𝐎𝐔𝐑 𝐅𝐀𝐋𝐋𝐄𝐍 𝐏𝐄𝐓𝐀𝐋𝐒 | hunger games ✓

chapter 21

━━･❪ 🌸 ❫ ･━━

Did I make the right choice?

Daphne's thoughts spiraled as she wandered mindlessly through the ruined neighborhoods, kicking at debris scattered in her path.

Should I have left them?

She did not trust Makani and her crew one bit. How was she to know that they wouldn't jump her at any random moment? What if the whole 'plan' was just a cover for Makani to orchestrate a way to get most of the tributes together in one place for an easy slaughter?

Daphne picked up a splintered chunk of wood and hurled it with a frustrated huff. It bounced off another pile of rubble on the edge of the path, scattering the contents.

Damn it, if that group of tributes was luring in others for a mass murder, then Azalea and Rye had walked straight into the trap. Something wrenched inside Daphne at the thought. Somehow, she found herself needing to choke back tears when she realized that that might've been the last time she even saw her two allies.

After all, who was going to protect them if Makani turned out to be a twisted mastermind? Who was going to fight at their sides when the attack actually happened? Nobody. Nobody that Daphne knew for certain would not betray them.

She halted in her tracks, cursing under her breath. She shouldn't have let herself get attached. There was only one who would walk out of here alive. If Daphne wanted to be the one who returned home, it meant the death of everyone else in this arena. If Daphne wanted to be able to see Esther and Rourke, Lysa and Tobe, Barley and her sheep ever again, it meant all whom she dared to care for here would never see their own families again. She was going to have to accept that her allies were going to die at one point or another. Either before, or after her own demise.

Besides, part of her had longed for Caelum for the past week in the arena. She ached to see his face just once, that subtle handsomeness of his that not everyone seemed to see. The way his corny jokes and obsession with books always managed to lift her from a foul mood. Even if he hadn't spoken directly to her for a year now, she would overhear his conversations with his friends, and smile. Wishing that one day, he'd be comfortable enough to approach her in the same way as he'd used to. Casual, friendly.

She'd never actively gone out of her way to find him in the arena, but everywhere she went she found herself on the lookout. Needing to see him, to know that he was okay. Hoping that she would run into another tribute, only if it was him. And now she was free to search.

Yet still... Daphne thought about Aedon's run in the arena. He hadn't had any allies, relying on only himself for the entirety of his Game. Perhaps that was where he went wrong. There had been nobody around to protect him when he'd been attacked. Daphne felt the familiar hole in her chest everytime she thought of him, then quickly shut down her thoughts.

Along with that, Daphne could not stand the thought of Rye and Azalea walking blindly into a slaughter. Even if Makani turned out to be genuine, there was no way of telling whether or not they would survive the attack.

"Damn it," Daphne muttered. "They're not going to die under my watch." At least if they did, she could say that she tried.

Daphne turned back around and broke into a run, frantically praying that the group hadn't gone far. It hadn't been that long, but Daphne couldn't be sure. She retraced her route, cursing herself for traveling so far. Thankfully, in her frustration, she'd kicked aside a trail of debris as she went. Now, she followed the path of disrupted rubble, finding herself back at the ruined house that she, Rye and Azalea had sheltered in.