Chapter 13
Thedamningknowledgesatin Sienna’s stomach like a stone.All morning, she’d watched Molly bustling around the office and dealing with visitors, completely unaware that their boss had sold out half the village.
Cormoran.The man her mother had once considered marrying.He’d turned the rejection into a decades-long feud.
Every time the mayor’s door opened, Sienna’s pulse spiked.Every time he smiled at her—that same polite, distant smile he’d worn for years—she wanted to scream.How long had he plotted this?Had he been waiting for the right moment ever since her mother chose Hedrek?
“Sienna, could you file these for me?”Molly handed her a stack of permits, oblivious to the cold, heavy pressure settling in Sienna’s chest.
She nodded, her throat too tight to speak.A tremor shook her hands as she sorted the papers.Property surveys.Building permits.A thick folder markedTeague, H.—Pottery Operation.Her father’s business license.Filed where the mayor could easily find it.Where he could give it to anyone who asked the right questions.
And then there was what she’d overheard.Edwin Smith’s name.
“Your debts don’t disappear just because you’re having second thoughts, Cormoran.”The mayor had answered—calm, measured, not shouting.That was the worst part.
The hunter hadn’t used the same restraint.“Smith bought your markers fair and square.You deliver his beast, or he calls them in.”
The hunters’ confident voices echoed from his office, and now she understood why they sounded so sure of themselves.They weren’t visitors; they’d been invited.
Locals bombarded the mayor’s office with phone calls and in-person meetings, and Molly kept Sienna busy for the entire day.She hadn’t had time to check on her mother, and apprehension nudged at her.She practically ran home, while telling herself that if her mother had suffered problems, she would’ve heard by now.
Sienna came to an abrupt halt in the kitchen doorway, startled to find Mama humming as she chopped onions and cabbage.
Her mother turned with a grin Sienna hadn’t seen in weeks.“The hearts sold out.All of them.”
“That’s wonderful!But what about tomorrow?”
“They delivered while we were gone.”Her mother gestured toward the two boxes on the bed.“Hearts and tumblers.Look at these.”
Sienna picked up a tumbler painted with a snarling leopard.Each one was different, but all featured cats.“These are brilliant.The village is crawling with beast hunters—tourists will snap these up.”
“The boys have outdone themselves.And Kitto didn’t paint all the hearts.You can see the different styles.”Her mother showed her an elegant lady in a garden, then a heart with a fierce cat’s head.
“They’re running low on supplies,” Sienna noted, spotting the scrawled list.“Paint and brushes.We’ll need more ribbon, too.”
“I’ll get everything after tomorrow’s market.”Her mother’s enthusiasm was infectious.“We might actually have enough to leave soon.”
They might also have to flee before being fully prepared.
“Okay,” Sienna said.“What if we stocked up on hearts and sold them in markets on the way north?”
“Excellent idea.I’ll leave a note to ask Hedrek and the boys to concentrate on the hearts.”
“It will be dark soon.We should have dinner and get to work preparing the hearts for market.”
A cheerful whistle had their heads jerking toward the sound.
Jamie strode out of the gloom, carrying a box and a large backpack.Sienna’s breath caught, and her gaze darted past the teen, but disappointment struck.Liam hadn’t come.
“Jamie, you’ve been busy,” her mother said.“Are you hungry?We’re about to have dinner.”
“Starving,” he said with gusto.“I brought more hearts and tumblers.They told me to stay the night and return with supplies in daylight.Hedrek said I should help you at the market, then bring the rest back afterward.Do you like the hearts?Kitto and I made them.”
“They’re fantastic,” Sienna said.“I thought Liam might’ve come with you.”
Jamie’s smile fell away.“Liam hasn’t been well.Hedrek said it was better for him to rest.”
“What’s wrong with him?”Sienna demanded.
