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"What the hell?" Daphne was on her feet, pacing and snarling. "Was yesterday not enough bloodshed for them? Ten people died, me nearly included!"

"Eleven," Caelum corrected, his arms crossed as he leaned against the wall. "Eleven died."

Daphne cocked her head in confusion. "Eleven? Five Careers died, the two District Seven tributes died, Makani's dead, Rye's dead, Azalea's dead," her voice caught, and she quickly cleared her throat to fight the tide of grief that arose inside. "That's only ten. Who's the last one?"

Caelum suddenly found his boots to be quite interesting. "Some other tribute. I guess we'll see in the memoriam tonight, since he must've died after midnight."

Daphne stared at him. There was something guarded in his demeanor, given away by his darkened eyes and tense shoulders. Nothing that hinted at the vulnerability, the rawness he'd put on display just hours ago. Daphne's lips pursed. She wondered if the puzzle of Caelum was something she would ever figure out.

"Well, screw you, Gamemakers." Daphne grumbled. She knew they could hear her. "No matter how hard you threaten me, there's no way I'm going back to the cornucopia." Too many horrible things have occurred there.

Caelum glanced up. The ghost of a smirk graced his lips. "Careful, you may just give them ideas."

The knife in Daphne's heart seemed to give a fresh wrench. Azalea had said the same thing, long ago, as they'd come across Rye's house for the first time. Daphne quickly shut down the memory, determined not to get dragged back into the boiling sea within.

Still, a deep sense of foreboding settled in Daphne's chest, seeming to grow with every breath she took. She clamped her hands into fists to keep them from trembling.

Caelum tilted his head slightly, brows furrowing. "Are you-"

"I'm fine," Daphne quickly cut in. "I'm fine, I just-"

She jumped as Caelum abruptly shushed her, pushing off the wall and hurrying to the window. His whole body had gone taut and alert, reminding Daphne of Barley whenever he caught scent of a nearby coyote. Caelum peered out the window, his sharp green eyes scanning the ground below. Daphne couldn't help but think he resembled a hawk.

"What is it?" Daphne hissed, joining him by the window. Their shoulders brushed briefly. Caelum subtly jerked away, playing it off as a stumble, but Daphne noticed nonetheless.

"There's no way," Caelum muttered, seemingly to himself. He rubbed his chin, a muscle in his jaw twitching. "I thought I heard-"

Now it was Daphne's turn to shush him, having picked up a faint noise from the alley down below. She squinted, her heart beginning to pound. Heavy, sputtering footsteps dragged across cobblestones. Even from up on the top floor, she could hear rasping, irregular breathing.

There was a creeping feeling spreading across the back of her neck. Her fingers tapped anxiously against the window sill.

A figure hauled itself into view, staggering into the late afternoon sun, its shadow stretched long across the cobblestones. It gave the figure a strange, distorted shape, like a crooked monster from a horror movie. But Daphne heard the agonized, very human groan that echoed through the alley. She recognized it, and his sharp inhale told her that Caelum did as well.

It was Theron.

There was a soft thud, and Daphne glanced to the side to see that Caelum had flattened himself to the wall, his eyes squeezed shut.

"What is he doing here?" He hissed, rubbing his forehead. "How did he even get here? His arm-"

Daphne continued staring at Theron. He was far from the polished, smooth charmer she'd known him to be. From up there, she could see that he was in horrible shape. One of his biceps was wrapped up and hanging limp by his side, blood long soaked through the bandage. His hair was matted and plastered to his skin. His vest was ripped and filthy, his shirt stained with blood and sweat. He lumbered on unevenly, any sudden movements to his injured arm prompting a strangled noise of pain.

"Oh dear," Daphne breathed. "What the hell happened to him?"

Caelum didn't answer. Instead, he peeked out the window again, wincing every time Theron let out a groan.

"Should we..." Daphne swallowed. Every instinct was screaming at her not to interact with Theron, for nobody was trustworthy. Nobody, except perhaps Caelum for the time being. But Theron was Caelum's choice in the Reaping, Caelum's friend and supposed ally. She trusted Caelum's judgment... didn't she?

"Should we help him?" She finished, fighting the ice creeping up her spine. She'd helped Azalea once, and look where that got her.

"No."

Caelum's reply was sharp and immediate, startling Daphne with his intensity. He shook his head firmly, a green blaze in his eyes. His voice took on a dark tone as he muttered, "No, we should not."

Daphne's brows furrowed, and her mouth opened to ask before there came a thump from directly below. She leaned out the window to look down, then immediately jolted backwards in alarm. She scrambled several feet away from the window, chills stabbing at her spine.

Theron was right outside their tower, clutching his injured arm and staring straight up at the window. There was a dangerous, unhinged smirk on his face.

"I saw you, Daphne." He called, his voice raspy and eerie as it echoed up. "Don't be shy, why don't you come down and have a chat?"

Daphne's hands began to tremble once again. Fear pricked the back of her neck, the pool of anxiety in her stomach seeming to amplify tenfold. She cast a glance at Caelum, who shook his head furiously.

Theron made a noise that vaguely resembled a chuckle. "Afraid of me, aren't you? Did you find Caelum yet? I wouldn't trust him, if I were you. Do you know what he did to me?"

Daphne fought to calm her racing heart, its pounding threatening to drown out all other sound. She looked at Caelum again, this time holding his intense, green gaze. She let her question go unspoken, but she knew he understood nonetheless.

Later, his eyes seemed to say. Daphne gave a small nod.

Again, that hoarse chuckle. If Daphne hadn't known it were Theron, she would've imagined a zombie standing outside, fighting to get a voice out of a mangled, weak body.

"You'll find out soon enough," he mused. "As soon as I'm healed, he better watch out. You're welcome to join me, if you'd like. You know where I'm headed."

Then, more dragging footsteps. Daphne and Caelum remained frozen, neither daring to make a sound until Theron's stumbling heaves were far out of earshot.

"He's going to the Feast," Caelum finally muttered, pushing off the wall and reaching for his bow and quiver.

"Well, duh," Daphne said, throwing up her hands. "What did he mean, Caelum? Did you two run into each other?"

"Yes," Caelum's reply was terse as he slung his bow over his shoulder, counting the arrows in his quiver. Thirteen. "We were allies for a couple days, before he decided to ruin everything."

Daphne was about to ask further, then caught sight of a familiar belt of knives sitting on the floor behind Caelum's quiver. "Oh, so that's where you stashed my knives."

"I simply took them off you to clean them. If you had been a bit more composed when you woke up, you would've seen them instead of attacking me and demanding where I 'hid' them."

"You try to be composed after your best friend just died in your arms by your own knife."

"Fair point, my apologies."

As Daphne strapped the belt around her hips, Caelum began to make for the door.

"What, where are you going?" Daphne asked, hastily hurrying after him.

"Theron's going to the Feast to heal himself." Caelum stated, as if Daphne hadn't already pieced that part together. "I can't let him do that."

He strode down the hallway and took to the stairs. Daphne silently cursed his long legs, having to actually struggle to keep up.

"Why not?"

Caelum reached the bottom floor and finally turned around to face her. Daphne nearly crashed straight into his chest.

"Do you want to know why I had to shoot him through the arm?"

Daphne paled. "You what-"

"Azalea and Theron were meeting in secret," He said, the words seeming to pain him coming out. There was an emptiness to his gaze, different from the coldness he usually regarded her with. "I was with Theron for a while, and I noticed he was sneaking out at night. So I followed him once, about three nights ago. They were planning to kill us, Daphne."

Three nights ago. That was the night before the earthquake, if Daphne's memory served her right. The night she'd dozed off on watch, waking up to find Azalea stumbling back into the room winded as if she'd just completed a marathon while running a fever. Daphne had thought she'd been out for a mere bathroom break.

Daphne stared at him, suddenly feeling lightheaded.

"He was going to kill me." Caelum ground out through gritted teeth. "Not just me, but kill you too. I wasn't about to let that happen. I tore the arena apart looking for you, then. If he goes to the Feast, and he gets those healing supplies, we're his first targets. That's why I can't let him heal himself."

So many words bubbled up in Daphne's throat, and she didn't know which of them she should say. Think rationally, she told herself. Think about it, don't be reckless. Last time she was reckless, Makani had fallen dead by her knife.

"Well," she finally said, "even if Theron heals himself, it would be two against one if he decided to attack. We have weapons, he doesn't seem to. We can easily overpower him."

Caelum shook his head tautly. "I know Theron. He will figure out a way to disarm us, keep us apart, whatever."

"Caelum, listen to me." Daphne insisted, grabbing him by the shoulders, startling briefly at how sharp the bone underneath was. "Theron is weak as hell right now. There's a good chance he won't even get close to the cornucopia before someone else gets him."

Caelum's left eye squinted, as if considering. His voice was barely a whisper. "But what if he does heal himself? What if he does find a way to overpower us? I can't just stay here and worry constantly that something will happen."

"But what if someone gets you?" Daphne argued. "What if, say, the remaining Careers set up an ambush? What if they kill you too?"

Caelum's hand reached up as if he were about to cover hers on his shoulder. He hovered his palm over her fingers for a fraction of a second, but tightened his hand into a fist instead and dropped it back to his side. Despite everything, disappointment laced through Daphne's chest.

"Then come with me," Caelum said softly, a small smile on his lips. Daphne stared at the dimple it revealed, wanting so badly to brush her finger across. "Come with me, and be the powerhouse that we are, Daphne."

Daphne's hands tightened on Caelum's shoulders. She had no idea what to do. Aedon had been dead by the time his Feast had rolled around, so she had no base to make her choice on. Even though everything in her gut was screaming at her not to go, there was a small coil of anxiety in the back of her head from what Ponce had said when announcing the Feast.

"Trust me, you definitely will need these, if not now."

"Think hard about refusing to show up, for those who do not, you will face severe consequences."

It didn't take a genius to figure out that Ponce would no doubt send torturous horrors to the tributes if they didn't show up to the Feast. What exactly would he do to them? Send something to maim them beyond mobility, so they really regretting having no supplies? Was this a warning for a deadly arena event coming up? Did this mean he would leave the ones who do show up alone?

If so, Daphne didn't want to know what would happen if they didn't show up. Maybe she would die. Maybe Caelum would die. The thought of Caelum in terrible pain, struck down by the Gamemakers just because she insisted on skipping the Feast sent her mind reeling.

There was so much blood on her hands already, the last thing she wanted was to have more. Having more terrified her. After everything that had happened, she couldn't bear the thought that she wouldn't be able to save Caelum either when the time came.

"Fine," She whispered softly. "Let's go to the Feast."

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