Books : Leo Rising : Excerpts

Chapter 1

The roast turkey flew through the air, hitting the apex of its arc just beneath the chandelier, and landing with a splat against the dining room wall. A trail of gravy dripped down the wall as the bird slid to the floor.

"And here I thought turkeys couldn't fly," Paige said, looking at the remains. "So much for dinner."

"Somebody's going to pay for that," Piper said, looking to her sister for assistance. The attack at dinnertime was rude enough. There was no need to ruin the meal as well. That was just bad manners.

Paige held out her hand. "Carving knife!" The knife disappeared from the table and a collection of blue-white orbs gathered above her palm, dropping the utensil into her grasp. She pumped her arm and threw the weapon across the room, where it landed, embedded in the chest of a demon. He barely had the chance to look down at the wound before he exploded in a fiery ball.

Piper silently noted that Paige's accuracy had improved greatly over the past few years. Knife throwing wasn't a talent she had possessed in her life before finding out she was a witch. It was actually rather sad to see the kinds of skills she and her sisters had begun to excel at since they found out they had magical powers and a higher calling.

One demon down. One dozen to go, Piper thought.

Piper and Paige were backed up to the kitchen door. The crashing sounds coming from behind them at least meant that Phoebe was still alive. Once they finished up in the dining room, they'd have to join her. Until then, Phoebe was on her own.

Two of the demons approached the dining room table. Piper still didn't know where they had come from or what they wanted, but now was not the time to ask. She threw up her hands, and the nearest demon exploded. The one who had been beside him grabbed for the serving platter.

"Not the good china," Piper said, making him explode before he could touch it. While she was distracted, a third demon circled around from the conservatory and threw Wyatt's toy truck at her. Piper barely had time to register what was happening before it connected with her head, disorienting her.

"Piper!" Paige cried. She focused on the table. "Silverware!" With a wave in the demon's direction, she sent every utensil on the table into the demon. It was a particularly messy attack, but it got the job done. The demon exploded, sending all the silverware clanking to the floor. Paige cringed over the damage to the silver and the scuff on the floor. "Whoops."

As more and more demons continued to approach from both entrances into the room, Paige took a moment to check on Piper. She was still conscious. "You okay?"

"I think," Piper said, clearing the cobwebs from her head. She stood, taking in the situation. Six angry demons were coming at them, three from the living room and three from the conservatory. Piper and Paige were incredibly outnumbered, with more demons in the kitchen with Phoebe. All of that was typical for a day in the life of the Charmed Ones. It was the demon who was standing back from the fight that concerned Piper the most. He was in the living room holding a video camera and taping the battle. That part really concerned her. It meant something was going on beyond the typical random demons coming to kill the Charmed Ones.

A crash from the kitchen pulled Piper back into the moment. She worried for Phoebe, but there was nothing she could do until she took care of these demons. Hold on, Phoebe, she thought. We're doing the best that we can.

• • •

Well, dessert's ruined, Phoebe thought as she picked a piece of chocolate cake off her blouse. She had managed to salvage most of her outfit by ducking behind the center island in the kitchen when the demon threw the serving dish at her. Pieces of glass and cake littered the floor behind her, but she was mostly unscathed. Still, she was in no rush to get up off the floor.

Phoebe had been reaching for the herb cabinet when the demon decided to make dessert into a projectile. She had just managed to vanquish his friend with half the contents of the knife drawer, but now she was stuck hiding.

Conveniently, the cake's impact had caused several containers to drop to the floor around her. She salvaged what she could reach while still keeping the island between herself and the remaining trio of demons. So long as they couldn't see her, they didn't know what she was doing.

"Come out and let's finish this," one of the demons said.

Phoebe chose not to answer him. Engaging him in banter might encourage him and his friends. Besides, she was too busy measuring out herbs for the potion she was re-creating from memory. The demons seemed fairly lower level. Their power was more in their number than their abilities. Most of their attack was relegated to throwing objects instead of power balls or lightning bolts. Still, Phoebe wasn't ready to test her theory unarmed.

If only she had been in the attic when the attack began. That was where the Charmed Ones kept some of the more powerful potion ingredients. Still, a lot of their mixing was done in the kitchen, and Phoebe had a considerable arsenal at her disposal. Ingredients for the basic potion she was creating was mostly composed of the generic stock kept in the front of the cabinet. She had to improvise a few items, but the mixture was easy enough, except for the one missing ingredient key to the concoction: vanilla.

Being that this was first and foremost a kitchen, the vanilla was kept with the baking supplies and separate from the predominantly magical herbs. Paige had often suggested reorganizing the contents of the cabinets, but the kitchen was Piper's domain. Besides, they rarely used vanilla in anything other than Piper's soufflés. Unfortunately, right now it was the key ingredient to the potion that would give Phoebe power over the demons before she vanquished them. Technically the "power overothers" aspect was usually reserved for love spells, but Phoebe knew it would work just as well at bending a demon's will. Before they disappeared, she wanted to learn why they had been sent.

Conveniently, Piper and Leo had just used vanilla in the cake they'd made for dessert, so it was at the front of the cabinet. Inconveniently, that cabinet was still above the counter and Phoebe would need to stand up to reach it. Unless she found a way to get the bottle to come to her.

Phoebe could hear shuffling from the other side of the island. The demons were going to make their move. If they were even remotely intelligent, she assumed two of them were going to flank her while the other waited for her on the other side of the island. Either way, she didn't have much time.

Sliding to the left, she reached for the green bottle she had been looking for: ague root. The root alone would not do the demons any damage, but it would hold them back long enough for Phoebe to do what she needed to do. She grabbed the bottle and popped up from her hiding place, then threw the bottle at the feet of the nearest one. Before she could see what happened, Phoebe ducked back behind the island as a collection of pots and pans barely missed her head.

She could hear the demons howl in frustration over the sound of the crashing kitchenware and breaking glass. The distraction had worked. In addition to setting up a temporary barrier between herself and the demons, one of the pots had smashed the cabinet open for her. Phoebe grabbed her potion and jumped back up. The demons were stuck behind the power of theague root, if only temporarily. Phoebe reached for the vanilla and poured the entire contents of the bottle into her potion, then turned and threw it at the three demons.

The glass bottle broke on the edge of the island, sending the potion scattering toward the demons. The trio howled in pain and anger, but Phoebe noticed, too late, that while she was hiding, a fourth demon had joined them and was safely off in a corner away from the potion. Oddly enough, he was holding a video camera.

Phoebe barely had time to notice his presence in the room before the demon dropped the camera to his side and threw a series of power balls toward her. Phoebe dove for cover before she had a chance to realize that she was not the intended target. As she hit the ground, she heard the three demons scream in agony. Then, everything went silent.

When Phoebe dared to peek out from her hiding spot, she saw that all four of the demons were gone. Three scorch marks were burned into the floor where the trio had stood, but there was no sign of what had become of the demon with the video camera.

Piper heard the screams from the kitchen. She breathed a sigh of relief when it was clear that none of them were coming from her sister. That was a good sign. In fact, it seemed like the tide of the battle had been shifting in their direction. She and Paige had managed to push the demons back to the living room in the past minute, taking out a pair of demons along the way. The one with the video camera had popped out of the room briefly, but he was back to taping the proceedings.

"How's it going out here?" Phoebe said as she joined her sisters in the living room.

"Oh, you know, same ol' same ol'," Paige said as she retrieved the carving knife from the floor and threw it at another demon.

With her sisters focused on the fighting demons, Piper turned her attention to the one with the camera, who was standing in a corner recording the action for posterity or whatever. Piper was about to blow the demon up, when he dropped the camera and yelled out, "Now!"

The remaining demons all thrust out their arms in unison, sending a wave of energy at the Charmed Ones that knocked them off their feet and into the conservatory. Piper managed to remain conscious, but every bone in her body ached. She knew she wasn't about to get up anytime soon, and it looked like her sisters were in the same situation. They didn't have time to let their wounds heal, though, because the demons were approaching.

Piper worked up what little energy she had and was about to freeze time when she saw Leo coming down the stairs, brandishing a loaded crossbow. He quickly took in the situation and fired at the nearest demon from his position on the landing. The arrow struck its target in the back, sending the demon up in flames. Leo reloaded as the other demons noticed their compatriot had just exploded.

Another arrow flew, sticking in the shoulder of one of the demons, but doing little damage beyond that. The demons turned almost in unison as Leo prepared another attack.

"Leo, look out!" Piper yelled as an energy ball flew in his direction.

Leo dropped the crossbow and dove from the landing as the camera-wielding demon flung a ball of energy across the room. The banister burst into flames above Leo, sending shards of wood in every direction, including into his shoulder.

Leo winced in pain as he pulled a dagger from his belt and drove it into the leg of the demon he had landed beside. With an arrow in his shoulder and a blade in his hamstring, the demon screamed in pain and rage. Heballed his fist and prepared to strike at Leo, who was struggling to open a butterfly knife that seemed magically hexed to close as soon as it had opened.

This was enough for Piper. She was not about to stand by as the demon pounded the life out of her husband. Summoning what little strength she had in reserve, Piper countered with her own fires. She used her powers to speed up the molecules in the remaining demons, causing them to explode one by one, saving the one with the video camera for last.

She had hoped that she'd be able to get some answers from the demon, but he quickly realized his peril. With the camera still in position, he blinked out of Halliwell Manor before the Charmed Ones could capture him.

"Please don't tell me we're on another reality show," Phoebe said, wiping some demon scorch and the remnants of what looked to be chocolate cake off her blouse.

"Just the same one as always," Paige replied, helping her sister up off the ground. "Survivor."

Once calm had fallen over the Manor again, Leo had the chance to look over the damage to the place. It helped him ignore the damage to his own body. He hadn't had a chance to take in the destruction when he had come down the stairs because he was too busy focusing on his family in danger.

The Manor was a mess. It didn't help that Leo was bleeding on the rug, but there was little he could do about that at the moment. At least everyone was alive. Still, it hurt him that he couldn't have done more during the battle.

"I thought I told you to stay with the kids," Piper said as she rushed to her husband's side. She cringed at the wood shard sticking out of his shoulder, while she also worried about their sons, Wyatt and Chris. "Come here." Piper led him over to one of the chairs in the dining room.

"Like I could just sit upstairs while I heard all Hell literally breaking loose down here," Leo said.

"And where did you get this arsenal?" Paige asked as she followed them into the room with the weapons he had carried.

"They were confiscated from the students at Magic School," Leo said. "I thought they might come in handy here. Didn't realize that there was a trick knife mixed in with other stuff." If the butterfly knife had worked the way it was supposed to, he could have taken out that demon before Piper had been forced to destroy them all to protect him. Then, maybe they could have gotten some answers as to why the demons had attacked in force entirely unprovoked.

Phoebe took the butterfly knife out of her sister's hands to examine it. "What kind of place are you running there?"

"Hold still," Piper said, ignoring the talk of weaponry. "This is going to hurt." She pulled the piece of wood out of her husband's shoulder and grabbed a clean napkin off the table, holding it on the small wound to stop the blood flow. Paige got an emergency kit out of the buffet. The sisters had recently taken to placing a small medical kit in every room of the house. It had seemed like a good idea, considering the number of times they were attacked during the course of the average week.

"We should have Wyatt heal this," Piper said as she continued to minister to Leo's wounds.

"I am not about to use my son to heal every scratch," Leo said. "It will be fine on its own."

"This is more than just a small scratch," Piper replied.

"It will heal," he said. "You seem to have forgotten that I used to be a medic. This is nothing." Leo took small solace in the fact that his medical knowledge was still useful. That was all he could provide to the Charmed Ones these days: knowledge in the areas of magic and medicine. Just knowledge. Since he was powerless, there was very little in the area of practical application that he could do.

Leo had recently fallen from grace with the Elders and become mortal again when he had chosen his family over the Elders. No more charges. No more orbing. No more healing or magic of any kind. After a brief bout of questioning his entire existence, he had taken over for Paige as the head of Magic School, teaching a new generation of witches with his vast magical knowledge. As much as the work at Magic School was helping Leo cope with the loss of his abilities, he still couldn't help but feel a little useless around the house, especially when demons were trying to kill his family.

"So much for dinner," Leo said as he looked at the trail of turkey gravy on the dining room wall. He and Piper had made the meal together. Actually, Piper had made most of the meal while Leo tried to make himself useful in the kitchen but largely found himself getting in the way. He was doing that a lot lately.

"My sentiments exactly. We can order out," she said. "At least the damage to the house was relatively minimal."

"Relatively," he emphasized. He made a quick estimate of the destruction around them: broken banister, a few smashed dishes, and probably some damage to the kitchen, too. Just some more work around the house for him. Things were now coming full circle for him since he had entered the lives of the Charmed Ones posing as a maintenance man. At least he had the household chores to keep himself busy.

Leo knew that he contributed to the family. But no matter how much he did around the house, or at Magic School, the feeling of helplessness during a demon battle was starting to wear on him. There had to be a way he could be more proactive besides taking the kids to safety. Technically, he didn't even need to do that since Wyatt could just orb himself and his baby brother, Chris, upstairs.

"So, any idea who those demons were?" Paige asked. The question was posed to the room, but Leo had a feeling they were expecting him to answer.

"They seemed fairly lower level," he said. "Don't know what the videotaping was about."

"You think Zankou could be up to something?" Piper asked.

"It wouldn't surprise me," Leo said. The most powerful demon in the Underworld had been making a lot of trouble for the Charmed Ones lately. Lesser demons had called upon Zankou to help take on the Avatars, but he continued to stick around once they were gone. Zankou had been trying to get access to the Manor and the spiritual nexus that lay beneath it. "But I don't know what he'd need to tape the fight for."

"Maybe he's looking for a weakness in our defenses," Phoebe suggested. "A way to get inside."

"You'd think he knew enough about us by now," Paige added as she picked pieces of a broken plate out of the green bean casserole. "Well, it looks like dinner is sufficiently dead."

"Honey, why don't you go pick up some Chinese for us from Chang's," Piper suggested to Leo. "I think the boys might want to go out for a walk."

"Why do I get the feeling you're trying to get rid of me?" Leo asked. Lately, she had been sending him away whenever danger entered the picture. Although, in this case, danger had already entered and left. Then again, just because the danger was gone at the moment didn't mean that it couldn't come back.

"We still need to eat," she reminded him. "And I don't want the boys down here until we clean up all the glass" -- a plate that had been balancing on the buffet suddenly fell and smashed onto the floor -- "and otherstuff."

"And you're worried the demons might come back and I could get hurt again?" Leo asked. It was more of an accusation than a question. Phoebe and Paige silently slipped into the kitchen. Both had clearly recognized the tone in Leo's voice and knew that it would be better if they started cleaning up in the other room.

"Honey -- " Piper started.

"I'm beginning to not like it when you call me 'honey,'" Leo said. Lately, that term of endearment was usually followed by a stressful conversation.

"Okay, dear," she said, trying -- and failing -- to make light of the situation.

"You don't have to protect me all the time," Leo said, trying to head off the conversation before it started.

"And you don't have to rush into the middle of a battle all the time either," Piper countered.

"So you just want me to stand by and watch my family get attacked?"

"No, I want you to protect your sons."

"Wyatt can protect himself and Chris better than I can," Leo said, hating the truth behind that statement. It was a parent's job to protect his children, but what could he do when his infant son had far more power than he did?

"Who's going to protect them if we both die in a fight?" Piper asked softly so their sons didn't overhear. Leo suspected it had come out a little more harshly than she had intended. At least he hoped that it had. "You're not immortal anymore."

"I was never truly immortal, you know," he reminded her. His life had been in just as much danger when he was a Whitelighter and an Elder. Any number of magical beings could have killed him just as easily back then, too. He had never considered himself truly immortal, just long-lived.

"But you could heal yourself," Piper said. "And you could heal me. Now it's dangerous for us both."

"Would you prefer if I had left you altogether?" Leo asked. "Stayed an Elder and forgotten about you and the boys?" That had been his punishment for working with the Avatars to remake the world; either he stayed with his family or turned his back on them to rejoin the Elders.

"No," Piper said. "But we have to deal with the reality. You don't have the abilities that you used to have."

"So, I'm useless."

"Yes," Piper said, surprising them both. "In a fight, you are useless. Is that what you want to hear? You are useless to me if you're dead. You're useless to the children if we're both dead. You need to protect yourself so I don't have to."

There was a long, drawn-out silence. They both knew that Piper didn't mean what she had said. Still, they could not ignore the truth behind the words.

"So, I'm sent off to get dinner," Leo said.

"Unless you want to pick broken pieces of plates out of the turkey," Piper said. "And maybe you could -- "

"I'll take the boys with me," Leo said as he went to the conservatory to get their stroller.

"I love you," Piper said.

"I love you, too," Leo replied.

There didn't sound like a lot of love in either of their statements.