❝𝐃𝐑𝐀𝐏𝐄𝐓𝐎𝐌𝐎𝐍𝐈𝐀❞ ━ TREECH

40. reunion

A teasing smile crosses Sejanus’ face, and he hums. “I bet,” he replies. “I’ll go ahead and check on Coryo, then. I haven’t seen him, and I’m kind of getting worried.”

June nods, parting ways with him. She slips through the crowd, making herself as small as possible, and lets out a sigh of relief once she’s out of Heavensbee Hall. The rest of the Academy is as quiet as she remembers it from the nights of the Games, only the occasional ticking of a clock and the sound of her footsteps accompany her on the way to the biology lab. She hears the celebration getting more and more quiet, until its sounds eventually fade into a comfortable silence.

Her heart skips a beat. They patched Treech up in such a short time? Is he alone in a room with just some Peacekeepers? Or even worse, what if Dr. Gaul is in there with him?

The thought alone is enough to make her walk faster, but much to her surprise, she spots a familiar figure accompanied by two Peacekeepers. His jaw is clenched, his expression hard, but when he spots the girl approaching the room he just left, his eyes widen. Something has replaced his sadness over Lucy Gray’s death—something much worse.

“Coriolanus?” June eyes the scene confusedly, stopping in her tracks. Her eyes are wide at the display, with one Peacekeeper in front of him and the other behind him. They’re treating him like a criminal. “Wait, what’s going on? What happened?”

Coriolanus comes to a halt, and so do the Peacekeepers. “Don’t pretend you don’t know anything,” he spits. “You broke our agreement!”

She blinks, and it takes her a second to figure out the meaning behind the words. His accusation throws her off guard because, yes, while she did think about telling on him, she discarded those thoughts the second Treech was crowned the victor. Why would she frame Coriolanus now when she was planning on giving him the prize money anyway? Does he think she’s that desperate to keep it? Or that she would stoop so low as to not stick to the agreement, even though she’d technically have every right to do so since he did?

“You mean you got caught?” She corrects him, tilting her chin up a bit. “I figured messing with the snakes wouldn’t be foolproof. But just because I think it’s a foolish plan, it doesn’t mean I’d go and tell Dr. Gaul!”

It’s not like her, but she can’t help it. Treech might be in the biology lab right now, waiting for her. Although she feels pity for Coriolanus, she ultimately decides that he brought this on himself. His greed for the Plinth Prize is what made him cheat, and this is where it led him. A part of her is horrified that she’s thinking this way, but she knows this is objectively true. Did he think nothing would happen?

Cheating in such an obvious way after Highbottom warned them about the consequences is nothing short of idiotic. No matter how much Dr. Gaul liked his contributions or the essay he wrote, not even she seems to want to bail him out of his misery. He did this to himself, so why is he trying to put the blame on her? It’s sad.

Debating whether or not he believes her, Coriolanus ultimately decides on a mix of both. June has never been a liar, but he knows what the Games have been pushing people to be.

His eyes, however, are colder than ever. “Well, someone did,” he merely says, clearly confused as to who would do such a thing.

If it wasn’t her, who would dare tell on him? Who else would possibly have known about it? Was he just careless? Was Lucy Gray — Lucy Gray. Poor, poor Lucy Gray. His heart clenches as he remembers her last moments. A clever idea: sneaking up on Treech with a snake. It might have worked, but all things considered, Coriolanus is sure the boy must have known.

Once again, Junia Beaumont beat him. Because unlike him, she was smart enough to pass on anything she knew about the snakes to her tribute. Or perhaps it was a foolish move after all?