The War on Witches (5 page)

“You're leaving?” Nat's knuckles went white as her hands clutched the edge of the counter. “Is it safe? Will he come back?”

Phoebe placed her own hands over Nat's reassuringly. “He got what he wanted. Now that you're powerless, there's no reason for him to return. You should be fine now.”

“But if you have friends”—Paige went to the window—“a coven maybe? Surround yourself with people who can protect you.”

“But warn them too,” Piper added. “This guy—or whatever he is—might be after other witches.”

Piper looked Nat directly in the eyes like she did when she was trying to calm one of her girls after a bad dream. “We'll find out who did this. And if there's a chance to get your abilities back, we'll find that too.”

All heads turned as someone pounded on the door. The Charmed Ones took defensive positions, protecting Nat as they prepared to face the potential threat.

A woman in a black T-shirt and jeans had her face pressed against the glass. “Nat! What's going on in there? Why is the door locked?”

“Oh, great,” Nat said as she went for the door. “My manager's back.”

Phoebe grabbed her before she could open it. “Allow me,” she said. “I have a few things I'd like to say to her. Someone needs a lesson on the responsibilities of management.”

“This should be good,” Piper said to her other sister.

Paige stared at Piper in disbelief. “Yeah. You and I need to have a similar conversation.”

Following a few choice words from Phoebe, the Charmed Ones left the computer store the nonmagical way: through the now-unlocked door before heading back to the alley. The street was finally growing crowded with shoppers as the day grew later. They had to find someplace with fewer prying eyes before they orbed away.

Phoebe had convinced the manager to let Nat have the rest of the day off and gave the woman no small amount of grief for abandoning her post and leaving her employee alone at the store. None of this was the manager's fault, of course, but it felt good to let some anger out. At the very least, the woman was a slacker too busy focusing on her personal life when she should have been working. The way Paige glared at Piper throughout Phoebe's rant, it seemed like that part of the conversation was lost on the restaurateur.

“You coming back to the Manor?” Paige pointedly asked Piper as they looked for a quiet spot from which they could disappear. “Or Halliwell's? I've got some questions—”

“They can wait,” Piper said. “We've got to find out what happened to Nat. And if this man, or
whatever,
is planning another attack.”

“We need to consult the Book of Shadows,” Phoebe said.

“We need to use all our resources,” Piper agreed. “You two go back home. Check in with Henry about that business card. But first, Paige, I need you to orb me back to Prue.”

“Why?” Paige asked. “I mean, how do you think she can help?”

“I don't know.” Piper shrugged. “But she's got access to mystical elements that we don't. She seems to be tuned in to the magic in all the realms. This is a great way to figure out what she can do and give her some purpose again.”

Paige couldn't argue with that, as much as she wanted to. Prue could be a valuable resource for the Charmed Ones. They hadn't even touched the surface of her abilities now that she was at the convergence point of all magic.

Paige could have questioned why Piper had to be the one to go there, but there was no point asking. She still felt a little awkward around the sister she'd never known. Prue had been incredible to her since her return, even giving up her claim on the Power of Three so that Paige could continue the work she had started after Prue's death. But the thought of that only added to Paige's discomfort. How could she ever repay that kind of sacrifice?

If Paige thought Phoebe would go to see their sister, she'd have suggested it instead. Piper really did need to spend some time at her restaurant. And with her family. But Paige knew without saying anything how that suggestion would be received.

“Sounds like a plan,” Phoebe agreed with Piper. “But drop me off at the Manor first, Paige. The Book of Shadows might be able to shed some light on these magical herbs that can steal magic from witches. Or this other book that went along with it. Besides, the Manor's on the way.”

“When orbing, there's no such thing as ‘on the way.'” Paige wasn't surprised by either of her sisters, but she at least wished Phoebe would make it less obvious that she was avoiding Prue's home. Or, specifically, the other person living there. Paige was a little worried about what that could mean.

“The Manor and the Nexus are on opposite sides of the world,” Piper added, not so subtly.

“The world's still round, isn't it?” Phoebe said. “Therefore, everything is on the way to everything else.”

“Fine,” Paige said in a huff as she took both her sisters roughly by the arms and yanked them into the orb.

“Power-stripping herbs? Power-removing herbs? Herbivores . . .” Phoebe mumbled to herself as she flipped through the familiar—and a few unfamiliar—pages of the Book of Shadows. She may have had a place of her own with her husband and the girls, but the Halliwell Manor would always be home and the attic, in particular, would be where she felt closest to her family and her magic.

This was the spot where Phoebe first learned that she and her sisters were witches. The secret had been kept from them their entire lives by their Grams, who raised Prue, Piper, and Phoebe as three normal, mortal girls following their mother's death. Paige was the result of a previously unheard-of coupling between a witch and a Whitelighter. Not only were her powers bound, but she was given to a nun to be placed in a home without ties to magic so she would be safe. The secret was kept from everyone, including her sisters.

Phoebe understood that these decisions had been made for their safety, so she and her sisters could be raised free from the constant threat of demonic attack. She had decided to raise her own children with full access to the gifts that made them special. She wasn't going to judge Paige for making the opposite decision, but she also couldn't entirely understand it.

Yes, it was difficult when P.J. went through her clingy phase and kept beaming Phoebe back to the house when she had to get to work. Eventually, the half-witch, half-Cupid child learned the rules, though Phoebe still occasionally woke up in P.J.'s bedroom after being beamed there in the midst of a nightmare. That was a mere annoyance compared to Paige's daughter nearly burning down the house with the family in it. It was hard to argue with Paige while comparing a mild inconvenience to accidental arson.

“Nothing in the potion books Piper keeps in the kitchen,” Leo said as he entered the attic.

“Are you sure you checked them all?” Phoebe asked.

“My wife has an immaculate organizational system when it comes to the kitchen,” Leo reminded Phoebe. “There's no way I'd miss anything.”

“Yeah, but Paige has been staying here since Tam's little accident at the house,” Phoebe reminded him in turn.

“I'll check the guest room.” Leo spun on his heel and left. He'd been around the family long enough that he didn't need her to explain.

Leo might be mortal now and as bereft of magic as Paige's husband, but Phoebe didn't know anyone on Earth with more knowledge of the magical realm than Piper's husband. He'd been their earliest ally in the fight against evil and their strongest resource. Even when they couldn't count on the souls of their mother or Grams, Leo had been there to protect them. At times, Phoebe felt sorry for him that he no longer had access to the magic, but knowing that he wanted nothing more than to grow old with Piper while watching their children grow up made her feel better.

Phoebe couldn't find anything useful in the Book of Shadows. That wasn't unusual. The Book only contained information collected from the Warren line of witches over the centuries. If none of Melinda Warren's descendants had encountered a power-stripping herb potion, no one would have been able to write about it. Then again, it was always possible that they didn't think it was worthy to note in the book. If the Charmed Ones included every little magical encounter they had, the Book would have been hundreds of volumes long by now.

Phoebe took a step back and looked to the ceiling. In actuality, she was gazing beyond the ceiling, to a place far outside of her line of sight. “Okay, Grams. Any help you can provide would be greatly appreciated.”

Phoebe looked back down at the book and waited for the pages to flip. It occasionally happened when the Charmed Ones were at a loss for where to find help. Grams didn't always solve their problems from the great beyond, but she did provide a ghostly hand from time to time. As the pages sat still in the Book, Phoebe figured that this was one of those times Grams wanted her to solve this issue on her own. Either that or she was possibly involved in some high-stakes poker game Up There against Eleanor Roosevelt and Joan of Arc. With Grams, one never could tell.

“Why is Leo rifling through Paige's room?” Coop asked as he joined his wife. “Finally getting ready to kick them out?”

Phoebe laughed. “Please. Even if Piper and Leo ever felt like the Matthews-Mitchell clan was beginning to wear out their welcome they would never force them out on the street. They're, like, the nicest people ever.”

“Maybe we could take them for a weekend or something,” Coop suggested. “If only our place was a little bigger.”

“Cupid pays about as well as Whitelighter,” Phoebe replied. “Which is not at all.”

Coop wrapped his wife in his strong arms. “I wish I could contribute more. Give you and the girls a life people dream of.”

“I have the life I dream of.” Phoebe relaxed into his body. It was true that Coop was all that she'd needed. It had been an arranged marriage in a way, when the Elders sent him there specifically for her as some kind of reward for putting up with their crap. Not that he was presented that way. It was one of the few times they'd manipulated things
for
the Charmed Ones instead of against them.

Normally, Phoebe would have rebelled against that. She wasn't big on setups. And she especially was not a fan of the Elders and what they thought was right for her. But Coop had been the exception. Their love had grown naturally in thousands of tiny, everyday ways. It wasn't just the lack of drama that was enticing—it was the way that every moment with him was dramatic on its own, without external influences trying to tear them apart.

Not that everything was perfect. Coop was immortal, or nearly so. He would live long beyond her death and the passing of their children. Growing old together was not going to be the same as she aged and he didn't. It wasn't something Phoebe liked to think about, especially since they had years down the line when they would have to actually deal with the reality of what that meant for them.

“You give us love,” Phoebe said. “That's all we need. But if you had a line on this power-stripping herb concoction, that would be a help too.”

“Sorry,” Coop said. “Only potions I know are love potions. Those can be just as dangerous as anything the forces of darkness can come up with. What else do you have to work with?”

“The guy had some book with him,” Phoebe said, stepping out of her husband's embrace. “Some kind of spell book or grimoire or something. Called it a Book of Light. We didn't get a good description.”

“A lot of religious books are called Books of Light,” Coop said.

“This one was light on religion and heavy on the magical mojo,” Phoebe said. “But it's weird. The guy said it wasn't like our magic. That it was
natural
magic. According to Nat, he was very pointed about that.”

“You can't get more natural than a witch's powers,” Coop said. “It's, like, the most natural magic in existence.”

“Tell me about it,” Phoebe said.

“And the guy?”

“We think his name is Jacob Perly,” Phoebe said. “Paige is checking it out. There's something familiar about the name to me. But I've never been to Hartford.”

“You answer letters from people all over the country,” Coop said. “Maybe he wrote you for advice. Or someone else with the same name. Perly isn't common, but I doubt he's the only one.”

“It's not that. I feel like there's a magical connection.”

“A demon you've crossed before? A warlock? Innocent? You've met a lot of people over the years.”

Phoebe stepped away from the Book of Shadows. It wasn't going to provide her with the answers she needed. “I've got the name of every single demon and warlock seared into my mind. I couldn't forget them if I tried. As for the Innocents, well, nothing the guy did would qualify as
innocent,
so I doubt it. But it's ringing some kind of bell.”

“You'll figure it out,” Coop said. “Just give it time.”

“Something tells me we don't have a lot of that available,” Phoebe said. “I haven't had any premonitions, but it feels like this is the beginning of something. Or maybe it's the middle. This might not be the first attack. It's just the first one that Prue sensed.”

“Prue?”

“She felt it. Or
something,
” Phoebe said, pacing the attic. “I'm not sure. It wasn't a premonition. More like she experienced it as it happened. Piper was there—didn't sound like it was fun.”

“You could have been there too,” Coop said. “I can watch the girls if you need to spend some time with Prue. It's not like people return from the dead every day.”

“Around here they do,” Phoebe said.

“You
can
go if you want. I won't get jealous.”

Phoebe stopped her pacing and took a breath. She worried that this was the conversation they'd been avoiding since Cole returned into their lives. “Cupids have some kind of resistance to jealousy?”

“No.” Coop took her back into his arms. “But we have a close relationship with trust.” He kissed her on the top of her head, which was easy, as she was considerably shorter than him. “I trust you. Believe it or not, I even trust Cole.”

“Really?”

“He was allowed back on Earth to redeem his soul,” Coop reminded her. “Do you think he'd jeopardize that just to steal you from me? What kind of future would you have if he damned himself to some demonic wasteland?”

“There hasn't always been a lot of logic in my past with Cole,” Phoebe said. There had been a lot of emotion. A lot of passion. And a lot of hate. It was the most complicated relationship she'd ever had in her life and the most draining. She thought she'd moved past it—she
had
moved past it—but having Cole around again just reminded her of what could have been.

“Sometimes love isn't logical,” Coop said. “It's usually at its best when you don't have to think about it. When it just
is.
Like us.”

“That's not what I tell my readers,” Phoebe said. “Relationships take work. They take thought.”

“There's a difference between work and a challenge,” Coop said. “We work on our relationship every day, but it's never a challenge. At least, not an insurmountable one. From what I know about you and Cole, you literally went to Hell and back together. That kind of passion is exciting, but it's not usually sustaining. We don't have that.”

“You make us sound like an old, boring married couple.”

Coop leaned in with her over the Book of Shadows. “We're standing beside a book of magic while trying to find an evil being that can strip witches of their natural-born powers. Life with you, Phoebe Halliwell, is many things. Not one of them is ever boring. But we're lucky. Our love was blessed from above.”

“Yeah, well, I never really cared so much for the people above doing the blessing,” Phoebe said. “But I do love you.” She turned and levitated several inches into the air until she was face to face with her overly tall husband and gave him a hearty kiss.

Piper had to lean back to see all the way up to the ceiling of the room. It was expansive. The walls were as high as the entire Manor and stretched almost as wide around. She was pretty sure Prue could fit their family home inside the room, if it weren't for all the books filling it. There were rows and rows of books on the walls, in shelving units on the floor, and covering every inch of space. One thing was certain: Prue might be trapped living at the Nexus, but she'd never lack for entertainment.

“I didn't know you had a library,” Piper said.

“I didn't,” Prue replied. “Until a short time ago.”

Piper pulled a book from the nearest shelf.
Charlotte's Web.
She must be in the children's section. “Did you just make these? Did you teleport them from someplace? Can you create books that no longer exist in the real world? Pages from the Library of Alexandria? Could you bring the Book of Shadows here?”

Prue held up her hands. “Whoa, there. Not a fan of the rapid-fire questions. You sound like Phoebe.”

Piper put
Charlotte's Web
back in its place, apologizing for the interrogation even though she had many more questions. She wanted to know if these books could exist outside the Nexus. If so, her kids would be the most well-read children in San Francisco.

“I'm pretty sure they're copies,” Prue said, running a finger down the spine of a copy of
The Witch of Blackbird Pond.
“I don't think anything here is real. And, no, I can't teleport the Book of Shadows. I can't duplicate it either. Some things are beyond my powers in this place.”

“Not much,” Piper said in awe. “How powerful are you, exactly?”

“I don't know,” Prue said. “As long as I'm trapped here, I can make it bend to my will. I can make things appear and disappear. I don't think those abilities exist outside the Nexus, but I'm working on it. The thing is,
I'm
not powerful at all. It's this place, not me.”

“It would make it so much easier if you could just zap me here whenever I want to visit,” Piper said. “It's annoying having to wait for Paige to be free to orb me over.”

“I'm working on some kind of portal,” Prue said. “Until then, I think I have enough power to set up a communication system.”

“So where do we start?” Cole asked as he came into the newly created room. “We could skim through these books for the next year and wouldn't get past one wall.”

“I've got time,” Piper said. She didn't catch the look that passed between Prue and Cole—the one that acknowledged that someone was starting to wear out her welcome.

It wasn't that Prue didn't love her sister. She would spend every minute of the day with Piper if she could. With Phoebe too. She'd love it if Phoebe would stop by more often. Even Paige, whom she'd only met recently, would be a welcome guest. But Piper had a family and a life on the other side of the world. Prue couldn't help but feel like she was keeping Piper away from that life, away from her children.