A Plague of Shadows

CHAPTER THREE-4

"ENOUGH!" DAR SNARLED. His head throbbed, and irritation grated over his skin. Jack and Bee went silent. Astrid was clearly unhappy with the enterprise, given the frown on her lips, but she was at least keeping her displeasure to herself.

Dar glared at Bee and Jack, his hard eyes flicking from one to the other like a whip. His lips pressed into a thin line and his nostrils flared. With his blood pounding in his ears, he forced himself to take a deep breath, then continued, keeping his voice even as a blade. "How does your bickering help us find Mina? You've been at each other since we left St. Alban's. All you're accomplishing is bringing attention to us."

Dar returned his gaze to the crossroads, turning his flushed face to the darkness, grappling with his anger. He released his hands, finger by finger, from their clenched fists.

"Sorry," Bee said, her voice not reflecting contrition. Jack retreated to his usual taciturn self.

Dar tilted his head to the side, cracking his neck. "I don't need your apologies...." He closed his eyes and breathed in through his nose, opening his nostrils wide and filling his lungs. There was a scent on the wind, something his heart knew but his brain refused to process. Whatever it was sent shivers up his spine. He shook his head, trying to clear it. "Never mind. We're all on edge."

"Some of us more than others," Jack said, his voice low. Dar glanced at him over his shoulder. Jack's dark eyes shone in the night, his face hard.

Dar turned away from his stare and breathed in again through tense lips and a clenched jaw, sucking the cool air slowly.

"This way." He nodded his head towards the left. The others followed his gaze, peering into the unlit lane.

"You sure you want to go down there?" Jack asked.

Dar flushed as his ire rose again, so soon after tamping it down. "Are you sure you want to find Mina? This is your quest after all. But, as you say, she is strange." Dar arched an eyebrow as he peered at Jack.

"I didn't—" Jack stepped towards him, pulling his shoulders back. "She's just a bit different, and more than a little headstrong. It could get her into trouble, left to her own devices."

Dar's hair stood on end as his skin bristled. He lowered his centre of gravity. "Yes, I noticed your pet project has a tendency to wander off," he said, his voice low.

"She's not—"

"Disobeys orders. Puts us all into danger."

"Enough," Bee said, stepping between the two and into the laneway Dar had indicated. "Bloody men and their pissing contests," she muttered as she walked away. Astrid sauntered after her, a look of amusement replacing her frown.

Dar's eyes followed them. He breathed in and out slowly. He felt Jack's eyes on him.

"I just have a bad feeling about all this," Jack said, his shoulders sinking a fraction of an inch, before he stepped past Dar to catch up to the women in the lane.

Dar looked at the ground, his hair flopping over his eyes. "I know, I do too," he said to himself. About a lot of things, he added silently before heading after him.