In the midst of everything happening, I can barely wrap my mind around what I'm seeing. Haymitch? The dealer? What's he doing here? "What?" I start asking my question but trail off before I finish, only able to look to Peeta for guidance.

As Haymitch shuts the door behind him, Peeta turns to me. "Haymitch is one of us," he says. "He's been my contact at the hotel, feeding me any information he picks up."

Well, that certainly explains why they seem to spend so much time together.

Haymitch just glares at me before turning his attention back to Peeta. "So what, kid? You think she's just going to come over to our side just like that? Like she isn't going to run right back to her boss and tell him everything she's learned here?"

"Excuse me?" I say, feeling angry.

Peeta looks at me, then frowns at Haymitch. "They have her sister. They're using her against her."

Haymitch returns Peeta's frown. "And I suppose you want to stage a rescue, don't you?"

"This could be a good chance, Haymitch," Peeta counters. "We can't just leave her sister in harm's way."

Haymitch sighs but doesn't argue any further. "So what do you suggest we do, then?" He grunts. "Go running in like heroes? Snow's gonna have plenty of his men around to protect him."

"I know," Peeta says. We fall silent, though I feel about ready to explode at any minute, I'm so anxious to do something. Anything.

Suddenly Peeta looks over at me. His expression has changed like he's finally had an idea. "Maybe you do go back to them," he says.

"What?" Surely he must know I'm not actually going to betray him, no matter what Haymitch thinks.

"And tell them what, exactly?" Haymitch asks.

"We'll make something up. Have her feed them false information. Maybe she can even lead them into some kind of trap where our men will be waiting," Peeta says.

Now I understand. Peeta wants me to lie for him. To be the bait that lures the snake out into the open. "No. Peeta, please. I'm no good at this stuff." It was hard enough when Snow was making me spy on Peeta. I don't know how I'm supposed to pull off being a double agent now.

"It's risky," Haymitch says. "Snow will be expecting us to play some kind of angle."

"Snow will be expecting us to make a move no matter what. This is the safest way. Don't you see? He might suspect Katniss has an ulterior motive, but just having her there, feeding information to him, should pacify him long enough to de-escalate the situation until we can get them both out." Peeta turns to me. "Katniss, it's just for a little bit. And it's the best way we can save Prim. Do you think you can do it?"

I take a deep breath. His argument makes sense. "I think I'd better try."

An hour later, I sit by myself in my car in the dark parking lot of The Mockingjay. It's empty, which is fine by me. I need these few minutes alone to work up my courage.

Peeta and Haymitch cooked up the story I would be feeding to Snow, with some input from me. Of the three of us, I know best what he's likely to believe. While we did this, calls were made to other agents. Reinforcements. We'll need all of them we can get. Then we were ready. Or as ready as I'll ever be, I guess. Peeta gave me a final kiss and a promise that they would be at the ready to act if my safety is compromised, and then they sent me on my way.

Now I'm here. Trying to work up the courage to see the Don himself. I'm not sure I can pull this off. But I have to. I can't let them hurt Prim. It's this thought that finally gets me out of my car, that carries me across the parking lot and into the fire.

I know exactly where to look. Snow has one particular room he reserves for his visits to The Mockingjay. Naturally, it's the most luxurious one in the place. I head straight for the place, after walking by the front desk to see if Prim is there. She isn't.

The hallway his room is on is filled with his soldiers. "For protection," he would say. It's probably a good idea. The number of people who want him dead is probably in the double digits. One of them, a young man who must be around my age who I remember as Marvel, stops me.

"Where do you think you're going?" He asks in Sicilian.

"He's expecting me," I answer back in kind, motioning down the hallway towards Snow's door.

Marvel looks at one of the other soldiers for guidance. This one I don't recognize. But he nods assent, and they both step aside to allow me past.

I move slowly towards the door and stop when I'm directly in front. I take a deep breath and try to steady myself. You can do this, I think to myself. Peeta and Haymitch are listening to everything that's happening. They'll be able to call reinforcements if something goes wrong. And they drilled the plan into me pretty well.

It's now or never. I knock on the door. A minute later it swings open, flooding the hallway with bright light that nearly blinds me.

"Well, look what the cat dragged in." Cray leers at me. "I'm surprised you have the guts to show up here tonight."

"I need to speak with Snow," I say. "I have information."

"It's too late for that. You remember what I told you would happen if you wouldn't cooperate."

"Cray, please, don't frighten this young woman away. Let her come in and speak her piece." A cold chill runs up my spine just from hearing his voice. And is it just me? Or has the entire room actually become colder? It's suddenly become harder for me to breathe, either way.

Cray looks annoyed but steps aside to let me in. Well, there's no point in putting it off any longer, is there? I step into the room to get this over with.

There, across the room, he sits behind a desk. More soldiers stand in each corner of the room. Plutarch Heavensbee stands beside him. But that's no surprise. Not only is Plutarch the front for the hotel, he's also Snow's consigliere. On Snow's other side is his underboss, Antonius.

"Come in, Miss Everdeen. I must admit, I wasn't expecting you to show up here this evening." Snow stares with those dark eyes fixated on me. Outwardly, he seems pleasant enough. But anyone who knows him well enough knows he's calculating. That is Coriolanus Snow's number one rule: never let anyone know what you're thinking.

Well, now it's my turn to practice that rule. I steel myself, knowing my next words might be a matter of life or death, literally. "Please forgive me. I was trying to complete your mission."

Snow raises an eyebrow. "And what mission was that, Miss Everdeen?"

I know he knows exactly what I'm talking about. He's trying to coerce me into saying it out loud. So there's no question that I know his expectations of me. "To spy on Peeta Mellark, sir."

There's a long, uncomfortable silence as Snow regards me. Finally, when he knows I can barely stand it much longer, he speaks. "And did you succeed?"

I nod. "I believe I have information that you'll find useful."

Again, he lets me squirm under his gaze for a long moment before he leans forward, folding his hands as he rests them on the desk. "I hope for your sake that's true, Miss Everdeen. I've heard you spent the night at Mr. Mellark's apartment."

Fear jolts through me. How? How on earth would he know that? I was so careful! But apparently not careful enough. One thing's for sure, though: if I'm going to pull this off, I have to seem as confident as possible. I put on the most indifferent face I can muster, and shrug. "I had to convince him I was going to be someone he can trust. How else was I going to get him to tell me what he knows?" Somewhere, I can just feel Peeta burning as he listens to these words. Well, it was his idea. He should know I have to say something to convince Snow.

"I see. And did it work?" Snow watches me closely.

"It did. I found out where they're trying to nail you," I say.

"And how do they plan to do that?" Snow remains unemotional, but I can tell, maybe by the ever so slight change of the gleam in his eye, that this has his attention.

"Not so fast," I say, suddenly feeling bold. "First I need to know my sister is safe."

"Who do you think you are, making demands like that?" Antonius moves towards me, but Snow stops him with the wave of a hand.

"Very well. Your sister is indeed alive, Miss Everdeen. But she is being watched closely. I suggest you choose your next words wisely. This information you have for me had better be good."

Prim's alive. It's all I can do not to jump for joy right then and there, to bolt from the room to find her and save her. But I know that's not going to keep her alive. So I play Snow's game. "It's your taxes. They're looking at your taxes. Noticing you've been failing to pay your income taxes. That's how they plan to get you."

Again, Snow stares at me. Minutes go by without a word. Then, finally, he leans back in his chair. "You've done well, Miss Everdeen. This is most helpful information, indeed."

The relief is so great, I nearly crumple into a heap right here and now. But I keep my composure and nod. "Thank you, sir. I'm glad I could be of service."

Snow turns to one of the soldiers standing guard in the room. "Please escort Miss Everdeen back to her suite for her safety," he tells him. Then he looks back at me. "Your sister will be waiting for you there."

I'm nearly giddy as I turn to follow the soldier out of the room. It worked! I can't believe the plan actually worked! Maybe all the years I've worked as a performer have paid off, and I can finally pull off an act. I wonder what Peeta and Haymitch are saying back in the van. No doubt, they're as relieved as I am. Now I just need to collect Prim and find our way back to them, and we're home free. Who knew starting a new life would be this easy?

The guard drops me off at the door, waiting only long enough to make sure I am able to unlock it before he returns to his post. I wait until he's out of hearing distance before I step inside. "Prim?" I call out.

Silence.

"Prim?" I try again. Still no response. I walk around, checking the rooms, but there's no sign of her. Maybe they just haven't returned her from wherever they were keeping her yet.

Somehow I know, deep inside my bones, that that isn't the case. Somehow, I know something is very wrong.

When the phone rings, I nearly jump out of my skin. I rush over and answer immediately, hoping it's Prim, or maybe even Peeta with some insight. "Hello?"

It's not Prim or Peeta. The voice on the other end sends a cold chill all the way up my spine. "Miss Everdeen, I would have thought you of all people would know it's better not to lie to me."

"What?" My voice sounds so small and far away. So helpless.

"Just for that, I have a special gift just for you. Say hello to your friend, Darius."

"Katniss!" I hear Darius's voice yell out before it's muffled into silence. Panic wells up inside of me.

"No! Let him go!" I scream into the phone. But it's too late. I hear the gunshot ring out from across the hotel. Then there's an eerie silence before Snow speaks again. "Oh, and Miss Everdeen? I've had both of your other two distractions dealt with as well." Then the phone goes dead.

I stand there, clutching the receiver so hard that my hand grows white. I'm sure if I could see myself in a mirror, my face must be white as well. What he's done is so evil, so barbaric… I'm having a hard time processing it. And what did he mean by the other two distractions? He must… and my heart sinks. He must have meant Prim and Peeta. Or Peeta and Haymitch. My eyes close as I drop the receiver, letting it fall to the floor as I bury my face in my hands. Gone. I've killed them all, and all I wanted to do is save them.

What am I going to do? Anger and despair replace the panic. I can't go on like this any longer. I can't live without them. How could I? Everyone I loved is gone now and only that snake, that monster, is left.

My eyes dart around the room as if looking for some kind of out. They land on a couple bottles of alcohol across the way, and I realize I've found it. Without a second thought, I retrieve them and begin to douse the entire room with booze. I make sure to get it everywhere, on everything. I wonder if I can find something to help it along, some sort of gasoline or something. I suppose I can go out and look if this doesn't work.

There's a spare set of matches that Prim brought back from the front desk to light some candles. They're sitting on the coffee table next to the sofa. I grab them and light one, then throw it onto the liquid. I light another one and do the same. Another and another, and finally it has the desired effect. The room catches fires, going up in a glorious blaze. And I'm going to sit here and burn.

It turns out I don't need the gasoline after all. The liquor was plenty flammable itself. Soon the entire room is ablaze. Smoke fills the room. I cough, feeling dizzy as the air becomes less breathable, but I stay right where I am. It'll be easier this way if I'm knocked out before the flames get my body. I become more and more sleepy, and I know I'm passing out. Finally, I'm going to slip into relief at last.

I can vaguely make out the sound of something loud crashing down. Then there are voices, male I think. Yes, I hear them shouting. Then the world goes dark.

"Katniss?"

I groan, trying to remember where I am. I'm very disoriented. Why? What happened?

"Katniss?" I hear my name again, and for a minute I think it's my mother. I must be sick at home, and she's watching over me.

But no. That's wrong. My mother is in an asylum. Driven mad after losing my father. And… slowly and painfully, it all comes back.

My eyes flutter open. Two blue eyes stare down at me. "Katniss? Are you awake?"

"Peeta?" It feels wrong. He was dead. He was dead! Then did it work? Am I dead, too? I struggle to sit up, but he restrains me.

"Just stay quiet for now. We rescued you from that fire," he tells me.

"Fire?" The details of that come back, too. I remember dousing the room with alcohol, how I was going to burn The Mockingjay to the ground, and take myself along with it. "You're alive," I say to Peeta.

"Yes." He smiles down at me. "Did Snow tell you otherwise?"

I nod. "He made it sound like he got you and Prim both."

"Well, he was lying about me. And our intel says another undercover agent at Ceasar's caught Cray bringing Prim in through their casino. They got her. She's safe."

I close my eyes. I'm so relieved, I'm actually starting to cry.

"The Mockingjay's seen better days, though," Peeta continues. "Your fire really caught on. Half the hotel went up in flames before they were able to put it out."

For the first time, I notice where we are. I'm laying in a hospital bed, a quiet room I don't recognize. "How long was I out?"

"A couple of hours," he says. "You're lucky we got you here in time."

"You're lucky you didn't make the whole op worthless, is what you are," another, gruffer voice joins in. Haymitch. Still feeling groggy, I turn and see him sitting in a chair next to a window. "You could have set the whole office on fire and cost us valuable evidence."

Haymitch's words make me angry, but I'm too weak to fight back. "Sorry," I mumble crossly. It's the best I can manage, but at least it's something.

"Fortunately for you, it turned out to be just the distraction we needed." Haymitch's voice is softer this time. "They caught Snow as he was trying to make his escape. And I caught them as they were trying to remove boxes from the office."

"Well, I suppose the whole thing turned out wonderful then, didn't it?" I say sarcastically. Haymitch mutters something I can't quite make out and leaves the room.

When we're alone, Peeta takes my hand in his. "Katniss, you had me really worried there. I thought I'd lost you."

"I'm sorry," I tell him. This time I'm sincere. "I just couldn't bear the thought of… of… "

He looks sympathetic and squeezes my hand. "I know. But I'm here."

"Katniss!" Her voice alone makes me sit straight up before Peeta can stop me.

"Prim!"

She launches straight into my arms, and I hug her tightly to me. Tears stream down her face. "Katniss, I thought you were dead! I can't believe you got caught up in all that!"

I don't really know what to tell her. There are a lot of secrets I've kept from Prim that she discovered today. One day, soon, we're going to have to have a conversation about it. But today isn't that day. I'm too weak, and Prim is just grateful that we're safe for now.

"You have no idea how relieved I am to see you," I tell her.

We're almost to the end! We'll wrap things up next week with the epilogue. Thanks for reading!