A Plague of Shadows

CHAPTER THREE-1

CHAPTER THREE

AS A DROP OF SLUSHY rain slid through her hair, across her temple and down her face, Mina scowled at Bee who led their little gang through the deserted streets. She couldn't really blame Bee for the weather, though she was the one who'd argued that they needed to be out here hunting now non-existent gargoyles for the second night in a row. And once again, Mina brought up the rear, where Bee had stuck her, away from the action. If there were any action to be had. Up ahead, Bee held up her hand again, her sign to stop, not speaking for fear of drawing attention to their passage. Mina snorted as she piled in behind them.

Bee hadn't even argued that they needed to pursue whatever could turn a vampire into shoe leather, her focus on the gargoyles that had been defanged and declawed, if not killed outright, at Luca's death. But Dar had agreed with Bee, despite the grumblings from the conclave.

"Why are we out here again?" Mina asked, not bothering to keep her voice low. Bee didn't respond. Instead, she started walking again, crossing the intersection, continuing straight, Adeh and Astrid following her lead. Mina huffed and followed the others, half tempted to holster her gun so she could tuck her freezing hand inside her jacket. It wasn't the cold that got to her as a vampire; it was the damp.

At the next crossroads, she stepped up behind Astrid, who glowed in the dark with her pale skin, though her black hair and oxblood leather jacket almost blended into the darkness. Astrid glanced back at her but didn't say anything, instead turning to follow Adeh, flipping the sai in her hands to point back towards Mina. A comment about being careful where she pointed those things crept to Mina's lips, but she let it go with a shrug.

She stepped into the intersection and paused, peering down the alley to her left, trying to tease shapes out of the darkness. But other than the occasional glint of damp asphalt, there was nothing. All she heard were the sounds of the city beyond, muffled by the buildings around them. She finally gave in to temptation and holstered her gun, unclenching her frozen fingers then followed after the others with a frown as she tucked her hands up under her jacket. They continued on like this, leapfrogging over intersecting alleyways, until they were at the rendezvous point, where they were supposed to meet Jack, Dar and Sha.

But there was no one there when they arrived. Bee took the opportunity to do some recon down one of the offshoots while Adeh and Astrid checked weapons and ammo clips. Mina leaned against the brick wall, tapping out a tech trance rhythm against the black denim of her jeans. A minute into this, she froze mid-beat.

A pebble had fallen into water somewhere down the alleyway to her left, but any hint as to what had dislodged it was lost in inky blackness, even with her unnaturally acute vision. Then she spun her head the other direction, at a scuffling on her right. As her eyes adjusted to its lighter shade of gloom, she started to pick up threads of music as three figures formed out of the darkness: Jack, Dar and Bee. She let out the breath she'd been holding.

"Where's Sha?" Adeh asked.

"Here." Mina's gaze shifted back to the left, as Sha – Alisha – stepped out of the night.

"You were supposed to stay together," Bee said, as she pushed past Jack and Dar, coming to stand beside Mina.

"Yes, General." Sha gave a mock salute. "Nothing bad happened, see?" she said, tipping her head to the side, arms wide.

Bee frowned at her before turning back to Jack and Dar. "Anything?"

Dar shook his head, running his empty hands through his flopped over hair. "Nothing."

"Maybe the gargoyles really are dead," Jack said, glancing at Mina as he holstered his gun.

"Maybe," Dar said. "I just don't trust things that come easy."

Mina glared at him. "It wasn't easy."

He stared at her for a moment as Mina's cheeks got hotter. "No, I don't suppose it was," he finally said. "Maybe it is time to call it a night."

He turned to lead the way out of the warren of alleys and side streets. The others followed, one by one, until only Mina and Jack were left in the intersection.

"Give him a chance," Jack said, his eyes glinting in the faint light. "He knows more than you might think." Then he too followed the others. Mina watched him leapfrog Astrid and Adeh to walk beside Dar.

"'Give him a chance'," Mina muttered, her throat tight. "What about giving me a chance?" She breathed deep and shivered, as a breeze lifted the hair at the back of her neck, then followed the rest of them, glancing behind her now and then, just in case some rat tried to sneak up on them.

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