"Evicted Deceiver"
Copyright 2005 Penn O'Hara

 

F13

Usual disclaimers apply.

Follows immediately after "Duo Deceiver".

~*~*~*~*~

Straightening out of his instinctive hunch when transported by others, Zankou scanned the room recognizing the homey hues, sturdy furniture and stained-glass arched windows of the Manor's den.  Perfect, he thought, Phoenix played her part brilliantly and got him exactly where he needed to be and the Charmed Ones had only themselves to blame. 

"What was that all about?" Piper asked beside him, anger vibrating in her voice.

"Piper?!"

Zankou's palm curled over Phoenix's ring as he turned to see Phoebe and Paige rush into the room.

"What's he doing here?" Phoebe demanded, her lip twisted into a sneer.

"It's a pleasure to see you again too," Zankou drawled, "but I didn't have much choice in the matter."

"Piper!" Phoebe protested.

"I didn't need an escort home, Zankou," Piper said.  "Get out!"

"I would, believe me," Zankou raised his hands to the side, feigning hesitation, "but there's the little matter that, thanks to you ladies, I've been kicked out of my home."

"What?!" Phoebe said, looking between him and Piper.  "We had nothing–"

Zankou raised his chin and looked down at her.  "Piper in her wisdom brought up the subject of my moving into the Manor several times in front of my wife of all people," Zankou said, hoping his voice was the right mixture of plaintive and incredulous, "and you're surprised she kicked me out?"

"Piper, you didn't?" Paige grimaced.  "Who knows what she'll do to him now?"

"Paige, get a grip," Phoebe said.  "How many times do I have to tell you this demon does not need a champion?"

"We said the same thing about Kira," Paige pouted, "but you played den mother to her anyway."

"A lot of good it did too!" Phoebe gritted.  "He…"  She flung a hand at Zankou and he made an exaggerated wince, "…still managed to get to her!"

"Regrettable, regrettable," Zankou tutted.  "And she was such a good lay– er… demon too."

"Shut up, all of you!" Piper said, folding her arms.  "Zankou, you're not wanted here.  Get out and find somewhere else to live if you have to, but it's not going to be here."

Zankou hung his head.  "Very well.  But if Phoenix won't have me back, I'll remember who is to blame."

Zankou gave it a few seconds then looked up, pretending surprise.  "I'm still here?"  He jerked his arms and let his jaw drop.  "Nothing's happening!"

"What do you mean, 'nothing's happening'?" Piper asked.

"I'm trying to transport and nothing's happening."

"I find that hard–" Phoebe began.

"I'm telling the truth," Zankou spoke in earnest.  "Why would I hang around where I'm not wanted?"

"It hasn't stopped you before," Piper grumbled.

"Piper, send him back yourself," Phoebe said.

Zankou hid a smirk as he watched the consternation on Piper's face.  "And I know exactly where I'd like to send him too," she said.  Throwing her hands forward, she bit her lip and concentrated.

Zankou felt her energy surge through him but with his own resistance, doubled by the power held in Phoenix's ring, he remained where he was.  He had no intention of leaving the Manor and his pretence of being unable to leave was only the beginning of his premeditated fun.

"Nothing!" Piper snapped in disgust.

"You've lost your powers?" Paige asked, the shock on her face mingled with worry.

Piper frowned then jerked her hands at the colonial chair near where Zankou stood.  The chair vanished.  A flick of her fingers conjured it back.  "Nope.  Seems to be working fine."  She turned to her sister.  "Phoebe, do you mind if I try it on you?"

Phoebe grimaced, looking reluctant, then finally nodded.  A turn of Piper's wrists sent Phoebe from the room then brought her back again.  Piper frowned deeper.  "Nothing wrong with my powers."  She turned back to Zankou and he raised his brows in query.  "I just can't seem to get rid of you, Zankou.  I wonder why?"

"It's obvious, Piper,' he explained patiently. "What Phoenix wants, Phoenix gets.  And if I remember correctly, she consigned me to you.  Something about, 'You wanted him, you're stuck with him.'  I think we were meant to take her literally."

"I don't believe it!" Phoebe cried.  She froze, then her face lit up.  "Piper, now's a good time to rid us and the world of this creep for good!  If he's got no powers, disintegrate him!"

Piper's eyes widened and she smiled, raising her hands.  Zankou threw up his arms and rounded his shoulders in a protective gesture, hiding his grinning face from them.  They couldn't know that under the protection of Phoenix's ring, he was impregnable, but it could be to his advantage to pretend otherwise.

"Piper!  Don't!  You can't!"  Paige rushed in between them, her hands held out in front of her.  "You can't strike down someone defenceless, not even a demon."

Zankou straightened, gratified that he hadn't been wrong about Paige.  She didn't realize it, but she already had one foot in his camp.  Something like this would bring her over to his side completely.

"Even a demon, maybe," Phoebe said.  "Him, no.  Piper, do it."

Piper's face twisted.  "No, I can't.  Paige's right.  And it's not Zankou's fault he's here.  His wife did kick him out, and only because she got the wrong idea about why I was there."

Zankou nodded and folded his arms, legs astride.  Piper was going to be reasonable about this as well.  Two down, one to go.

"Paige, you have a go at sending him back," Piper suggested.

Paige's lips parted, her eyes wide.  "I'm not sure I want to.  That woman might be vindictive enough to–"

"Paige, do it!"  Phoebe ordered.

Pulling a face at her sisters, Paige turned to Zankou, her eyes apologetic.  She threw her hands out toward him.  "Demon!  Be gone!"

Zankou felt her power tingle his nerve endings in a caress that was tentative and untried.  This witch was definitely smitten by him and he would no doubt use that for his pleasure later.

"Nothing!"  Paige faced her sisters, her expression assuring them she'd tried.  Zankou bit back a satisfied grin.

"What exactly happened in Zankou's office, Piper?" Phoebe asked.

Piper sighed heavily.  "His wife never gave me a chance to explain why I was there, but I guess the fact remains that this is indirectly our fault.  I know where's she's coming from though."  Piper turned on Zankou, her hands on her hips.  "Stop locking your wife in the bedroom.  Let her pursue her career, Zankou–"

"I think you've got it the wrong way around," he chuckled. 

"Oh, really, and what now?"  Phoebe asked, impatience edging her voice as she walked around Zankou, eyeing him up and down. 

He returned her stare boldly, curving his lip.  She met his best come-on smile with a look of contempt that didn't concern Zankou.  Phoebe was going to be the toughest nut to crack, but crack she would.  He had no doubt in his ability, nor her eventual capitulation. 

"Whose room do I get to share?" he asked, widening his smile and showing each of the sisters a raised brow.

"Not so fast," Piper said.  "There's always the front door.  You can walk out of this room and use it, you know."

"Shall we try?" Zankou asked.  "I'm game if you are."  He walked past her, through the den's arch and down the corridor to the Manor's front door.  Opening it, he made to walk out and came up hard against an invisible barrier.  Good, he thought, Phoenix had anticipated this.  He stood back and flourished a hand at the open cavity. 

"A force-field," he declared.  "No doubt set up by my far-thinking, further-reaching wife.  She won't be circumvented.  Not by witchcraft, nor by simple means."

Paige came up behind him and tentatively put her hand past Zankou.  Finding no barrier, she stepped through the doorway onto the small porch outside, then looked back at him in suspicion.

Zankou was suddenly pushed from behind, arms flailing and was rammed up hard against the invisible barrier.  He rounded on Phoebe, growling deep within his throat, then reined in his temper, mindful that losing his cool would not further his cause.  Instead, he smiled sweetly at his assailant.  "Satisfied, Phoebe?  Any of you could pass through this door, but Phoenix has seen to it that I can't."

"This is ridiculous!" Phoebe fumed.

"But unavoidable," Zankou said.  "May I suggest we make the best of it until she cools down and sees reason?"

"How long will that take?" Piper asked with ill grace.

"I've no idea.  She's never kicked me out before.  You witches have a lot to answer for.  The least you can do is make me comfortable while I wait out her ire."

"What wife in her right mind would lock her husband in a house inhabited by three women?" Piper asked.

Zankou folded his arms and rocked back on his heels.  "A wife who is very, very sure of herself."

"That's not the impression I got this afternoon," Piper said, sounding wary now.  "It appeared she was half way to hysterical."

Zankou blinked, realizing his mistake.  Damn, he would have to be more careful.  "Oh, I grant you, she's not thinking straight at the moment.  She'll come around eventually, when she realizes how boring an empty bed is.  But in the meantime, I suggest you make me comfortable."  He opened his arms, injecting warm comradeship into his gaze.

"Piper, do something," Phoebe said with a tinge of desperation.  "We can't let him stay here!  I won't have it."

Piper shrugged.  "I don't know what I can do, Phoebe.  Paige and I have tried and if you couldn’t physically kick him out the door, no one could.  It's entirely possible his wife is able to incarcerate him where she wants him.  I don't know anything about her but if she's strong enough to keep…"  She looked Zankou up and down, her mouth curling in distaste, "…him in line, she's powerful enough to resist anything I might do."

"You're doing it again," Zankou gritted, his patience wearing thin.  "You're talking about me like I'm not here, whereas unfortunately for you, I'm here to stay."  He folded his arms across his chest and glowered at them.

"What guarantees have we that you're not here to wipe us out?" Phoebe demanded.  "We're not in the habit of welcoming vipers into our midst and giving them a free run of the place."

"Uh, the Seer, Kira…" Paige began, but a look from her sister shut her down.

"Phoebe," Zankou crooned, "we have had enough dealings together for both of us to realize that by destroying you, I kiss any chance of controlling the Nexus goodbye.  I need you.  I'm not going to jeopardize that."

Phoebe's mouth thinned as she processed his logic.  "This is impossible!  Surely there is some way–"

Zankou shook his head.  "Only patience will win this battle for you.  Do you have any, Phoebe?  Beautiful and desirable you may be, but patience you have none."  He dropped his voice several decibels.  "You must be a wildcat in bed."

"You'll never find out!"  Phoebe snapped her teeth over the words and Zankou laughed.

"We'll see," he said.

Paige looked uncertainly at her elder sisters while Piper watched Zankou with distrust.  Zankou's stance challenged the pure hate in Phoebe's eyes until she stepped past him and headed out the front door. 

"I'm done with this," Phoebe said.  "I'm going to the office.  Let me know when he's gone."

"Phoebe!  You can't leave us!" Piper shouted, but her sister ignored her, disappearing down the front steps.  Opening and closing her mouth, Piper looked dazedly from Zankou to Paige and back again, then wheeled around and strode back up the corridor.  "I'll be in the kitchen, Paige.  He's all yours."

"Piper!"  Paige called after her.

Zankou held out his arms to Paige, smoothing warm interest over his face.  "Where were we, my dear?"

"Don't you touch me!" Paige back-stepped.  "I'll show you to the guest room.  After that, you're on your own."

"Now that wasn't what you promised the other day.  Something about giving me more power?  So that I could protect myself, you understand," he hastily added.  "Against Phoenix."  Zankou lowered his eyes and kept his face even, feigning innocence. 

"I'm not sure that's such a good idea now," Paige said doubtfully, backing away further, then turned and led the way up the corridor and the stairs to the rooms above.

Zankou inwardly sighed.  He still had a lot of work ahead of him.  Striding after her, he touched her elbow to guide her up the stairs.  Paige jerked her arm away and Zankou clamped his jaw down on a biting remark, but didn't back off.  The way to influence these women was to keep within their personal space.  He didn't need to touch them.

Paige flung open a door into a small room made smaller by the large wooden bed, tall wardrobe and padded window seat below a closed window, its lace drapes allowing natural lighting.  It was devoid of anything interesting, Zankou being much more attracted to the attic and the secrets it guarded.  But for now, this would do.

After twitching the curtains away from the window and pushing it open, Zankou threw himself onto the bed and stretched his arms back, clasping them under his head.  Flinging out one hand, he patted the bedcover beside him, and gave Paige a heavy-lidded look.  "Join me?"

Paige took a quick breath.  "Dinner's at eight."  She spun around and left as if the hounds of hell were on her heels, but not before Zankou saw the startled curiosity in her eyes and her mouth parted with temptation.

Zankou threw back his head and laughed, long and softly at the ceiling. 

"I'm in," he crowed.

oOo

More to come.