Page 35 of Helsing: Demon Slayer
Ryan somehow maneuvered his large body into the rear, shielding Dianne from her crazed friend. She couldn’t see well through her hair and watering eyes, but she had an impression that he pinned Germaine under him before struggling to capture the other woman’s hands.
The speeding SUV abruptly swerved across the other lane before Barts yanked it back, throwing Dianne against the rear window. She shoved her hair from her eyes in time to see Germaine’s head strike Ryan’s forearm like a cobra. The other woman bit down, hard.
Before crying out and pulling away as she choked on foam and virulent curses.
Ryan, whose arm bled from the bite, grunted before grabbing both of Germaine’s hands. She moaned, whipping her face from side to side, but she was otherwise trapped under his weight and could no longer move anything else. He gripped her slender wrists in one massive hand while his other scrabbled for the med kit next to Dianne.
“What do you need?” she asked, her heart beating so tight and fast it felt like a vibrating golf ball lodged at the base of her throat.
“There’s a syringe with droperidol in the kit. You’ll have to inject her.”
Dianne nodded and turned to lean over the large black utility box that their rescuers had brought filled with medicines, bandages, and emergency medical devices. It took her several tries with shaking hands to open the kit’s latches, her heartbeat now a rapid pinprick against her shallow panting. She scanned the contents of the kit, landing on the compartment with prefilled syringes, but as she opened its separate lid, the SUV lurched sideways again, knocking the heavy box on its side and sending its contents across the rear of the vehicle.
A car passed in the other lane, its horn blaring.
“Shit!” she yelled as black started to edge her vision.Oh, Lord, please let me find it.
“You got this, Markham!” Ryan’s no-nonsense tone snapped Dianne back from the precipice.
Dianne’s eyesight clarified and landed on a syringe markeddroperidol. She snatched it up and removed the protective cap from the rather evil-looking tip.
Twisting, she said, “Where?”
“Her thigh.” He shifted backwards to reveal Germaine’s legs, his free hand now pressing into one of the other woman’s shoulders. “Here. Before she does any more harm.”
As Dianne leaned over, her friend began speaking in a deep, guttural voice that crawled over Dianne’s flesh. She ignored it and gripped Germaine’s uninjured thigh.
“That’s nice,” hissed Germaine. “You like touching me too, don’t you? Yes, you want to stroke me.Yessss.”
In shock, Dianne realized that her fingers had started to caress Germaine’s smooth skin.
“Markham,” said Ryan, again focusing her. “Do it now! It needs time to take effect.”
Dianne jerked and plunged the needle into Germaine, who screamed hoarsely before laughing. The sound made the hair stand up on Dianne’s whole body.
She looked up at Germaine’s face and froze. The other woman’s blue eyes had dilated and turned an eerie frosty color. Her lips were an ugly shade of purple, and her fine hair stood away from her head in a static halo.
This new Germaine clamped a hand on Dianne’s wrists and lifted her face within inches of Dianne’s despite Ryan’s effort at restraint. “Wanna party?”
“Dianne!” yelled Ryan, pushing at the levitating woman at the same instant the driver jerked the wheel, sending the Range Rover careening into the vehicle next to them.
Germaine laughed again and continued laughing while their driver struggled to keep the SUV under control and from rearending a truck. Pressure built inside the vehicle’s cabin, making Dianne’s head pound and her ears ring.
Ryan pulled her from Germaine, who clung to Dianne with a viselike grip totally unnatural to her physical size. When he tugged one of Dianne’s hands free, Germaine followed and struck at his side with stiffened fingers. Ryan grunted but only shoved the deranged woman away from them and pulled Dianne into his other side.
Dianne saw blood glistening on Germaine’s fingers, from the base to manicured fingertips.
The driver slammed on the brakes, sending all three of them tumbling around the back. The med kit hit Dianne in the head, while Germaine continued to grasp her wrist so hard, she thought her bone would bruise.
“That tunic won’t save you, Little One,” said Germaine through a sly grin.
The SUV lurched forward.
Ryan hit Germaine in the face. Releasing Dianne, she rolled to the side and vomited. Their vehicle shuddered to a halt once again.
“Helsing!” yelled Markos. “We’ve got company.”
Dianne strained to look outside the Range Rover’s cracked front window. What she saw did little to relieve her terror.
