Page 87 of Mate Night Snack
Katniss woke slowly, consciousness returning like a gentle tide, to find herself exactly where she belonged: wrapped in Emmett's arms, her head pillowed on his chest, listening to the steady rhythm of his heartbeat and somehow back in his cabin.
She felt completely, utterly at home.
Not just in the physical sense, though the cabin had become her sanctuary over the past months. But deeper than that. Soul-deep. Like every wandering piece of herself had finally found its proper place and settled there with a sigh of relief.
"Morning," Emmett's voice rumbled beneath her ear, rough with sleep and warm with affection.
"Morning." She smiled against his chest, still marveling at how easily the word fit. "Sleep well?"
"Best I've slept in years." His fingers found her hair, combing through the tangles with gentle patience. "You?"
"Like I was exactly where I was supposed to be."
"You are." He kissed her deeply. "We both are."
Through the window, she could hear the familiar sounds of Hollow Oak waking up. Birds calling to each other from theancient oaks, the distant rumble of Varric's old truck heading into town, the soft chime of Twyla's protective bells carried on the morning breeze. Ordinary sounds that felt extraordinary because they meant belonging, continuity, home.
"I should probably get up," she said without making any move to leave the warmth of his arms. "I've got that podcast episode to record."
"The final one?"
"The final one." She looked at him, seeing her own contentment reflected in his storm-gray eyes. "End of an era."
"Beginning of a new one."
"Same thing, really." She stretched, cat-like, then reluctantly began the process of extracting herself from their tangle of limbs and quilts. "Want coffee before I disappear into my creative cave?"
"Always."
"You're glowing," Emmett observed, setting a steaming mug in front of her.
"Literally or metaphorically?"
"Both." He leaned against the counter, his own coffee cradled between his hands. "The magic's still active. I can see it when the light hits you just right."
Katniss examined her arm, noting the delicate tracery of golden lines that seemed to live just beneath her skin. "Think it's permanent?"
"Hope so." His voice carried a possessive satisfaction that made her stomach flutter with warmth. "Means you're protected. Means you're mine."
"I was already yours." She kissed his lips, tasting coffee and contentment. "The magic just made it official."
After breakfast, she settled into the corner of the living room that had become her makeshift recording studio, equipment arranged on the old wooden desk Emmett had built for her.Her laptop sat open, cursor blinking in the empty document where she'd write the show notes later. The microphone waited patiently, red light dark for now.
This was usually the part where her stomach would tie itself in knots, where the familiar anxiety of creation would settle between her shoulder blades like an unwelcome guest. But today, she felt nothing but calm certainty.
She knew exactly what she wanted to say.
"Testing, testing." Her voice came through the headphones clear and strong. "This is Katniss Greaves, and welcome to what might be the strangest episode I've ever recorded."
She paused, gathering her thoughts, then continued.
"For three years, I've been telling you stories about the disappeared, the forgotten, the mysteries that keep people awake at night. Cold cases and missing persons, unsolved murders and unexplained vanishings. I've built a career on other people's tragedies, on the spaces where answers should be but aren't."
Through the window, she could see Emmett working in the garden, his movements efficient and peaceful as he prepared the beds for winter. The sight of him there, solid and real and hers, made her smile.
"But sometimes," she continued, "the story you're chasing isn't the one you're meant to tell. Sometimes you follow a mystery to its end only to discover that the real story was the one you were living all along."
She told them about Hollow Oak, carefully edited to remove any supernatural elements that might endanger the town's secrecy. A hidden community in the mountains where she'd come looking for answers about a missing girl from the 1990s. How what she'd found instead was belonging, purpose, love in the most unexpected places.
