Sparks Fly

Chapter 31

My head reels as I try and process what I've heard. Peeta's words come as no surprise, but Finnick... What could Finnick possibly mean? Surely he must be trying to get on Peeta's good side, trying to get him to trust him before he inevitably betrays us. But still, why would he go through such trouble to save Peeta's life, only to turn around and stab him in the back? Why save him at all? To get to me, maybe. I've made it clear enough that allies are not a priority for me, and the only way to get close enough to kill me would be through Peeta. We're each other's only weakness in the arena – to befriend one of us is to get to the other, and after we both pulled twelves in training, the two of us are targets. But every single action Finnick has taken since the second these awful Games have begun has suggested he has ulterior motives. Helping me fight off the Careers at the bloodbath. Swimming out to retrieve Peeta from his platform. Blaming my moments of weakness on the pregnancy. Bringing Peeta back from the dead. He's not taking on the typical role of ally – he's doing so much more. But if killing us isn't his goal, what game is he playing?

Whatever it is, it's keeping Peeta and I alive. And if being friends with Finnick is what's going to get us – and thereby Peeta – to the end, then that's what I'll do. There are much worse allies to have, I think, than the beautiful, deadly man from District 4.

I hope I won't have to be the one to kill him.

A tense silence has fallen between them, and I choose that precise moment to make my reappearance.

As soon as I step into the clearing, I see the others have transformed the place. Mags and Finnick have created a hut of sorts out of the grass mats, open on one side but with three walls, a roof, and a floor, where Mags now naps comfortably. Finnick has also plaited several bowls that Peeta has filled with roasted nuts. Their faces turn to me hopefully, and I remember what I ventured into the jungle for in the first place before I got distracted by their conversation. I give my head a shake. "No. No water. It's out there, though. He knew where it was," I say, hoisting the skinned rodent up for all to see. "He'd been drinking recently when I shot him out of a tree, but I couldn't find his source. I swear, I covered every inch of ground in a thirty-yard radius."

"Can we eat him?" Peeta asks.

"I don't know for sure. But his meat doesn't look that different from a squirrel's. He ought to be cooked..." I hesitate as I think of trying to start a fire out here from complete scratch. Even if I succeed, there's the smoke to think about. We're all so close together in this arena, and the wood so damp, there'd be no chance of hiding it.

Peeta has another idea. He takes a cube of rodent meat, skewers it on the tip of a pointed stick, and lets it fall into the force field. There's a sharp sizzle and the stick flies back. The chunk of meat is blackened on the outside but well cooked inside. We give him a round of applause, then quickly stop, remembering where we are.

The white sun sinks in the rosy sky as we gather in the hut. I'm still leery about the nuts, but Finnick says Mags recognized them from another Games. I didn't bother spending time at the edible-plants station in training because it was so effortless for me last year. Now I wish I had. For surely there would have been some of the unfamiliar plants surrounding me. And I might have guessed a bit more about where I was headed. Mags seems fine, though, and she's been eating the nuts for hours. So I pick one up and take a small bite. It has a mild, slightly sweet flavor that reminds me of a chestnut. I decide it's all right. The rodent's strong and gamey but surprisingly juicy. Really, it's not a bad meal for our first night in the arena. If only we had something to wash it down with.

Finnick asks a lot of questions about the rodent, which we decide to call a tree rat. How high was it, how long did I watch it before I shot, and what was it doing? I don't remember it doing much of anything. Snuffling around for insects or something.