Ah, I just couldn't resist naming this chapter after my favourite Decemberists song.


Fawkes

I watch the train we're planning to board from the shadows. It's a cargo train carrying supplies between the districts. It's going to be much easier to hide on than a passenger train. People load boxes of electronics and other goods off onto the platform. There's a guard watching each carriage, making sure nothing is stolen.

We wait until everything from District 3 is loaded off the train and the small amount of luxury goods from District 1 is loaded on. Then Cashmere and Gloss step forwards.

One of the guards looks bored, like he'd rather be somewhere else. I know, immediately, that he's the one Cashmere will aim for. She leads him away from the carriage. Everyone who isn't staring at her is staring at Gloss.

I nod to Lumas and Binah. We move while everyone's distracted. My heart races as I rush to the train. My leg feels weak. I have to be careful not to let my cane tap against the ground too much. I realise that, if anyone sees us, I could end up dead.

I wish I could run.

Binah helps me into the carriage. I scramble in and find a corner to hide in. For a few moments, we all hold our breath. Did anyone notice us? Will Cashmere be able to convince the guard to stay in District 1 for the night or will he come in and find us? Lumas waits by the door, a rope stretched between his hands, ready to strangle anyone who walks through and finds us. It's a last resort.

But nobody comes in. They close the doors on us from the outside. By the time anyone finds us, we'll already be in District 3. By the time Coin connects the dots, we'll have disappeared.

The train starts to move and we all breathe a collective sigh of relief. The air feels heavy. For Binah and Lumas, there's no going back. For me, there was never any going back.

I close my eyes and let my head rest on Binah's shoulder. Her fleece feels so soft and warm. She wraps her arms around me and pulls me closer to her, away from all the fear and the uncertainty. She's going to keep me safe.

I let the exhaustion of today take over. I know I'll need energy for when we reach District 3. Now I just need to sleep.


Ramona

I look a mess. I love it.

I normally try to look neat and proper. But now I'm covered with soot and dust. My clothes are creased and tattered. I asked Régine to cut my hair short with her knife after I told her what we were going to do next. Apparently, I look so different with short hair. I don't want to be recognised.

As far as the rest of Panem knows, Ramona Hirose is dead and I intend to keep it that way.

We're in a small patch of woods between the Capitol and the mountains. There's a major road nearby that's just beginning to roar back to life. The bombing is well and truly over. We pick our way through the woods to the edge of the road and hold out our thumbs.

After a few minutes of waiting, a truck pulls over. Its driver - a grim-faced woman in her late twenties - opens the door.

"What do you want?" She asks, gruffly. From her voice, she sounds like a heavy smoker.

"I'm Belladonna," I say. "This is Lily. We're both from District 7. We got taken to the Capitol by sex traffickers eight years ago. We just want to go home."

"Well, that's lucky," the woman says. "I'm headed to Seven as well. Get in, both of you."

"Thank you!" Régine cries.

We climb into the cab of the truck and close the door behind us. The driver sets off again.

"Where in Seven do you two want to go?"

"We live near Victor's Village." I say. I know Régine's got a friend there who's good at keeping secrets. We'll be able to stay at his house for a bit.

The woman frowns. "Victor's Village…" she mutters, like it's a bad word.

"What's wrong with Victor's Village?" Régine asks.

I see the ring on the woman's finger and put two and two together. I've seen her before, seven years ago with her baby in her arms, glaring at me as I gave my speech.

"My husband died in the Sixty-Eighth Hunger Games," our driver - Miranda Birch - says.

Régine opens her mouth to speak but I interrupt her before she can give us away.

"Which games was that again?" I ask. "The cave one?"

"The one with all the snow," Miranda says. "Colin came eighth. That poor boy from One, Dorian D'Arcy, killed him."

I want to warn Régine but it's too late.

"What do you mean poor?" She asks. "Surely you hate him. More than anyone else in that arena."

She looks nervous. I know why.

Régine was the one who killed Dorian D'Arcy.

"I wanted to hate him," Miranda says. "But I saw how he died. I also saw his pregnant girlfriend on Hirose's victory tour."

"Dorian… made Largesse pregnant?" Régine asks. She sounds stunned.

"That's her name," Miranda says. "How do you know her name unless…"

A smile breaks across her face. She starts to laugh, almost hysterically.

"You're Régine Maurin, aren't you?" She asks. "And your friend is Ramona Hirose. Wow, you two have some nerve getting into my truck after everything you've done."

I shudder. She knows. Régine slides her hand into mine. We both know what's coming.

We might never get out of this truck alive.


Manel

I'm glad that Eidolon isn't scared of loud noises or the dark. After the initial panic of the bombing, he relaxed enough to fall asleep. I spent hours clinging to him, just hoping it'd make the worry go away.

It didn't. If the rebels were willing to bomb us once, they're probably willing to do it again. Ramona isn't enough.

Now it's finally safe to come out of the shelter. We've been on damage control for the last couple of hours. My mansion is untouched aside from one small explosion at the edge of the ground. Ramona Hirose has vanished into thin air.

There's a dead peacekeeper in Iris Snow's bedroom but she claims that Régine Maurin did it, which makes more sense than Iris murdering someone. Iris is a skinny girl who's probably never been in a real fight in her life. Régine Maurin is a trained killer at large in the Capitol. She could've found a way in.

I can't help but feel that everything's unraveling. I need to show the rebels they can't push me around. The only way I can do that is by taking one very important hostage, someone even more of a symbol to the rebels than Ramona Hirose.

I need a Phoenix in a cage.

I have a spy in District 1, where the rebel government is set up. I call her and she answers pretty much immediately.

"Hello, Coco," I say. "I have a job for you."

I can imagine Coco Montclaire's perfect smile on the other end of the communicuff. "You've called the right person. What do you want me to do?"

"Bring me Fawkes Chau,"

"Dead or alive?"

"Alive," I say. "He's no use to me dead."

"I understand," Coco says. "It's an honour to serve."

I hang up, feeling disgusted with myself. I'm going to have my ex-boyfriend kidnapped and held hostage. There's something even more perverse about that than what I did to Ramona.

But it's not personal, Manel. It's just politics.

I'm distracted by a warm, calloused hand sliding into mine. I didn't notice Eidolon approaching me. I smile up at him but he realises something is wrong and lets go.

What's wrong? He signs.

"I'm about to do another very bad thing," I say. "But if it works, nobody will bomb us ever again. Do you think it's a good idea?"

Eidolon looks at me with innocent sea-green eyes and nods.

He pulls me close to him and I remember when I came back from the treaty signing with the news we'd be able to stay together. He'd held me for hours and kissed me like nobody had ever kissed me before. His hands had traced letters on my skin, like he always did when we were in bed together and it was too dark to see.

I love you. Stay with me.

I think he was scared of losing me, no matter how much I'd tried to comfort him. I've never had anyone care about me that much.

I know Eidolon hates living in this in-between state, where every day could be our last day together. I just want us both to be safe.

"Don't worry," I say. "This'll work, I promise."

I hope it does. If it doesn't, if I kidnap Fawkes and the rebels still attack, I'll have lost my city for good.

And I'll have lost the support of the one rebel who'd wanted to keep Eidolon safe.


Fawkes is finally on the train but he's not out of danger yet. Now the Capitol are after him as well as Coin. Manel is in a very difficult position because he simply has nothing left to hold off another rebel attack, which means he's desperate enough to slip into that villain role again.

Also, my mum officially has covid. Things don't look too good for me. Luckily my dad seems perfectly healthy, which is probably because he got a different vaccine to her. Plus my brother's getting better now.