Page 61 of Helsing: Demon Slayer
He looked at Olivia’s sister, his principal, with a flat stare that belied his physical condition, which was stable but dire. Then he looked at Beta without responding to the other woman. “I’m good to go, Draka. Give me a carbine like Edvard’s.” He paused, coughed, then added, “And some water. I inhaled some gasoline in Podgorica. It’s making me dizzy.”
Beta wondered at this human’s willpower. Even now, when his body radiated pain like a dying star, his resolve refused to crumble. She could see it in his eyes, the set of his shoulders—the stubborn defiance of an ass of a man who didn’t know when to quit.
She slid a glance at Dianne but nodded. She felt Dianne’s glare as she handed a water bottle back to Ryan, followed by Edvard’s carbine, which András passed her with the mental comment,This should be a fun ride back. Between thedaemons, roving marauders, and these two clueless lovebirds, we won’t lack for distraction.
She has a point, Spratek.
Then let her keep the Glock.
I planned on it.
After passing Dianne a water bottle, she opened an insulated container on the seat next to her containing handheld food, in this case something Olivia referred to as a hot pocket filled with spiced ground meat and cheese, and gave the couple each one. Then Beta held out an extra clip for the Glock and a spare thigh rig to Dianne.
“To defend the kitten,” she said. Ignoring Ryan’s scoffing noise, she went on, “You have earned that right.”
They drove in silence for twenty minutes before Beta asked András the question that had bothered her ever since she saw the faint flare with its flickering shadows.
How did thedaemonsbreach the border of Albania?
I don’t know, Gomba, said András, his voice somber in her thoughts.I have never seen it done. I didn’t think that it could be done. But perhaps Mihàil’s injury has something to do with it.He paused, his fist clenching on the dashboard in front of him as he looked out into the night, scanning for threats, before adding,But there is something following us. Something malevolent and tenebrous … no, like the absence of all light.
I sense it, too. Beta gripped the Disrupter on her chest. It suddenly seemed much too puny and weak for whatever it was that stalked them.
As if sensing the tension, Ryan leaned forward. He seemed more himself, and if his harmonics were anything to go by, the morphine and food had done their job.
“They’ve followed us into Albania, haven’t they?” he asked in a low voice.
Beta glanced at him. “Yes.”
Ryan’s gaze went to Dianne, who slouched in the seat next to him, as if to a lodestone. Beta could see the taut harmonic chord between them, its purple, green, and gold threads alive with both raw emotion and something deeper, something that vibrated against the edges of Beta’s understanding and added to the mystery of their tethering.
Twisting inside of that nascent bond? Black, vitriolic threads of discord, mistrust, and anger.
Those were familiar to Beta. Would the other couple wrestle with theirdaemonsand win? Would they get that chance?
She pressed her lips together, her eyes narrowed. They would if she had anything to say about it.
The Defender’s frame seemed to groan under an invisible weight, the very air pressing against Beta’s skin like a cold, suffocating blanket.Overhead, the stars disappeared. Ominous silence squeezed at Beta’s chest, blotting out the familiar comforting hum of creation.
“Sir,” said Edvard glancing at András. “I’ve lost comms with Aerie. The harmonics nav keeps cutting out, and our sensor sweep just blacked out for no reason.”
Edvard was adapting, faster than Beta had expected, his movements crisp and deliberate despite the chaos. He’d gained the confidence of another battle won.
He was going to need it.
András didn’t look at the young warfighter, but her husband’s worry clouded the harmonic plane around him like invisible steel wool. “I’m aware.” He paused. “I’m more concerned with the Defender’s electrical system.”
Behind her, Beta read a spike of fear in Dianne and grim determination in Ryan, whose gut wound throbbed and radiated heat. The core of his infrared signature showed a sickly, green-tinged black that seeped into the rest of him as thedaemonicenergy engulfed them.
And Dianne’s signature thrummed with stygian power.
Seventeen
Milesduckedoutofthe ops center after Beta and András recovered Olivia’s sister and Helsing, whose vitals showed low blood pressure from blood loss and the start of sepsis, though the antibiotics in the med kit should stamp that out before it became dangerous. It seemed like the best time to grab a hot meal and another coffee, which at this point he was practically mainlining, before reporting to his superior, who waited on news of her sister’s rescue.
Though it was late, Miles knew where he’d find Olivia: the state-of-the-art clinic Mihàil had built in Fushë-Arrëz for the townspeople to have access to the same medical care he provided his staff and security personnel. Thezoti, gently goaded by his young American wife, had also built a restaurant next to the clinic where fresh local produce, meats, and herbs could be traded by poorer community members for care. The restaurant supplied all of the meals, prepared by a trained chef to focus on nutrition and quality, to the patients and their families, free of charge.
Miles didn’t partake of a made-to-order meal, though. Instead, he scooped a bowl of fragrantsupa me mish, a hearty lamb soup, wishing that he could take the time to enjoy a second bowl ofsupë krem pulë, a creamy chicken soup came damn close to his mama’s—the last bowl of that was years, back before MREs took over his life. He ate quickly, dipping pillowy roll-sizedpogacainto the broth, then grabbed another to eat as he cleared his dishes and decanted coffee into a disposable cup. Not a real break, but already he felt refueled and ready to dive back into the crisis.
