Free One Part Human by Viola Grace

“Jennifer is in danger right now. She was still at home, but I can track her if she is taken. Now that I know what I am looking for, she will leave a trail.”
    They nodded and took their leave of her parents. Benny was in the car and buckled up in under a minute and they were on their way to talk to Jennifer.
    She wished that there was less silence in the car, and suddenly, there was.
    “So, dating must have been awkward.” Argyle chuckled.
    Benny grinned. “You have no idea.”
    Smith chipped in, “Did you get asked out by normals?”
    She wrinkled her nose. “Yes. Their families encouraged them because my parents were and are on the boards of five local universities. A relationship with me meant an increase in their choices for a higher education.”
    Two dates. She had had two dates before her father fully turned into what he was now. After that, all introductions to her parents had been short and to the point, and heavily glamoured. Glamour was hard to stick on a demon, but as long as her father stayed calm, he looked just like he used to.
    Tremble cocked his head. “You introduced all of your prospective mates to your parents?”
    She looked at him and raised her eyebrows. “You have met my parents; do you think I had a choice?”
    The men in the car chuckled. Tremble grinned. “I suppose not. It must have made for a fascinating adolescence.”
    “That is one way of putting it. Mind you, in all those years of dating, I only had one bad experience.” She chuckled.
    Smith started to ask her about that one experience, but they arrived at Jennifer’s home.
    Tremble opened his door and looked at her.
    Benny held up her hands. “I know. Stay in the car.”
    The agents left, and Benny kept her senses wide and looking for any signs of trouble.
    Benny couldn’t sense anything and that was when she got agitated. Jennifer was gone, and there was only the slightest hint of where she had been.
     

Chapter Ten
     
     
    The moment the agents returned to the SUV, she said, “Down the block to the left.”
    The night air was cool and bracing, but Benny was stuck next to a closed window. She had to settle for the view she was getting through her mage’s eye.
    They were at the turning point in under a minute, and she tried to focus. “Okay, I am not trying to be difficult, but I can’t sense her from inside the car.”
    Smith nodded. “Right. I am going to shift, and I will stay with you while you follow the trail.”
    They parked and left the vehicle. Tremble and Argyle were ready to move, but Smith had to strip.
    Benny blushed and focussed her vision and senses on the trail left by her mirror.
    The sound of flesh flexing, tendons snapping and claws scraping the pavement caused her to peek a little. Smith twisted and arched into his lion form, and he was huge.
    The actual full shift of a shifter was always something that creeped her out. She could face anyone in a body that didn’t conform to normal standards and see their true beauty, but the twist of a body from its natural state into another beast made her a little queasy. It was probably the snapping tendons and rippling flesh.
    The lion came up to her and sniffed her, chuffing softly.
    Argyle nodded. “He’s ready. You are consulting here, but you are also observing. Do not involve yourself directly.”
    Benny focussed, and she started to run. The men were behind her, and Smith was at her side.
    Jennifer was up ahead, and there was other magic, human magic, involved.
    The faster they moved, the further away the soul seemed. Benny growled and started to run faster. The moment she got within a hundred yards, she felt the separation of soul and body. She grunted and put her power around the soul.
    She staggered when something tried to crack through the protection. There was a shout of frustration, and heat was the next thing to strike her energy.
    Benny and her followers burst through the hedges, and a horrifying sight greeted them.
    A man wearing a shadowed