"So, how long were you guys up there?" I ask Sienna as I flip a page in an animal guide.

"Who even knows," the girl next to me sighs, flipping her long braid over her shoulder. "We were there a while after you guys left."

I study Sienna's face for a moment, but she doesn't even look tired. I can't believe that Colby would have enough interesting things to say to keep her up there for so long.

Sienna glances up at me, hesitating before opening her mouth. "How'd you like Casper?" she asks. "Was he nice?"

"Nice enough," I shrug. "We didn't say much, but he was friendly, I guess."

Sienna looks over at Clay and Damien. Damien's kept to his promise for most of the day so far, training with Clay as close to us as possible and even occasionally talking to us girls. Right now, they're trying to train with spears out of hearing range.

"How would you feel about jumping ship?" Sienna says, her eyes trained on her brother.

My heart jumps; I keep my eyes trained on my book. "What do you mean?" I ask, trying to keep my voice steady.

"You know. Join Colby and Casper. They seem to care a whole lot more about us than our brothers do," Sienna says with a sigh.

I can't help but think about my conversation with Casper last night. He did seem like he genuinely cared about my well-being in this whole situation; even in the moment, I did want to make a deal with him.

"We're in this together, Sienna," I say with a shrug. "Whatever we end up doing, we'll do it together."

Sienna nods with a smile. "I just don't know," she admits. "You've seen my brother - yes, he cares about me, but not enough to protect me if it came down to that. Ever since he met Damien and realized that he might have a chance of winning, he's left me behind. Colby and I have a lot in common. I know he'll protect me in there, Luna. I just know it. And Casper could do the same for you."

This is a big decision that could make the difference between life and death for me - can I really trust Casper and Colby to keep me safe in the Arena? For that matter, can I even trust my own brother? Neither option sounds great for me, but at least Casper has made an effort to be nice to me.

"I'm not really sure," I admit. "Let's just wait a while, okay? We don't have to decide right now."

Sienna nods as the bell rings to announce lunch. "Okay, but I'm eating lunch with Colby," she says, helping me to my feet. "You coming?"

I want to go so badly, but I remember what Simon told me. If we don't get Damien under control, there's no hope. I owe it to both of us to at least give this a shot.

"I'm going to sit with my brother," I say with a smile. "But let's meet up after."

Sienna just nods, but I feel like I've hurt her. I just told her that we'd be sticking together no matter what, and I'm already separating myself from her. Now she's going to run off and eat with Colby without me. They're going to get even closer, and Sienna's going to forget even more about me.

I sigh as I approach Damien's table. He glances up at me as I sit.

"Where's Sienna?" he asks. Clay looks up at the sound of his sister's name.

"Not sure," I lie. "I think she went somewhere, but she didn't tell me."

Clay just shrugs, but Damien stares at me. He can see right through me; I shouldn't have lied to him.

"I'm going to grab more food," Clay says, standing abruptly. "You need anything?"

Damien just shakes his head as Clay walks away.

"Where's Sienna?" he asks as soon as Clay is out of earshot. I can see a fire in his eyes that scares me.

"I told you, I don't-"

"Yes you do," Damien insists. "Cut the bullshit, Luna. You made me promise to train with the two of you yesterday, and as soon as I try to do that, you try to separate yourselves in training, and now Sienna's gone. Clay's telling me that Sienna doesn't get back to their suite until after midnight, but you're back way before that. So is she meeting up with someone else?"

I try to scramble for another lie, but I know that Damien will just see through that, too. "We've been friendly with some of the others," I say, "but nothing serious, Damien. She just likes one of the boys from Nine."

"And so you're just going to let her run off with him?" Damien says, leaning over the table toward me. "Sienna is a member of this team, Luna. I thought your job was to keep her here."

I try not to roll my eyes. No, idiot, my job is to keep you here.

"I can't control what she does," I say with a shrug. "She's my friend, Damien. I'm not her boss."

Damien scoffs. "Well, if the two of you are going to skip off into the distance with some boys you just met, just give me a heads up," he bites. "At least give me the decency of knowing ahead of time."

I examine Damien's face; is he actually upset? Could the prospect of losing me in the Arena really mean something to him, or is there another motive behind this?

Clay finally returns, setting his tray down on the table next to Damien's.

"I'm not planning on it," I say to Damien. "Trust me."

Damien just shakes his head. He doesn't talk to me for the rest of lunch.

When lunch is over, I search the Training Center for Sienna. Luckily, the boys from Nine are nowhere to be seen when I find her.

"We need to stick with our brothers today," I tell her. "Damien's getting suspicious that something's up. I think he cares about it more than he's letting on. If we're going to go with the others, we should wait until after the scores are announced."

"That sounds fair," Sienna says with a nod. "Let's see how they do in the Assessments before we make a move."

The boys return from the lunch room. "We're going to run the obstacle course," Colby says, not just to Sienna but to me, too. "Coming?"

"We're going to spend some time with our brothers," Sienna says with a smile. "But we'll see you later."

Colby gives Sienna a wink before following his brother to the obstacle course.

"How was lunch?" Sienna asks as we walk. I scan the room for our brothers.

"It was fine," I sigh. "I told them I didn't know where you were. Clay bought it, but I don't think Damien did. He's starting to think that we're not as solid as he thought."

"Well, neither of them are very loyal to us, either," Sienna says hotly. She glances back at Colby and Casper, so quickly that I almost don't notice it.

Finally, I spot Damien, and my heart drops. He's standing right in front of Midas, and the two boys don't look happy.

I watch as Damien yells something at Midas. Midas reaches at the table next to him, where a row of knives are sitting…

Before I know it, I'm running toward the two boys. This can't be happening.

"Hit me," Damien smirks at Midas, that signature glint in his eye. "You won't."

Finally, a trainer intervenes, pushing herself between the two boys and sending Midas sulking back to his brother.

"Damien, what are you doing!" I pant when I finally reach my brother. I'm still in shock; I wouldn't have been able to stop the two boys in time, so Damien could have died if that trainer hadn't intervened.

Damien rolls his eyes at the sight of me. "Luna, don't start-"

"You promised Simon that you weren't going to do this," I hiss. "Stop thinking so irrationally!"

"They think they can just walk all over us like they're better than us," Damien says hotly. Behind him, I see Clay nodding in agreement.

"They were trying to take the spears because they were using them before lunch," the other boy adds.

"And I told that punk that we got here first," Damien huffs. "They can't just reserve stations because they're the Gamemakers' favorites."

"Well, we definitely don't need to be making enemies right now," I remind him. The Careers already hate us enough after the stunt Damien pulled at the Parade.

"They can think whatever they want of me," Damien says. "I probably only have a few weeks left if I'm lucky, Luna. I'm not going to waste my energy trying to please someone like Midas. There was no way he was going to hurt me anyway. Those kids will do anything to please the Gamemakers, and I don't think the Gamemakers would like it if one of their precious tributes was killed."

I feel Sienna move up behind me, putting her hand on my shoulder. I didn't realize that she'd followed me over here until now. "Damien's right, Luna," she says. "There's no way Midas would've hurt him. I think maybe he deserved to be put in his place, anyway."

I glance back at the Careers; the boys from One are staring us down. As I make eye contact with Midas, he bares his teeth at me.

"Fine," I concede, turning back around. I still feel uneasy, but I know that this is a battle I can't win. Sienna's probably right - those Careers need to know that they don't own us.

"Come on," Sienna says, pulling my arm. "Let's go get some more training in before the assessments start."

I let Sienna lead me through a few stations, but I can't keep my focus anymore. I'm so upset about what happened with Damien; after three days of trying to get him to settle down, all that progress has been lost. If the Careers are gunning for us, Damien will be in big trouble, and I'll be next on their list.

As I watch Sienna try to make one last fishing hook, I finally realize what path I need to take. It's clear that Damien needs me, not just right now but in the Arena as well. Simon said it best; if I want Damien or myself to have a chance of winning, Damien needs to stay alive, and he needs to try to outmatch the Careers. It's our only chance.

A buzzer rings nearby, and all the tributes around me pause.

"Training is now officially over," the Head Trainer announces. "Tributes, follow our trainers in the waiting room. Individual Assessments will commence in ten minutes."

Sienna grabs my arm, squeezing it with excitement. "Are you ready?" she asks.

"We're going to do great," I say with a smile. "Let's say hi to Colby and Casper before we go in, okay?"

Sienna's eyes brighten at the sound of Colby's name. "Great idea," she agrees.

I let Sienna lead me through the Training Center toward the District Nine boys. When we get close, she lets go of me and immediately attaches herself to Colby.

"We need to talk," I mutter to Casper. He nods; oblivious, Colby and Sienna leave us behind and enter the waiting room.

"We have a problem," I tell Casper as quickly as I can. "If Colby and Sienna keep this up we're going to be in big trouble, Casper. I don't know how close they've gotten over the last few days, but if they keep this up, they're going to care more about protecting each other than protecting us."

I see a flash of fear in Casper's eyes. "You're right," he whispers, concerned. "I didn't think of that. They're practically inseparable. But you heard that they're planning on being allies in the Arena, right?"

My heart drops. "No, I didn't know that," I admit. "But we need to try our hardest to pry them apart. Just do what you can, okay?"

A man dressed in all white approaches us, and he doesn't look happy. "Into the waiting room," he barks, pointing at the doorway ahead of us. We're the only tributes left in here.

"I'll do what I can," Casper promises me, and that's all he can say before we're ushered into the silent waiting room for our assessments.

A/N - I've finally managed to write Blood Moon up to the start of the Games, so I'm thinking I might start posting two times a week! If I make the switch it'll probably be on Tuesday/Saturday each week so we'll see.

~S