The Boy In Love // THG Peeta's POV

The Save

Cinna draged me back to the balcony where we had left Effie and Portia with alarming urgency. When I tripped on my way down the stairs, he merely snatched my wrist and pulled my upright before continuing his mad flight.

I was breathing hard by the time we stumbled into the dining room, but Portia was quick to hand me a glass of water while Cinna distracted Effie. 

"Don't you think you should go look for Katniss? Something could be wrong, she's quite late."

Effie nodded distractedly. "Oh, yes I'll go, but Portia you simply must look into those shoes I told you about, it's..." she trailed off as Cinna basically shoved her out of the room.

I put my water down. "Okay what the hell was th-"

Portia cut me off, speaking sharply to Cinna. "Sorry to give the signal early, they were getting suspicious. Did you finish?"

Cinna spoke back with equal urgency. "No, but there was little left. Haymitch will get it done, these two were able to get him to swear off most of the booze and I'll enforce it."

She nodded before the pair turned on me. "No questions."

"But-"

"No. Haymitch will fill you in, but for now you know everything you need to."

***

Almost an hour later, I was still running over the moment in in my mind. Something's missing. For the life of me I couldn't guess what it was, but something about that whole interaction made unease bubble in my chest.

The meal was rather uneventful so far, with the adults making small talk and Katniss focused purely on the food, so I had plenty of space to think. As I was going over Cinna's cryptic words for the millionth time however, a sparkling object caught my eye, snapping me out of my thoughts.

A redheaded girl had set a gorgeous cake on the table and set it alight. The adults let out appreciative noises, but my focus was solely on Katniss' face. She looked completely different from her usual self, eyes unfocused.

"What makes it burn?" she asked. "Is it alcohol? That's the last thing I wa — oh! I know you!"

The instant she said those words, her face fell in an obvious expression of guilt. Simultaneously, the four adults seated beside us snapped to attention. Effie's face displayed something akin to curiosity with a hint of nervousness, but Cinna, Portia, and Haymitch's faces were all varying degrees of horrified.

"Don't be ridiculous, Katniss. How could you possibly know an Avox?" Effie snapped. "The very thought."

Katniss cocked her head, the anxiety plain on her face. Something's wrong with her. She never shows her emotions so clearly. "What's an Avox?" she asked.

"Someone who committed a crime. They cut her tongue so she can't speak," Haymitch said. His voice was tense, as if this situation was akin to walking on a tightrope; too far to either side and something terrible would happen. "She's probably a traitor of some sort. Not likely you'd know her."

Portia was gripping her stemmed glass so hard I feared it would break. Cinna shot me a look, conveying a silent order. You say you'd do anything to save her? Prove it.

"And even if you did, you're not to speak to one of them unless it's to give an order," Effie said. "Of course, you don't really know her."

"No, I guess not, I just —" she stammered helplessly.

She can't be linked to a traitor, she'll be dead in seconds inside the arena.  I snapped my fingers, and suddenly every eye was on me, waiting to see how I would discharge the situation. "Delly Cartwright. That's who it is. I kept thinking she looked familiar as well. Then I realized she's a dead ringer for Delly."

Delly is pasty-faced, lumpy girl with yellowish hair who looks about as much like our server as a beetle does a butterfly. But Katniss jumps on my suggestion gratefully. 

"Of course, that's who I was thinking of. It must be the hair," she said.

I breathed a sigh of rrelief. "Something about the eyes, too," I added.

The energy at the table relaxed. "Oh, well. If that's all it is," Cinna said. "And yes, the cake has spirits, but all the alcohol has burned off. I ordered it specially in honor of your fiery debut." He gave me a slight approving nod, acknowledging my quick thinking.

I looked around for the redheaded girl to see if I know her too, but she has disappeared.

***

Woo! So that was a charged chapter! I hope you all liked it, vote and comment if you did :)

-Siren Song

P.S. Now that I'm out of school and done with finals, I'm going to try to get an update schedule. Would you guys prefer long chapters less often or shorter chapters (like this one) maybe once or twice a week? Let me know!