One Part Human Read online

  Tremble held up another. “Battle of the Bands?”

  It was cheap, horrible and manipulative, but she began to shake, and she descended to the floor in a faint.

  Argyle caught her before she made contact with the hardwood, and Jessamine flapped her hands.

  “You have to get her something to eat. I would do it, but I can’t touch anything around here. Well, not with witnesses around.”

  Benny fought a grin as she continued to fake weakness. It was Jessamine’s greatest point of irritation that she could only be a poltergeist when there were no witnesses. When Benny was away, she could touch everything. The moment Benny returned, it was back to haunting only.

  “There is some juice in the fridge. That should perk her up.”

  Benny glared at Jessamine through narrow eyes. Her mother made her freshly blended juices and stashed them in her fridge while she was gone. Drinking one would definitely perk her up, but she would be grossed out for hours.

  The bottle of bright orange juice emerged with Smith sniffing it cautiously. Argyle sat her up, and she took the bottle with genuinely shaking hands. It was one of her favourites. Carrot, orange and ginger with just a hint of parsley. She was relieved to be able to actually get half the bottle down.

  She shuddered slightly as she capped the bottle. “That should do.”

  She shifted to her knees before getting to her feet. Argyle stood and steadied her as he helped her back to the kitchen. She put the bottle in the nearly empty fridge with finality.

  She inhaled and boomed out, “Everybody in the car! You can rifle through my house the next time you are in the neighbourhood.”

  Argyle grinned, “I had no idea you had a voice like that.”

  “They don’t give those karaoke awards to just anyone.” She chuckled.

  She locked the house though it wasn’t necessary. If threatened, Jessamine would remain invisible and beat the crap out of any intruder.

  The night air was crisp, and it was past midnight. Benny could feel the wild magic building all around them. It was one of the selling points of Anchor Lane; the magic was heady and heavy all around them. The perfect place for spell work.

  Smith inhaled sharply and glanced over at her. “The air is heavy.”

  “Very.”

  “Is it always like this?” He looked up at the waning moon.

  “Of course not.” She climbed into the SUV and buckled in. Benny smiled. “Normally, it is far stronger.”

  Argyle laughed and reversed out of her driveway before heading back to the parkway. “So, where shall we head next?”

  They were on their way back to Dem-rah’s taco stand when an urgent call came through. Benny made notes on the evening’s activities until the radio crackled.

  All XIA units in the area were asked to report, and Benny’s note taking took on an urgency.

  She saw the collection of vehicles accumulating near the park, and she swallowed nervously. The coroner’s van was an indicator that this was not going to be an amusing anecdote for the blog.

  The normally cheerful guys were solemn as they left the vehicle. She checked that her pass was clipped on her belt, and she eased out of the SUV and trailed behind them, staying outside the tape that had been hastily erected.

  She put her hand over her mouth when the woman who was floating in the air suddenly dropped. It wasn’t a woman anymore; it was a body.

  Benny looked closely and watched for the departing spirit. There was nothing. She stared and frowned, concern growing. There should have been something. There should have been a soul.

  She let her features go blank and went looking. Nothing. No whiff of a soul and a dark hole where it should have been. Whatever killed her did it by ripping her life force out and pulling it through her soul until the ragged piece left behind had gone with the flame of existence. First, her battery had been drained and then someone pulled the plug.

  Benny watched her XIA agents mingle with others of their rank before they moved in an organised wave, seeking clues.

  Benny crouched and focussed on the young woman. She was about Benny’s age and was dressed for work.

  There were no marks on her wrists or ankles or around her neck. Either whatever had taken her had convinced her to go along or it had sedated her with magic and transported her here.

  The fact that she was dressed for work was strange. If she was out in the evening, she should either be in casual or party clothing. The suit and sensible pumps didn’t match the passage of time. Even working overtime, she should have been home hours ago.

  She watched the men meticulously picking up and bagging every bit of evidence after photos had been taken. She took note of the gloves that appeared from every pocket and the care with which the scene was examined. Lights were blazing bright, and the scene lit the park up. If the centrepiece had been anything other than a dead body, it would have been beautiful.

  When the challenge came, it was from the coroner’s people.

  “Who are you?”

  She stood and showed her badge. “I am a special observer with the XIA.”

  The young woman with the grey cast to her skin sniffed at her. “You smell like blood.”

  “There was a car accident earlier. I am sure that my jeans and shoes are covered in it.”

  “There is none on your shirt.”

  “I changed my shirt, but I had three XIA agents rifling through my living room, so I left it at that. Tomorrow, I will bring a full change of clothing, though I have no idea where I would change.”

  The woman suddenly smiled. Benny jerked back in shock. The medic assistant went from a cold vampire to a stunning woman. The transformation was reversed when the woman resumed her calm face and headed to where the coroner was examining the body and checking the temperature.

  Argyle spoke from next to her. Benny jumped again; she hadn’t heard him approach. She was just not on her game today.

  “She is the mayor’s new assistant.”

  “A new vampire?”

  “Oh, she isn’t a vampire...not yet. She is his assistant.”

  “But she has the same presence I am used to in vampires.”

  He grinned, his fangs flashing. “I know, but Miss Wicks is still in possession of a beating heart. She appears when there is something that he needs to concern himself with.”

  The woman in question returned. “It was pleasant meeting you, Beneficia Ganger. Agent Argyle, there will be a mage team going over this place with seers. Make sure that it isn’t compromised.”

  He nodded. “Yes, Miss Wicks.”

  The woman pulled her calm face into a grimace and stuck out her tongue.

  Benny chuckled. “It was nice to meet you, Miss Wicks.”

  “Call me Leo. It is short for Leonora. I am sure I will see you again, Miss Ganger.”

  She didn’t say good night as she walked away. Benny looked at the body and knew why.

  “We are going to be stuck here for the rest of the night. Did you want to catch a ride back with the coroner?”

  Benny looked over at the body and nodded. “If they wouldn’t mind.”

  She needed to get a little closer to the woman to determine where the soul had been ripped out, but if she was actually a human, there shouldn’t be any way for her to know that the soul was missing. No one had mentioned it, but the coroner would figure it out. They were usually in the undead spectrum, and locating souls was part of their business.

  Argyle asked the coroner’s assistant, and she nodded and spoke quickly.

  Argyle came back. “You will have to ride with the body bag in the back.”

  “That is fine. I am really exhausted by the events of the night. Some peace and quiet in the back of the van won’t hurt me.”

  He gave her a piercing look, but didn’t comment.

  Benny winced as she realised that she should be upset at the thought of sharing space with a dead woman. Dang, she really was tired.

>   She waited while the preliminary exam was made and the woman was bagged up. When the gurney was tucked away, the assistant beckoned to Benny, so Benny waved good night to the others.

  She settled in the back of the van, introduced herself to the assistants who were in the only two seats in the vehicle, and she looked at the body bag, closing her eyes as she looked for hints of magic or other energies.

  “I apologise for the lack of seating, but we don’t often transport the living.” The woman smiled shyly.

  “It is fine. I was just thinking that she looked so normal. Like she had just left work.”

  The passenger turned more fully to her. “I know. It is usually difficult to see them like that. The lack of blood is disturbing though.”

  “I didn’t see any wounds.”

  “There aren’t any. That is what is so weird. Did you want to sit in on the autopsy?” The young woman was eager. She wasn’t a vampire, wasn’t a zombie. Benny guessed ghoul, but it was impolite to ask.

  “Molly, that is up to Dr. Tanner.” The driver sighed.

  “He will say yes. I promise.” The young ghoul smiled widely, showing a tremendous array of yellowed fangs.

  “I would love to if he authorises it.”

  Molly beamed and turned to face the dashboard. “He will.”

  Benny kept her senses running across the body next to her for the rest of the ride. She really doubted that she would be allowed in the autopsy room.

  Chapter Eight

  Benny put on the disposable tunic and the facial shield as well as the rubber gloves and booties. Dr. Tanner had said yes.

  It was unusual for a zombie to show this level of animation, but Dr. Tanner waved his arms and explained every point in the process.

  They began by photographing every inch of the woman before they undressed her, putting the clothing into evidence bags. Dr. Tanner looked for any unusual markings, and he was thorough, examining her from the toes up. When he finished his visual examination, he took a few photos of the area around her mouth.

  He and his assistant turned her over, and they examined her back. With his fingers, he parted the hair, and there must have been something there, because he shaved the back of the head.

  “Found it. She was branded. Get that camera around here.”

  The assistant handed Dr. Tanner the camera, and the doctor went to work.

  “Miss Ganger, come here and look at this.” He smiled and pointed out the icon that had been burned into the scalp.

  “Why wasn’t it visible before?”

  “My guess is that it was applied after she had been levitated. They flipped her over, lifted her hair, marked her and then put her back and drained her. You can see here on her mouth that she had some internal bleeding. Whatever removed her soul also took her blood.”

  Benny blinked innocently. “Removed her soul?”

  “Yes, we usually see that sort of thing in demon attacks, but there hasn’t been one of those in the city for fifteen years, and the demons don’t take blood. This is something new.”

  Dr. Tanner went to work opening the woman up, but there was no blood. All the organs revealed were pale, and it was exceptionally sad.

  Benny watched the autopsy, and he completed his findings of soul death by magical means by person or persons unknown.

  She swayed and remembered that she had lost a lot of blood and hadn’t had anything to eat all night. Benny excused herself and headed for the parking lot and her car.

  Pooky did most of the driving, but he didn’t take her home, he took her to her parents’ house with the sun trumpeting noon above her.

  Benny stumbled into the hall and headed for the library. Her father lifted his head from his desk, and she raised her hand. “Soul consumption with branding and blood consumption.”

  Three books came soaring out of the stacks and landed on her desk.

  “Benny, what happened?”

  “A woman is dead in the park, no soul; it was scooped out like a melon, and then, some son of a bitch drained her blood after he branded her.”

  “Can I help?”

  “They think it might be a demon attack, so you can help me look.”

  Benny grabbed a pen and paper; she drew the glyph carefully, leaving an opening in the mark in case it had the power to summon.

  She and her father went through the huge tomes, page by page, atrocity by atrocity.

  Her mother came in with a tray and cleared her throat. “Enough!”

  They both looked up. Her father gave his wife a slow smile of welcome.

  “What is it, Mom?”

  “Benny, you need to eat, and if you are going back to work tonight, you need to change your clothing. Jessamine brought some clothes over earlier. Take a shower, eat and drink this tonic. It will keep you going until morning. You know how you get with no sleep.”

  “I need to find this, Mom.”

  “So, let me and Dad look. You go and refresh yourself. I made your favourite. Cream tea.”

  Benny stepped away from the demonology tome. “Fine. But there had better be a chocolate tart in there or I will be cranky.”

  Her mother let her go, but Benny heard, “How will I be able to spot that with your normal cheery demeanour?”

  “I heard that!”

  Benny was on the stairs when she heard, “You were meant to!”

  Benny ran up to her old room, and the folded fabric was sitting in the centre of her bed, right down to sneakers.

  She got into the shower as fast as she could, hoping that the rush of water would drown out the sound of her father and mother having a quickie. It was in his bloodline, just as it was in Benny’s, and her mother was remarkably tolerant of both of them.

  Her parents’ physical needs were one of the primary reasons for her moving out. There were some things that defied explanation to a date or one’s girlfriends.

  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.”