Careers Have Feelings Too | CLATO | GLARVEL |

Chapter 29

CLOVE POV

I gaze up at the sky, revelling in the warmth on my eyelids. 

We won.

All the pain I felt for Katniss has gone. I crawl over to Cato as the mutts bound into a hole that opens up in the floor. I clutch at his jacket to steady myself as I press my chapped lips against his quickly, just to show him I'm still here, I'm still his Clove. I pull away gently and smile warmly. "We won," I say happily. We won. We can go home. 

I forget for a blissful moment about Glimmer, and Marvel, and Ember and Katniss. Now it's only Cato and I. We can go home. 

We slide down the side of the horn, jiggling on the bumps as we hit the floor. Katniss' empty body lies a few feet away from us, mangled by the mutations. There was something weird about those mutts, I think. Something I can't seem to put my  finger on. Maybe it's because one of them reminded me of Glimmer. 

I walk slowly over to Katniss' body and shut her eyes gently. She didn't deserve to die, I think. She and Peeta were the ones that should have won these Games. 

But I don't let myself think like that. 

Katniss is lying on the quiver of arrows. It looks uncomfortable, the way it's got her body twisted to make room for it. I debate about making her more comfortable, but in the end I figure that she would want to have them. The hovercraft, when it comes, will take the arrows too. I remember how angry I was when she got that eleven in training. It seems such a petty little thing to hold against her now.

 "Clove," comes the voice of Cato from behind me. "You okay?" 

I laugh. We're okay. "I'm wonderful," I whisper, turning around to face him and planting a quick kiss on his lips. "What happens now?" I add, looking up at the sky. No hovercraft has appeared to take us home. Did we do something wrong? I know the Capitol like a big fight at the end between the final tributes, but Katniss just, sort of died. Maybe that wasn't good enough and they'll resurrect her to relive the final battle. Or maybe...

I don't let myself consider that possibility. They can't make me fight Cato. That would be inhuman. 

Trouble is, it's not like the Capitol to act like humans. To turn us two against each other somehow would give them the ending they wanted. I just wasn't sure how they'd do it. 

"Attention, final tributes," the voice suddenly blares out over the lonely, eerie field. "Congratulations for making it this far. We greatly applaud you both,"

I glance at Cato, sure this wasn't what usually happens. I've watched enough old Games tapes to know something was seriously wrong. 

"There has been a slight rule change. The previous rule has been... revoked. There will only be one winner of the 74th Annual Hunger Games. Good luck, and may the odds be ever in your favour,"

My heart stops. This must have been their idea all along. I should have guessed I wasn't going home with Cato. The Capitol wouldn't let us. It was all a lie. Whatever we have, if you could say it was love or just teenage boredom, it was all just another part of their game.

I try to breathe deeply, but I can hardly process what he just said. We're not going home. Cato will win, and I will die, and hopefully he'll go home and be alright, because there's nothing left there for me, save my drunken sister who's probably roadkill by now. "Cato," I say, turning around. He needs to kill me now. 

But when I turn, I notice he can't. 

Because he's already stuck his sword in his chest.