The next morning, I arrived at the Viewing Center to get things ready to attend to the Mentors as they watched the Hunger Games. My heart was filled with dread. I did not want to watch my daughter kill anyone. I did not want to watch my daughter die. One of those things would happen. And perhaps both.

I've done Viewing Center room prep before, so I went on auto-pilot, setting up the room the way it needed to be set up. And then, I and my partner took our places to wait.

Most of the other districts had more than one Mentor. But there was only one Victor for District 3. I wondered what happened to Cet, who had been Beetee's Mentor...

When the mentors came in, it was obvious that Beetee hadn't slept much, if at all. He was in his suit, and looked distinctly uncomfortable. Rayan came in behind him, and he looked as if he'd slept only marginally more than Beetee. Somehow, it was comforting to me to know that they worried for the Tributes too.

At precisely 8 in the morning, the televisions clicked on. Despite the look of dread on Beetee's face, he leaned forward anxiously, elbows on his knees. The Arena wouldn't be revealed until the last possible second, just as it wouldn't be for the Tributes. There was a quick camera shot of each Tribute's face. First Geiger, pale, looking frightened. Then Wiress, equally pale, looking intense as well as frightened.

And then, the Tributes were shoved up to the surface in their glass tubes, into a world of intense green forests. And the trumpets sounded and Claudius Templesmith announced, "Ladies and Gentlemen, let the 54th Hunger Games begin!"

Geiger ran to the left, Wiress ran to the right and far around, keeping closer than Geiger to the actual Cornucopia. I lost sight of Geiger in the trees, but now the view was of the bloodbath. I strained my eyes for my daughter, while hoping beyond hope that she'd live out the day.

Finally, the cameras focused on her. "It looks like Willow Sawyer of District 7 is going in for her first kill!" Claudius Templesmith narrated. "But don't discount little Wiress Mihos of Three..."

Willow cut into Wiress' arm, then looked shocked as my daughter whirled to face her and she dropped her knife. Wiress leapt after it and before the other girl could react, my daughter had plunged the knife into the girl's chest with all her strength. Blood sprayed up and Wiress' eyes looked as shocked as the other girl's had been, but she snatched a backpack away from the ground and ran for dear life.

"It looks like Three has a fighting competitor this year!"

My heart died a little as the bloodbath went on. There had been no hesitation, no real fight. Wiress had reacted as if she were born to it. I wondered what my daughter's life had to have been, for her to react in such a way.

The screen split in several ways, showing various Tributes as they fought, hid, ran. My daughter fell into a thicket, having difficulty breathing which eased after a few minutes. My own chest ached in sympathy with her.

Later, they showed each of the surviving Tributes as they looked up at the sky to see the list of the dead. My daughter's face was deceptively impassive. But I know she was deciding what facts she could safely omit from her consciousness, so that she can keep surviving. I knew that something inside her was now gone, and she knew it too.

I watched as she hid herself, and prepared for sleep. I could see her eyes glittering in the darkness, but she did not cry.

The fact that she did not cry broke my heart.

As the broadcast wound up for the night, Rayan left, to hurry to the Sponsors' Reception, to see what the buzz was about the Tributes, to see which sponsors would back which Tributes. Beetee put his head in his hands. "They're both still alive," he murmured, "I just hope..." It sounded as if he was talking to no one in particular, but I knew he was communicating with me in the only way he could.

I brought him coffee.

The Avoxes are to sleep in the Viewing Center while the Games are on. The Mentors don't, generally, but Beetee was, waiting for Rayan to come back from the reception.

Eventually, he came in. "Beetee?"

He hadn't been sleeping, but he'd been so quiet, it was a shock to me when he spoke. "How is it looking, Rayan?"

He walked over cheerily, pushing his hand through his hair. "Well, there's quite a lot of buzz about the girl," he said. "No one's ready to commit yet, but they haven't seen a Tribute from 3 with quite so much spunk in a few years. And getting Angelus was a boon. He was amazing with her, you have to admit, and it showed all over her."

He sighed in relief, then asked. "And Geiger?"

Rayan shook his head. "Unfortunately not. Maybe he'll distinguish himself in time."

"Maybe." But Beetee sounded doubtful.

"You should get some sleep, Beetee. Nothing else will happen tonight."

He sighed again. "I won't be able to. I'll just stay here tonight."

Rayan nodded. "Suit yourself. I'll be back in the morning."

Beetee nodded and slouched in his chair again.

I brought him more coffee.

"Thank you," he murmured, even though he didn't have to.

I curled up on the sofa, but I didn't sleep, not anymore than my daughter slept that night.

Or Beetee, for that matter.