The Ashes of Victory: Echoes of the Arena

Victory was supposed to mean freedom. But for Kaela Rynn, it only built a bigger cage.

Months after surviving the 66th Hunger Games, Kaela Rynn-District 5's reluctant victor-is still haunted by what the Capitol took from her. Her older brother, Jace, was reaped alongside her and never came home. The screams, the traps, the electricity that betrayed him-it all echoes in her mind.

The Capitol wants her quiet. Controlled. Dressed in silk and forced smiles. But Kaela is starting to unravel. Until someone sees through the performance.

Finnick Odair. The Capitol's golden boy. A fellow victor. A fellow prisoner.

They meet on the windswept coast of District 4, where his charm masks the same scars she hides. In one brief conversation, Finnick gives Kaela something no one else ever has-permission to feel broken, and the courage to rise anyway. He sees her pain not as weakness, but as power. And he teaches her that surviving doesn't have to mean surrendering.

But as power surges ripple through the districts and encrypted messages begin arriving from unknown rebels, Kaela realizes the Games aren't over. The Capitol has found new ways to control and torment its victors-and she might be the next weapon in their arsenal.

The ghosts of the arena are whispering again. And this time, they're calling her to action.

In a world where grief is dangerous and silence is deadly, Kaela must decide who she is without the arena-and who she's willing to become to destroy it.