REVENANT | Coriolanus Snow

Chapter 11

"I think she's fallen in love with me."

"Of course she has. What do you feel for her?" Sejanus asked that night.

"I don't know," he answered. "I kissed her."

Sejanus raised his eyebrows. "On the cheek?"

"No. On the lips." He thought about how to explain it, but all he could muster was "She's something else."

Which was undeniable, on so many levels. The truth was, he didn't have much experience when it came to girls, and even less when it came to love. Keeping the Snows' situation a secret had always been the top priority. The cousins rarely had anyone to the apartment, even when Tigris had fallen hard in her final year of the Academy. She couldn't bring her boyfriend home (per Coryo's request) , which eventually resulted in them having to break up with each other.

Plenty of his classmates had been interested in him, but he'd skillfully kept them at arm's length. The excuse of that broken elevator had come in handy, and that Grandma'am had several fictional ailments that required absolute quiet.

At the end of the though,  Enya would still be a girl from the districts, or at least not Capitol. A second-class citizen. Human, but bestial. Smart, perhaps, but not evolved. Part of a shapeless mass of unfortunate, barbaric creatures that hovered on the periphery of his consciousness. Surely, if there had ever been an exception to the rule, it was Enya Fedorov. A person who defied easy definition. A rare bird, just like him. Maybe it was a mistake to be getting so attached to her.

Why else had the pressure of her lips on his turned his knees to water?

Coriolanus fell asleep that night replaying the kiss in his head. . .

"Which do you believe to be more important, love or trust?"

"Trust."

It was a couple of days later, Enya and Coryo finding themselves once again confiding into each other, sitting at a far corner in the hob.

"It is." Enya agreed, tucking a strand of hair behind her ear. "But only because it's the foundation for love. Without it, everything could crumble down."

Coriolanus opened his mouth to say something, but Enya seemed to have something more to add.

"Like Raze for example. I trust him with my life— even if he can be extremely suffocating." A corner of her mouth lifted as she shook her head.

A muscle in Coryo's jaw twitched.

"You guys have been friends for a while, huh." He stated, although it was meant to come out more like a question. He felt jealousy tighten his throat.

"I've known him since...well, forever." The brunette chuckled, turning to look at the blond, who nodded.

He wanted all of her attention. He wished he could fill it into a bottle and carry it around with him. He wanted to bathe in it. He wanted get gaze to stay fixed on him, only him.

"He's a bit aggressive though isn't he?" Coryo hummed, tilting his head as his sapphire hues studied the girl'a expression.

"Raze?" She laughed a soft, low, utterly feminine sounds that galvanized his senses. He leaned closer, savoring the sweet energy that shimmered around her. "He means well."

"Well, not to me." The blond insisted, trying to catch her gaze, which worked as hazel hues met his.

"Raze is my friend Coriolanus. He's just a bit protective— wait are you jealous?" She asked, the frown on her face getting betrayed by the amusement in her tone.

"Hardly." The male scoffed, leaning back.

"You are." Enya grinned at his reaction.

He wasn't jealous. Only someone who actually cared would be jealous.

Coriolanus Snow wasn't jealous.

"I'm not. It's just annoying that every time he sees us together, he has to interfere. If anything, he's the one who's jealous."

That made a scoff leave Enya's rosewater lips.  

"What's there to make him jealous?"

Perhaps because when you love someone very much, it's difficult to learn to share her with someone else?

"That you're spending more time with me, for a start." Coriolanus suggested, grinning, and even though she couldn't see the dimple beyond the fingers splayed across his jaw and cheek, Enya knew it had to be there.

"I enjoy spending time with you." The brunette mused, her voice low but loud enough for him to hear.

Something in his chest stirred.

No one has ever said that to him.

"I feel the same." The blond replied, taking her hand in his.

Lie.

Or was it?

It was a Wednesday afternoon and the peacekeepers were to prepare the birds for travel to the Capitol. The scientists showed Coriolanus and Sejanus how to fasten the cloth covers on the cages, and then they relocated to the hovercraft, trusting the pair to take care of it.

Coriolanus started with the mockingjays. He moved the cages one at a time to his work table, snapped on their covers, when Sejanus bounced in, sounding a bit hyper. "Good news! Another delivery from my ma!"

"How sweet of her."

"I'll tell her you said so." Sejanus turned to Coriolanus, who'd just collected the jabberjay tagged with the number 1. The bird twittered away in its cage, still imitating the last mockingjay. Sejanus's grin had vanished, and an anguished expression had taken its place. His eyes swept the hangar to ensure they were alone, and he spoke in a hushed voice. "Listen, we've only got a few minutes. I know you won't approve of what I'm going to do, but I need you to at least understand it. After what you said the other day—  well, I feel I owe you an explanation. Please, just hear me out."

This was it, then. The confession. Coriolanus's entreaties for sanity and caution had been weighed and found insufficient. Misguided passion had won the day.

Now was the time for the pieces to be explained. The money. The base map. The moment the whole treasonous rebel plot would be revealed. Once Coriolanus heard it, he'd be as good as a rebel himself. A traitor to the Capitol. He should panic, or run, or at least try to shut Sejanus up. But he did none of these things.

Instead his hands acted on their own. Now his left hand adjusted the cover of the jabberjay cage while his right, concealed from Sejanus's view by his body, dropped to the counter, where a remote sat.

Without trust, everything can crumble down.

Coriolanus pressed RECORD, and the jabberjay fell silent.