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  Forced into a one-week ride along with agents of the XIA, Benny tries to hide the fact that she isn’t quite human.

  Benny has lived her life in the shadows, avoiding the public eye. Her life as a recipe blogger pays the bills and lets her socialise, but she is about to get the assignment of a lifetime.

  Her boss orders her into a one-week ride-along with agents of the XIA, the eXtranormal Investigation Agency. It is the anniversary of the agency, and they need to improve their exposure with the general public.

  Against her objections, she is paired with a standard set of agents—a vampire, a shifter and a fey. They are willing to work with her, and it is only when she signs the waivers that she learns why. They all read her column.

  A week doesn’t seem like much time to learn about an organisation that deals with things most folk don’t enjoy thinking about, but it whips past when the assignments go from casual crime to murders that have one pivot point. Benny.

  The characters and events in this book are fictitious. Any similarity to real persons, living or dead, is coincidental and not intended by the author.

  Copyright © 2015 by Viola Grace

  ISBN: 978-1-987969-009

  ©Cover Design by Cora Graphics

  ©Cover photography by

  © BigStockPhotos.com/ leksandr Doodko

  © Depositphotos.com/ mppriv

  All rights reserved. With the exception of review, the reproduction or utilization of this work in whole or in part in any form by electronic, mechanical or other means, now known or hereafter invented, is forbidden without the express permission of the publisher.

  Published by Viola Grace

  Look for me online at violagrace.com, amazon, kobo, B&N and other ebook sellers.

  One Part Human

  An Obscure Magic Book One

  By

  Viola Grace

  Chapter One

  Benny hated assignment meetings. They were intolerable, as those selected for the lackluster jobs tried to squirm out of them. Today was no exception.

  “I don’t see why I am up for this particular assignment, Julian. Doing a week of ride-alongs with the XIA is not my idea of scintillating reporting. What am I going to do? Get stuck in a black van for a week?”

  The gathered reporters were all staring at her with amusement and relief that it wasn’t them.

  “Benny, you have basic magic senses and two years of mage studies at the university. You are the most capable of seeing if the XIA is actually worth the money we have put in over the last fifty years or if the anniversary is celebrating mediocrity.” Julian rubbed his green-scaled hands together. “Add to that the fact that you are human and it makes you the perfect foil to the extranatural officers that you will be dealing with.”

  Benny scrubbed her hands through her hair. “This isn’t a good idea. I just want to write the recipe articles and information on how to carve pumpkins for the best light distribution at Halloween.”

  Julian drummed his nails on the table, and he let out a gust of air. “Do you want me to spell this out?”

  “Please.”

  He waved at the selection of reporters in the room and on displays. “None of us can pass for human, and therefore, the XIA would consider us a suspect if they forgot we were there for the article.”

  Benny covered her eyes with one hand for a moment before glaring at the occupants of the room. “They don’t do that.”

  Freddy was next to her, and she nodded. “They do think we are up to no good.”

  Benny gave her friend a sideways look. “In your case, they are right.”

  Freddy shrugged. “I have to be me.”

  “Freddy, it is when you take someone else’s identification that you have a problem.” Julian sighed. “Right. Settled. Benny, you are on the XIA, and they are expecting you for the nightshift. Go home, get some sleep and take notes on everything you can. They aren’t allowing photos, but that is to be expected. I trust your memory and your common sense. Everyone else. As we have stated, get to it.”

  He pushed himself to his feet and walked over to Benny, she turned so he was staring at her face. “Take care and don’t do anything that Freddy would do.”

  From behind her, Benny heard, “Hey!”

  “For a full week?”

  “It is the fiftieth year of the XIA. It needs a full week of examination, and we are the only news agency they are willing to deal with. More to the point, you are the only reporter they are willing to deal with. Apparently, they like food.”

  Benny nodded, grabbed her notepad and her tablet and got to her feet, topping the goblin by close to two feet. He didn’t have a problem being even with her boobs, and she didn’t even notice it after a few years.

  Freddy linked arms with her and asked, “So, did you want to start happy hour a little early?”

  “No. I have to run this past Mom and Dad. You know how they feel about the XIA.”

  Freddy let out a gusty sigh. “Did you want me to come with you?”

  “Nope, but thanks for the offer. I will keep you posted on anything interesting that you can investigate for the gossip column.”

  “Appreciate it, Benny. Have a good night and don’t forget to write down anything interesting about the officers you are with.” Freddy wagged her eyebrows suggestively, and Benny sighed.

  “I will consider it if there is anything noteworthy. I have never actually been in the XIA offices before.”

  “Few humans have.”

  Benny snickered and headed to her desk, leaving Freddy flirting with the copy guy.

  She stuffed everything she needed into her bag and headed for the door. It was just past eleven, so her parents should be getting ready for lunch.

  She called her father and warned him that she was on her way.

  “Do you want some lunch?”

  Benny smiled evilly, “Only if it is no trouble.”

  “No trouble. See you in half an hour.”

  “Love you, Dad.”

  “Love you, Benny.”

  She hung up and did a little dance. Her mother’s lunches were nothing to be sneered at.

  Benny’s stomach was groaning happily as she finished her third course. Soup, salad and half a roast chicken had gone to the next life via her plate.

  “You had better have room for dessert, Beneficia.” Her mother was smiling as she made the warning.

  “I will be able to manage something.” She grinned, and her father grinned back while her mother went to get coffee. Her mom stared at her across the expanse of the counter. “Now, why are you here today, darling?”

  “Now, before I say anything that will upset you, know that I am not pregnant, this isn’t about a boy and I am not being arrested.”

  Her father sat back and drummed his fingers on the table. “I would be in favour of all but the last. You need to meet someone, pet.”

  “I know, Dad.”

  She cleared her throat and took the coffee her mother handed to her. “I will be spending a week in a ride-along with the XIA. I can’t get out of it and still keep my job.”

  Both of her parents turned to stone in that moment. Two heads turned to look at her with horror in their gazes.

  “You know how dangerous that will be for you, Benny.” Her father took her hand.

  She gripped his calloused fingers. “I know. But it should be fine. I am just writing about their protocols and the division of departments.”

  Her mother put a strawberry shortcake in front of her. “The eXtranormal Intervention Agency is not safe for you, darling.”

  “I know, Mom, but I won’t be spending a lot of time in the office. I will be with them in a vehicle.”

  Her dad leaned forward.
“And if the shifter can smell your blood?”

  Her mom scowled. “Or the fey or the vampire.”

  “Then, they smell that I have a complicated family tree. I figured that out when I was six.”

  It had been a school project that her father had lit on fire, and he had spoken with her teacher, and the woman had allowed little Benny to paint a portrait of her mother instead.

  Benny continued. “Lots of people have mixed family trees nowadays.”

  Her mother shook her head. “Not like you, pet.” Her mom came over and stroked her hair.

  Benny hugged her with one arm and let her mom stroke her hair a little more. She shared a look with her father, happy to be in her mother’s arms and he smiled briefly, the memory of their near brush with sadness flickering in his eyes. It had been fifteen years, and they still felt the panic of those first weeks of her mom’s diagnosis any time she touched them. Cancer sucked.

  Smiling brightly, Benny sat up straight and attacked her dessert. “I will be fine. I will make some concealer and get through the next week with all the grace and style you two gave me.”

  Her father nodded. “Good thinking. Better safe than sorry. I will help you.”

  They all sat around and finished dessert. Her father did the dishes, and when all was tidy, they headed to the herb garden for the ingredients they needed to craft a draught that would keep Benny’s blend of ancestors from rising and being noticed.

  It was just another kind of cooking, and Benny had gained her passion for it honestly.

  The taste of strawberry kept coming up as Benny walked up the steps of the XIA. At the door, she showed her credentials and let her bag be searched. The scanner was what she was worried about.

  She went through the glyph-covered archway, and it glowed softly. The officer monitoring it smacked the side of the terminal he was looking at and smiled. “Go on in, Miss Ganger, it is always going off.”

  She was given her visitor’s pass and sent past the final checkpoint into the offices of the XIA by an officer with the focussed stare of a shifter.

  She nodded and followed his quick direction to the briefing room where her agents were waiting to meet her.

  The plaques on the wall gave her clear direction through the maze, and she could see the magical glyphs on all doorways and at even spacing throughout the hall. This place was protected against violence and demonic interference from the ground to the highest level. There were no shenanigans of an extranatural nature here.

  When she got to the briefing room, she knocked and waited until she heard the call to come in.

  She wished she was nervous. She should be nervous, but nervous never came to her easily. Curiosity was her motivating emotional factor.

  She identified the lawyer first, the captain second and the three agents that she would be riding with were lined up and visually taking her in.

  “Miss Ganger. Welcome. I am Captain Matheson. This is the primary counsel for the XIA, Ms. Wingart. She has a release form for you to sign as well as additional waivers that you need to go over.”

  “Of course.”

  The winged fey Captain smiled at her. “Please, have a seat. The sooner we can get you signed in, the sooner we can release the men for their rounds. And yourself of course.”

  “Oh, of course.”

  A few of the glyphs on the wall glowed, and Benny realised that the lawyer was trying to glamour her.

  She settled down and looked over the first page quickly. “You can keep the glamour. I am trying to get this over with as much as you are. Making your skin shiny and your boobs perky isn’t really something I care about.”

  She heard the lawyer gasp, and she signed the first document after striking out the segment that indicated her family would not be alerted to the reasons for her injury.

  She flipped on to the second and third forms and signed away her right to photograph the details. She crossed out the inability to report on anything that she had seen, writing in that she would respect the privacy of the officers and those witnessed through the ride-along. No proper names or addresses would be used.

  She signed off on it with those changes and slid it back to the five-foot pixie.

  The woman flicked her a look through heavily made-up lashes. “You have some magical training.”

  “Just enough to keep me from doing anything stupid.”

  “These terms are acceptable.” The fey put her own signature to them, and the captain followed suit.

  The counsellor picked up her paperwork and headed out of the room. The moment she cleared it, the three agents applauded.

  The captain shook his head. “Knock it off, guys. Miss Ganger, these are the agents you will be riding with. Agent Treble, Smith and Argyle. This is Miss Ganger of the Redbird City News.”

  Agent Treble was the elf, and he inclined his head. “You are the one with the delightful cooking articles.”

  “Apparently.”

  Agent Smith was the shifter. He had lovely golden eyes that smiled when he said, “They really are good.”

  Agent Argyle had deep red hair and chalk-white skin. He was some sort of undead, or she would eat her laptop.

  “I don’t know about food, but I will trust their judgement. It isn’t that they jerk off to your articles, but they come pretty close.”

  “Argyle!” The captain rolled his eyes.

  The undead showed his fangs as he grinned. “Apologies, sir.”

  “Be polite; Miss Ganger has agreed to the ride-along under duress. It is the XIA’s fiftieth anniversary, and we need to make a good impression. Be on your best behaviour.”

  They snapped to their feet and saluted sharply.

  Benny blinked and backed up in her chair when they moved. She had seen images of the XIA. Height was a factor. If they could intimidate a perpetrator, they were ahead of the game. You couldn’t be weak and take down a shifter or a fey or one of the undead. They were all in good physical form, and she had to stop herself from staring.

  They seemed to get taller as she stared, but that was only because they approached and each shook her hand.

  “Pleased to meet you, Miss Ganger,” was said by each one.

  Somehow, she got to her feet and looked at them one by one. “So, when do we get going?”

  Agent Smith grinned. “That would be now.”

  Chapter Two

  Benny sat in the back with Agent Tremble. She was strapped in while he and the others were not. It was part of her contract.

  “So, Miss Ganger, where did you get the recipe for mini-mushroom quiches?” Agent Smith asked her from the front passenger seat. Argyle was driving.

  “My mother is an excellent cook, and she and my father used to entertain frequently. She hosted a number of different species at the dinner parties, and I would help her.”

  “Used to?” Agent Tremble raised his eyebrows, the pale, graceful lines rising toward the platinum blond of his hair.

  His hair, as well as that of the other two, was fastened tightly at the base of his neck with only two long tendrils falling to either side of his very elegant features.

  “Yes, my mother was ill several years ago, and since then, my family has drawn in on itself. She helps me work out the recipes and change things to keep them modern and doable for today’s cooks.”

  “Well, if my mother cooked half as good as you did, I never would have left home.” Agent Smith grinned. “I wouldn’t have been able to; I would weigh nine hundred pounds.”

  “His pride would have eaten him.” Agent Tremble laughed.

  Well, that settled it. She was with an elf, a vampire and a lion. Her chance of surviving the night was pretty good.

  A call came in, and Smith took it. He keyed in the address and Argyle turned their SUV and they spun off into the night.

  The shift she was on began at eight and ended at four in the morning. It was eight thirty right now. Seven and a half hours of holding on for dear life as
they whipped through the night. At least they weren’t on horseback.

  Argyle grinned at her in the mirror. “We don’t have a siren; she is on desk duty.”

  Benny smiled and giggled.

  Tremble chuckled. “It is an old joke, but we like it.”

  Smith turned his head. “We are heading to a fey-fey altercation. We won’t ask you to stay in the car, but don’t stray too far from it. You are here to see us operate, but we don’t want you in danger, Miss Ganger.”

  “Call me Benny.”

  Tremble looked over at her with surprise. “Benny?”

  “Yes.” She didn’t tell him what it was short for. Beneficia was not a common first name. Benny was socially acceptable just about anywhere.

  “That wasn’t the name we were given when we were first briefed.”

  She wrinkled her nose. “Probably not, but it is the one that I will answer to.”

  “Fair enough.”

  Their vehicle was travelling at high speed through an exceptionally wealthy neighbourhood. They approached a gate, and Argyle flipped a switch. The gates swung open and let them through.

  Benny could hear screaming and see flares of fey magic from where she was sitting. She leaned back as Argyle brought the vehicle to a sudden halt. The other three were out their doors and heading for the altercation without a word.

  She unbuckled her seatbelt and slipped out of the SUV. It wasn’t hard to follow the others. The shrieking fight between the fey was impossible to miss.

  Benny was surprised by the two clumps of dazed humans, seven in all. Tremble grabbed the male fey, Argyle grabbed the female and Smith called for a pickup van and medical assistance.

  Tremble spoke calmly as he forced his prisoner to his knees. The female suffered the same fate from Argyle.

  “Now, what is the cause of all this?”

  The man snarled, “It was my day with the pool and hot tub. She had it last night.”