They know you’re wanted by the Source. If they shimmer into the Underworld you won’t be able to follow them.”

“But I still have some friends in the Underworld,” said Cole. “Most mercenaries have demons that owe them personal favors. And they know I can call in those favors even if I’m not in the Underworld. Which means they have no idea which demons might be coming for them. That should be enough to throw the fear of God into them.”

“Interesting choice of words,” said Piper. “It stands to reason they’ll think you’re running from those two we vanquished. Which means they probably won’t be expecting us to show up right away. As soon as we get Scott settled we can go in after them. Scott should be safe enough here while we’re dealing with the Alberts.”

“We’ll need a plan,” said Piper. “And we don’t seem to have enough time for me to prepare any potions. So I guess we’ll just have to play this by ear. As soon as Leo gets Scott settled we’ll work out our plan of attack. Then maybe we can get rid of the Alberts once and for all.”

[noazmale]

NINE

“Kabrak and Eltarrin should have been back by now,” said Melissa Albert as she and her husband waited impatiently for the two mercenary demons to return. “Something must have gone wrong.”

“Not necessarily,” responded the demon posing as her husband. “From what I’ve heard about Belthazor he can be very crafty. It’s possible that it’s just taking longer for them to catch him, that’s all. We’ll wait a little longer. I’m sure they’ll be back soon.”

“And if they aren’t?” Melissa asked.

“Then we contact the others and find out what they want us to do next,” said the male demon. “Everything is going to be okay, you’ll see. After all, with Belthazor running from the mercenaries he doesn’t have time to tell them anything. All we have to do is be patient.”

“Oh, I’d say you have bigger problems than that right now,” said Piper as she, Paige, and Leo came walking into the room. “Oh, and just to let you know, Kabrak and Eltarrin have been unavoidably detained.”

“Charmed Ones,” gasped the male demon. “It’s not possible.”

“Oh, you’d be surprised what can be possible,” said Piper.

“We have to get out of here,” said the female demon. “We’re no matches for them.”

“I wouldn’t shimmer out if I were you,” said Cole as he and Phoebe came walking in from another room. “They may not be able to follow you but I can. And trust me, you don’t want me on your trail.”

“Belthazor,” gasped the female demon. “But the mercenaries . . . “

“Have been dealt with,” finished Phoebe. “And if you don’t want the same thing to happen to you, you’ll answer our questions.”

“We don’t know anything,” said the male demon. “We’re trainers, that’s all. Surely Belthazor told you that. We aren’t a threat to you or anyone else.”

“Except every human you come into contact with,” said Paige.

“Our job is to be amiable with humans,” said the female demon. “We’re supposed to blend in with them, not harm them. We have no intentions of harming any humans.”

“Well, what we want to know,” said Cole, “is who give you your orders?”

“We can’t tell you that,” said the male demon. “If he learned we had betrayed him he’ll vanquish us.”

“And if you don’t we’ll vanquish you,” said Piper. “Now, you can take your chances with whoever gives you your orders or you can take your chances with us. But I can tell you we have no problem vanquishing demons. Even demons who claim to have no intentions of harming humans.”

The two demons looked at each other. Their fear of the girls – and Belthazor – was very evident.

“Our master is Shelnick,” said the male demon. “He runs the training center we’ve been assigned to.”

“Shelnick,” said Cole. “I met him once. He’s pretty high up in the hierarchy. And he’s as arrogant as any upper level demon. It won’t be easy convincing him to abandon this house.”

“We’ll just have to explain it to him,” said Piper. She turned back to the two demons. “Okay, you two, listen up. I’m only going to say this once. We don’t like demons living this close to our home. If you know what’s good for you you’ll abandon this house and never return. Otherwise you might not like the consequences.”

“You aren’t going to vanquish us?” questioned the female demon.

“Not if you leave here and never come back,” said Phoebe. “We’re after this Shelnick. As we understand it the two of you are just following orders. We want the demon who gives those orders.”

“Hold on,” said Cole. “These two might be useful still. We want you to contact Shelnick. Tell him there’s a problem that requires his attention immediately. Tell him he needs to come here personally to take care of it.”

“What could possibly make him do that?” asked the male demon.

“What about another demon moving in on his territory?” Paige questioned. “Isn’t that what demons do?”

“That’s not a bad idea,” said Cole. “Tell Shelnick that Craddick has sent a couple in to occupy this house. Tell him that they refuse to leave since they consider Craddick higher in the demonic echelon and his orders supercede Shelnick’s. And also tell him that the new couple is threatening to bring in Enforcer demons to forcibly remove you if necessary. That should get his attention.”

“And you’ll let us go?” asked the male demon.

“Well, it’s a pretty safe bet we won’t let you go if you don’t do it,” said Phoebe.

“And don’t try to warn Shelnick that we’re here,” said Cole. “If I get even the suspicion that you’re trying to betray us you won’t live long enough to see the outcome.”

“We have to go into the basement,” said the female demon. “We have a whisper crystal down there that we use to communicate with Shelnick through.”

“I’ll go with you,” said Cole. He turned to Piper. “If he tries anything just blow him up.”

Together Cole and the female demon headed into the basement so she could contact Shelnick. The male demon stood watching Piper nervously. His eyes darted from side to side afraid that any movement he would make might be misunderstood. After a few minutes Cole and the female demon came back into the living room.

“She was quite convincing,” said Cole. “I imagine Shelnick will be here in a few minutes.”

“Well, they seem to have kept their part of the bargain,” said Piper. “I guess we should let them go now. But remember this, you two. If we ever see you again we won’t hesitate to vanquish both of you. Understood?”

“Understood,” said the male demon.

“Oh, and one other thing,” said Cole. “Just remember that I still have friends in the Underworld. And demons who owe me favors. Try anything funny and I promise you you’ll never know when or where I’ll collect on one of those favors.”

“We won’t do anything,” promised the male demon.

“Just see that you don’t,” said Belthazor. “And I would be a bit upset if anyone learned of my role in this. I think we understand each other.”

“Perfectly,” said the female demon.

“Get out of here,” said Piper, “before we change our minds about the deal.”

The two demons shimmered and vanished from the house.

“So much for that,” said Piper. “Now all we have to do is wait for this Shelnick to show up. Think we’ll be able to threaten him into leaving the house alone?”

“Probably not,” said Cole. “As I said, he’s as arrogant as any demon. But most likely he’ll come alone. He has no reason to suspect that we’re waiting for him so we’ll have him outnumbered. That might make him stop and think before he tries anything, especially considering he’s facing the Charmed Ones.”

“He wouldn’t be the first demon who thought he could beat us,” said Phoebe. “Especially if he’s as high up as you said he is.”

“We’ll just have to be on our toes,” said Cole. “We won’t know until he gets here.”

Suddenly Shelnick shimmered into the middle of the living room.

“Where are they?” demanded the demon. “Where are the two insolent demons who would dare incur my wrath at the words of that worm, Craddick?”

“I figured telling you Craddick was moving in on your territory would get you here,” said Cole. “Considering that you and Craddick always did hate each other so much.”

“Belthazor,” snarled Shelnick. “The Source has ordered you be vanquished. And he’s offered a sizeable reward for the demon who does it.”

“Except he’s not alone,” said Piper. “Now, we want to talk to you. And I would suggest you listen to us.”

“Charmed Ones,” Shelnick snarled again, seeing the sisters and Leo also in the living room.

[noazmale]

TEN

“What do you want?” Shelnick demanded.

“We want you to get out of this house and leave it alone,” said Piper. “As I’m sure you’re aware, we only live a couple of blocks away. We don’t like the idea of demons living so close to our home.”

“We’ve spent a great deal of time and effort setting up this house,” said Shelnick. “I’m not about to abandon all of those preparations because of the three of you. In the long run this house will prove very beneficial to my plans and the plans of the Source. I’ll just bring in a dozen enforcer demons to protect it. Not even the infamous Charmed Ones can withstand so many enforcer demons at once.”

“They won’t be alone,” said Cole. “I’ll be with them. That kind of evens the playing field, so to speak.”

“Which only proves your treachery,” said Shelnick. “You betrayed the Source when you vanquished the Triad. Now you betray all of your brother demons by siding with them against your own kind. The Source was right to call you betrayer and traitor. Very soon the bounty hunters will catch you and you’ll pay for your disloyalty.”

“But not today,” said Cole. “I know you have other places you can use. There’s no reason to use this house. Besides, being so close to the Charmed Ones you’ll have nothing but trouble from them. I’m sure that’s something you don’t want.”

“Melsar and Toblerra were fools to choose this place,” said Shelnick. “They should have checked it out further before taking this place. Now, because of their incompetence, I’m forced to deal with the matter myself.”

“So just leave,” said Phoebe. “You leave this house alone and you won’t have to worry about us bothering you.”

“And if I don’t?” questioned Shelnick. “What will you do about it, witch?”

“We’ll vanquish you’re sorry butt,” said Phoebe, pulling a piece of paper out of her pocket. “You don’t really think we came here unprepared, did you? I’m pretty sure this Power of Three Spell will be powerful to vanquish even you. So I’d say you have a choice to make. Find some other place to train your demons or see if you’re more powerful than a Power of Three spell. I know what decision I’d make.”

Shelnick just stared at Phoebe, contempt in his eyes. He glanced at Piper and Paige and then looked at Cole.

“You’ve won this time,” said Shelnick. “Very well. I’ll make sure none of my subordinates return to this house. I cannot, however, speak for other demons who may wish to use it.”

“We’ll deal with them when – and if – the time comes,” said Cole. “Just make sure you remember what we said.”

“There will be another time, Belthazor,” said Shelnick. “And when the bounty hunters finally do catch up with you I only hope it takes you a long time to die.”

Shelnick suddenly shimmered out of the house.

“Is that it?” Paige asked. “Is he really going to leave the house alone?”

“I would think so,” said Cole. “No demon wants to go up against a Power of Three spell.”

“Speaking of which,” said Piper, turning to Phoebe, “when did you have time to write a Power of Three spell? And how did you know which demon to write it for?”

“I didn’t,” said Phoebe, opening the piece of paper. “This is a list of those potion ingredients you asked me to pick up at the store. I was planning to pick them up tomorrow.”

“You’re lucky he didn’t call your bluff,” said Cole. “Shelnick is just arrogant enough to think he can get one of you before you could read the spell.”

“I was betting on him being worried about you, too,” said Phoebe. “You could have kept him busy enough for us to have read a spell. I was betting he wouldn’t want to risk it.”

“Looks like you were right,” said Piper. “At least it looks like we won’t have to worry about demons living in the neighborhood any time soon.”

“Is that it?” Scott asked, coming in from the kitchen, Sheba close behind. “Are they gone for good?”

“What are you doing here?” Paige asked. “You were supposed to stay at the manor where you would be safe?”

“This used to be my home,” said Scott. “I grew up here. It wouldn’t have been right for me to sit at the manor safely while you risked your lives to rid it of demons.”

“You shouldn’t have come here,” said Piper. “It was much too dangerous. But I guess it’s too late to worry about that now. We got rid of the demons and that was the important thing.”

“And I still don’t have a place to stay,” said Scott. “Demons or not I still owe fifty thousand dollars in back taxes which I don’t have. But as long as I’m here I can pick up a couple of things I’d like to keep.”

“That would be considered theft,” said Cole. “Legally, the house now belongs to the city of San Francisco.”

“Cole, will you stop being an ADA for one minute, please?” Phoebe asked. “The man has lost everything he has. I don’t think we can begrudge him a couple of family heirlooms that he probably can’t replace. I know how I’d feel if we should loose the manor.”

“Well,” said Cole thoughtfully, “I guess it couldn’t hurt. No one should be forced to give up everything.”

“Thanks,” said Scott. “It won’t take long. Most of them are kept in a chest in the basement. My birth certificate, school transcripts, that sort of thing. And there’s my mothers’ locket I inherited when she passed away. It shouldn’t take me long to get them.”

“Leo and I will go with you,” said Piper. “With you bad leg you it might be hard for you to get all the items. We’ll be glad to help you.”

“Thanks,” said Scott. “Paige, my room is the first door on the left at the top of the stairs. On the dresser is a small box that has my mothers’ locket. Could you get it for me, please? That way we won’t have to stay here any longer than we have to.”

“I’ll be glad to,” said Paige.

Piper, Leo, and Scott headed for the basement as Cole and Phoebe kept watch out upstairs. Even though they had appeared to have chased the demons off, Cole said it was still a chance that Shelnick would return with more demons. He said it wasn’t very likely but he didn’t want to take any chances.

“The chest is over here,” said Scott when they had gotten to the basement. “I kept them here in case I ever needed them. I didn’t use them often but I wanted to be able to get my hands on them in case I did.”

“Wow, there are sure a lot of bottles of wine down here,” said Piper, looking at the walls filled with bottles. “You never mentioned you were a wine aficionado.”

“I’m not,” said Scott. “Other than an occasional beer, I don’t drink all that much. And wine gives me heartburn. Those are thanks to my father. He considered himself something of a wine connoisseur. The truth is, however, that his definition of a ‘connoisseur’ consisted of drinking as much as he could as fast as he could. He’d buy wine by the caseload and store it down here. It’s probably why he never paid any taxes on this place. He was usually too drunk to do much of anything else.”

“Well, he seems to have good taste,” said Piper, taking one of the bottles from its resting place. “This is a 2000 Beaucastel Chateauneuf du Pape Hommage Jacques Perrin. We used to carry this at Quake. We would charge $1,500.00 for this one bottle.”

“For a bottle of wine?” Scott asked. “Who would be crazy enough to pay that kind of money for some wine?”

“You’d be surprised,” said Leo. “I’ve heard about some rare bottles of wine selling for some pretty outrageous prices.”

“Here’s another one,” said Piper, pulling out another bottle. “This is a 1995 Chateau Virginie Valandraud St-Emilion. That one sold for about $2,000.00 at Quake.”

“You seem to know a lot about wine,” said Scott.

“Oh, not really,” said Piper. “As a chef I know the best wines to use for cooking and things like that. Now, Walter, he’s a real wine expert. Walter Kemper was the wine steward at Quake. And I think he was also a wine critic for one of the local newspapers. But he really seemed to know a lot about rare and expensive wines.”

“Well, I have what I came for,” said Scott, pulling some papers out of the chest. “I guess the rest of this stuff will wind up belonging to the city. And they’ll probably get rid of it since it really isn’t worth anything to anyone but me. But at least I can keep some of it. Thanks for all the help.”

“Our pleasure,” said Leo. “In fact, if Piper doesn’t mind, I could orb that chest to the manor. We could keep it in the attic until you get back on your feet again.”

“Sure,” said Piper, replacing one of the bottles of wine. She walked over to Leo and Scott holding the other bottle.

“What are you doing?” Leo asked.

“Well,” said Piper, “this is an excellent wine to go with Chicken. I figured since the house is going to be confiscated by the city they wouldn’t miss one bottle of wine.”

“Piper,” Leo began to protest.

“No, it’s okay,” said Scott. “Call it a thank you for all you’ve done for me. And she’s right. With everything in the house, one bottle of wine isn’t going to be missed. I guess we should be getting back upstairs.”

“I’ll join you in a minute,” said Leo, picking up the chest. “I’ll orb this to the manor and come back for you.”

“We’ll meet you in the living room,” said Piper.

Leo orbed out of the house with the chest as Piper and Scott made their way to the living room upstairs.

[noazmale]

ELEVEN

It had been nearly a week since they had forced the demons out of Scott’s old house. In that time no demons had made an appearance at the house. Cole said that Shelnick had probably decided to find some other house to use. As they all stood on the front porch of the house Paige wondered what they were doing there.

“Cole said the demons weren’t coming back here,” said Paige. “What are we doing here?”

“We’re waiting for someone,” said Piper. “I made a couple of phone calls the other day and said I was interested in buying the house and asked if I could look it over first. The people down at city hall said it would be fine. They even gave me a set of keys to get in the house with.”

“Well, with Albert no longer working there the house will probably go on the market,” said Cole. “He won’t be able to circumvent the system and keep it off the market.”

“He doesn’t work for the city any more?” Phoebe questioned.

“No, he doesn’t,” said Cole. “I checked and found out he suddenly tendered his resignation saying he had some family business to take care of. I think that if Shelnick didn’t vanquish them for screwing up like they did he probably thought it was best to assign them some place else.”

“So who are we waiting for?” Leo asked.

Just then a car pulled up in front of the house. A small red haired man got out and headed up the porch. He didn’t walk up to the house as much as he sauntered. Not unlike a runway model modeling a dress by a famous dress designer.

“Piper, sweetie, what a wonderful surprise to hear from you,” said the man as he reached the porch. “It’s been such a long time and I was absolutely elated to hear from you.”

“It’s good to see you again, Walter,” said Piper. “Everyone, this is Walter Kemper, the wine steward at Quake.”

“And one of San Francisco’s top wine critics,” said Walter, with just the faintest hint of a lisp. “Let’s not forget that, dear girl.”

“How could I ever forget that, Walter?” Piper questioned. “You remember Phoebe, don’t you?”

“Most certainly,” said Walter. “Enchanted to see you again, my dear. Despite that dreadful business with the water at Quake that one time. Such a dreadful incident. I was absolutely beside myself for nearly a week afterwards.”

“Nice to see you again, Walter,” said Phoebe. “I hope everything has been well with you.”

“This is Paige, my other sister,” said Piper.

“Paige?” questioned Walter. “My dear, I thought your sister named Prue?”

“Oh, she was,” said Piper. “Prue passed away a while back. This is my other sister.”

“Oh, my,” said Walter. “How dreadful. I’m so sorry for you, sweetie.”

“Thanks, Walter,” said Piper. “And this is Leo, my husband.”

“Oh, I remember him,” said Walter. “He came by the restaurant a few times. And you’re married now? How wonderful for you.”

“Uh, thanks,” said Leo.

“And who do we have here?” Walter asked, looking Cole up and down. “My, but isn’t he a tall drink of water?”

“This is Cole,” said Phoebe, putting her arm around Cole. “And he’s taken.”

“Very taken,” said Cole, almost before Phoebe could finish talking.

“Pity,” said Walter, looking genuinely disappointed. “There are so few eligible men in the city. At least ones that are worth the effort.”

“Isn’t he a little light in the loafers?” Cole whispered to Phoebe.

“Cole, be quiet,” Phoebe whispered back.

“Oh, don’t give it any thought, my dear,” Walter said to Phoebe. “After all, this is San Francisco. And compared to some of the things I’ve been called that one is downright tame, believe me.”

“Walter, this is Scott Drayson,” said Piper. “And that’s Sheba. This is his house.”

“Well, sort of,” said Drayson.

“A genuine pleasure to meet you,” said Walter. “Now, Piper, it was a major endeavor for me to arrange my schedule to meet you here today. What is it that’s so important?”

“This is,” said Piper, pulling a bottle of wine out of a bag sitting on the porch next to her.

She handed the bottle to Walter who looked it over carefully.

“Oh, my, my,” said Walter after a moment. “A 1995 Chateau Virginie Valandraud St-Emilion. You have exquisite taste, my dear. But then you always did. This is a bit dry for my tastes, but an excellent wine nonetheless.”

“Piper says that one sells for $2,000.00 at Quake,” said Phoebe.

“Oh, yes,” said Walter. “It’s somewhat rare and quite expensive. But those with a discerning palette find it very reasonable. Is this why you asked me to come here? You could just have brought this by the restaurant. And I’m sure the other workers would have loved to have seen you as well.”

“It’s only part of the reason,” said Piper. “There are some more bottles in the basement I’d like you to look at. Maybe give us your expert opinion on their value.”

“Why, Piper, sweetie, I’d be more than happy to,” said Walter. “You were so much more enjoyable to work with than that dreadful Chef Moore. What a dreadful man. He was an absolute beast to work with, let me tell you.”

“Yeah, they know,” said Piper. “I asked you here because we want you to pick out only the best ones. And as you’ll see, there are quite a number of bottles.”

“Well, lead on, dear girl,” said Walter. “If there’s one thing I know it’s good wine.”

“Piper, what are you doing?” Leo whispered as they headed for the basement.

“Well,” said Piper, “I thought that since we found those two bottles of wine in the cellar there might be a couple of more that were worth something. Walter can find them and maybe we could sell them or something and get Scott a little money to help restart his life.”

“But the house has been confiscated by the city,” said Leo. “Getting some family heirlooms out of the house is one thing but this is totally different.”

“Leo, honey, if it wasn’t for those demons Scott would never have been evicted. So, in a way, we’re just helping to set things right again. I figure it’s the least we can do since he had no control over what happened.”

“Well, I guess so. But from what Scott said about his father there probably aren’t that many bottles in the basement worth much.”

“Anything is better than nothing,” said Piper. “And it’s not charity since Scott owned them in the first place. It’s not a perfect solution but it should help.”

“Oh my,” exclaimed Walter as he surveyed the walls covered in wine bottles in the basement. “What a collection. I’ve rarely seen so many bottles gathered in one place outside of a wine press. You must have been collecting these for years.”

“Well, I wouldn’t exactly call it collecting,” said Scot. “My father liked to make sure he had plenty to drink. Which he seemed to do for any reason whatsoever.”

“More’s the pity,” said Walter. “Wine isn’t simply for drinking. It must be experienced to be truly appreciated. A truly fine wine can enhance any experience.”

“My God,” said Paige, “he sounds like Piper when she’s talking about cooking.”

“There are many similarities between the two, my dear,” said Walter. “A meal is not simply fuel to be consumed. A meal is an experience that should be savored. Just like a bottle of fine wine. It takes a special touch to produce a truly good wine.”

“If you could take a look at what Scott has down here,” said Piper, “we were thinking maybe a couple of them might be worth something.”

“Well with this many bottles I’m sure I can find something,” said Walter. “I doubt we’ll find anything as nice as the St-Emilion you showed me but I’m sure I can find something. Let me take a look.”

“Knock yourself out,” said Scott. As Walter began to examine the bottles he turned to Piper. “I appreciate what you’re doing. Most people don’t give me a second look. You’ve gone well out of your way to help. A lot more than I ever expected.”

“Well, you did save Paige’s life,” said Piper. “And if it wasn’t for your uninvited guests you wouldn’t be in this situation to begin with. As I told Leo, I figure whatever you can get out of this is the least we can do to help. After all, our job is to help and protect the innocent. That’s all we’re doing.”

“And it will help out while we find you a job,” said Paige. “I know you can’t do construction like you used to but I’m sure there’s something we can find for you. With your knowledge of construction there must be a company out there somewhere that can use your expertise.”

“Me in an office,” said Scott. “Not exactly my dream job but it’s better than living on the street.”

“Oh my goodness.”

They all turned to see what Walter was exclaiming about. He was holding a bottle of wine and was nearly caressing it. His hand ran over the bottle as if it were a piece of fine crystal.

“A 1934 DRC Romanee Conti,” Walter exclaimed. “This is one of the rarest wines ever produced. It is a ler Cru wine made from grand cru grapes and only three vintages were ever produced. One in 1934, another in 1999, and the last was this year. I’ve ever only seen one bottle before and I hear it is supposed to be an exquisite wine.”

“Is it worth much?” Leo asked.

“Conservatively about eight or ten thousand dollars,” said Walter. “It’s possible it could bring even more at an auction.”

“Ten thousand dollars?” Scott questioned. “For a bottle of wine?”

“Oh, not just a bottle of wine, dear boy,” said Walter. “Perhaps one of the finest wines ever to be pressed. I’d be willing to give you four thousand for it myself.”

“Well, considering what you’re doing I guess that would be fair,” said Scott. “Plus there’s a lot I can do with four thousand dollars.”

“Done then,” said Walter. “Now, let’s see what other gems you father may have had stashed away in here?”

“Looks like you’re on your way,” said Paige. “Four thousand dollars is enough to get you back on your feet.”

“Yes,” said Scott looking around. “Maybe I don’t have the house any longer but at least I don’t have to be homeless. It’s a start.”

“Oh my heavens,” exclaimed Walter. “A 1990 Romanée-Conti, DRC. Another fine and very rare wine. It is perhaps one of the finest wines I have ever tasted.”

“Is it worth much?” Paige asked.

“My dear,” said Walter, “recently 6 magnums of this wine were sold at Zachy's in New York for $69,600. That’s about $5,800 a regular bottle. And there’s a customer at Quake who’s been asking if I could procure a bottle for his anniversary. I’ve been having trouble finding it without paying an exorbitant price.”

“Well,” said Scott, “personally I don’t drink. So whatever you find in here that Quake is willing to buy I’d be more than willing to sell at a reasonable price.”

“In that case, I’m quite sure we can take some of these more mundane wines off you hands as well,” said Walter. “Although not nearly as exquisite or as rare as the ones I’ve found all ready, many are quite passable. At least for the uninitiated.”

“Then I’m sure we can work out something that’s mutually beneficial for both of us,” said Scott.

“Well, I guess we’ll leave you two alone then,” said Piper. “We don’t really need to be here and it looks like it’s going to take Walter a while to go through them all.”

“A 1982 Ausone St Emilion ST94,” said Walter as if he hadn’t even heard Piper. “Not as rare as expensive as the others but not a bad wine in itself. Worth, I’d guess, about fifteen hundred dollars or so.”

“He does get wrapped up in his wine, doesn’t he?” Cole asked.

“That he does,” said Piper. “Come on. Let’s leave these three alone.”

As Scott and Walter stayed in the basement going through the wines, the sisters, Leo, and Cole left the house and headed back to the manor.

“You know,” said Paige, “with all that’s been going on here I forgot about that demon that attacked me in the first place. He’s still out there.”

“Just stay out of alleyways and you should be fine,” said Cole. “As long as you’re around people the demons won’t attack. And I’ll stop by and have a talk with Kumak. He shouldn’t be bothering you again.”

“Isn’t that dangerous?” Phoebe asked. “What if he tells another demon you’ve been there?”

“That’s not likely to happen,” said Cole. “Most mainstream demons don’t associate with alchemists. Alchemists are basically human and they’re treated much like warlocks. Any demons working with him can’t tell about me without giving away the fact that they’re working for an alchemist. I’m reliably certain I don’t have much to worry about.”

* * *

The next day Scott and Sheba stopped by the manor. After Piper had invited them into the manor he pulled a bottle of wine out of a bag he was carrying and handed it to Piper.

“This is to thank you for everything you’ve done,” said Scott. “Walter says it’s a bottle of 1784 Chateau d'Yquem and in 1986 it sold at auction at Christie's London for $56,000.00. It also bears Thomas Jefferson's initials, which makes it something of historical value as well.”

“Scott, I can’t take this,” said Piper. “This one bottle can help you get your house back. If you can find a buyer for it you’ll have enough to pay off the back taxes on your house. I wouldn’t feel right taking that from you.”

“You don’t have to worry about that,” said Scott, smiling. “Walter ended up buying nearly the entire wine collection, either for his personal wine cellar or for Quake. I made more than enough to pay off the back taxes and still live comfortably for a while.”

“Well, that’s a start,” said Paige. “And I’m sure we can still find some work for you to do. I’ll just need some time to check on it.”

“That’s not going to be much of a problem,” said Scott. “Besides the bottle he bought for himself and for Quake, he found quite a number of bottles that apparently are extremely rare. He’s even offered to help arrange for me to sell them at auction.”

“Well that sound promising,” said Phoebe.

“Very,” said Scott. “He estimates that once all of the bottles are auctioned off they’ll bring in somewhere between three hundred thousand and six hundred fifty thousand dollars. Apparently my father knew more about wine than I imagined. Some of the bottles Walter found extremely rare and valuable. I never knew my father knew so much about wine. I always thought he was just a drunk.”

“Well, it looks like he helped you out even after he died,” said Paige. “And you get to keep the house. I’d say you have a pretty good start on getting your life back on track.”

“Thanks to you,” said Scott. “In a way, this has all been a blessing in disguise. If not for those demons I would never have met you and I would never have learned how much that wine was worth. I’m actually better off than I was before I got hurt. Plus I’ll have enough to finish the operations I need to fix my leg. It will never be like it was but I won’t have to walk with a cane any more.”

“That’s good,” said Cole. “I’m sorry you had to go through everything you did but I’m glad everything worked out for you.”

“I’m even thinking about starting my own construction business,” said Scott. “I’ll have enough money to do it and I won’t have to worry about working for people who don’t know what they’re doing. I can make it sure it’s done right.”

“Well, there’s a lot involved starting your own business,” said Piper. “Believe me, I know. I never knew how much was involved until I opened P3. If you need any help or advice I’ll be glad to help if I can.”

“And I can help you with some of the legal aspects,” said Cole. “I may have been an assistant district attorney but I’m still a pretty fair lawyer.”

“I just might take you up on that,” said Scott. “Well, I need to be getting downtown. I have a meeting to discuss the repayment of the back taxes. From the way the guy sounded on the phone it shouldn’t be hard. They only got the notification yesterday that the house was delinquent. And he said if I can pay the taxes soon it will save him a lot of paperwork.”

“Good luck,” said Leo.

“Thanks,” said Scott.

“Well, he turned out to be a really nice guy,” said Phoebe. “Not the supposed demon we first thought.”

“No, he wasn’t,” said Piper, looking at the bottle of wine Scott had given her. “It’s nice to have an innocent be able to appreciate what we have to go through to protect them for a change.”

“What are you going to do with that?” Paige asked.

“I’m going to save it,” said Piper, putting her arm around Leo. “I figure by our fiftieth wedding anniversary it should be very nicely aged.”

“I’ll build a special box for it,” said Leo. “Some place to keep it nice and safe until we open it.”

Leo got up and headed for the attic to get his tools. As he did the others gathered around to have a look at a fifty thousand dollar bottle of wine.

The End