A Court of Roses ↠ Peeta Mellark ✓

09 ; Bloody Trail

There's a certain numbness that takes home inside of Emberly's chest. It wasn't there at first, not when she was trained since six years old how to stab someone with a knife; when she'd watched for years as her District bet on who was going to win the Hunger Games.

It surely wasn't there when the cannon in the arena blasted off twice for two dead tributes, nor was it there when Marvel's face appeared on the list of fallen tributes in the sky, just for Rue's to follow quickly after him. Opening the wounds that were covering both Emberly and Katniss's hearts without really meaning to.

The two of them were both sitting next to each other in a tree. Katniss's thick yellow cable holding them up from falling and from collapsing underneath the weight of loosing the two people who meant everything in the world to them.

Everything was silent in the arena, everyone seemingly listening to Claudius Templesmith's voice boom down from overhead, congratulating the eight of them who remain. Emberly is blocking out his voice, lost in her own thoughts before Katniss is gasping beside her, brown eyes wide.

"There can be two victors," Claudius says, making Emberly's heart beat heavier inside of her chest, as the Capitol Gamemaker continues on. "both tributes of the same district will be declared winners if they are the last two alive."

Then, as if he doesn't think they get what he's saying, he says is again but only slower. Emberly turns towards Katniss, opening her mouth to say something but Katniss is already shouting a name that makes Emberly's insides run cold:

Peeta.

<

"What about Foxface?" Emberly asks, her and Katniss both climbing down the tree. Emberly, however, not doing it happily and trying to convince Katniss not to go find Peeta.

"She remains hidden all the time, she's not a threat." Katniss replies, pushing her dry brown braid from her shoulder. "Thresh isn't either, if we remain off his domain."

"What about-"

"Cato and Clove?" Katniss interrupts, swerving her body to look at Emberly head on. Emberly's jaw tightens, anger swelling inside of her like a tornado at the mention of the people who'd killed Marvel.

They'd made him kidnap Rue and then, they'd stuck an arrow into his neck, making him seem like he'd been the one that had kidnapped Rue and was trying to lure Katniss and herself to their death.

"I was going to say, what about me?" Emberly asks, making Katniss stop. Emberly sticks out her arms at her sides, before slapping them down. "If you haven't noticed, its only Clove and Cato then you and Peeta that are still a team. None of us benefit from this little rule change but the four of you."

"I'm not going to kill you." Katniss says, creases forming on her forehead.

"I'm not talking about you killing me, it's about me..." Emberly trails off and the rest of the sentence is there, in the air and floating around. Katniss bites harshly on her bottom lip, the District 12 tribute not having an answer.

"I trust you," Katniss says, making Emberly blink her eyes in surprise. "there was a reason you didn't kill me when you had the chance. I go back to that memory every night, the look you'd gave me, how you had all the power to kill me but you didn't. And for that reason, I trust you not to hurt me."

"What about Peeta?" Emberly asks, placing her hands onto her hips. She doesn't know what kind of plan Peeta could have with Cato and Clove. The only person she remotely thinks is true in her head is Katniss, due to them both being screwed over in the last few hours due to Cato and Clove.