Page 43 of Helsing: Demon Slayer
“Not me,” said Dianne, but she sounded unconvincing even to herself. She glanced at him. “Don’t think your girlfriend would like it, either.”
“No girlfriend. No fiancée. No wife.”
“Oh.” Dianne hoped he didn’t hear the spark of joy she couldn’t help giving off.
“Or I can do it the Ranger way: strip off my T-shirt, slap it on the wound, and hope you’re not too distracted to drive.” Now a hint of amusement colored his voice.
That pissed Dianne off. She shot him another glare. This time Ryan watched her. “Is this some kind of joke to you? Are you mocking me?”
A ghost of a smile flitted across his lips. “No. Distracting you. Did it work?”
“No.” She clutched the steering wheel and stared out at the large, four-lane highway that they’d just merged onto. But it had, damn him. Now the thought of kissing him and running her fingers over his heavily muscled chest crowded out her worry. “Crap! We’ve got to pay a toll.”
Ryan grunted as he reached into the center console. “Gotta be some change in here. Everyone leaves change in their car for just this reason.”
He searched around and brought out some and handed it to her. “There. That should cover it.”
She took it. “What about a passport for me? Got one of those in there, too?”
“We’ll figure something out by the time we get to border control. That’s not for another hour.”
“Hm-mh.” Dianne let him hear the skepticism in her voice.
They made it through the toll, where a bored-looking worker barely noticed their passing. Something about the mundane interaction made Dianne want to scream. Hadn’t this woman heard about the violence in Split at least? Or was it just too far away to matter?
Not toher. She’d had the unsettling feeling that someone watched her ever since they’d driven from the ambush. Well, who wouldn’t be a little paranoid? What was the saying?You’re not paranoid if they really are out to get you.
Sighing, she punched the gas pedal until the car jumped forward and began racing down the highway. She wouldn’t feel safe until they’d put several hundred miles between them and the port. Maybe not until they’d arrived at her sister’s house, which now that she thought about it, had looked like a modern fortress surrounded by mountains.
“That was easy. Now let’s look for a rest stop or a place with a parking lot.”
Ryan didn’t respond, not even a groan or a ridiculous question about taking off his T-shirt.
Dianne looked over at him. He’d slumped against the car door, completely unconscious.
What should she do?
Not panic for starterssaid a voice in her mind that sounded like her, but a much more confident version.A guy his size has a lot of blood. He hasn’t lost enough yet to die.
I hopesaid the other, smaller, terrified part of her cowering in a corner of her mind.
She had to get off the tollway and find aid somewhere.
Ten minutes passed without an exit, and Dianne’s palms began to sweat.
Steady, steadysaid the confident voice, urging her to stay calm.You know panic never solves anything. It only makes it worse.Ryan’s counting on you.
Up ahead, a large green sign signaled an exit.
Šestanovac.
Please let there be help theresaid the smaller, normal Dianne voice as she took the off-ramp.
The highway curved all the way around and through a toll station before heading toward a traffic circle. She took the exit across from where she’d entered the circle. After a short distance, the road intersected another, tree-lined street. Although she could see nothing helpful in any direction, her gut told her that taking the right would prove more fruitful.
Her gut was right. Three minutes down the road she saw a small pharmacy. Ryan hadn’t moved or made any sounds since losing consciousness, but he still breathed when she checked.
“Be right back,” she said as confidently as she could in case he could hear her.
