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“You’re back quickly!” Valeria said when Halia arrived back with Hannah and the others. “Are things going badly?

“Halia shook her head. “She did better than anyone expected and managed to rip the key away from the arrogant prat, but she hurt herself.

Valeria covered a smile at Halia’s turn of phrase. “You’ve been around Matt far too long,” she said.

Halia cocked an eyebrow at her as she laid Hannah down on one of the couches, but then grinned, as she realised what she’d said. “Probably, but it’s such a good word.” She laid a hand on Hannah’s forehead. “I think I’m going to need some help here.” Read the rest of this entry »

Start | Chapter Twenty Part Two | Index | Chapter Twenty Part Four

“What on earth!” Tanya stopped the people carrier as they turned into the street where Ragnar’s procurer lived.

“What is it?” Leisa asked.

“There’s police and an ambulance outside the procurer’s house,” Tanya replied. Read the rest of this entry »

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Emms’ head whipped around as the fire engulfed the troll. It seemed that they’d finally managed to distract him in a way that even holding off four powerful dragons had not. Daniel just hoped it was in time – the sky above him was roiling with same green cloud they’d seen above Devon and the hairs on his arms were standing up in the suddenly oppressive air.

For someone with a broken barrier, he’s very focused, Alaryia said. Read the rest of this entry »

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Daniel threw up his shield and sensed the rest of his family doing the same. It didn’t do much good – as the shards ripped though their combined shields like wet paper. It did slow them enough to give him time to dodge as he threw himself to the ground.

As the storm of shards cleared, he checked himself over. He had a few grazes, but mostly from where he’d hit the ground rather than the attack. He sighed in relief and looked up at the others. Everyone except Lydia had got down in time. Lydia, however, was lying motionless on the ground, bleeding from a wound on her left temple. At least the rise and fall of her chest indicated she wasn’t dead. Bennu had landed beside her and was rubbing up against her worriedly. Read the rest of this entry »

Start | Chapter Twenty Part One | Index | Chapter Twenty Part Three

Ragnar grabbed the end of the pole and knocked George flying into the bannister before pulling down the ladder himself. He climbed it silenntly and peered through the hatch. There was a gaunt young woman chained to the wall at the end of the loft staring fearfully towards the hatch but there was little light in the attic. Her hair was matted and she had several cuts that had obviously been inflicted on her deliberately the main source of the blood scent, however was her fingers. She’d been prying at the point where her chains met the wall, trying to free herself. She must have been quietly working away at the crumbling mortar for days because he suspected one good tug would free her now. Read the rest of this entry »

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Matthias jumped them in close enough to Huldre’s hiding place that he and his family could attack the troll before he could react, but far enough away that Hannah could easily find a place to keep out of the way as she and her assistants tried to psychically wrestle the key from Emms.

She leapt back and began looking for a good place to hunker down as the four first dragons raced towards Emms and Matthias threw a wave at darkness at Huldre.

“There!” Halia pointed at another pile of rocks not far away. Read the rest of this entry »

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“You have to try and summon the key as soon as we arrive, Hannah,” Matthias said. “It probably won’t work and it’s rather a dangerous thing to ask you, given how strong he is – but if he has to fight you for control of it, it’ll distract him at least temporarily.”

“I’m not sure I can hold out against him long enough for it to make any difference,” Hannah said. “He’s really strong. He wasn’t bluffing about me being no threat to him. I’ll try, but I’ll need backup and even then I might injure myself.” Read the rest of this entry »

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

Ragnar swore to himself as he drove towards George’s house. He usually avoided his slave’s home just in case anyone made the exact connection that Anna had made between his victims’ disappearances and his slave. And right now it was an even more risky place to head to because they knew where George lived and Ragnar’s connection to him. But it was the closest place he might find shelter – nearer than any of his bolt holes. He needed somewhere he could get this stake out and figure out his next move before they realised where he was.

Ahead of him a traffic light turned red. Ragnar’s foot twitched towards the accelerator. He gritted his teeth and forced himself to brake instead. The last thing he needed was to attract more attention in this situation so he had to drive carefully. Read the rest of this entry »

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“The key is telling you that?” Matthias asked.

“Yes,” Hannah said.

“Right, then we need you and Marian to scry out exactly where they are so we can jump in.”

“Do I have to work with her?” Hannah muttered as she glared over at Marian.

Matthias muttered something under his breath and nodded. “You really do,” he said. “We need an exact location on Huldre before we jump in. Your bind to the key can be used to scry it, but…” Read the rest of this entry »

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“Is Drew okay?” Daniel asked as they prepared to leave to deal with Emms.

“He’s getting there,” Sonia said. “I think he’d be in a worse state if he hadn’t had Naria’s help. I wonder what they’ll do about their bond.”

“You need to explain that sometime,” he said. “What do you mean by bond?” Read the rest of this entry »