Page 18 of Helsing: Demon Slayer
Ryan fell in behind Dianne as she headed toward the midship where two separate exits to the dock allowed passengers to disembark. His muscles tightened as he spied passengers coming toward them from the other side of the corridor. They seemed innocent in their white cotton blouses, cutoff shorts, and flipflops, but he’d been with the Kastriotis long enough to know thatdaemonsdelighted in taking over the defenseless.
The young women passed without morphing into monsters with claws and fangs.
When they approached the nearest disembarkation point, Ryan saw passengers waiting in a line that extended into the landing in front of the elevators. As he and Dianne turned from the corridor, he scanned them, his total focus on potential threats. Almost all of the passengers appeared to be retired and midlife couples beating the rush to get off the ship and into port. They’d likely gone to bed early and missed thedaemonicfun. His chainmail remained quiescent. Nodaemonactivity disturbed its sensitive harmonics.
Dianne moved to stand at the end of the line. Ryan stopped behind her. Even without theElioudability to read personal harmonics, he could see her tension.
“What’s the plan after we get off?” she asked, faking a casualness that her stiff neck belied.
“We head to a safehouse where I can pick up some gear and the keys to a vehicle. Then we drive down the coast. All goes well, we’ll be at your sister’s by nightfall.”
“I see.” She didn’t sound like she saw at all.
They’d reached the security checkpoint where an alert officer sat next to an elevated stand watching a monitor as passengers scanned their cruise IDs when someone called out behind them.
It was Dianne’s cabinmate, Germaine.
Ryan exhaled, clenching his jaw to keep from swearing. How had she found them?
The security officer’s gaze traveled toward Germaine. He dipped his chin toward the scanner. “Next,” he said to Dianne, who held up the line.
Dianne glanced at him. “Sure. Sorry.” She swiped her ID card, still in its protective plastic sleeve, over the scanner.
Ryan stepped forward, forcing Dianne to move ahead, and pressed his own card against the scanner’s glass.
“Hey!” she said, her gaze flashing. “You don’t have to be such a dick.”
Ryan ignored her to put a hand on her lower back. “We don’t have time to waste with her,” he said as he moved closer to her side.
Dianne glared as she let him guide her down the metal gangplank. “She’s my best friend. I can’t just blow her off. And she’s not going to just let you take me without asking a few questions, no matter how hot you are.”
Ryan nearly lost a step at that comment. She thought he was hot. It took him a moment to understand the implication of the rest of her words.
As they stepped onto the asphalt of the landing, he said, “You texted her.”
Dianne’s gaze flashed again as she looked over her shoulder at him. “Damn right I did! She’s got my back, just like I’ve got hers. Something a Ranger should understand.”
She stopped next to the gangplank and crossed her arms, clearly waiting for Germaine, now descending the angled metal treads, to join them.
“Call Olivia.”
“What?” asked Dianne, who’d been focused on the impending showdown with Germaine.
“Call your sister,” said Ryan, his teeth clenched.
Germaine halted across from Ryan. She glanced at him and then back to Dianne. “Are you okay?” She placed her hands on Dianne’s forearms, appeared to think better of it, and stepped back, dropping her hands at her sides. “I’ve been worried sick about you since last night.”
Ryan tilted his head, studying Dianne's best friend through narrowed eyes. Something sounded odd about Germaine's voice. Insincerity maybe? But that made no sense, unless she’d only shown up to placate Dianne …. He wished he could read harmonics to know more. “You can see that she’s fine.”
“Shelooksfine,” said the other woman, shifting so that she stood between Ryan and Dianne, “but she sent an SOS. Why are you taking her off the ship? Just because she spent the night with you doesn’t mean that you own her now.”
Now Germaine sounded downright hostile.
Ryan had no idea how to handle this. Despite his earlier threat about carrying Dianne off the ship, he couldn’t just grab her and carry her off. Germaine gave off vibes of being someone who’d taken a self-defense course and would do something stupid like try to knee him in the groin. Once she got involved, so would the handful of crew on the dock and the other passengers streaming by. He didn’t worry that he’d be able to evade capture, but he didn’t need the local authorities notified. It would only slow them down.
Cruise passengers streamed past, some looking at the three of them in open curiosity.
Olivia’s familiar voice sounded in his ear, ending his dilemma. “Demon Slayer, we’ve registered intensedaemonicactivity on your personal grid. Sitrep ASAP.”
