Cole stepped forward, extending a hand to help Prue up off the floor.
"Damn it," she said, slapping his hand away and pulling herself up. "Why did you do that?"
"What, save your skin? Because she was about to take a slice out of it, you know?" Cole argued.
"You could have killed her!" Prue roared, getting in the man's face after his Energy Ball had chased Piper away.
"It was low voltage," he assured her.
Just then, the front door burst open, and Paige entered in a panic, pointing wildly in the direction of the street. "Leo, someone, help!" she fretted. "Something's happened to...Prue?"
Prue shook her head, then faded in a red-white haze.
"Wha-what's going on here?" Paige muttered, looking from Cole to Leo and Donnie, both of whom were rising from the floor. She moved to assist the man. "Donnie, are you okay? I promise none of this is how it looks!"
"Really?" he asked, rubbing his head as he straightened up, his eyes practically popping out of their sockets as they locked on Paige's chest. "Because from where I'm standing, things are suddenly looking pretty good. Where've you been hiding those, baby?"
Regretting her display of concern, Paige pursed her lips, drew back her arm, and slugged the man. He fell backward onto the couch, knocked out cold.
"Paige!" Leo chastised, looking to Cole, who nodded approvingly.
"What? You only said I couldn't use magic to punish him," Paige justified.
"Where's Piper?"
"Cole hit her with an Energy Ball," Prue explained, entering the parlor with the Book of Shadows and the other objects taken from Paige's office in hand.
"Excuse me?"
"What?" Paige exclaimed. "Why? Wait, are you a bad guy now?"
"No, but Piper is. And it was low voltage!" Cole repeated, irked by Prue's attempt to rile Leo up unnecessarily.
Prue looked at Donnie quizzically. "Why is he unconscious? Piper didn't hurt him, did she?"
"No, that was Paige," said Leo reproachfully.
"What?" said Prue. "Oh, never mind, I don't even care at this point. As long as Piper didn't hurt an Innocent, because that will probably seal her transformation."
"Transformation? Can someone please tell me what is going on here?" Paige demanded loudly.
Prue sighed irritably. "Try to keep up; I Astral Projected here when I read in the book that Piper might be turning into a Fury—a sartorially-challenged vengeance demon with a bad manicure. When I arrived, she tried to hurt this guy, pushed me and Leo down like we were ragdolls, and Smoked out when Cole hit her with one of his—"
"Low voltage," Cole interjected.
"—Energy Balls."
"Piper's turning into a demon?" squeaked Paige.
"Yeah, well, it wouldn't be the first time," said Prue.
"I think I need to sit down," breathed Paige, dropping down onto the couch and then pushing Donnie's legs away from her with disgust. "Oh, this is all my fault. I shouldn't have stolen the Book of Shadows."
"You stole the Book of Shadows?" Cole questioned with a smirk, entertained by the idea that this girl had succeeded where he and so many others had failed.
Pressing on, Prue announced, "Alright, we'll get to Piper in a minute. First, we need to get rid of this guy. Does he live alone?"
"Who, Donnie? Are you kidding? What woman would have him?" Paige jested.
YOU ARE READING
Third Time Charmed
FanfictionExperience the magic of Constance M. Burge's Charmed as you've only imagined! Join the third iteration of the Charmed Ones as they struggle with the loss of their sister and the implications of her untimely death, and continue their destined battle...
