"Matched Twister"
Copyright 2005 Penn O'Hara

 

 

Rated: F13

Usual disclaimers apply.

Follows immediately after "Dream Twister"

~*~*~*~*~

"Paige!" shouted Phoebe through the flaming wall that caged her.  "Fight him!  It's because of Zankou that Brody is dead."

"No…"  Paige shook her head, failing to break her fascination with the demon now standing in front of her in the den of her home.  Zankou radiated a heat that drew in every fiber of her being.  "The avatars killed him."

"Zankou engineered it, Paige," Piper argued, also unable to get through the burning obstruction.  "Brought the avatar to Brody.  Step away from him, Paige."

"You don't want to listen to them, do you, Paige," Zankou said, still stroking Paige's arm. 

His voice stirred something primal within Paige.  She moistened her lips, trying to get her words out with some normalcy.  "Brody's obsession with bringing down the avatars made him reckless–"

"Paige!  This isn't you talking," Phoebe appealed.   "Zankou is influencing your mind."

"Do not heed them," Zankou murmured.  "Hear only the sound of my heart beating a tempo to your beauty."

Paige's breath caught in her throat.  She thrilled to the power of being desired not only by an attractive man, but such a dangerous one, finding the feeling intoxicating and irresistible. 

"Paige…" Piper warned.

"One kiss," Paige whispered.  "I just want to know–"

"No!" Phoebe cried.  "Don't–"

Paige felt Zankou's palms gently stroke her jaw as he lifted her hair from her neck, allowing the air to cool her heated flesh.  She was conscious of his rocking his body against her as he moved in.  Paige felt the core of her catch ablaze as she closed her eyes and waited.

"Zankou!"

Paige's eyes snapped open to the command and she saw a soft light pulse at the doorway to the den.  It glowed and enlarged to morph into a statuesque woman over six foot tall.  She had long softly curling red hair framing an aristocratic face offset by emerald green eyes.  Her hourglass figure was encased in a smart linen suit, the collar of a deep purple silk shirt contrasting with the rich cream of the coat.  She made Paige feel gauche and immature.

Zankou jerked, then froze with his hands still cupped against Paige's face.  He closed his eyes, then plastering a smile to his face, dropped his hands and slowly turned to face the newcomer.

"I see you finished early," Zankou said.  "I was just amusing myself while I waited–"

Levitating the flowers out of the vase on the oval table, the new arrival flicked her hand causing the water in the vase to fly in a stream that doused the sisters fiery enclosure. Piper and Phoebe hurried to Paige but she shrugged off their concern, more interested in Zankou's reaction to the woman in the suit. 

"What brings you here?" he drawled, as he strode up to her.

"Checking up on you, of course," the woman said, "and it's a good thing I did.  Why are you terrorizing the Charmed Ones?"

"Because with them on my side–"  Zankou swept a hand toward the sisters huddled together.

The female demon raised her brows, obviously unimpressed.  "And what exactly did I just witness?  You persuading a Charmed One to your cause?"  The demon grasped Zankou's jaw and dragged her thumb across his bottom lip.  "Or something else?"

"Who are you?" Piper asked.

"He was trying to seduce me!" Paige accused, not sure whether she welcomed or rued the interruption.

"Oh, I know what he was doing," the woman said.  "He's a very naughty boy when he's away from home."  She smiled at Zankou and raked her nails across his cheek.  "He's a very naughty boy when he's at home too."

Zankou growled and leaned into her.  She playfully bit his chin and stepped round him to address Paige.

"My apologies, dear, to you and your sisters, for my husband's behavior."  She flicked a glance at him.  "He is the most outrageous flirt.  And just can't seem to stop."

"Your husband!?" the sisters chorused.

"Yes, I know I don't keep him on a very tight leash," Zankou's wife said, her voice flippant, "but I'm a busy woman.   I send him off each day to keep the other demons in check but he has this… fascination… with ruling the world and thinks he's going to do it by acquiring power.  Magical power.  I've told him… how many times, darling?"  She flicked a bored glance at Zankou.  "…that money is power, but he just won't believe me.  What can I do with him?"

"Lock him up," Phoebe suggested dryly.

"Send him to his room," Paige said, now relieved she'd been spared from making a fool of herself.

"I tried that.  But he drags me along in there with him," she smiled at Zankou and sighed, "and frankly, we've got enough children already."

Zankou grinned and walked behind the sofa, eyeing Paige as he went.  Paige felt her lip curl at his audacity for still coming onto her and in front of his wife.

"You've got children?" Piper asked, her voice strangled.  "But he was after… mine–"

Paige watched the smile slide from the woman's face as she rounded on Zankou.  Throwing her arms up in the air, she sent him across the room, slamming him against the back wall.

"I told you to pick on someone your own size, you bully!" she scolded him.

Zankou rolled to his feet, snarling.  "I didn't touch her children!  It was only a ruse–"

Zankou's wife threw her hands across her body, and Zankou was hurled sideways, landing in a heap under the window.  "Don't mess with mothers, darling," she said.  "That's another one of my rules."  She turned to Piper, smiling.   "I'm so sorry about that.  He… forgets himself.  Now, if you'll excuse us, we have to get back to the office.  I've had complaints from clients that he's not returning their calls, and honestly, darling…"  She turned to watch Zankou haul himself from the floor.  "I can't do everything.  I gave you that huge office but what you do in there–"

"Er, you wouldn't mean a huge bronze and glass office with red and black carpeting, would you?" Phoebe asked.

Swinging back to her, Zankou's wife narrowed her eyes and nodded.  "Yes, I do.  Why?"

"He tried to–"

"Darling, let's go," Zankou urged, limping toward his wife and rubbing his shoulder.  "I think I can hear one of the children crying."

The woman held up a hand and Zankou froze mid-step.  "Keep going, my dear," she said to Phoebe.  "What did he try to do?"

"It doesn't matter," Phoebe said.  "I've the feeling he's going to pay for it whether you find out or not."

"Excuse us, please," Zankou's wife said crisply, "but we'll be back.  Me, with a subdued husband and him with an apology."  She flicked her wrists and they were gone, a quickly extinguished light masking their departure.

Paige looked at her sisters.  "Who would have thought Zankou was a hen-pecked husband?"

"Not me," Piper said, "but if Leo acted like Zankou does when I wasn’t around, I'd do more than throw him against the wall.  I'd fry his–"

"Phoebe," Paige interrupted, "what did he do in that office?"

"Yes, sister dear," Piper folded her arms and glared at Phoebe.  "What exactly happened?"

Phoebe threw out her hands.  "What is this?  I didn't go willingly, did I?  I was taken by force, remember?"

"Fine, I understand that," Piper admitted, "but Zankou got evasive in front of his wife when you brought it up.  So… spill the beans."

Paige looked hard at Phoebe and pointed to the sofa.  "Sit."

Phoebe rolled her eyes and sat.  "He offered me control of a business called Phoenix Byzantine Publishing.  I saw it in my vision and he took me there and well, he acted like he owned the business.  He showed me the CEO's office, said it was his, and said it was mine if I wanted it.  He said he was on the up and needed someone to replace him.  Can you imagine how I felt?  My own magazine?  I was, to say the least… tempted."

Paige recognized her sister's distress and sat down beside her, compassion prompting her to hold her hand.

"Were you tempted by something more than the promise of a new job?" Piper asked, not looking the least sympathetic.

Phoebe wouldn't meet her eyes and Paige frowned.  "What did he do to you, Phoebe?" she asked gently.

"Nothing!" Phoebe exploded. "Nothing I didn't want him to."  Her hands jerked in her lap.  "He has this way about him.  The minute he touched me, all resistance went out the window, and when he looked at me and put a little effort into it, I…"

"I know, I understand," Piper said, her voice softer.  She sat down on the other side of Phoebe, putting an arm around her shoulder.  "You didn't–?"

"No!  I caught him out in a lie.  I realized it wasn't his company to give away and charged him with it.  He said he could arrange an accident…"  Phoebe's eyes widened and her mouth opened into a large 'O'.  "His wife!  We should warn her!  He said he could arrange an accident for the current owners.  What if he meant her?  And... who else?  Her children?  His children!"   

Phoebe tried to erupt from the sofa, but Paige held her back.  "Whoa!  That lady looked like she could handle herself and him.  I wouldn't go worrying about her yet."

"Nor would I," Piper agreed, "but if you like we can warn her when she returns… if she returns.  Now, what did he do to you in that office–?"

Paige frowned at her sister.  "Piper!  Leave it."

"Why?" Piper asked.  "I felt it too… that thrill of dangerous attraction.  If he hadn't been holding me, I would have oozed into a puddle at his feet.  There!  Now I was honest, so I expect the same from you."

Paige was amazed to see Phoebe blush. 

"Come on, out with it," Piper demanded.

"I…"  Phoebe took a deep breath.  "My toes curled, okay?!  Literally, curled.  I might as well have had molten magma in my veins and I was on fire from my head to my–"

An ethereal knock interrupted Phoebe.

"May we come back?" a disembodied voice asked.

Piper's mouth twisted.  "I guess so."

The same soft light that heralded the arrival of Zankou's wife earlier, resolved into the figures of both her and Zankou.

Paige gasped at the sight of Zankou.  He was without his leather coat, wearing only a black tee that was rent to the waist.  His shoulders were rounded and he swayed where he stood, sporting a bloodied bottom lip and scratch marks down one side of his neck.  Panting slightly, his eyes were downcast, watching his wife warily from under his lashes.  Where his tee had been torn away at the shoulder, Paige could see deep teeth marks on his skin.

"What did you do to him?" Paige asked, amazed to find herself feeling sorry for Zankou.  She turned to his wife and noticed that the woman appeared slightly disheveled herself.  Her mouth was wiped clean of lipstick, but her lips still looked full with natural color.  Her suit coat was hanging open and Paige's lips twitched as she noticed the woman's silk blouse was buttoned up incorrectly.

Zankou's wife looked Zankou up and down.  "Don't hunch, darling.  It's bad for your posture."  She turned back to Paige, smoothing back her hair.  "Just squeezed a little juice out of him, dear.  It's the best thing for him when he's feeling frisky.  Keeps him in line and out of trouble."  She flicked a glance back at her husband, her mouth twisting.  "Unfortunately, though, he's so virile, I fall pregnant every time." 

Zankou flexed his shoulders, shot a bold look at his wife and grinned.

Paige heard a strangled sound and glanced at Piper.  Her sister's mouth was parted, eyes wide. 

"How many children have you got?" Piper choked.

"Seven dark-haired, dark-eyed gorgeous demons," Zankou's wife said proudly, "and just as mischievous as their father."

"Seven?" Piper gasped.  "How long have you been married?"

"Five years until the Source incarcerated him, so he kept me busy.  And speaking of busy, I really do have to get back to the office.  Zankou, hurry up and apologize to these ladies.  I need to pick up the documentation to wrap up that new author I've been courting.  I want Terri Bellotti to sign the dotted line before she sleeps on it and changes her mind."

Zankou lifted his chin and looked at each of the sisters, the ghost of a smile on his lips,  then inclined his head.  "My apologies, Charmed Ones, but I can't guarantee you've seen the last of me."

"If that's the case," his wife pursed her lips, "you play nice with them, Zankou.  Is that understood?"

"Perfectly, dear.  Very nice."  His smile now was pure devilment.

Zankou's wife raised her hand and Paige quickly called out.   "Wait!  We don't know your name!"

"Oh?  Forgive my bad manners.  Phoenix Byzantine, dear." 

"B… but…" Piper stammered.  "I saw a plague in Zank… your office.  It said 'Phoenix Byzantine Publishing, 125 years in business.  How could you–?

"I know."  Phoenix dropped her eyes.  "I hold my age well."  She grabbed Zankou's arm and squeezed it.  "Don't I, darling?"

Zankou's eyes glittered and he leaned into her, nuzzling her neck.

"How… how old is he?" Paige asked, pointing to Zankou.

"Zanky?  He's just a baby.  I've been accused of cradle-snatching, but I don't care.  I waited a few hundred… well, I waited a long time to meet my match to father my children.  I'm not one to care what people think.  Come, darling!" 

Phoenix raised her arms, but Phoebe's next words arrested her.   "But how can you trust him?  How can you let him loose on the world, the way he acts?"

Zankou's wife arched a brow.  "You mean, how do I know if he's staying faithful?"  She ran a hand down Zankou's bare chest and stopped at his belt, her fingers flexing. 

"You wouldn't dare cheat on me, would you, darling?"

oOo

More Zankou to come.