Poisoned Secrets

Chapter 6

"So, how did the assessments go?" Marie asked.

They were sitting at dinner, and Lilith had yet to tell anyone what she'd done. It was probably for the best if she didn't tell them. 

"Okay, I guess," Finnick answered. "I just swung some tridents around."

"What about you, Lilith?" Anders looked at her.

"I'm satisfied with what I did," she replied vaguely. "It was definitely a first."

"Well, that just sounds downright shady," Lester interjected, sounding suspicious. "I'm not sure I trust you."

"Your loss," Lilith rolled her eyes. She couldn't care less what Lester thought of her.

"I think it's time to see the training scores announced." Marie was quick to change the subject. "Come on, let's go."

"Don't listen to Lester, he doesn't know what he's talking about." Crystal flashed her a small smile, as they left the dining room. "I'm sure you did great."

"Thanks," she said, shooting her stylist a grateful look.

As everyone filed into the room, Lilith took a seat on the couch between Finnick and Marie. Pulling her legs up to her chest, she wrapped her arms around them.

When the television came to life, Caesar began reading off the scores for each tribute starting with Gloss from District 1.
Predictably, Districts 1 and 2 scored high. Beetee and Wiress, not so much, but they weren't known for their brawn. No, they were going to be the smartest people in that arena.

"Now, for the tributes of District Four." Caesar winked at the camera, flashing a knowing smile. "We have Finnick Odair, with a score of eleven!"

Everyone started clapping, and congratulating Finnick. Lilith just grinned, giving him an approving nod.

"Also from District Four, Lilith Adara, with a score of," he looked down at his paper in surprise. "Wow, with a score of twelve!"

Lilith let out the breath she hadn't realized she'd been holding. She had gotten a twelve. A twelve was the highest score possible, and she had gotten it.

"Wonderful, just wonderful!" Lester was ecstatic, "You'll both get lots of sponsors with scores like that."

With one look at Finnick, she could tell that he understood that it wasn't as wonderful as Lester thought. The Gamemakers were trying to put a target on her back. Why else would they give her such a high score, especially after what she'd done?

"Yeah, it's really great." She plastered a fake smile on her face while wanting to do anything else.

Most of the other scores were pretty low. The victors, for the most part, weren't physically capable of going through the Hunger Games again. The only ones that stood out were Katniss and Peeta. They had both scored twelves, just like she had. She wondered what they had done to make the Gamemakers mad.

"Interesting," Marie said under her breath.

"Don't underestimate those two," Anders added.

"Well, I don't know about anyone else, but I'm going to try and get some sleep." Lilith stood, "goodnight."

"Oh, Lilith," Anders called out, as she began to lace the room. "Feel free to sleep in. You two have spent enough time in the Capitol to know how to act on camera."
"Great, thanks."

She was standing in a small wooded area, surprising considering that there had never been many trees here before. The scent of blood was faint in the air, chilling her to the bone, and leaving no doubt as to her location.