Despite her focus on practicalities, her thoughts kept drifting to Liam.Where was he?Kitto?Calan?Her gaze darted to the window and the path beyond, still empty.Her hands twisted the hem of her shirt, pulse fluttering faster with each tick of the clock.
“Thank you for helping with Sophie,” one of Sophie’s uncles said.
Sienna blinked, dragging her focus from the world outside to the man speaking.“I couldn’t stand by and do nothing, though we may have made things worse.The man in charge didn’t earn his millions by being stupid.”
“No,” the uncle agreed, a tall man with a broad frame and graying hair.“We’re collecting vans and will pick up the bags Sophie’s mother packed.We’re leaving town.You should go too.”
Sienna sighed.“We don’t have transportation.”
“We can squeeze you in and give you a ride to the neighboring town.You could rent a vehicle there.Do you have a plan?”
She nodded but kept the details to herself.He didn’t ask.
“I’ll talk to my parents, but there’s little time to prepare.”
“Better to leave possessions behind than risk captivity,” he said.
“Thanks.I’ll let you know when we’re ready.”
Sienna knew her parents would worry, but leaving Stoneford was the only sensible course of action.Now all she could do was wait—and hope Liam and her brothers were still alive.
Chapter 16
ThebulletholeinLiam’s shoulder pulsed in the beat of a war drum—slow, savage, and impossible to ignore.He’d made it three miles through back alleys and fog-thick streets, slipping past hunters swarming the village like furious wasps.Now, slumped on the local vet’s metal examination table, the shock was peeling away, leaving a raw electric ache coursing through him and the oppressive weight of what came next.
“Hold still,” Gregory muttered in his soft Irish brogue, forceps deep in the wound.Metal scraped bone, and Liam’s vision flashed white as pain lit up his nerves.
Calan and Kitto flanked him, and their solid presence steadied him.The vet kept casting anxious glances at Calan’s twitching ears and the patchy dark fur on Kitto’s forearms.Liam sensed the tension beneath the vet’s calm exterior, the way his hands trembled a fraction, though he kept his voice steady and measured.
Gregory’s forceps clamped down, and a sharp tug sent fire racing down Liam’s arm.The bullet clinked against a metal tray.“Got it.”
A groan escaped Liam, and it was closer to a yowl than he’d like to admit.Kitto’s hand clamped over his mouth.
“Easy,” Kitto murmured.“We need you conscious.We can’t exactly carry you through the village.”
“The hunters are everywhere,” Calan added, worry threading his voice.“We’re not going anywhere until they calm down or take a break.”
“You can’t stay here.”Panic edged Gregory’s brogue as he began cleaning the wound.“I have my wife and children to consider.”
Sienna.The not-knowing clawed at him worse than the bullet wound.Had she made it home?Was she safe, or was she lying somewhere, hurt and alone while he was stuck here, useless?
“Sienna,” he whispered.
“She was heading home with the others,” Kitto said.“Don’t worry.Papa trained us well.”
Liam kept his eyes squeezed shut while the vet worked, focusing on that certainty.Hedrekhadtrained them well.Sienna was smart, capable, and fierce when protecting those she loved.She’d made it home.She was safe.
“I like your parents,” he muttered as the vet began stitching.“Much better than mine ever were.”
“You can tell us later.”Kitto squeezed his good shoulder.“Gregory’s nearly done.”
The sharp hiss of an aerosol can was his only warning before the antiseptic hit the wound.Raw agony lanced down his arm, and this time he couldn’t muffle the scream.His vision grayed at the edges.
“There’s no need to hurt him,” Kitto snapped.“Liam got injured rescuing Sophie.”
“And he’s placed us all in danger,” Gregory shot back, his tone ice-cold.“Because of your family, I have to leave the village to keep my wife and kids safe.Do you know how much I hate staying with my in-laws?”
“Selfish, aren’t you?Only thinking of yourself.”Calan’s voice carried an edge Liam had never heard before.
