Annabeth and Piper slipped silently out the door and into the dimly lit street. Annabeth's footsteps made no noise on the pavement. That, at least, was a bonus. With no idea where the career pack was, they darted from street to street, lingering in the shadows, listening intently.

As they paused a moment before crossing an intersection, Annabeth was weirdly mesmerized by the flashing lights. Red, then green, then yellow, then red, over and over again. Maybe for cars, she thought. Back in district 12 vehicles were rare, but in the capitol they might need these lights. Strange that people would let blinking lights tell them what to do. Annabeth shook her head to bring her back to present. She had more important things to worry about and she could already feel fatigue creeping up inside her, making her bones heavy and thoughts slower. She'd just opened her mouth to suggest they keep going when Piper was yanked from her side.

Annabeth whipped her knife out and turned the corner to find the district 1 tributes; Reyna with a long curved knife and Octavian with Piper in a chokehold. Fear shot through Annabeth, she couldn't fight off either of them on their own much less together. She considered turning and running. She'd feel bad about leaving Piper but what other choice did she have? But no, all Reyna would have to do is throw the knife. The second she turned her back she would be dead.

Annabeth couldn't fight and she couldn't run. That left one option, talk. Specifically to Reyna because the light in Octavian's eyes was starting to unsettle her.

"Reyna-"

"Shut up!" Octavian yelled. "Shut up, shut up." Spit flew from his mouth and his eyes were blood shot. Annabeth wondered if he was entirely sane. "You know, I'm glad you both are here. See Reyna likes to kill people quickly, quietly but I, I like to give the Capitol a show. They like a lot of blood, a lot of screaming," he said, "and surprise! So do I." He turned his wandering gaze down to Piper, trapped in his arms. "Piper, isn't it? I guess you're first!" Octavian pulled a short, gleaming knife from his pocket.

"No!" Annabeth pleaded, "no don't do this." Octavian hummed and held out Piper's arm.

"Oh there's an artery!" he said. He held the knife up. "Let's hope I hit it on the first try." Annabeth's eyes widened at the horror she was about to witness, the awful death Piper was about to have. But the blow never came. Reyna stepped forward and calmly, without blinking, slashed her knife across Octavian's throat.

Blood. There was a lot of blood. First Octavian's wet choking and then silence, the blood slowly pooling, soaking the pavement. In the dark it just looked like water. Then the cannon. Piper and Annabeth stared at Reyna. Reyna the career who just killed her district partner and saved their lives. She smiled coldly.

"I was getting kind of tired of him."

"Uh- Reyna-" Piper said, "why did you do that? I mean thank you, of course but why?" Reyna wiped the blood off her blade with a flick of her wrist.

"The career pack broke up. District two and district four got in an argument, Octavian and I decided to get out of there before the blood started flowing. I was just waiting for the right time to take him out."

Annabeth nodded. "I get that, but why didn't you let him kill us first?" she said.

"I could have," Reyna said, "but I still want allies. You two seem like a good option. What do you say?"

Piper and Annabeth exchanged a look. On one hand, Reyna was an excellent fighter and just saved their lives. On the other, she was incredibly dangerous and could kill them just as easily as she killed Octavian. But then, it was the Hunger Games. Anyone could kill anyone whenever they wanted.

"Why not?" Annabeth said. We could use another person."

Annabeth, Piper, and Reyna continued through the city, slipping through shadows like cats.

"This looks like a good building to be our base," Reyna said, pointing ahead to a five-story building made of brick.

"Works for me, I'm exhausted," said Piper. It was true. They'd been going for a while.

"Me too," said Annabeth.

They set up a mini camp on the third floor. Reyna had a backpack full of food, an air mattress, and an impressive collection of knives. They agreed they wouldn't need a guard since no one knew where they were. Piper fell asleep first, but Reyna and Annabeth sat together staring into the dark.

"Are you worried about what your district thinks? About you killing your partner I mean?" asked Annabeth.

Reyna snorted. "Please. Everyone saw he was a total psycho. The longer I waited the more dangerous he got. If anyone in my district has a problem with that they can say it to my face when I get back." She paused awkwardly. "If I get back I mean."

"Right," said Annabeth. She respected what Reyna said, but it was a grim reminder that only one person made it out alive. This alliance was very temporary. But perhaps necessary for the moment. "Goodnight Reyna," she said.

"Goodnight Annabeth."