Page 6 of Mate Night Snack (Hollow Oak Mates #2)

EMMETT

E mmett 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 just needed to 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… something else .”

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.

“She shouldn’t be able to see what she’s seeing, either.”

Miriam didn’t respond right away. Her gaze dropped back to the girl curled on her floral cushions. Her hazel eyes fluttered but didn’t open. Her fingers twitched like they were searching for something invisible.

“She’s waking up,” Miriam whispered. Emmett knew what she meant and it wasn’t about Katniss simply waking from a fainting spell. “And the town’s not going to like it.”

Emmett stood, pacing once to the window and back. “She said she saw a girl. A red coat. Then… she saw me . Hurt. Bleeding. Or at least that was what it sounded like through her mumbles as she drifted in and out.”

Miriam looked up. “You believe her?”

“I don’t know what else to believe.” He rubbed a hand through his hair. “She’s not lying. I’d smell it.”

Miriam made a low, thoughtful noise.

He should’ve left it there. Should’ve gone straight to Maeve’s tavern like he’d planned. But something in his gut had told him to double back. A flicker of unease, like the trees whispered wrong.

And sure enough, he’d found Katniss crumpled in the moss like she’d been dropped by something too big to see.

“I thought she was just another outsider chasing a dead story,” he said.

“She still might be,” Miriam replied, folding her hands in her lap.

“No,” he said, voice tightening. “There’s something pulling her. You know it. She’s not here by accident.”

Miriam nodded slowly, then stood. “Wait here.”

She disappeared into a back room, the one that smelled faintly of cedar and old parchment. When she returned, she held a small glass vial in one hand, a strip of fabric in the other. She dipped the cloth, then gently pressed it to Katniss’s forehead.

The girl groaned, shifted, then blinked groggily.

“Welcome back, sweetheart,” Miriam said softly. “You gave him quite the scare.”

Emmett crossed his arms, grunting. “I wasn’t scared.”

Katniss looked up at him, dazed. “Still the charmer, I see.”

Miriam smiled. “Good, her sass is intact. That’s a sign.”

Katniss sat up slowly, eyes scanning the room. “What… happened?”

“You tell me,” Miriam said, handing her a glass of water. “You blacked out. Again, according to Emmett. What did you see this time?”

Katniss hesitated. Her fingers curled around the glass like it anchored her.

“The inn,” she whispered. “Broken windows. Blood on the floor. Emmett—he was hurt. Bad.”

She looked up at him, guilt flickering behind her eyes. “I saw you dying.”

His stomach twisted, but he didn’t let it show.

Miriam pulled a stool closer and leaned in. “Do you know what a seer is, Katniss?”

She blinked. “Like… fortune tellers?”

“Not exactly. Seers don’t guess. They witness. Past, present, sometimes futures. Glimpses through the Veil, uninvited.”

Katniss went still. “You’re saying I’m—what? Magic?”

“Not magic,” Miriam said gently. “Gifted. And probably born with it.”

Katniss laughed once. No humor. “My mom couldn’t predict a thunderstorm with her knees. My dad thought tarot was a scam.”

“Doesn’t mean it wasn’t there,” Miriam said. “Most gifts stay dormant unless they’re woken up.”

Katniss ran a hand over her face. “Say I do have this… gift. What woke mine up?”

Miriam answered. “This town alone could have done it. You looking for things–”

As she went on, Emmett’s eyes narrowed with realization.

Twyla.

He remembered the little cloth bundle Katniss had tucked into her jacket pocket. The sprig of silver thistle bound in fae thread.

He clenched his fists. That tea-slinging troublemaker knew. Knew exactly what Katniss was and still sent her poking around the ridge like it was a Sunday stroll.

Miriam turned to him. “You need to go. The Council’s meeting. They’ll want to hear this directly.”

“I’m not leaving her alone.”

“She’s safe here.”

Emmett hesitated. He looked at Katniss, who met his stare, shaken but steady.

“I’ll be fine,” she said softly. “Go.”

He nodded once and left.

The Council Glade sat hushed beneath moon-soaked branches, the air humming with magic too old to explain.

The five members stood in a loose arc around the stone circle —Varric, the elder, with his moonlight hair and stormcloud eyes watched them all as Maeve, arms crossed, expression unreadable stood guard and the rest watched Emmett like he was still the exile kid too stubborn to fall in line.

He gave his report short and sharp. Where he found her. What she saw. The symbol on the locket. Her collapse.

When he finished, the Glade went quiet.

“She’s a risk,” muttered Elder Bram. “The Veil hasn’t reacted like this in years. And she’s human.”

“She’s not just human,” Emmett said. “She’s got seer blood. Miriam confirmed it.”

“Which makes her more dangerous,” Varric said calmly. “If the wrong force gets ahold of her, she could be weaponized. Used to tear open parts of the Veil we’ve sealed for centuries.”

“She didn’t ask for this,” Emmett snapped.

Maeve arched a brow. “And now you care?”

He looked away. “I don’t think she’s the threat here.”

“Then what do you suggest?” Varric asked.

Emmett stared at the trees for a long beat before answering.

“Let me watch her. Keep her close as you told me to do. If something’s waking in her, I’ll be the first to know. And if she becomes a danger with what she is looking for or what is happening to her…”

He didn’t finish the sentence.

Varric’s eyes searched his face. “You’re sure you can handle that?”

“No,” Emmett said. “But I’ll do it anyway.”

Silence again.

Varric nodded. “She stays. Under guard.”

“Do you remember what happened the last time we had to keep watch on someone?” Maeve asked.

Varric only said, “My judgement stands. If Emmett thinks it’s worth it, then the council will trust him to keep watch. For now.”

Maeve muttered under her breath as they dispersed, “You’re getting soft, Hollowell.”

He didn’t answer. Because somewhere deep in his chest, something old stirred and he wasn’t sure if it was the past Katniss was digging up or something else that he thought he had buried.