Splintered

Chapter Nine: The Games We Play

Partially digested cabbage battled buttered potatoes and chicken. Dinner threatened to reemerge as Hazel watched one of the most dangerous men in all of Panem glide through her lamp-lit bedroom like he was perusing his favorite department store.

He practically floated through, absorbing the sight of the disheveled bedsheets, the lock on her patio door, the pile of fresh bandaging supplies, the bottle of sedatives, and finally, the dead flowers on her table. If her room was a department store, it was the most haphazard and depressing one. But one would never surmise, observing Snow, as he appeared to relish being invited into such a personal area.

The two vases remained; one still filled with the Tigerlily roses, and the other, the fushia blooms from her return home. Their aromas had faded weeks ago, though, with Snow in her room, there wasn't a shortage of the scent of flowers.

Hazel ducked her head into the hallway one more time, ensuring none of her nosy siblings were lurking around the corner. Shutting the door, she closed it much louder than intended, and the sound bounced off the walls like an alarm.

If Snow noticed, he didn't show it. He was still hovering beside her desk, a languid gloved finger curled over the crisp petals of one of the wildflowers. They had long since dried out, and she kicked herself for not discarding them before he arrived.

"What are you doing?" She bit out.

"You invited me."

Hazel huffed in his general direction.

"You are going to have to be more specific." Snow pulled his touch from the petal, turning back to her.

"What was all of that?"

Snow's shoulders raised in an almost invisible shrug, "Your family and I are just getting to know each other." The edge of his lips twitched, and she wished to know even a fraction of what he was thinking.

"So you came all the way down here to socialize?" Hazel crossed her arms around herself, "Seems like a waste of tax dollars."

"You can learn a lot about a person by familiarizing yourself with those they spend the most time with." His tone was matter-of-fact, like what he was saying was obvious.

"And who would I need to familiarize myself with to learn about you, Senator?" Outside of Festus, she hadn't seen him have any real friends, or at least she hadn't heard of any.

"You want to learn about me?"

Hazel's fingers tapped against her arm, her voice carrying a hint of exasperation. "Only so I could figure out what's actually going on here and find a way out of this nightmare."

"Now that would be a waste of time." Snow glanced out the windows; a flash of what might have been distaste slid over his features before he covered it with his practiced smoothness, "I have to admit that I'm a bit of an anomaly. I prefer my own company and that of my experiments and garden, of course."

"So you came to Seven to socialize with your lab rats?"

Snow shrugged, "Not everything I do has a secret or elaborate ulterior motive, Miss Marlowe."

"I'll believe it when I see it."

His eyes flashed, "What do you think you saw down there?"

"You, playing more games."

Snow smirked, "Just me?" Hazel narrowed her eyes as he continued, "Be honest with yourself because that is exactly what I was with your family. Though I have a feeling not all of them extended me the same courtesy."

"I told Sage to stop lying about grizzly bear trivia."

The light from her bedside lamp caught in his irises as he flashed her an amused look, "We both know Oren's history. And habits die hard."