"So you read it first?" Clara asked, confused.

"Four," Mariana said. "But also zero. This one came out years later. It goes back. Before Katniss. Before the Mockingjay. This is about a young Coriolanus Snow, the man who would become the president. It shows you how the game master was made. How a charming, hungry boy turns into a monster."

Mariana hesitated. She picked up the third book. Sinsajo . The cover was a simple silver bird.

She pulled out the first one. A mockingjay, its wings spread, was embossed on the cover. Los juegos del hambre .

"No," Mariana said firmly. "You read it last. Because without knowing the fire—without Katniss and Peeta, without Rue's death and Cinna's eyes—Snow is just a character. But after you've seen what he did to Panem, this book becomes a horror story. You watch him choose his path, and you understand that evil isn't born. It's built, one small betrayal at a time."

"The order is the fire," Mariana said softly, sitting on the edge of the bed. "You don't skip the spark."

She held up the fourth book. It was thinner, the cover a stark yellow and black with a snake coiled on a rose. Balada de pájaros cantores y serpientes .

Clara took it, her fingers tracing the bird. "Is it sad?"