"I can't have you," Finnick whispered, pressing a soft, parting kiss to Rose's forehead, "because you'll always be Snows, not mine."
Rhoswen (Rose) Snow is the daughter of President Snow, who rescued her from a homeless, destitute life in District...
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"Jesus, won't someone get her a towel?" Rose's father asked, throwing a hand in her direction. Rose wasn't entirely sure a towel would do any good at this point. She'd probably have to get hosed down, or better yet jump into a vat of acid to get all the blood off of her. The dress was ruined, she'd already had a plan to burn it to forget about this fateful evening.
Snow, Rose, and all of Snow's council stood in Snow's meeting headquarters. All of them seemed too anxious to sit at the round table as they were accustomed to doing. Not that Rose was ever allowed to attend any of the meetings.
An Avox came through the doors and handed Rose a fluffy white towel.
"Thank you," Rose said. Her voice came out a shaky whisper. The girl smiled at her almost apologetically before dipping her head and breezing back through the door.
Rose used the towel to wipe at her face, getting the blood out of her eyes and off her lips. A few droplets had gotten into her mouth and tasted metallic and bitter. The last thing she needed was for it to get into her eyes.
"The tests came back negative for human blood," a man said, entering the room. He was a member of Snow's Cabinet, but she wasn't sure what his name was.
"Thank you, Antonious," Snow said, sitting down at the head of the table.
"And the victors?" Rose's words were out of her mouth before she could stop them. "From four? Are they all...okay?" Her voice cracked, real this time, not fake. Everyone's eyes fell on her and her heart thumped unevenly in her chest. But she had to ask. She had to. If anyone from Four got hurt because of her and this little protest...God, she didn't even want to think about it.
"Yes, they've all been accounted for," Antionious said stiffly. He wasn't great at human interaction, but Snow kept him on for his expertise in defense, not because of his socialization skills.
"And the radicals?" Snow asked. Radicals. Was that what they were?
"They were found trying to escape off the roof," a woman said. Rose recognized her from the party. "They were caught and...eliminated." Rose gripped her towel so tightly her knuckles ached.
"Good." Her father leaned back in his chair, folding his hands together. "Can someone tell me how they breached security in the first place?"
"They knocked out our guards," Antonious said, his throat bobbing as a glean of sweat shined at his brow. "They planned it out thoroughly. The cameras were temporarily disabled by a gadget stolen from One. There were only four of them, to keep things light. They stationed the blood and tapestry and waited for Rhoswen to come out."
"Antonious," Snow said calmly, controlled. The man looked up, his face pailing. "I want you to fire all the guards stationed tonight. And the men monitoring the cameras." Antonious nodded, his shoulders dropping. He was relieved he had been let off the hook. But those people...didn't they have families?
