Page 57 of Mate Night Snack
"I said no." Her voice was sharper than intended, but she didn't care. "I'm not running away like some scared rabbit just because that psychopath burned a tree."
"It's not running," Miriam said gently from her perch on the piano bench, silver hair catching the light as she poured tea from a pot painted with tiny roses. "It's being sensible. Ashwin's message was clear. He's targeting you specifically."
"Then let him come." Katniss moved to the window, pulling the curtain aside to peer out at the garden where Emmett was chopping firewood with more force than strictly necessary. Each swing of the axe spoke of barely contained violence, muscles bunching beneath his thermal shirt as he worked out his frustrations on defenseless logs. "I'm tired of being treated like a victim waiting to happen."
Elder Bram, who'd been silent until now, cleared his throat with obvious disapproval. "Young woman, your bravado is admirable but misguided. Ashwin has been planning this for decades. You've been here mere weeks."
"Exactly." She spun around to face them, hazel eyes blazing. "Which means I see things you've all gotten used to ignoring. Like the fact that running away won't solve anything. It'll just give him time to regroup and come back stronger."
"Or it will remove his primary target and force him to retreat," Bram countered.
"Will it? Because from what Twyla told me, he's been doing this same dance for thirty years. Take the seer, break the wolf, corrupt the community. How many times are you going to let that pattern repeat before you try something different?"
Varric's eyebrows rose slightly. "What do you suggest?"
"I suggest we break the pattern." She moved to stand behind the couch where Emmett had been sitting before he'd stalked outside, needing the movement to channel her frustration. "Instead of reacting to his moves, we make some of our own. Instead of hiding, we fight back."
"Fighting back requires knowing where he is," Maeve pointed out from her spot by the fireplace. "And right now, he's got the advantage of mobility."
"Then we make him come to us." Katniss began pacing, her mind racing through possibilities. "Set a trap. Use me as bait if that's what it takes."
"Absolutely not," came Emmett's voice from the doorway, rough with exhaustion and something deeper. He stepped inside, sawdust clinging to his thermal shirt and dark circles under his gray eyes that spoke of too many sleepless nights. "We're not using you as bait for anything."
The protective growl underlying his words made something warm uncurl in her chest, even as it sparked her temper. "That's not your decision to make."
"Like hell it isn't." He crossed the room in three long strides. "You're my mate. Protecting you is exactly my decision."
"I'm also a grown woman with agency who's tired of being discussed like she's not in the room." She lifted her chin, meeting his glare without flinching. "And I'm certainly not going to be shipped off to California like some inconvenient package."
"It's temporary.”
"Is it? Because Ashwin's message suggests he's not going anywhere. And neither am I."
The room fell silent. Katniss could feel the weight of everyone's attention, but her decision was already made.
"I appreciate the concern," she said more gently, "I really do. But I came here following a mystery, and I'm not leaving until it's solved. These missing girls deserve justice. This community deserves peace. And I deserve the chance to be part of the solution instead of the problem everyone's trying to hide from."
Varric fingers steepled beneath his chin. "The young seer makes valid points. Perhaps it's time we stopped reacting to Ashwin's provocations and started setting our own terms."
"You're seriously considering this?" Bram's pale eyes widened with dismay. "She's untrained, unpredictable, and exactly what he wants."
"She's also right," Miriam said quietly, setting down her teacup with a decisive clink. "Thirty years of playing defense hasn't worked. Maybe it's time to try offense."
The debate continued around her, but Katniss found her attention drifting to Emmett. He stood with his back to the group, hands braced against the window frame. The line of his shoulders spoke of barely controlled tension, and she could see the exhaustion in every line of his body.
He hadn't been sleeping. She knew because she hadn't been sleeping either.
The nightmares had started three days ago, the night after they'd found Ashwin's message. Twisted visions that felt too real, too visceral to be simple dreams. Images of Emmett broken and bleeding, of Hollow Oak consumed by shadow fire, of herself chained in some dark place while Ashwin whispered poison in her ear.
She'd wake gasping, heart pounding, only to find Emmett already alert beside her, gathering her into his arms and murmuring reassurances until the phantom terror faded. But she could see the toll it was taking on him, the way he watched her constantly, the way he jumped at every unexpected sound.
"We'll table this discussion for now," Varric announced. "But the offer of sanctuary remains open if you change your mind."
The Council members filed out one by one. Finally, only she and Emmett remained in the suddenly quiet parlor.
"You're exhausted," she said softly, crossing to where he still stood by the window.
"I'm fine."
