Gloss Goré, 29, District 1 Mentor POV

I hate having clients. They're bad enough on a normal year but the stakes are much higher this year. There are no backup mentors to help me look after Honey. Also, Enobaria, the only mentor whose tribute is in an alliance with Honey, refuses to help because of her stupid grudge against her tribute. I'm grateful that Cashmere is around to watch Honey's station while I'm gone.

But, next time, she might not be. Next time I have a client, Honey might die because nobody sent her the sponsor gift that would've saved her life.

I still leave the Control Centre wearing my best suit and my biggest smile. I can't disappoint. I'm scared of what will happen if I do.

I'm greeted at the door of my client's house by a peacekeeper. For a second, I'm hopeful that he'll turn me away but he invites me in. I walk through finely-decorated hallways with a prickle at the back of my neck and the feeling that something is definitely wrong.

I soon realise why. I'm led into a room that's laid out like a study, which is strange because most clients don't find desks and bookshelves sexy. But that's not the strangest thing about the room.

The strangest thing is that President Coriolanus Snow is sitting behind the desk.

I smile and bow, politely.

"Good evening, Mr Goré," Snow says. "Please be seated."

Silently, I take a seat in the chair in front of the desk. Someone must've put it there but it can't have been Snow. I imagine peacekeepers rearranging furniture to prepare for my arrival and almost chuckle.

I realise that my mind is wandering. That happens a lot when I'm nervous.

"I apologise for ruining your romantic evening," Snow says. "We have urgent business to discuss. Business that it isn't safe to discuss in the Control Centre."

"Don't worry, Mr President," I say. "There's nobody I'd rather spend the evening with than you."

Snow smiles with satisfaction. "You're a very loyal victor, Mr Goré. Out of this year's cohort of mentors, you're the one I trust the most. I have a task for you, one that only a mentor can complete."

"Anything for you, sir."

My stomach feels hollow. Snow knows that I'll do whatever he asks of me. I'm the Capitol's perfect victor. I'll do what I'm told and I'll do it with a smile. I'm so scared that, if I let on how much I hate them, they'll hurt my family.

More than they already do, anyway.

"Now, imagine you're in my position," Snow says. "A girl has just forced the head gamemaker's hand and now there are two victors where there should be one, seventy-five where there should be seventy-four. What would you do?"

"Have one killed?" I say, a little uncertainly.

"I admire your bloodlust, Mr Goré, but there is an issue with killing someone who spends a lot of time in the public eye. How would you go about it?"

I pause to think for a second. How would I kill another victor?

The answer comes to me disturbingly easily. There's one victor I absolutely despise, a girl who was reaped for my games only to be saved by a volunteer. A girl I should've killed.

Ramona Hirose has always haunted me. Maybe it was because her greatest weapon was something I could never master or because she stole opportunities from under other victors' noses. If I'd known that Alexander Snow was open-minded enough to marry a victor, I would've tried to set him up with Cashmere, to save her from a lifetime as the Capitol's sex slave.

But the thought hadn't even occurred to me. Not until it was too late and that sly, poisonous traitor had been handed a way out on a silver platter.

"I'd kill Ramona Hirose," I say. "I'd make it look like a suicide."

"Interesting..." Snow grins. "I chose Lumas Taffeta. I didn't think anyone would miss him. I told my personal assassin to make it look like an overdose. Now, have you noticed something?"

"Lumas Taffeta is still alive."

"Why do you think that is?"

"Your assassin messed up."

"Not exactly," the president smiles, wickedly. "They followed my instructions to the letter. They waited on the train Taffeta was due to board after the Seventy-Fourth Games but he never showed up. They tried to find him in the Control Centre but he wasn't alone. There was another victor with him. And they were kissing rather... passionately."

I'm briefly stunned. I don't know what anyone would see in Lumas Taffeta. I've always found him incredibly annoying. A scarred and bitter rebel who nobody really listened to.

But it occurs to me that there's one victor who's always been close friends with him, close enough for their friendship to slide into something more.

"Was it Ramona Hirose?" I ask.

"Yes," Snow says. "My assassin chose to report this information back to me which I was incredibly grateful for. It made me change my mind about killing Taffeta. Now... he has a use. He's an incredibly predictable man. I knew, the moment rebellion started flaring up in the districts, that he would involve himself. And do you know why I let him?"

I shake my head.

"Because Lumas Taffeta probably knows every little detail of the rebellion's plan," Snow says. "And we know exactly how to get him to tell us everything... We need to threaten Ramona Hirose, to hold her captive and make Taffeta think we'll kill her unless he tells us everything."

"Can we... can we even do that?" I ask, hopefully. "She's a victor."

"Of course," Snow says. "Ms Hirose has been in a very vulnerable position for years. You said it yourself, Mr Goré. We could frame her death as a suicide. Or we could frame her for murdering her husband. Then, her status as a victor won't matter. We'll be able to do whatever we want to her."

Something inside me lights up. Finally, I have an opportunity for revenge.

"How can I help?" I ask.

"Ms Hirose is currently in the Control Centre, where there are likely rebel victors protecting her. I can't risk sending in peacekeepers in case the rebels retaliate and there's collateral damage. But, since you can access the Control Centre without arousing suspicion, it shouldn't be too hard for you to catch her alone and bring her to me. Do you think you can do that, Mr Goré?"

"Of course!" I cry.

"Excellent," Snow says, wearing his usual cold smile. "I trust you to do your best, Mr Goré. I'd hate to be disappointed."

I gulp. I know what those words mean. Get this right or there'll be consequences.

"Do I get..." I struggle to think of the right word. "Equipment?"

"Weapons, rope, tape, sedatives," Snow says. "Whatever you want."

Snow's words conjure up an image in my head of my biggest rival, bound, gagged and completely helpless. It sends a shiver of excitement down my spine. Maybe this little mission is exactly what I need. I need to remind myself that I am an Elite and Elites a strong. Hirose is an outlier and outliers are weak.

Not the other way around. Never the other way around.

I let myself slip comfortably into my usual role - perfect, enthusiastic, obedient victor. "Oh, this is going to be fun! Thank you so much for the opportunity!"

I find that it's less of a lie than usual.

Remember the very first chapter, where I didn't kill Lumas off? Were any of you wondering why Snow didn't keep trying to kill him even though Granitte failed the first time? Well, it was because Granitte spotted Lumas and Ramona together. Lumas is only alive because Snow has a reason to keep him alive. I knew that I had to involve Gloss somehow because he has a massive grudge against Ramona. Now he finally has the chance to get the revenge he's been craving for years.