Three Parts Fey by Viola Grace

fill in the departure
details or where it was currently located.
    When she was
done, she sent the report and slid past Argyle, patting him on the
arm. She wanted desperately to kiss him, but they were on duty.
    She settled in
her spot and leaned back with her eyes closed as they started
moving.
     
    A hand shook
her gently, and the scent of tacos brought her all the way around.
Benny sat up and blinked at Tremble’s face.
    “Come on,
Benny. This should wake you up. We had him make it to your standard
requirements.”
    Benny moved
slowly and exited the vehicle, leaning on Tremble as he supported
her to the picnic tables in the empty lot.
    Argyle and
Smith were waiting and drawing a bit of a crowd. Apparently, the
locals were not yet used to XIA agents finding their little
out-of-the-way taco truck.
    Tremble
supported her to the seat, and Argyle slid the tacos practically
under her nose. She picked up her first target and started to
eat.
    Smith and
Tremble started in on their own food, and Argyle kept watch over
the whispering crowd.
    Benny barely
registered the food as she made her way into her serving. Normally,
she should have been sweating, but her guess was that the djinn
took more heat than she had been aware of. She was in thermal
shock.
    She had no
sooner realised it than Tremble pressed against her left side and
Smith on her right. Argyle didn’t have any body heat to
contribute.
    When she
finished four brain-meltingly hot tacos, Tremble got her a refill.
She kept eating until the final drop of grease hit the paper.
Warmth was returning.
    She drank her
peppered soda and sighed. “Thanks. I needed that.”
    Tremble nudged
her with his thigh. “We could feel it.”
    “It was
probably why the djinn left so suddenly. He knew he had taken too
much.” Smith’s voice was grim.
    She nodded.
“Probably.”
    “It is nearly
dawn. We were in that fire for three hours.”
    Benny groaned
and flexed her hands. “That would explain it.”
    Tremble nudged
her again. “The captain wants to speak with us before we go off
shift.”
    She nodded and
balled up the remains of the food wrappers. “Ready when you
are.”
    Argyle tidied
up, and they headed back to the vehicle.
    No one spoke
during their trip. Benny suspected that the meeting had to do with
her family troubles, but she couldn’t be sure until they actually
talked to Matheson.
    The XIA was
surprisingly calm when they arrived. They made it through security
and were knocking on the captain’s door without anyone speaking to
them.
    When “Come in”
sounded, they walked into the office where four chairs were
arranged in front of the captain’s desk. He was sitting and
scribbling notes in a book.
    “Good.
Sit.”
    Bemused, they
took seats with Benny sitting across from the captain and the
others to the left and right with Argyle nearest the door.
    The captain
leaned back in his chair and sighed. “Your little team is weird but
effective, even for the XIA.”
    They
waited.
    “With Agent
Ganger’s parents’ inquest beginning tomorrow, I am afraid that that
effectiveness will be compromised during the proceedings. You are
suspended from active duty until the matter is closed.”
    Smith leaned
forward. “Why?”
    The captain
grimaced. “It is a demand from the administrators. If you are on
active duty and something is disseminated during the inquest, you
may be at risk, and if anyone attacks you, the risk will transfer
to them. It is to protect the public as well as your team.”
    Benny wrinkled
her nose. “Didn’t we already do this?”
    Captain
Matheson chuckled. “We did, and we will do it again if it is
necessary. I want you focused on the job. The team is getting
amazing results, and it has caused the mages to consider offering a
few of their staff members to us while you are gone. I had no idea
that you were a member of the guild.”
    She scratched
her chin. “I had inherited membership. I was a Mage Guide when I
was younger, and apparently, that is a