"RETURN WITH VENGEANCE"
Author's Note: Warning. This is a short . . . short chapter. Merely a set up for the final action.
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CHAPTER 14
The telephone on Cole's breakfast table rang. He reached over to answer. "Hello?" he greeted. "Cole Turner speaking."
"Good morning, Mr. Turner. It's me, Suzanne Maxwell. What happened to you, last night?"
Cole paused momentarily, contemplating on what answer to give his . . . 'client'. For a woman who had been stood up last night, she seemed unusually chipper. Even if she had called him by his surname. Cole finally said, "Sorry to cancel our engagement like that. I had emergency. Actually, my neighbor did. I hope you're not angry at me for canceling last night's dinner."
Brittle laughter filled Cole's ears. That could either mean that Suzanne was truly angry about last night. Or she had some kind of plan in store for him. Cole suspected the latter. "Of course not," she cried. "Actually, I wanted to reschedule our meeting for this morning. Around nine?"
"Nine?" Cole recalled that he had an early meeting with one of the senior partners around eight-thirty. "How about nine-thirty?"
Suzanne paused. "Well, I guess. I'm . . . leaving for L.A., today. A friend of mine has invited me to join her for the weekend and my plane will leave around noon. I suppose I can spare you another thirty minutes to discuss a piece of property I had discovered."
Cole hesitated. He wondered what the warlock had in mind. Seduction? Attempted murder? Hopefully, he would ready for any surprise she might have. He had managed to surprise Dako with the strength of his powers. Cole decided that he would be ready for anything that Suzanne Crozat might inflict upon him. He answered, "I'll be there, around nine-thirty. At your home, right?"
"Actually, I'll be leaving for the airport from my office on Columbus Street. You can meet me there. The Vendrum Company at the Hopkins Building on Columbus. Fifth floor." She added in a sing-song voice, "I'll be waiting for you. Bye!" Suzanne hung up.
Cole placed the receiver on the telephone. And stared at it thoughtfully.
* * * *
A haggard-looking Louis Crozat strolled inside the dining room of the two-story townhouse being rented by the Crozats. The others, Suzanne included, glanced up from their breakfast to greet the newcomer. "Well, how is our guest, this morning?" Edward asked.
Louis sat down in one of the empty chairs around the table and sighed. "Eating. And after he eats, more meditation. He seems determined to gain complete control of the mortal's body before he goes after the witches."
"Oh God!" Suzanne exclaimed with a roll of her eyes.
Edward ignored her and asked Louis, "What about Belthazor? Has Dako mentioned him, this morning?"
"No. He seemed more interested in his plans to rule other sorcerers and daemons. Perhaps even the Source's Realm and a few others." Louis made a face. "He even suggested there might be a place for all of us in his 'kingdom'."
Henry grunted. "How benevolent of him!"
"Henry!"
He let out a huff. "I'm getting tired of this, Edward! And I'm getting tired of him. We all are! Let's just get . . ." He glanced uneasily at the doorway. ". . . get rid of Belthazor, take his powers and kill the witches, ourselves."
"And what about Piper Halliwell?" Edward replied with a sneer. "How do we deal with her baby without Dako's help?" To Suzanne's obvious discomfort, Edward's eyes slid toward her. "If there's a chance we can't get Dako to help us, we'll have to resort to our second plan in regard to the Halliwell witch."
A voice from the doorway boomed, "What about the witch?" All eyes stared at the bokor, standing in the doorway. "I assume you were referring to the pregnant witch."
Edward nervously cleared his throat. "Yes, Your Eminence. We, uh . . . Suzanne has discovered a spell to steal the witch's baby from her womb. This spell was once used by a powerful daemon with psychic abilities, last spring. Against the witch's younger sister. The other sister, Phoebe, was carrying the Source's child, at the time."
"The Source? I've heard of him," Dako replied haughtily. "A talented daemon, but obviously not as powerful as some have deemed him to be."
Henry retorted, "The Source was the ruler of a vast demonic realm."
"Maybe of your realm, but certainly not of mine." Dako rolled his eyes. "And yet three of these witches were able to kill him . . . three times?"
Edward frowned. "How did you . . .?"
"I told him," Louis said, looking guilty. Edward glared at him.
Dako continued, "You can used this spell on the pregnant witch. I will kill the others and steal this . . . Belthazor's powers, before killing him. You can have the witch's child. Compensation for helping me acquire power, again."
Suzanne repressed a retort. Then she glanced at the clock on the wall. Eight forty-five. Her appointment with Belthazor was in another forty-five minutes. In an effort not to raise the sorcerer's suspicions, she slowly stood up. And sighed. "It's almost nine. That herbal shop should be opened, soon. I have some shopping to do."
"Shopping?"
Coolly, Suzanne stared at him. "Yes. Shopping. For the spell to steal the witch's baby. Is there a problem?"
"No. As long as you're back in time to go after Belthazor and the witches. I will be waiting at the witches' home around midday. After we kill the witches, we'll go after the red-haired witch and her family. And then, I will take Belthazor's powers and kill him. Meanwhile, I will meditate some more." He left the room.
Suzanne sneered. "Thril-ling! A great being who can't even . . ." She paused under Edward's warning stare. "Never mind. I'll meet you all at the Halliwells' home . . . around noon." An impatient sigh escaped her mouth, as she stomped out of the room.
* * * *
Cecile stood inside Olivia's kitchen, as she put the finishing touches on a potion she hoped would free Darryl Morris from Dako's spirit. After tossing a pinch of dried amber into the saucepan, she muttered an incantation. A second later, a ball of smoke exploded above the saucepan, taking Cecile by surprise. Step one had been completed.
After a quick search through the kitchen cabinets, Cecile found a small bottle for the potion. She poured the saucepan's contents into the bottle. Just as she finished closing the bottle with a cork, the telephone rang. Cecile picked up the receiver and greeted, "Hello?"
"Cecile? Hey cherie!" a familiar deep voice boomed.
Relief flooded throughout Cecile's body, when she recognized her boyfriend's voice. "Andre? Is that you?"
"Yeah. I got the spell that you wanted. A friend of mine had just e-mailed it to me, a few minutes ago. You remember Thierry Devereaux, don't you? From St. Croix? Well, when I told him about your encounter with . . ."
Cecile kept her patience in check. She loved Andre, but sometimes she wondered if the man was in love with his own voice. "Andre! Honey? The spell, please! I'm in a hurry."
"Oh. Yeah."
Cecile listened patiently, as Andre recited a spell that had not been used in nearly 250 years. She did not bother to write it down, for she possessed an eidetic memory. When the houngan finished, Cecile replied, "Got it! Thanks baby. And tell your friend, Mister . . ."
The vision struck Cecile like a bolt of lightning. She saw Cole Turner inside an expensive office with a dark-haired, beautiful woman. Cecile saw Cole drink something and drop to the floor, disoriented. Then four men entered the office, and with the woman, formed a circle around the half-daemon. They chanted some incantation that left Cole powerless. Then Cecile saw one of them kill Olivia's neighbor with a fireball. The vision continued with a shadowy figure (whom Cecile figured must be Dako) and the warlocks killing the McNeills, Phoebe Halliwell, Leo Wyatt and Paige Matthews. Cecile also saw Piper Halliwell killed by the the shadow figure, and her own death at the hands of the same warlock she had spotted two days ago. The vision ended as abruptly as it had begun. Cecile dropped to the floor, gasping for air.
"Cecile?" Andre's voice could be heard from the telephone receiver she had dropped. "Cecile! Are you there?"
Slowly, the Vodoun priestess rose to her feet. She took a deep breath and picked up the receiver. "Andre, I . . . I have to go. There's an emergency. I'll call you back, later."
"Cecile! Dammit wo . . ." Unfortunately, Andre Morrell's voice went unheeded by Cecile, as she disconnected the line.
END OF CHAPTER FOURTEEN
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