Page 48 of Mate Night Snack
"Morning," he said, crossing to their table with those long, measured strides. "Mind if I join you?"
"Course not," Twyla said, sliding over to make room. "I was just explaining to our girl here about the importance of good tea and better company."
Emmett settled beside Twyla, but his attention stayed fixed on Katniss. "You okay? You look like you've seen a ghost."
"Several, actually." Katniss gestured to her notebook. "Twyla's been filling in some gaps about Ashwin's pattern. The missing girls. Why he's targeting seers."
Emmett's expression darkened, his jaw tightening making the muscles in his neck stand out. "How much did she tell you?"
"Enough to know this isn't just about me anymore." Katniss closed her notebook and leaned forward. "He's using me to get to you. To break you."
"That's not going to happen."
"Isn't it?" She studied his face, noting the shadows under his eyes, the tension in his shoulders. "When's the last time you slept through the night? Or went more than an hour without checking to make sure I'm safe?"
Emmett opened his mouth, then closed it again. She could see him realizing that she was right, that Ashwin's psychological warfare was already working.
"See?" Twyla poured Emmett a cup of tea from the pot, the liquid now a deeper amber than before. "She's got a good head on her shoulders, this one. Sees the whole picture, not just the pretty parts."
"So what do we do?" Emmett asked, accepting the tea but not drinking it. "How do we stop him?"
"We change the rules," Katniss said, surprised by the certainty in her own voice. "Every other time, the seer ran when she learned the truth. She let fear drive her away from the wolf who loved her. But what if this time, we stand and fight together?"
Twyla's eyes lit up with something that might have been hope.
Emmett reached across the table and covered Katniss's hand with his. His palm was warm, callused from years of hard work, and completely steady despite everything they'd just discussed.
"You sure about this?" he asked quietly. "Standing and fighting sounds good in theory, but Ashwin's had decades to perfect his methods. He's not going to make it easy."
"Nothing worthwhile ever is." Katniss turned her hand over beneath his, lacing their fingers together. "Besides, I didn't come here to run away from hard truths. I came here to find them."
Emmett's thumb brushed over her knuckles, a small gesture that sent warmth spiraling up her arm. "Then we do this together."
"Together," she agreed.
Twyla raised her teacup in a mock toast. "To breaking patterns and changing the rules. And to love that's stronger than fear."
They clinked their cups together, the sound ringing through the quiet café like a bell.
“Wait a second though,” Katniss interrupted and Twyla and Emmett both looked more concerned suddenly.
“You said you’ve been seeing this for 30 years. Yet, you don’t look a day over 30 yourself, if that.”
Twyla herself gave a big smirk before flicking her braid. “Oh honey, that’s the beauty of being fae. You’d never guess my real age.” And with a wink, she walked back behind the counter with her teapot.
Outside, the morning mist was finally burning off, revealing the town in all its gentle, magical glory. But Katniss no longer felt like an outsider looking in.
She felt like someone who belonged here, who had people worth fighting for.
And she felt like someone who was finally ready to fight back.
20
EMMETT
The walk back to his cabin felt longer than usual, though Emmett knew it was just his mind playing tricks on him. Katniss walked beside him on the narrow forest path, her hand tucked into the crook of his elbow, her boots crunching softly against the carpet of pine needles and fallen leaves. The afternoon light filtered through the canopy in golden streams, painting her dark curls with amber highlights that made something deep in his chest tighten with want.
She'd been quiet since they left Twyla's café, processing everything the fae-blooded woman had revealed about Ashwin's twisted pattern. He could practically hear the gears turning in her sharp mind, cataloguing information, drawing connections, preparing for whatever battle lay ahead. It was one of the things he loved most about her, that relentless curiosity paired with a courage that ran bone-deep.
