Garden of Evil, page 13
Suddenly, a little surge of fear welled up in her heart, and Paige fought it back, confused. What did she have to be afraid of? Micah loved her. He’d brought her all these beautiful things. He was taking care of her. She had nothing to fear from him.
She lifted her chin, defying her own thoughts, and walked out the door into the cool evening air. It was a silent, star-filled night, and Paige let the atmosphere wash over her as she crossed the garden to the opening in the hedge on the other side. When she walked into the flower garden, she knew for sure she was living a fairy tale.
There were candles everywhere. They were strung from the tops of the hedges in Chinese lanterns, crisscrossing the sky over head. They lined the ground in small glass votives, twinkling in the light breeze. They adorned the table that was set with flawless white china and crystal. But none of the beautiful decorations could compare to the sight of Micah himself.
He was standing in the center of the garden, his eyes glowing with wonder as he gazed at her. Dressed in a black tuxedo and white tie, he looked every bit the romantic hero. And when a classical waltz began to play, filling the air all around them, he held out his arm to her. “Do me the honor?” he asked with a smile.
Paige walked over to him ever so slowly, letting him take in the full effect of the beautiful things he’d given her, then touched her fingers to his. “It would be my pleasure,” she said with a slow smile.
Micah took her in his strong arms, and together they began to dance under the stars. Paige had never waltzed before, but somehow her feet knew what to do. She didn’t even have to think. She looked up at Micah as they whirled around the garden, feeling dizzy. But dizzy in a way that she relished. This was the way Micah made her feel. This was the way she should feel about a man as wonderful as he was.
He’s not a man, a little voice inside her mind cried out. He’s a demon, Paige, remember? Remember what he told you about his destiny. About the children . . .
But Paige easily pushed that voice aside, ignoring its bizarre nonsequitors. It didn’t matter that Micah was a demon. He was also a man. He’d spent his whole life doing good. The only involvement he’d had with children was improving their lives. His only destiny was to make the world a better place—and to make her feel like she’d never felt before.
Paige locked eyes with Micah as they danced, letting her body go. Letting him lead her. She couldn’t tear her gaze away from the beautiful, swirling depths of his blue eyes. They drew her in. The dizziness intensified. Suddenly, all she wanted to do was to love him. To have him love her.
No, Paige! the voice cried out. This isn’t right.
But Paige was gone. She was lost. She was falling deeper and deeper into those eyes. And she knew she didn’t ever want to stop falling.
The moment Piper materialized outside the garden wall, she let go of Leo, dropped to her knees, and pressed her face as close to the peephole as the laws of physics would allow. It was almost impossible to focus through the fuzzy light cast by about a million candles inside the walls, but the moment she heard the music, she realized that the figures moving in the center of the garden were dancing. As the picture became clearer and clearer, Piper didn’t want to believe what she was seeing. But she couldn’t deny it. It was right there in front of her. “Leo,” she said, her voice strained.
“What is it?” he asked, crouching down next to her.
“It’s Paige and Micah,” she said, blindly reaching out a hand to him until he grabbed it up in his own. “They’re dancing and—”
She couldn’t finish the sentence. Doing so would make the nightmare all too real. Paige was gazing up at Micah adoringly as they waltzed, and Piper recognized the dazed look on her sister’s face. It was love. Pure, unadulterated love.
“We have to get in there,” she said, standing again and looking up at the sky. “Where are they?”
Cole and Phoebe appeared a few feet away, and Piper ran straight to Cole, wrapping her arm around his waist. “Let’s go,” she said.
“Okay, hold tight,” Cole said. “I’ve never tried to take more than one person with me before.”
Leo smiled at them reassuringly, and in a moment everything went gray, then white, and then Piper was standing in a completely different place. She opened her eyes and looked around, taking in the lush rosebushes, the flowerbeds bursting with color, the perfectly trimmed lawn. Paige and Micah holding each other, their lips about to meet . . .
“Paige! No!” Piper shouted, lurching forward. She focused all the power in her body at her hands and froze the garden. Micah was suspended in time, his lips puckered, his eyes half closed, looking almost comical in the moonlight.
Paige blinked and turned to her sisters. “What did you do that for?” she asked, crossing her arms over her chest.
“See what I mean?” Piper said to Phoebe. “Where’s the, ‘Oh, thank God you’re here?’”
Phoebe ran over to Paige and pulled her away from the frozen Micah, clutching both her wrists. “Paige, listen to me,” she said, inching Paige closer to Cole and Piper. “Cole brought us here so that we could vanquish Vandalus. We have to get rid of Micah and get you the heck out of here.”
Paige’s face slowly screwed up into a confused frown. “Get rid of Micah?” she asked, pulling her head back slightly. She glanced at Piper as if she was baffled by Phoebe and hoping for some support. “Why would I want to get rid of him? I love him more than anything else in the world.”
Piper felt any hope she had left start to wane. Paige was one of the strongest-willed people she knew. Plus she had the added benefit of being one of the Charmed Ones. If Micah could mess with her this much, what would happen if his inner demon was unleashed on an unsuspecting world?
“Paige, you have to snap out of it,” Piper said firmly, reaching out and tucking a stray hair behind her sister’s ear. “Micah is keeping you prisoner here, remember? He’s one of the bad guys.”
“One of the worst,” Cole put in.
Paige’s eyes flashed with anger. “You’re one to talk,” she spat at Cole. “At least Micah has spent his whole life helping people. What did you ever do before Phoebe came along? Besides kill innocents, I mean.”
Phoebe sucked in an audible breath as Cole looked away, clearly stung. “Paige—”
“No, I don’t want to hear it,” Paige said, taking a few steps away from them. “I love Micah and I am going to be with him. Now, Piper, would you mind unfreezing my boyfriend?”
Piper threw her hands up and turned away from Paige. It was a lost cause. Any second, Micah was going to unfreeze naturally and catch them all here. And they had no chance of vanquishing such a powerful demon without the Power of Three.
“What do we do, Piper?” Phoebe asked, backing away slightly as Micah snapped out of it and realized Paige was no longer waiting for his kiss.
Piper grabbed Phoebe’s hand, her heart pounding. “I’d say run for cover.”
Chapter
14
“How?!” Micah shouted, his face contorting with rage as he whirled on Piper, Phoebe, and Cole. “How did you get in here?” Phoebe groped the air behind her until she found Cole’s hand and clutched him tightly. She wasn’t about to answer the psycho demon’s question and risk him attacking her boyfriend. Piper took a step in front of Cole as well, and Phoebe felt buoyed by her sister’s unwavering determination and strength. Together they could fight anything. Of course having a plan B and Paige by their sides would have helped a bit.
Suddenly, she realized she was still holding the vanquishing spell and she quickly tucked it into the back pocket of her jeans. They weren’t going to be able to use it until they won Paige over, so she had to keep it safe until then.
“Actually, I don’t care how you got in,” Micah said with an evil sneer, lifting his arm toward them like a weapon. “Having you all here at the same time will make this so much easier.”
“Piper . . . ,” Phoebe said warily, suddenly recalling the drawing of Vandalus in The Book of Shadows—the one that pictured him with some sort of beam emanating from his wrist.
“Scatter!” Piper shouted.
Phoebe flung herself to the ground, executing a somersault and landing crouched but on her feet, ready to strike. She felt a flash of heat sizzle past her cheek. Glancing wildly over her shoulder, Phoebe saw that Micah had somehow managed to vaporize a stone bench and burn a hole through his hedge, but Cole and Piper were still in one piece.
Phoebe struggled to catch her breath and accept the fact that Micah had yet another weapon to use against them. How were they supposed to fight this thing?
“This is the guy you love, Paige?” Piper shouted, pushing herself up from the ground.
Paige said nothing, but her face registered confusion as she looked around at the scene. If Phoebe didn’t know better, she’d say her sister had never seen a demon in action before. Micah raised his arm again, his mouth twisted into a sickeningly satisfied smile, but before he could generate another blast, Cole stood and hurled a red, glowing energy ball right at Micah’s chest.
“No!” Paige screamed at the top of her lungs, bringing her hands to her face as Micah was flung back several yards into the hedge at the far end of the garden.
“Wasn’t counting on that, was he?” Cole said, rubbing his hands together.
“Don’t get cocky yet,” Phoebe said. “Piper, get Paige and snap her out of it. We’ll try to hold him.”
As Piper pulled Paige toward a corner of the garden—away from Micah—Phoebe and Cole launched a full-on assault. Micah was just pulling himself out of the crushed and mangled bushes when Phoebe launched herself into the air, flying the last few feet and landing a brutal kick right beneath his jaw, snapping his head back. Micah tumbled back again, but this time was only down for seconds. By the time Phoebe had returned to the ground, Micah was back on his feet.
Phoebe threw a punch, which he easily ducked, but while he was down, Cole hit him with another energy ball. For a moment, Phoebe started to think that this fight would be no problem, but then she heard Cole shout her name and she whirled around, her heart in her throat.
Cole was desperately pounding his fists against the air. He pressed his hands into invisible walls all around him. Micah had imprisoned him inside an invisible box. “Let me out of here!” Cole shouted, the veins in his neck nearly popping out of his skin as he glared at Micah.
“Cole!” Phoebe shouted, running up to him with her pulse racing. “Try an energy ball!”
He pulled his arm back and flung a fiery orb at the wall, but it simply splattered in seemingly thin air, sending a wave of red light out across the invisible walls and, for a moment, defining the corners and edges of Cole’s prison before disappearing entirely.
“Phoebe! Get down!” Cole shouted suddenly, his eyes wide.
Phoebe ducked without even thinking, and Cole hit the ground right next to her. Another sizzle of heat sliced over her head and hit Cole’s prison. If he hadn’t ducked as well, he would have been incinerated.
“All right, that’s it,” Phoebe said, narrowing her eyes as she turned on Micah. “You mess with my boyfriend, you mess with me,”
Phoebe flung herself into the air and swung around midflight, flattening Micah with a roundhouse to the jaw. When her feet touched the ground again, she landed a punch right in his gut, then backhanded him into the bushes once again. He struggled to find his balance, but Phoebe wouldn’t let up. As long as she was close enough to him to punch him, he wouldn’t be able to hit her with one of his wrist beams from hell.
“Paige is never going to love you!” Phoebe shouted, blocking his arm as he swung at her and going for an uppercut.
She felt a sizzle of adrenaline as the punch was about to land, but then, out of nowhere, her oxygen was cut off. Micah had her by the throat with one, extraordinarily strong hand, and was lifting her up off the ground. Phoebe’s legs flailed as she struggled for breath.
“I have news for you, little girl,” Micah said as he glared up at her. “She already does.”
“Phoebe!” Cole shouted as Micah flung her aside. She hit the ground with a bone-shaking thud and coughed painfully as she sucked in the night air.
“I’m bored with you now,” Micah said with a short laugh. “I’d do away with you, but all I need is one kiss from your sister and then I’ll have the power to hurt you in ways you’ve never even imagined.”
Phoebe managed to push herself up to her elbows as Micah straightened his jacket and started across the garden. Her heart, her head, and her soul were all pounding with fear, but she could find her voice, barely, through all the coughing.
“Piper!” Phoebe choked out. “Piper! He’s coming!”
Piper broke off her stream of rationalizations to Paige the moment she heard Phoebe’s weakened voice fill her ears. She frantically checked over her shoulder, and a terrified chill raced over her skin. Cole was trapped, Phoebe was down, and Micah was coming their way. Clutching Paige’s arms, Piper reeled around to look at her sister. Unfortunately, the girl she saw wasn’t her sister at all. Paige was in some kind of trance. Her eyes were unfocused, she had a far-off, wistful smile on her face and her body was almost limp.
“Paige, please!” Piper said, shaking her desperately as she felt Micah advancing on them. “Please! You have to remember who you are! You’re a Charmed One! Fighting evil is your destiny, and I swear to you, Micah is evil.”
“I love him, Piper,” Paige said dreamily, looking off past Piper’s shoulder at the demon in Prince Charming clothing. “You can’t fight true love.”
Piper heard Micah’s footsteps crunch to a stop behind her. “Give up yet, witch?” he asked in a throaty voice.
“Not quite,” Piper said, setting her jaw as she turned to Micah, shielding Paige from him.
“I have to admire your determination,” Micah said, tugging nonchalantly on the ends of his sleeves. Then he looked up at her and raised his eyebrows. “Oh, wait. No, I don’t.”
Before Piper could blink, Micah had reached out one hand and shoved her to the ground. Her face hit dirt, and the taste of it filled her mouth. He stepped over her prone body and pulled Paige to him. Piper flipped over onto her back and narrowed her eyes, focusing all her hatred for him, all the anger she’d felt over the past few days, into her power. She flung her hands out at him, expecting to blow him straight back to where he belonged.
Nothing happened.
“Nice try,” Micah said, never tearing his eyes from Paige’s face. He slipped his hand behind her head and pulled her toward him as she looked up into his eyes, elated.
“Damn it!” Piper shouted. She flung her hands out again and froze him once more, just seconds before his lips touched Paige’s.
“Would you stop doing that!” Paige said through her teeth, rolling her eyes as if Piper were simply being a nuisance.
“Phoebe! Get your butt over here!” Piper shouted as she scrambled to her feet.
“I am,” Phoebe said, appearing at Piper’s side. She was a little dirty and a tad out of breath, but looked no worse for the wear.
“I can’t figure out how to snap her out of this,” Piper said, lifting her hand weakly in Paige’s direction. She was leaning up against Micah’s unmoving chest, her head tilted dreamily as she looked up at his face. “She’s like a love zombie.”
“Let me try,” Phoebe said. She walked over to Paige and tried to pull her gently away from Micah, but Paige started to struggle.
“Why are you doing this to us?” Paige cried, trying in vain to free her wrist from Phoebe’s strong grasp. “Phoebe! Let go of me!”
Paige yanked her hand so hard, Phoebe had to let go. Piper watched as angry tears filled Paige’s eyes. She grasped her wrist and seemed to shrink in upon herself.
“I don’t understand why you don’t want me to be happy,” Paige said, her voice pleading. “You don’t care about me anymore. You don’t let me do anything or have any of the things I want. Well, I’m here to tell you that you don’t have to be burdened with me anymore. I’m going to stay here with Micah.”
Piper’s chest felt as if it were breaking open. She knew, on some level, that this was just the spell talking, but it was hard to watch her sister in so much pain. It was even harder to know that Paige thought she and Phoebe had caused it. “Paige, you can’t mean that,” she said. “You know we care about you.”
“We always have and we always will,” Phoebe said sincerely.
“You don’t have to lie to me anymore,” Paige said with a sad smile. She looked over at Micah lovingly. “Micah is a great man. He’ll take care of me.”
As Paige walked back over to the love of her alternate-reality life, Piper managed to tear her attention away from her heartache long enough to refocus on the task at hand. “I can’t believe this,” she said to Phoebe under her breath. “How are we supposed to make her see him for what he really is?”
Suddenly, Phoebe’s entire face lit up and she hugged Piper in the tightest, fastest hug she’d ever experienced. “Piper! That’s it!” she exclaimed before pulling back. “We can do a revelation spell!”
Piper blinked, feeling a new surge of hope well up inside of her. “Do you think it’ll work?”
“If it doesn’t, nothing will. You saw what that thing looked like in The Book of Shadows,” Phoebe said, casting a disturbed glance at Micah. “If there’s any Paige left in Paige, she’ll wake up when she sees Vandalus.”
“Okay, let’s try it,” Piper said. “I’ll unfreeze, him and then we’ll have to recite it as fast as possible—before he can kiss her.”
“Here. Let’s get her away from him first,” Phoebe said, walking over to Paige. “That’ll give us more time.”
She took hold of Paige’s arms again and pulled her away from the statue that was Micah.
“Phoebe! God! What are you guys doing?” Paige cried, struggling the whole way.
