Damon saw the entire room in an instant.
The fallen woman was breathing. The girl was standing, but without balance, held by the arm. The man in the gray cloak held the silver bell close to her ear. The child was crying without sound, and the mark behind her left ear glowed with a faint white, like ice beneath thin skin.
"Close your eyes," Damon said.
The girl obeyed.
The man tightened his grip on her arm. "One more step and I break her neck."
Ester entered behind Damon. Elizabeth closed the door. The house was too small for a large fight: a table, three chairs, an unlit stove, flour on the floor, a broken bowl. That favored Damon. Less room for the man to run, less room to make mistakes.
"You have already lost the exit," Elizabeth said.
"I have the child."
"For now," Ester replied.
