Page 14 of Mate Night Snack
Her name again, louder.
The vision cracked apart.
She gasped and came to in the dirt, Emmett’s arms around her, one hand steadying her head, the other gripping her shoulder like he was anchoring her to the present.
Her lips trembled. “It happened again.”
He didn’t ask what. Didn’t scold. Just lifted her in one smooth motion like she weighed nothing, like carrying startled, half-conscious women through the woods was something he’d done a thousand times.
She tried to sit up. “I can walk?—”
“You’re not walking,” he said, voice rougher than before.
Her cheek pressed against his chest, and she let herself listen to the steady thump of his heart trying to process what was happening to her.
They moved through the woods, Emmett silent, purposeful. The air around them rippled once, like they passed through something she couldn’t see, and then the town’s lights broke through the branches.
She spotted the inn, its porch light casting a soft glow across the steps.
“I saw…” she whispered, but the words broke apart.
“Don’t say it yet,” Emmett muttered. “Wait ‘til we get to Miriam.”
Katniss didn’t argue.
She just closed her eyes and let him carry her.
6
EMMETT
Emmett pushed through the inn’s back door without knocking.
Miriam looked up from her chair by the fireplace, half-moon spectacles slipping down her nose, knitting needles clutched mid-stitch. Her gaze fell on the woman in his arms, limp but breathing and the worry in her face didn’t spike. It settled. Like she'd been expecting something like this to happen.
“You better not be bleeding on my floors,” she said calmly, rising.
“She passed out,” Emmett said. “Second time today in less than an hour.”
“Set her down there,” Miriam gestured toward the long couch by the bookshelves. “Head elevated. Don’t drop her, wolf.”
He didn’t.
Katniss stirred, lashes twitching. Her cheeks were pale, but there was warmth in her skin. Alive. Whatever it was that yanked her down hadn’t taken her too far.
Emmett crouched beside the couch, one hand hovering near her elbow, unsure if he meant to steady her again or justneededto stay close.
Miriam knelt on the other side and laid two fingers against Katniss’s temple. Her touch was gentle, but her expression turned sharp.
“She’s not fevered,” Miriam said quietly. “But her pulse’s off. It’s not shock. It’s… somethingelse.”
Emmett’s jaw flexed. “I found her past the lake. Near the old ridge trail.”
Miriam’s eyes snapped to him. “The Veil’s edge?”
He nodded once.
“She shouldn’t have been able to reach that on her own,” the innkeeper muttered.
