Dangerous Affection- The Hunger Games- A Cato Love Story

Chapter 16: Cold... With a Crazy Plan

Chapter 16- Cold... With a Crazy Plan

I wake with a start, catching myself from stirring too much, for Sadie and Lucas are crammed into a sleeping bag one had managed to grab before escaping the blood bath at the Cornucopia, their heads resting near me. I was skeptic about sleeping on the ground, but Sadie was afraid of heights. The last thing I needed was her spazzing and falling out of it, so I reluctantly agreed.

I slowly move away from them, careful not to disturb their slumber. My legs are itching to get moving, but I don't want them to wake up and find me gone. I decide to leave my sleeping bag there, hoping they'll take that as a sign that I will return. I take my other supplies, though, feeling too insecure without them.

I trudge on through the woods, my footsteps hardly making a sound. Years of hunting have done me well, and I hardly blink when sending an arrow through a rabbit's skull. I hook it to my belt for later, when the sun rises high enough to make a fire without being too noticeable.

I am walking through the woods, barely paying attention to anything around me, when I hear a muted thud, and a soft swearing. I have an arrow notched and aimed at where I judged the sound to come from before I realized what I was doing.

Cato steps easily from behind the trees, hands in his pockets, acting if he hasn't a care in the world. Like I couldn't have an arrow in his skull in a heartbeat. "Hey there, Princess."

My fingers flex, but I sigh, and lower my bow. The arrow is sheathed in a less than a second, and I grip my bow tight at my side. "Can I help you with something?"

"Well, you could help me with a lot of things." Cato says, a smile playing at his mouth, as he walks towards me. He comes up behind me, and whispers in my ear, "But those kinds of things aren't appropriate for the little children watching." An involuntary shiver is sent down my spine by his warm breath tickling my ear. I can practically hear Cato smiling with pleasure.

It takes me a second to be able to speak steadily. "Fine... what do you need me for now?"

Cato casually slings his arm around my shoulder. "Walk with me, love."

Cato walks on, and stops mid-step when I didn't move, and falls back beside me. "Something the matter?"

"I... My..." I stutter, looking back to where Lucas and Sadie slept.

Cato waves them off. "They'll be fine. And Angel, you should pick your alliances a bit better in the future." Cato chuckles, shaking his head.

I am suddenly self-conscience. "Hey, at least I can trust those two not to kill me in my sleep. Can you say the same for your little group?"

Cato rubs the lower half of his face. "No. Definitely not."

"Then why stick with them?" I ask, completely confused.

"I'm not." Cato sighs, moving his arm from my shoulder.

"What are you talking about? I saw you with them the other night!" I tilt my head, looking directly at him.

"I ditched them earlier today. Couldn't stand the gossip and noise they carried around with them. Besides, with only the puny meat left in the arena, one of them might have had the brains to figure out that the rest of us needed to die in order for them to win."

I scoff. "I doubt that."

Cato's mouth tilts up at the corner. "Yeah, me too. But that didn't stop me from slitting Drake's stomach open just a bit ago."

"You what?" I ask, caught off guard. I hadn't heard a cannon fire, and I assumed the last kill had been mine.

"He tried to kill you in your sleep, Angel. I knocked him out, and dragged his body a good mile away before I cut his stomach open. He woke up after that."