Charmed: Let Gorgons Be Gorgons Read online

  “That’s the purpose of this exercise,” Stheno said as they turned the corner and caught sight of the man again. It didn’t matter if they temporarily lost him. They knew where he was going. “To make a public statement. But don’t worry. I’ve chosen a safe location for us to work our magic. We should be fine.”

  Medusa wasn’t exactly reassured by her sister’s words. She hadn’t even been back for a day and already Stheno was putting her life in jeopardy. Magic didn’t seem commonplace in this era. It certainly wasn’t as prevalent as it had been in their time of gods and goddesses, heroes and monsters. That might make Medusa and her sisters more powerful than the average person on these streets, but those without magical gifts—or curses—proved to be surprisingly resourceful when it came to their fear of people with magic.

  Perseus had used Medusa’s own power against her when he’d attacked. She could not begin to imagine what people could do in this age with their modern technology. To say nothing of these “Charmed Ones” whose powers her sisters had tapped into for her resurrection.

  Medusa tried to push her concerns from her mind as their target’s stroll took him into a small park. It was more crowded than Medusa would have expected for the middle of a workday, but there were plenty of trees and natural greenery to obscure the view and allow them to do their work. This was the place that Stheno had selected for them to enact their plan as she waved her sisters off on their tasks.

  Two paths branched off from the main thoroughfare, meeting up again by a copse of trees on the other side. Medusa was sent off on the path to her left. If they timed it right, they would meet up again when Ramsey reached the trees. Medusa would have to quicken her pace to make it happen, but she wasn’t so sure that she wanted to get there first.

  Euryale had taken the other side path while Stheno remained on the main thoroughfare that wound through the park for those in the mood for a leisurely stroll. Since Euryale had the most direct route, she would get to their victim first. It was little comfort to Medusa who still wasn’t completely on board with this plan, but she pressed on anyway. It was the least she could do for the sisters who had brought her back to life. Stheno’s methods might be questionable, but Medusa did not doubt that her intentions were good.

  As anticipated, Euryale’s path brought her to Ramsey just before he was about to enter through the trees and leave the park. Medusa was close enough that she could hear their conversation as she approached from his side.

  “Nice day, isn’t it?” Euryale asked as she headed off the man.

  “It just got a little nicer,” he replied as he stopped.

  “Out enjoying the weather?” she asked. “Or going someplace special?”

  “Nowhere special at all,” he said. “Just killing time. And you?”

  Medusa doubted the woman he was going to meet would appreciate that response, but his dismissive attitude was not something she felt required a magical response.

  “Enjoying the day with my sisters,” Euryale said. “We’re looking for some fun.”

  “Sisters? Are they as beautiful as you?”

  Euryale smiled. “See for yourself. Here’s one of them now.”

  Medusa forced a smile as he turned her direction. “Hello,” she said.

  “Well, hello,” he replied with a smarmy smile. “This is turning into an unexpected pleasure.”

  “Unexpected, certainly,” Stheno said as she joined him. “But the pleasure will be all ours.”

  “I’m sure it will,” he said as he turned toward Stheno.

  Ramsey’s eyes roamed as he took in the bodies of the three sisters, but his smile faltered when he realized he was surrounded. Medusa could practically see his mind working. Suspicion now filled his wandering eyes. Stheno’s plan for their approach had not been subtle. It wasn’t supposed to be. Medusa guessed that he was wishing he had some servants along to protect him.

  The man’s posture stiffened. He shifted from casual to guarded. “Can I help you young women with anything?”

  “Yes,” Stheno said. “You can look into my sister’s eyes.”

  Medusa pushed aside her concerns and removed the dark glasses that covered her eyes. She saw the brief flash of fear on her victim’s face as he looked into her inhuman gaze. Calling on the power that she had not used since her death, Medusa willed her curse into action, paralyzing him immediately, freezing his terror forever. It was an expression she did not enjoy seeing, considering that it was aimed at her.

  Stheno and Euryale’s hands were suddenly in her own. Medusa didn’t need them to finish what she had started, but they were much stronger together. Their powers combined as Vaughn Ramsey’s flesh turned to stone in the shadow of the trees while families played around them, completely unaware of the power in their midst.

  Phoebe let herself into Piper’s house and hurried upstairs to the attic. Even though Phoebe had made her own home with her family a few years back, the Manor was still what she pictured when she spoke of home. It would probably be that way even when her daughters went off to college.

  The old Victorian-style Halliwell Manor had been in the family for over a century and would likely remain for another century at least, assuming their line remained intact that long. Their future was always in doubt, considering the number of demon attacks they fielded in the average year. Still, the family was growing rapidly through her own children as well as her nieces and nephews. The odds were in their favor. No telling what powers the next generation of Warren Witches would harness… or unleash upon the world.

  A second staircase brought her up to the attic, which served as the Charmed Ones’ war room for most of their magical lives. Phoebe wondered if their base of operations would switch to the Nexus now that Prue was back and effectively a captive there. The scene she walked in on suggested otherwise. “Seems like old times,” Phoebe said as she took in the general chaos.

  Piper stood behind the Book of Shadows, the family spellbook and their main source of reference. Leo had his own stack of books in front of him that Phoebe assumed he’d borrowed from Magic School. He taught classes all afternoon, so she assumed he must have called in a substitute to fill in for him while he focused on the current problem. The school probably had someone on call daily considering the number of unexpected emergencies that popped up in their lives.

  Paige paced the attic while on her cell phone. From what Phoebe could make of the conversation, it sounded like she was speaking with Henry, checking his connections in the police department and the mortal side of the investigation. It wasn’t as convenient as when they had Inspector Darryl Morris working with them from the inside, but Henry’s contacts had helped out a lot over the years.

  The newest element to the team meeting—or, the returning element—was patched in through the laptop that was set up on the lid of an old truck; the same trunk that Phoebe had found the Book of Shadows in so many years ago. Prue’s face filled the screen. Like cell signals, Phoebe didn’t know how her sister got some kind of magical Wi-Fi out in the middle of nowhere, but she was glad they could communicate and make it a little less lonely out there for her.

  “How’s it going?” Phoebe asked as she stepped into the room. Cole wasn’t there at least. So there was some room for her to slip in without banging into people. It was a pretty big attic, but not one with infinite space.

  “We’ve got a lot of information, but no way to narrow it down yet,” Piper said. “You here to help?”

  “Not quite,” Phoebe said. “I came to do some research on my own magical issue. How about you show me yours and I’ll show you mine?”

  Piper nodded. “So far no other reports of people turning to stone. Or turning up missing.”

  “So it’s possible that this was a single attack on the congressman and not the beginning of an epidemic?” Phoebe said.

  “Possible,” Prue chimed in. “But not definite. I’m keeping tabs on
the congressman magically through the Nexus. If anything happens to him, we’ll be alerted immediately.”

  “It probably doesn’t come as much of a surprise, but there are a bunch of magical potions and spells that can turn people to stone,” Piper said, moving along in the update. “Most are incredibly difficult to undo, so our relatively simple spell to turn Congressman Ward back to normal—”

  “Such as he is,” Paige added.

  “—probably counts those out,” Piper said. “That leaves a couple of weaker spells that any magical practitioner could do. Doesn’t really point us in the direction of this week’s villain.”

  “What about the congressman?” Phoebe asked. “Couldn’t he give a description of his attacker?”

  “No memory of him, her, or it,” Prue answered from the computer.

  “And the security cameras outside his office went down just as the attacker arrived,” Paige said as she ended her call. “Henry is trying to get access to the traffic cameras in the area, but that’s several levels of red tape. I wouldn’t expect an answer anytime soon.”

  “If at all,” Prue added. “Whatever took the congressman’s cameras out probably did the same thing to any other recording devices in the area.”

  “As for possible culprits who turn people to stone without the need for a spell, we’ve got a few.” Piper nodded to Leo.

  “It probably comes as no surprise at this point, but a lot of things can wield that particular brand of magic,” Leo said. “I compiled a list, but the top choices are a basilisk—which I’m sure you all know about considering the popularity of a certain boy wizard—a type of elf known as a svartálfar, and a cockatrice.”

  “You think he was attacked by a parrot?” Paige said.

  “Not a cockatoo,” Leo explained. “A cockatrice is a dragon with the head of a rooster.”

  “Oh yeah, that makes much more sense,” Paige replied.

  “In my vision the congressman didn’t react like some kind of bizarre creature had entered the office,” Phoebe said. “It seemed more like a person. Or something that could disguise itself to look like a person? What about Medusa? Isn’t she like the most popular person in history when it comes to stories of people turning to stone? Why aren’t we starting with her?”

  Leo sighed. “Well, that’s the thing. According to history, Medusa was mortal.”

  “A mortal that could turn people to stone?” Piper asked.

  “Mortal in the context that she could die,” Leo explained. “She had powers, although no one’s sure what she was before she became a gorgon. According to legend, she was cursed with the power to turn people to stone, along with getting a horrible new monstrous body. The stories are all kind of mixed up over the centuries. It’s possible she had some kind of magic before she was cursed. Some people think she and her sisters were witches. Kind of an ancient Greek version of the Charmed Ones. But the one thing all these stories have in common is that Medusa had a mortal lifespan and she died.”

  “People come back from the dead,” Prue needlessly reminded everyone.

  “Which is why I wouldn’t say it’s impossible,” Leo agreed. “Also her sisters, though much less famous, were actually immortal. So there’s a chance they could be involved. But they’re far less powerful than Medusa.”

  “And why would they suddenly start turning people to stone after all this time?” Piper added. “They’ve been quietly living their lives for centuries. Why go evil now?”

  “A good question,” Leo replied. “That’s why I didn’t include them on the list. I mean, there’s a chance, but I’m not seeing it without more information.”

  “Okay then,” Phoebe said. “Anything else?”

  “There is a sect of trolls that turn to stone in the sunlight,” Leo suggested. “Maybe the congressman is a troll.”

  “Safe bet,” Phoebe and Paige said in unison.

  “And you?” Piper asked with a nod toward Phoebe.

  The advice columnist filled them in on what little she’d learned since her brief reappearance at the Nexus. It took less than a minute and ended with Phoebe shoving in beside Piper. “If you’re done with the Book of Shadows, mind if I have a go?”

  Piper stepped away from the podium. “Have at it. I’ve done all I can do.”

  A pink glow lit the room as Coop materialized between the two sisters. “Hello, everyone,” he said with a wave before seeing Prue on the screen. “Hi, Prue!”

  “It’s getting crowded up there,” Prue said from her perch on the trunk.

  “If we get Henry and the kids we could have a party,” Paige added.

  Coop gave his wife a kiss on the forehead. “You filled them in on what’s up?”

  “Just got done with it,” she replied. “What did you learn?”

  “I’m happy to report that Romeo and Juliet are still happily in love,” Coop said. “To be safe, I’ve got them on lockdown at Cupid’s temple. Kama’s keeping an eye on them. Whatever is going on, we don’t want them mixed up in it. Those two souls have suffered enough over the centuries.”

  “Good thinking,” Phoebe said. “What’s our next move?”

  Coop looked around the room. “You know, we have enough people here that we could keep an eye on the other couples on your list. The ones that haven’t broken up yet. See if anything strange happens.”

  “That’s not going to work,” Paige said as she held up her phone. “I figured downloading that new local news app might be a good idea. It just paid off. Breaking news.”

  Everyone in the room crowded around Paige’s phone to read the tiny print on the screen as she opened it up to the short article inside.

  “That’s not good,” Piper said.

  “Hey there!” Prue called “A little help for those of us not in the room!”

  “Another statue turned up in the city,” Piper explained. “Vaughn Ramsey. You might not know him. He’s the head of one of those cable networks that call themselves a news organization but is really a shill for a political agenda.

  “A not-so-progressive political agenda,” Paige added. “Like the kind the congressman supports.”

  “I’m beginning to sense a theme,” Prue said. “But that’s considered breaking news these days?”

  “Ramsey owns a local station too,” Phoebe explained. “The story is being run by a competing network. Their take on the statue is that it’s some bad attempt at a viral marketing campaign that’s vandalizing a park. Not so much news or human interest as it is an attempt at embarrassing the competition. It doesn’t mention anything about the congressman, so I think we managed to avert that story.”

  “The important part is where they say that Ramsey is unavailable for comment,” Paige added. “I doubt this is a coincidence.”

  “We should check it out,” Piper said.

  Phoebe looked to the Book of Shadows and then counted heads in the room along with the one onscreen. “Can you all do it without me? I want to work on this love problem with my readers before it becomes more of a story.”

  Piper and Paige shared a look, but didn’t say anything. Leo stepped forward, clearly taking one for the team. “Phoebe, I get what you’re saying, but I think the bigger story here is going to be the statues. These are some notable men being turned to stone. If this gets picked up on a national level, whoever is doing it could out the magical community to the world.”

  “He’s got a point,” Coop said. “Leo and I can look into your couples. We’ll find out what’s going on. Besides, you won’t be of any use to us if you keep collapsing when you get near them. Frankly, we might find out more without you, I’m sorry to say.”

  Phoebe knew he was right, but she felt personally obligated to her readers. “The two of you can’t cover all the rest of the couples yourselves.”

  “Take Cole,” Prue chimed in from the computer. “He’s not exactly been ge
tting along well with our guests from the magical community and has been driving me crazy since he got back.”

  “Hey!” Cole’s voice came out of the background. “I’m right here.”

  “Well then go there before you kill a leprechaun. I don’t need any more bad luck around here.” Prue must have realized what she was suggesting because when she looked back at the screen her focus was on Phoebe. “If that’s okay with you.”

  Phoebe looked to her husband with the question in her eyes.

  “Fine with me,” Coop said with a shrug. “The more, the merrier.”

  “Fine with us,” Phoebe replied through a fairly forced smile.

  Chapter 11

  Paige orbed herself and her sisters into the park at the edge of the Financial District after a quick trip around the globe to pick up the potion Prue had been working on with her temporary guests from the magical community. She had been almost as glad as Cole when the completed potion meant the dwarf, fairy, and leprechaun were free to leave. Even she wasn’t that desperate for company.

  Once again, Paige’s magic had deposited them behind a tree, which was particularly convenient in this case. One peek told Paige that getting at this statue was not going to be as easy as it had been at the Presidio that morning.

  A small crowd had gathered around the stone body of Vaughn Ramsey. Every single one of the people surrounding him had a phone in hand snapping pictures and recording video of the statue, like it was the newest attraction at Madame Tussauds Wax Museum.

  Paige didn’t get the attraction since it was just an odd statue in a park. She assumed it had something to do with the fact that so many people had a very low opinion of this particular public figure and would take any opportunity to have some fun at his expense. A random statue of the divisive media mogul popping up in the middle of a park paid for with public tax dollars had some kind of potential for scandal. Who would want to miss out on that?

  Piper breathed in the air, which was not so fresh given that they were on a block surrounded by office buildings and surface streets filled with mid-day traffic. “Two parks in one day. The kids would love this.”