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Without wasting another second, Aries charged with ruthless speed, effortlessly catching a spear midair that had been carelessly thrown at him. He rolled his eyes at the pathetic attempt. "How did you even survive?" he mocked, glancing down at the spear in his grip before setting his bored eyes on the trembling boy responsible for it.
The kid looked like he was on the verge of wetting himself. Aries didn't even bother engaging further; the boy wasn't worth the effort. Turning his back on him, Aries strode toward the stacked pyramid, his steps confident, unwavering.
He carefully scanned the ground, following the exact steps he had memorized from watching the Foxface girl. His movements were deliberate, efficient, and soon enough, he'd secured a filled backpack, some fruit, and a sleek black whip that tugged a smug grin from his lips. "Stella is going to love me."
Once he made it out and was safely beyond the trap-riddled zone, Aries paused to glance back at the boy. With no real effort, he hurled the spear back. It landed right between the boy's scrawny legs, making him yelp and collapse backward in sheer panic. "Damn. Missed," Aries muttered with a wicked grin, entirely amused by the sobbing wreck in front of him.
"You've got ten seconds to get out of here. I like to play with my food," he added, licking his lips slowly and letting his gaze narrow in a way that made it clear he wasn't bluffing. As expected, the boy scrambled to his feet, ripped the spear from the dirt, and bolted in the opposite direction—straight toward where the Careers had gone.
Aries didn't move right away. He remained still, calm, and almost eerily composed. Then, slowly, his head turned. His gaze locked unflinchingly onto Katniss Everdeen, and despite her usually sharp composure, she felt a chill run down her spine.
Something was unsettling in those still, calculating eyes—you could never tell what he was thinking. "Normally, I'd kill you," Aries said casually, idly twirling his sword in his hand, "and you're no exception, Miss Everdeen." Katniss, startled, instinctively raised her bow and readied an arrow, her fingers trembling.
Aries paused, a strange glint in his eyes, before continuing, "But for some reason," he repeated, drawing out the words with a noticeable shift in his tone, a dipping into something far more sardonic than before, a hint of bitterness perhaps, "Ella got this... well, this inexplicable fondness for you, Katniss."
Katniss narrowed her eyes, a flicker of suspicion crossing her face as she tried to decipher his intent, completely unsure where he was going with this sudden revelation about Estella's supposed affection. She wasn't foolish, not by a long shot—Aries was definitely not someone you could ever afford to let your guard down around, not even for a single moment, not even if you were supposedly on the same side, fighting the same battles.
There was always an angle with him, a hidden agenda lurking beneath the surface.
"And that Peeta boy..." he added, his voice laced with a hint of annoyance, "My love's starting to grow soft on him too, which is just great, really great. I hate it, I absolutely despise it." He scoffed in disdain, a short, sharp sound of derision, then shrugged it off with a dismissive gesture, as if trying to downplay his obvious irritation.
