hemlockandhoney
They survived the arena. Now they must survive the peace.
After forcing a radical rule change on the Cornucopia roof, Callista Porter and Cato Hadley have escaped the Hunger Games with their lives. But the Capitol's grip is an invisible leash. Exiled from the concrete barracks of District Two, a broken Cato must learn to heal his shattered body and ruined pride in the vast, unfamiliar dunes of District Four. Together under one cedar roof, they begin to build a quiet, fragile life outside the Capitol, discovering a real, fierce love that owes nothing to the Gamemakers' scripts.
But President Snow is always watching.
As November arrives, the illusion of safety shatters. Callista and Cato are forced onto a train for the Victory Tour, pushed back into the flashing cameras and suffocating crowds of a deeply fractured Panem. Across the nation, a dangerous, rising panic threatens stability as whispers of a rebel plot begin to spread.
Living under the crushing expectations of a watchful Capitol and the looming shadow of the Third Quarter Quell, Cato and Callista must decide what they are willing to sacrifice. To protect his home ground, the fallen Career must learn to hold a new kind of blade. To keep him alive, Callista must find the strength to carry the chain alone.