One Part Human (7 page)

She noted the pink tinge to the water and guessed that she had been wearing more blood in her clothing than she thought. It was hard to tell, both her jeans and the vampire blood had been black.

When she was warm, clean and definitely refreshed, she wrapped herself in a towel and scrubbed at her hair. It felt good to be home; everything was where it was supposed to be. She brushed her hair out and whipped it into a ponytail before she put on her underwear and the jeans and t-shirt.

The shoes were her favourites and not at all appropriate for being with the XIA. They were white, silver, blue and had a streak of pink that tied the look together. Benny really hoped that she wasn’t going to step in any blood tonight.

She trotted down the stairs to the library with her protective charm between her breasts again.

Her parents were decent, but the windows were open and the candles were burning. Telltale signs of their recent intimacy.

Her mother had one of the tomes in front of her, and she tapped her finger. “I found it, and it isn’t good. Now, Benny, eat.”

The table in the centre of the room was set with tea and the three-tiered tray full of sandwiches and treats.

“Can you read it out loud while I eat?”

“Of course.”

Benny went over and kissed her mother’s cheek before she scampered over to the tea.

Her mother intoned the description of the ritual, and finally, she set up the important bit, it was an exorcism for soul transfer, but it would only work with a demon soul.

Benny paused with a salmon sandwich at her lips. “Demons don’t have souls. That is what makes them demons.”

“That is what it says. This is to be used if you have a demon with a soul and you want to sell the soul as a commodity. It has to have happened before or this spell would not be here.”

Benny nodded and ate her narrow sandwich with as much enjoyment as she could. She went for the blueberries with clotted cream next.

With deliberate focus, Benny made her way through the tower of sandwiches, cakes and tarts. No bad news was going to put her off her love of the teeny sandwiches.

She sat back with her tea, and her mom reached into her apron, withdrawing two vials. One was the blue protective vial and the other was the energising vial. Benny made a face. “You couldn’t have reminded me before I ate the last cream puff?”

Her mom smirked. “No. I need to get my fun where I can.”

Benny got up and took the vials. “I still love you, Mom.”

“Not for the next ten minutes, but I know your heart is in it.”

Benny gulped the energiser first, shuddered and gagged, and then scarfed down the enhanced identity protection potion. Strawberries and fungus.
Yum.

As fast as she could, she returned to the table and slugged down her Earl Grey Tea.

She poured another cup and scooped honey into it, drinking the hot mix as fast as she could. The flavour lingered, and she prayed that she didn’t start belching.

Benny faced her parents across the room. “Now, who would want to pull a soul that wasn’t a demon? Why did they kill that woman?”

Her father shook his head. “That is what the XIA has to investigate.”

Benny sighed. “Abiding by the law is hard.”

“Oh, sweetie, you are only beginning to understand. You have lived your life as a human, and I am delighted that you could, but there are prejudices out there that extranormals are all subject to, and your family bloodlines blend most of the dangerous races. How you ended up looking so human is a blessing that your mother passed along; it certainly didn’t come from my side of the family.”

She looked at her father and sighed. His sacrifice had put him in a situation of house arrest. Their friends and family came to them, and it was those tolerant people that had given Benny her start in life. Now, she was dealing daily with those who had not faced that kind of threat to their existence because of their appearance. They just didn’t understand.

Benny was in her car and heading for the agency when her phone rang. She pulled over at the side of Anchor Lane and answered. “Hello?”

“Benny? This is Tremble. There has been another victim and the pathologist has seen some demonological symbols.”

She cleared her throat. “Really?”

“Yes, the expert refused to meet with the day shift, so we are on our way there. He is located on Anchor Lane, so I thought we could pick you up this evening.”

She looked toward her house. “Um, sure, when will you be here?”

“We are just pulling onto Anchor Lane.”

“See you.”

She dropped her phone and quickly drove forward to park her car. She threw her bag with her soiled clothing into the house and took the duffel that Jessamine had prepared for her. A moment later, she was waiting for them as they pulled into her drive.

She hopped into the car. They all looked a little the worse for wear. “Where are we going?”

“Thirteen Anchor Lane. Your neighbour. Apparently Dr. Emile is the local expert on demonology.”

She fought the urge to cover her eyes. “Yes, I have heard that.”

They drove to her family home, and she got out of the car with them. The agents put themselves between her and the unknown.
How sweet.

Argyle knocked on the door, and Benny watched her mother open it.

“Good evening, madam. We are here to speak with Dr. Emile. We are agents with the XIA.”

Her mother spotted her. “Beneficia dear, go make some tea. I will show them into the library.”

“I will make the tea after they meet Dad.” Benny weaseled between them and beckoned them inside. “Please come in.”

Once everyone was inside the foyer, Benny made the introductions. “Agents Tremble, Argyle and Smith, this is my mother, Lenora Ganger. Dr. Lenora Ganger, master magus.”

The men greeted her mother, but they were looking at her like she had grown another head.

Benny led them to the library, and she paused to let them take in her father’s emerald skin, the wide curving horns, slit pupils in his amber eyes and the claw-like nails at the end of his fingertips.

“Agents Tremble, Argyle and Smith, this is my father, Dr. Harcourt Emile Ganger.”

Tremble looked at her. “Your father was human.”

She rocked her hand. “He was. Sort of. It is a long story. I will go and make the tea.”

Benny escaped the library with a whoosh of relief.

Her mom was nearby. “You did well. Very professional. They had no idea?”

“They might have. Two out of three have tasted my blood.” She blinked, shook her head and made her way to the kitchen.

The water boiled in two minutes, and she carried the tray of steeping tea into the library. Her mom brought another tray of sandwiches.

The agents were still standing at a distance from her father. She set the tray down on the table and went to hug her dad. He held her carefully as he always did. “Do you need anything, Benny?”

“Just a hug. I was so busy before I didn’t hug you hello.”

“Missed you, too, Benny.”

When Benny turned, the agents had relaxed, and she gestured to the tray. “We found out why he did what he did. The ritual requires some explanation. Have a seat.”

Confronted by her family, they sat.

The agents were silent. All three stared at her father as if he was a spectre.

Benny rubbed her forehead. She looked at her dad and he nodded. “Gentlemen, do you want me to explain?”

Argyle nodded. “Please.”

Her dad picked up one of the tomes and kept flipping through the pages so they could stare at him without feeling awkward.

“Fine. My great grandmother was a succubus summoned to bear the heir of a wizard. That would be my grandfather. Once she had completed her contracted obligation to bear a human-looking heir, she returned to the demon zone. My grandfather grew up, married a werewolf and had a son. He became a professor of arcane studies, and at the turn of the last century, he met my mom.”

Her mother went over and wrapped her arms around her emerald mate. “It was love at first sight on my part, but his nose was so stuck in his books, I had to peel down to my corset and chemise before he would look my way.”

Her father laughed. “And at that point, I could not look away.”

Benny rolled her eyes and continued. “They got married and lived happily with my father and mother sharing their lives and their interest in magic. Mom aged slowly and her pregnancy with me took six years. She says it was worth it for the stares alone. Anyway, when I was ten, my mother got cancer. She was dying and she was doing it quickly.”

Benny watched her dad put his arm around his wife protectively. She cleared her throat to get rid of the emotional wobble and sighed. “He waited until the moment she died, and he healed her body then transferred his human soul into her before she could completely pass on. They now share the one soul, but it was all that was keeping my father’s parentage from being really obvious.”

Smith cocked his head. “So that makes you part demon?”

Benny wrinkled her nose. “Well, not that it matters, but given my parentage and ancestors, I am really only one part human. The rest is a much longer story, and we have a killer to catch.”

Her father slammed the tome shut and nodded. “Now that introductions and explanations have been made, let’s get to work. This is time sensitive.”

Tremble was staring at her with intense focus. “You are not human?”

She lifted the book with the initial explanation of the ritual and opened it to the ritual. “No. I look human, but that is a trick of my genes. If you look at my mom’s ears, you can see the point and a slight ridge from a siren ancestor; there are signs of troll and fey around her. I think there is even some shifter in there.”

Argyle wandered over and looked at the books. “I can’t read that.”

She pinched the bridge of her nose. “You can’t. There are reasons that few people are capable of being demonology experts. Demon blood is a requisite for being able to read the script. I will translate if you like, or my dad can do it.”

Her father grinned, flashing his deadly and shark-like teeth.

Smith nodded. “We trust your translation, Benny. Please proceed.”

She squinched her eyes shut for a moment and then began. “All right. Well, the suspect is looking for a demon, a very specific demon.”

Argyle was suddenly all business. “What demon?”

“A demon with a soul. The question is why that woman?”

Smith lifted his head. “She isn’t the first. She is the seventh woman born on the same day to be killed in that particular way. The others were out of our jurisdiction, so it took most of the day to find them. The ladies were all the same age, within one week.”

Benny whirled when she heard her father growl. “No.”

Her mother placed her hand on his, but he continued to flex his muscles in agitation and the fan-like crest rose out of his dark hair.

Tremble whispered, “What is he doing?”

Benny scowled. “He is angry, but I don’t know why.”

Through clenched teeth, her father asked, “All born here thirty years ago in the ninth month on the twenty-third day, give or take?”

Her mother gasped. “Harcourt, you didn’t!”

He nodded grimly. “I did. I mirrored Benny’s soul on the other eight girls in the nursery.”

Benny felt sick. “You have to be kidding.”

Her father came to her and held her tight. “I wanted to protect you and that was the only way I knew how. Your power signature was distinctive, even when you were a baby.”

Smith asked, “You are thirty? You don’t look thirty.”

The sound he made immediately afterward indicated one of the others had struck him.

“Why not just a shield?” She mumbled it against his chest.

“Magic is too noticeable. The other girls were all healthy with young parents, so the likelihood of them moving was strong.”

“They died because of me.”

His hand stroked her hair, and he murmured to her as he had when she was a teenager. “No. They died because someone is trying to kill you, or at least part you from what is rightfully yours.”

“Ripping a soul from a demon. Why would someone do that?” She let him continue to hold her. It was for his need and not hers. He could not defend her in the wide world, but he could offer her comfort here.

He sighed. “I do not know about other demons, but if they took your soul, you would have to attach yourself to a more powerful demon of the zone for protection. You would become a slave.”

“We will not let that happen.” Tremble’s voice was determined.

Argyle pitched in. “Do you know who the other woman is?”

Benny eased away from her father. He shook his head.

She swallowed. “I can find her. If she is carrying a mirror of my soul, I can get a location.”

Her mother nodded and got a map. She flipped it out on one of the long tables and moved around the room collecting scrying equipment.

Smith asked softly. “What is she doing?”

“She is setting up a search map.”

Her mother laid out the tools and beckoned for her to come close. “All right, sweetie. First, you know what to do.”

Sighing, Benny took the bucket that her mother handed her and walked away from the crowd. Throwing up before working was an important part of scrying. She literally had to be hungry in order to track her prey. Her mother’s bloodline had some creepy hunters in it, and her talent for all magic came from the maternal side of the family. Raw energy and power came from her dad’s ancestors.

Once she had completed her purge, she rinsed out her mouth, washed her hands and face, and she glared at herself in the mirror before coming to a conclusion. This was going to take a lot of power, so she was going to have to drop a minor bit of glamour that she had been using since she was in kindergarten.

It took more effort to pull the glamour off than it did to keep it in place, but she needed every bit of access to her soul in able to create the template to search for.

Her left eye glowed slightly and she sighed. The cat was out of the bag, the agents were going to see her as she was. Here was hoping that it didn’t wreck the friendships she had been starting.