Three Parts Fey (8 page)

Benny winked at
Miaka. “I have a knack for muddling magics.”

Miaka smiled.
“I am glad for it.”

“Well, you seem
to be doing fine. I just wanted to check on you.”

Miaka sighed.
“Thank you. You kept your word.”

Benny winked
again. “Now, I have to get the elf back to bed. He is getting all
grouchy.”

Officer Demorak
stared. “You are the agents who dealt with that demon issue.”

Benny grinned.
“We are. Now, I will be leaving. I will be back this evening and
check on you again before dawn, Miaka, Michael.”

Michael smiled
and put his hand on his sister’s shoulder. It was a spectral
effort, but Miaka relaxed at the phantom contact. “We look forward
to the visit.”

Benny left, and
when she was outside the room, the door opened and closed behind
her. Officer Demorak grabbed her arm. “How did you do it?”

“What?”

“How did you
anchor him like that?”

Tremble was
moving toward them with a scowl on his elegant features. His gaze
was fixed on the hand on her arm.

“If you have to
know, it was demon magic. Soul manipulation to achieve a purpose.
There was a touch of vampire reanimation, a dash of fey energy and
a binding of elemental touches to the metal of the pen.”

She could feel
her power try to rise, but she held it in. His threatening display
was waking all of her instincts, and her instincts were to pound
him into the floor.

Tremble came up
and snarled at the officer. “Remove your hand or I remove your
arm.”

Benny shifted
when she was free and patted Tremble’s arm. “Nice. You gave him a
choice.”

The necromancer
glanced around for help and surprise flickered on his face when he
noted that none of the day shift were on his side. The day shift
was primarily made up of shifters and fey with a smattering of
actual monsters. No one was going to help the officer against one
of their own.

The duty agent
came to them. “Anything else you need, Agent Ganger?”

“Nope. We are
all checked out. She is in great shape. Well done.” Benny
grinned.

The duty agent
nodded and smiled. “We do our best to keep them sane and
alive.”

Tremble put his
arm around her waist and escorted her out of the building.

When they were
inside the car and headed home, he turned to her. “What was that
about?”

“What?”

“Seeing
Jennifer, visiting Miaka?”

Benny looked at
him and took in his obvious irritation. “Magic leaves a mark. It
stamps those who have touched it or have been touched by it. Miaka
is vulnerable, she needs to feel safe; Jennifer is unstable and
losing her mind. She needs a tutor.”

“You know a
tutor for insanity?” He took one of her hands and stroked her palm
with his thumb.

“No. I know a
man who had to master his own development as a seer. He came into
it as a teen and came up with techniques to manage his vision. He
can teach Jennifer what she needs to know to keep her mind from
being torn apart by the magic it is hunting for because of the
residue of the imprint.”

“Your father
did that to her. Not you.”

Benny sighed.
“She was printed with my mind and aura. I know how she thinks. She
doesn’t trust anyone right now.”

“You are still
not stable. You are not recovered from your trip to the demon zone.
I can feel it.”

She sighed and
gripped his hand. “I can rest when things are settled. I am pretty
sure it will happen eventually.”

He chuckled and
leaned in to kiss her. The soft kiss of his lips quickly turned
into something more heated and unsuitable for the front seat of a
car.

When Pooky
stopped moving and revved the engine, she reluctantly stopped the
make-out session and yawned. “Time to catch up on more sleep.”

They walked
through the house and up the stairs, removing their clothing as
quietly as they could. They settled in Tremble’s bed, and he held
her while they caught up on a bit more sleep.

She wished she
hadn’t finished her coffee.

Andrew hauled
her out of bed and bullied her into the bathroom. “Come on, Benny.
We need to eat and get to work in an hour. Don’t want to be
late.”

She used the
toilet and brushed her teeth again, brushing her hair into a more
socially acceptable configuration that wouldn’t frighten children
before she left and retrieved her clothing.

Everybody was
downstairs, and she heard the sounds of food being prepared when
she went in search of her partners.

Omelettes were
assembling in three skillets, and Andrew was watching them with a
focused eye.

Tremble was
checking his phone, and he smiled when she came into the kitchen.
“We are going to be doing a road trip tonight.”

Benny took the
coffee that Argyle handed to her with a smile. “Where to?”

Tremble sighed.
“We are doing a centaur transport. One of them manifested in a
downtown club last night, so we are taking him to the preserve
tonight.”

She wrinkled
her nose. “The one species I don’t get along with.”

The three men
occupying her kitchen stared at her.

Andrew said,
“You are kidding, right?”

“Nope. The
magic that mixed the men and horses is a little too weird for me. I
find the creepy.” She shrugged and chuckled at their expressions.
“Come on. There had to be a species I didn’t get along with sooner
or later.”

Centaurs had a
tendency to pursue females relentlessly, and it got tiring to be on
guard all the time. She wanted to kill them and that wasn’t a good
frame of mind to be in for any period of time. It was even worse
when murder was an actual option.

She smiled and
leaned back as Argyle slid her plate in front of her. “Thanks.”

He nodded.
“Tremble mentioned that you had already visited Miaka and that you
met with Jennifer.”

She gave the
elf a dark look. “Squealer.”

“They needed to
know.”

She made a face
and explained her reasoning for meeting with Jennifer. When she had
detailed as much as she could, she sat and waited.

Andrew frowned.
“Well, it doesn’t seem that you did anything that would skew the
case against your father. It should be fine.”

Benny arched a
brow. “You are a legal expert?”

He shrugged. “I
dabble.”

Argyle
chuckled. “He was pre-law before he entered the XIA.”

Andrew sighed.
“Fine. I have studied law. But I have no idea how this case will
turn out. There has never been another one like it. Demonic
influence over infants is not a common occurrence.”

Benny nodded
and kept her mouth shut. The letter in the potion book had
explained far more than she had ever imagined. If that knowledge
could save her father from a life of incarceration, she would use
it, but only if she had to.

They settled
down to eat with Argyle supervising, and when the dishes were done,
they set out to return to duty and haul a horse-boy off to the
collective where other centaurs could control him.

Yay.

The centaur was named
Steve, and he started making moves on her the moment he scented
her. She didn’t take it personally; he had also hit on the troll
woman who had loaded him into the transport.

Since Steve got
aggressive when any of the guys were around, it was Benny’s duty to
sit in the back of the transport with the shackled centaur and keep
him calm.

“So, how many
of those guys do you take at a time?” Steve shifted his hooves in
their booted cuffs.

Benny sighed
and glared at him. “One at a time. We don’t need to pile onto each
other to show affection.”

He inhaled, and
his sharply hooked nostrils flared. “You look human and smell like
fey. Were you two doing each other before you had to pick me
up?”

She gave him a
bland look and whispered a small volume spell. He could still talk,
but it was a tiny whisper.

“Benny, what is
going on in there; I felt magic.” Tremble’s voice was a little
nervous through the earpiece.

She chuckled.
“Nothing. I just turned down the volume in here. It will return to
normal when he is outside again.”

“Okay. We did
promise the colony that we would deliver him intact.”

“I know. I
won’t neuter him. I promise. Tempting though it is.”

“Great. Hang in
there, Benny.”

“Tremble, one
more thing.”

“What is
it?”

“Are we there
yet?”

His muffled
snort sounded in her ear, and she heard the others chortling in the
background.

It was an hour
later when the vehicle stopped moving and the sound of hoof beats
approached the transport.

She waved the
spell away and smiled. “Looks like this is your stop.”

She felt power
on the other side of the doors. Fey power.

Remembering
what Jennifer had said, she let her control slip and let her body
take what it recognised as its natural form.

A human-looking
woman had stepped into the transport, a demon king walked out with
the shocked centaur in tow. The trip down the ramp was slow, and
she caught Steve when he stumbled, but he jerked away from her
touch.

“Don’t move
away from a helping hand.” She steadied him with a hand on his
shoulder, and soon, they were on soft grass with a semi-circle of
centaurs watching and a few lithe and pale fey in the
background.

“What are
you?”

She gave the
appalled male a smirk. “Agent Ganger of the XIA.”

The rest of her
team was nearby, and they followed her lead, wrapping themselves in
power.

Tremble waved
to one of the men behind the centaurs, and the stunned elf made his
way toward them.

“Cousin, it is
good to see you.”

Tremble
inclined his head. “My prince. May I do you the honour of
introducing my comrades?”

The elegant man
who looked carved of moonlight smiled slightly. “I believe that
would be wise as you are on our territory.”

Introductions
were made amongst the men, and finally, Benny faced Prince Emrick
Brightleaf, ruler of the local lands.

He took her
hand. “Beneficia Ganger? You cannot be. She has a human
aspect.”

Benny inclined
her horned head. “I am indeed she. My aspect is what I wish it to
be. I am currently displaying something more akin to my fey
ancestors than is normally apparent.”

Her words were
slow and formal. She didn’t want to flash the sharp teeth that
didn’t quite match the elegant deer horns.

“You are a
woman with much power.” His lips grazed her skin.

Smith stiffened
next to her, but she accepted the caress.

“I am indeed.
You are showing a remarkable lack of good sense, dear prince.”

He raised his
white eyebrows and smiled with his lips quirked to one side as he
rose. “I am?”

“My partners
are my partners in all things. As enchanting as your presence is,
it will not be wise for the contact with you to continue.”

He released her
hand and took in the strange assembly. Smith had released Steve to
the centaurs, and they had reluctantly left with their new member
in tow.

Now, it was
just the XIA and the fey.

Tremble moved
to her side. “We were going to formally present ourselves, but we
are joining in a union that is equal across our four
bloodlines.”

Prince Emrick
could not have looked more shocked. “A union?”

“Married. The
Ganger family is making the arrangements, but in our traditions, we
were going to introduce ourselves to the fey community.”

Benny blinked
and smiled as her mind spun with the ramifications of this meeting.
Normally, they would have started with the lowest members of the
fey society and work their way to the prince if they had gained
approval. Now, they only needed to get Emrick’s authorisation and
the rest had to follow.

“The Ganger
family has authorised this union?” Prince Emrick was hesitant.

Benny inclined
her head. “Yes. It is a little bulky, but hardly the strangest
mating in my family line.”

He looked ill
at ease. “What of children?”

Ah, so that was
it. “They will be raised as Gangers with the family affiliation
made clear when paternity has been established. That will not be
for a few years. I am enjoying my new life in the XIA. My family
has never kept any distinctly blooded member from their
people.”

“In that case,
I give you my blessing and await the invitation to the event. I am
sure it will be a party to remember.”

She inclined
her head, and he backed away before slipping onto a horse that
appeared from the shadows, and he and his party rode away.

She shook her
head and resumed her human shape. “That was unexpected.”

Benny held
still as she was suddenly hugged from all sides.

Tremble was
shaking as he held onto her. “You really mean to wed us all.”

She caught on
to what he said. She had changed them; they were no longer what
they had been and their places in their own society were not
assured.

“Of course. You
are all Gangers now. You can even take the family name if you like.
I am not fussy.” She laughed as they kissed her in turn.

Finally, she
called a halt. “We are on duty. Grab the boots and we will be on
our way.”

Argyle
chuckled. “Ride next to me. I promise not to get grabby on the way
home.”

Benny leaned
against him and sighed. “Sounds restful.”

It was. The
other two were busy trying to determine who would arrive at the
altar first on the big day, and Benny had to throw a wrench into
the works. “Smith, we still have to meet your alpha, and we need to
meet Argyle’s maker or king.”

That thought
seemed to shut him up for a while until they re-entered the
city.