She had stayed inside for a few days, hoping the lack of her presence would calm the tension. Amara wanted to see Emery but she knew the news had most likely already reached him. Would he be afraid of her too? 

His bag teased her from the closet, its contents holding knowledge that she may be very well better off not knowing. She grabbed it, dumping the books onto the floor, rifling through them for anything that caught her eye. Some of them were books of dragon lore she already owned. Others were books that had nothing to do with the Daughters of Athena. A journal caught her eye. The cover was bright blue and had lab notes stamped on the front. Amara made herself comfortable on the bed and opened it to a random page.

We have finally found a viable embryo structure. Previous testing with purely human DNA yielded less than desired results. Specimen XX-4642 will be Daughter Zero, the DNA base for all the Daughters of Athena. 

Merging dragon DNA with female human DNA was tedious but has yielded desired results after numerous rounds of testing. Intense training and conditioning will be needed as the dragon DNA inside the subject can become unstable. 

None must know of this DNA merge. It is far too unethical to publicly discuss. This project will be classified from this point forward. 

Amara slammed the book closed, trying to wrap her head around the words on the page. Her mouth dry as ash, she was a piece of the very thing she was designed to kill. The dragons were her siblings too. Everything she knew about herself, her siblings, and her place in the world was falling apart. She needed, wanted, to talk to someone but she was afraid the Scales might burn her at the stake the moment she stepped outside. 

Joslyn had not been in the house in the last couple of days as she was still tending to Emery. The bullet had clipped his brachial artery, which caused severe blood loss and opened his up body to dangerous bacteria. As it turned out, he had a very weak immune system and it was taking much longer than usual to recover. 

Amara mustered what courage she had left and went outside. The forest behind the house was a charred mess and several homes had not survived the blaze. Seeing it was devastating, but truthfully Emery was the only thing on her mind. She had to know if he was afraid of her too–she had to know what he knew.

She pushed the door open, just a crack. Amara, making sure Joslyn was not inside. Emery looked to be alone, reading a book. She slipped in through the crack and quickly shut the door behind her. Emery looked up and grinned at her. That was a good sign. When her mouth opened to speak, the words became stuck in her throat. In most cases, Amara did not care what others believed of her; that was part of her training. It scared her that it mattered now what Emery thought of her, but not enough for her to run.

“I was wondering when you’d come back.” He got up to hug her. 

She was happy to see he was finally mobile. He had come so close to death, just standing was a miracle. She embraced him back tightly, feeling the strength in his energy. 

“I am so glad that you’re okay.” Emery kissed her forehead.

She sighed deeply, the exhaled breath tinged with longing as she held onto him. Amara had been so stressed and afraid but knowing Emery was alright relieved some of her fear. Even if he did know what she had done, he did not seem to care. He took her hand and guided her to sit on the couch with him. He sat close enough that the heat from his skin radiated into hers. Her first urge was to shift herself away from him. Instead, she shifted closer. They sat together in silence for a few minutes, enjoying each other’s presence. One thing Amara liked about Emery was that he did not have a need to fill the silence. She enjoyed silence and truly just wanted someone to enjoy it with her. 

“I have heard the Scales talking. I know what happened. Thank you for saving us,” he whispered into her ear.

Goosebumps prickled up and down Amara’s skin. “Maiyara saved all of you. I became a monster.”

“I wouldn’t say a monster. I would say something unexpected, mystical, but most of all something beautiful. Maiyara made them leave but you brought them down out of the sky with just one word. That is power which cannot be matched.” Emery nuzzled her shoulder.

A wave of relief washed over her. He did not hate her, and he was not disgusted by her.. Her feelings for him continued to surprise her. Each time he spoke, Amara learned how different he was from the other members of the Sacred Scales. His mind was wide open; he accepted things for what they were. If Athena had accepted him for who he was, he would have made an incredible addition to the Daughters.

“Did you have a chance to look through the books?” He nudged her out of her thoughts.

Amara nodded. “Yes. Sadly there was not much to find. They did not have much information about the source of the Daughters of Athena.” 

She lied, not certain why it was her first instinct. Emery frowned, saddened that he was not able to help her. He held her hand, and she squeezed back. Amara wanted to tell him, needed someone else to know, yet the truth felt stranger than fiction. Emery only heard whispers of what she did, he did not see it with his own eyes. She realized the truth would affect the both of them, after all, he was made up of the same genetic material she was. He had already been through so much, lost much more than she had, and adding the lab note findings would only make things worse. She opened her mouth to speak, suddenly cut off by the sound of the door. 

Joslyn came storming into the house, slamming the door behind her. Her exasperated expression changed to anger and annoyance when she laid eyes on Amara. 

“What are you doing here?” Joslyn placed her hands on her hips.

Amara shot up from the couch, putting distance in between her and Emery. 

Joslyn held a hand up, “Don’t answer that. You know you are not allowed in here. After what you did, you should be happy you have been allowed to remain in New Chicago. We should kill you now and save ourselves the trouble.”

“I am so tired of these threats Joslyn. I didn’t hurt anyone, I haven’t done anything wrong. I helped you. You asked for my help and I gave it. What more do you want from me?”

“You never told us you could bring dragons out of the sky. That is more than a threat to us, that is a threat to Mother. We knew the Daughters of Athena were made to be powerful but not in that way. We have never seen anything like it.” 

“I didn’t know! How could I have possibly known?!” Amara bristled. “It just happened, and quite frankly, you should be thanking me!” She advanced on Joslyn.

Emery held out an arm to stop her., “Amara wouldn’t harm anyone here. What she did saved us and I don’t understand why you’re mad at her for it.”

Joslyn sucked her teeth. “You know better than to challenge me Emery. You are compromised. I told you, warned you not to get close to her and you didn’t listen. I knew from the moment we brought her here she would be trouble, but you insisted because of your research.”

Research? Amara’s heart pounded. Emery did not care about her; he cared about what she was. That is why he did not care about what she had done. He wanted her to be an anomaly, a monster, all so he could study her. Emery turned to look at her, his eyes were filled with sadness, Amara did not care.

“Research? How, how could you, you asshole? You lied to me.” Amara shoved him away from her.

“Of course he didn’t tell you. Why would he? I doubt you would have willingly let him study you like some lab animal. I lied about the reason you were here because he begged me to; he thought it would interfere with his work if you knew the truth.” Joslyn grinned with far too much satisfaction. 

Rage could not describe what Amara felt now. Emery advanced toward her and she backed away so quickly she knocked over a lamp. The bulb shattered and Amara grabbed a shard, holding it out in front of her as defense.

“Don’t do this, please don’t do this,” he begged. 

“Fuck you Emery, fuck all of you. You think you’re better than Athena? You think what you and the Sacred Scales have done makes you better?! You’re liars and murderers, you made me a murderer and for what? This righteous cause is bullshit, I know it and you know it. You should have killed me when you had the chance.” Amara spat.

How could she have been so stupid? She was so ready to forsake everything she knew for him. Her judgment got too clouded and she hated herself for it. She eased her way to the door, facing the two of them with each backward step–glass cutting her hand from her tight grip. Amara was enraged, she should have slit his throat right then and there. She should have slit Joslyn’s as well, she had long ached to do so. All this time she knew why Amara had been brought there but kept his sick little secret. Why would no one in her life tell her the truth? 

Without another word, she dropped the shard of glass and ran out of the door. Her feet carried her through the charred remains of the forest, to the cave she hoped Maiyara would not be at. She should have kept running, all the way back to Athena, back home, if it was her home anymore. She had killed her siblings. In the eyes of Athena, she was now a criminal, a traitor. If she stepped foot in the city again, she would be killed–if there was anyone left to kill her. Amara did not care to risk it.

Amara sank into the darkness of the cave. The silence was deafening, but it was what she needed. She lay down on the cold, hard ground, curling herself into a fetal position. Tears welled up in her eyes until she could no longer see, and she sobbed. She had nothing left. No family, no home, no strength, and no sense of self. Though, there was one thing she knew for certain; the Sacred Scales would end. She would kill them all.