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Ragnar swore to himself again and tried to dart past Leisa into the cell. She must have come from there which meant that there was a good chance that someone else was in there taking the girls while he was distracted with this fight. That would not do.

Unfortunately she anticipated him and leapt between him and the doorway again. Over her shoulder he spotted a woman who was obviously of the same kind as his male attacker. His sharp hearing made out her tell Caroline that she was a daemon. How interesting. Daemons were less common that fairies and he still had no idea what kind she was. Not that it mattered she was stealing his girls, so he was going to kill her.

He raced at Leisa making as if to duck past her again then when she moved to respond he twisted and grabbed her, catching her off balance and throwing her into the male daemon before his attackers could react.

He dived through the door into the cell, knocked the daemon woman into the far wall before spinning around, slammed the door shut, bolted it and pushed Caroline’s bed against it.

By the time he turned back to the room the daemon was already on her feet and in a fighting stance. As he advanced on her Ragnar checked the position of the girls.

Caroline was cowering in the corner, a confused frown on her face. She was probably torn between taking the chance to escape and the loyalty he had indoctrinated her with. Anna, in the meantime was glaring at him and tugging at the chains which still attached her to the wall. Two of them had already been torn loose by the daemon. He’d realised he was being distracted just in time.

“I’m going to tear you to pieces, daemon,” he growled as something thudded against the door. Strong as Leisa and that other daemon were it would still take them a while to break through. Long enough to–

His thoughts broke off as another figure leapt down through the ceiling and landed by the daemon. Ragnar cursed to himself as he recognised him as one of Leisa’s long term allies – what was his name? Michael? Younger than Leisa but still old and strong enough to be troublesome when he had backup.

Ragnar was confident he could handle the two of them but he could hear at least some of the other assailants racing back up the cellar stairs. It wouldn’t be just the two of them to deal with for long. He didn’t think it was all four of them, they’d have left someone to hold the door.

He was cornered then and he doubted he could hold out until sunset, which was still hours away. His was really a very bad day. He needed to get this fight on to more advantageous ground.

Caroline was out of reach behind his assailants but Anna was behind him and her would be rescuers would want to keep her safe. Yes…

He leapt over to her, tore her chains loose and picked her up. She kicked at him and shrieked so he knocked her out and held her limp form between him and Michael and the daemon. They backed off, not wanting to hurt her in the crossfire and he leapt out through the hole they’d entered through and raced for the front door before the others burst out of the kitchen.

Start | Chapter Nineteen Part Two | Index | Chapter Nineteen Part Four