Dangerous Allies // Cato Hadley

Part 5: Trapped

She looked up at the artificial lights coming from the ceiling. "Like the sun."

She missed the sun warming her skin in the late afternoon.

"And the flowers that grow in the sand grass." She smiled when she thought about the sweet smelling red and yellow flowers.

The silence in the elevator was thick and when Eve tilted her head to the side she noticed Cato's blue gaze fixed on her.

His eyes reminded her so much of the ocean.

"What about you?" Her voice was soft. Far softer than she had intended it to be.

"Pine." His deep voice rumbled in his chest. "There's a lot of that back home."

"And my cologne I guess." He shrugged.

Eve didn't have perfume. It wasn't common in her district.

The differences between the districts were strange to her. A single cookie costed as much as a month's worth of food. The only people who could possibly afford luxury items were the victors.

"You got a boyfriend back in four?" Cato's question pulled another soft laugh from Eve's chest.

"No." She shook her head, turning to look at him. "Why?"

She knew why.

A cocky grin spread over his face as he looked down at her. "When it gets cold in that arena I'd hate for him to be jealous when I'm the one warming you up."

"Oh I'm sure." She laughed, shaking her head at him.

"Do you have a girlfriend?" She wasn't sure why she asked. Or why she even cared.

"Nah." He shook his head. "But I will once I win this."

Eve felt a chill run down her spine at the insinuation behind his words. "You know that means I'll be dead, right?"

"It's just part of the game." He shrugged.

As morbid as it sounded, she could understand him not caring if she lived or died. They barely knew each other. "What about Clove? It seems like you care about her."

"I know her from the academy." He shrugged. "But she's the one who chose to compete the same year as me. That's her mistake."

"And what about the people who didn't choose to be here?" She asked.

"Oh well."

"The boy I came here with is 12." Her fists clenched at her sides. "Twelve years old and he's going to die for sport and all you can say is oh well."

"The games are about honor." Cato's voice was getting louder in the tight space. "He should be happy to be here."

Eve whipped around to face the man. "Do you even hear what you're saying?"

"Yeah." His eyes were dilated as he leered over her, placing his hand on the wall beside her shoulder.

"Now hear this." His voice was eerily calm. "I'd kill every last person in that arena for the crown. Don't think I won't hesitate to slit your throat."

As she looked into his eyes she felt pity over her fear for the young man.

Ethan was right.

"You're lost." She said. "You're lost and someday you're gonna realize it. Whether that's before or after you kill me, who knows. But someday you'll understand."