126 THIRD CLOUD

"Did you see the way they cheered for you at the parade?" Linden pokes something on her snare and it snaps up, rope and twine dangling in the air. "You've got sponsors for sure, even with the blight—"

She clamps her mouth shut, face flooding with scarlet, but it's too late. Finnick cocks his head, snare forgotten. "Blight?"

Linden inhales, lips pressed in a thin line, and turns back to the instructor.

Pushing her on it now would just raise her suspicions, so Finnick decides to let the matter be. Instead, he refocuses his attention on the trainer, still rambling on, and files the new information away. He'll ask Mags about it later. Finnick emerges from his room one sleepless night later, Mags is waiting for him. Caspia, thankfully, is nowhere to be seen. Back in District 4, nothing short of a literal cyclone would roust Abalone from his shack on the beach. The Capitol is no exception.