Midnight Magic

Chapter 7

  Phoebe walked up to the altar where her prince awaited. Piper appeared in the room and hid; just because she was invisible didn't mean that nobody could bump into her and blow her cover.

Since Piper could not freeze or blow up the Prince, she snuck over and poured some holy water into the two goblets she saw sitting on a red velvet pillow with golden tassels. She knew it was a lame plan, but hopefully it would buy her some time at least.

The Prince detected it when he lifted it up to his face to drink, and threw down both goblets, spilling the blood on the floor.

"I know you're here! Did you honestly think spiking my drink would get by me? No matter; I came prepared with a backup plan." He pulled on a rope, which pulled back a curtain to reveal Lisa, one of the other Black Roses, tied to a chair and gagged. The Prince immobilized Piper, and then he started to chant:

"Heed these words, hear my rhyme..."

"Mother Earth and Father Time..."

"From darkness, light and in between..."

"Make this witch my one true queen."

He swiftly brushed Phoebe's hair to one side with his hand and bit into the flesh where her shoulder met her neck. Phoebe fell over, writhing in pain on the floor.

The Prince conjured a fireball and threw it at Piper. But before it could hit Piper, Elsie appeared and deflected it back at the Prince. It did not harm him, but it did not bounce off of him and ricochet back at her, either.

He grabbed Phoebe and Lisa and disappeared. Piper fell out of the stupor under which the Prince, now the King, had put her, and fell to the ground. Elsie rushed over to help her up.

"How did you get here?" asked Piper.

"I cast the one-way orb spell. Where's Paige?"

"Leo!" Piper called.

Leo appeared a moment later.

"The little girl isn't here. I can't see or sense her," he said.

"Apparently, Paige was unable to orb back home with Phoebe in tow. Where is Paige?" asked Piper.

Leo closed his eyes for a moment and concentrated. "I can barely feel her. She's fading, fast."

"You have to find her and heal her."

"There's no time. I need to orb the two of you to the circus right now, before they kill Lisa."

"No. They have to be going wherever they're hiding the child first. It was part of the deal."

"Maybe they hid her there in case we came. Maybe she's under a cloaking spell. There's no time for discussion. I'll bring you to the circus, come back and heal Paige, then orb her back to the circus, and two of you can fight for Phoebe."

"We could be too late for Paige by then."

He looked dejected. "I won't make you choose one sister over the other, but we have to factor in innocents as well, and in this case, my plan makes more sense in that respect."

Piper swallowed a lump in her throat, and mutely grabbed Leo and Elsie by their hands and tried to orb away with them. Elsie deflected the orb. Piper froze Leo.

"You stay and look for her, Piper. I'll go with Leo and stall," said Elsie.

"But, your power is only defensive. And you can't heal," Piper protested.