I know what blood poisoning is, Katniss," says Peeta. "Even if my mother isn't a healer." I'm jolted back in time, to another wound, another set of bandages. "You said that same thing to me in the first Hunger Games. Real or not real?" "Real," he says. "And you risked your life getting the medicine that saved me?" "Real." I shrug. "You were the reason I was alive to do it.

But in my head I can hear Haymitch's smug, if slightly exasperated, words: "Yes, that's what I'm looking for, sweetheart.

Happy Hunger Games! And may the odds be ever in your favor.

Only I keep wishing I could think of a way...to show the Capitol they don't own me. That I'm more than just a piece in their Games.

Having an eye for beauty isn't the same thing as a weakness...except possibly when it comes to you.

My nightmares are usually about losing you. I'm okay once I realize you're here.

Since my father died and I stopped trusting my mother, no one else's arms have made me feel this safe.