> "If they want war, I'll give them something worse—me. The version of me they never should've made."
---
She didn't scream when she saw the photo of her mother.
Didn't cry.
She only stared at the blood and bruises for one long, endless moment…
before standing.
And saying just one thing:
> "We end it. Now."
---
Two Days Later – Underground Compound
It took less than forty-eight hours for Elliot to trace the source of the threat.
An unlisted burner, bouncing through five proxy countries. A digital maze designed by someone familiar.
Too familiar.
Elliot's voice was grim over the comms. "It's her."
Amaris didn't need to ask who. She already knew.
SERA LUX.
Codename: Deadbird.
Former ACE subject.
Rumored to have died during the original purge of the facility.
But like her… Sera had survived.
Only Sera hadn't escaped.
She had stayed.
And she had become something worse than the doctors who made them.
"She's working with Celeste now?" Elliot asked as they drove toward the compound. "Why?"
"Because I'm the only secret bigger than Celeste's," Amaris murmured. "And Sera… never forgives a debt."
---
FLASHBACK – ACE Facility (Age 15)
Amaris and Sera shared a room.
Two girls trapped in a cage of sterile lights and soft voices with sharp intentions.
Sera had protected her.
At first.
Then, one night, Amaris found her whispering to the doctors.
Offering Amaris's responses. Her secrets. Her patterns.
For extra food. Less testing. Favoritism.
Amaris confronted her.
Sera snapped. "You're weak. You keep crying, begging to go home. I'm surviving."
"You're selling me out."
Sera shrugged. "I'm not your friend, Amaris. I'm the only one who's going to make it."
So Amaris did what she had to.
She exposed Sera's sabotage during a psychological trial.
They dragged her away screaming.
And Amaris never saw her again.
Until now.
---
Present – Sera's Compound
The steel doors groaned open. Shadows stretched across concrete floors.
Sera emerged slowly, dressed in black, with scars along her arms like art.
Her voice was smoke and memory. "Hello, songbird."
Amaris's jaw tightened. "Don't call me that."
"You're still angry I survived?"
"No," Amaris said. "I'm angry you didn't change."
Sera tilted her head. "You think you did?"
Amaris stepped forward. "I saw what you did to my mother."
"I warned you to stop."
"And I warned you what I'd become if someone touched my blood."
Sera laughed. "You always thought you were justice, Amaris. But you're just vengeance in lipstick."
"Better than being a dog with a leash."
Sera's eyes flickered.
"You're working with Celeste?" Amaris asked.
"She came to me," Sera said. "She wants you broken. I want you erased. Seemed like fate."
Amaris didn't blink. "Then I guess fate brought you here to die."
Without warning, Amaris reached into her coat, pulled a detonator, and pressed it.
The far wall exploded.
Elliot stormed in with a tactical team.
Sera screamed, lunging at Amaris—but Amaris stepped back, eyes calm as ash.
"I could've killed you five years ago," Amaris whispered. "This time, I won't hesitate."
Sera was dragged away in cuffs, hissing promises of revenge.
Amaris turned, walked out into the night.
---
Zayden's Penthouse – Same Night
He was reading old press releases from his father's foundation.
It was all there.
Buried in legal jargon.
The donations. The ghost programs. The children who vanished.
He found a list of trial participants.
Redacted names.
One line stood out:
> Test Subject 17: Alpha Compliance Resistor. Female. "Songbird." Terminated.
But Amaris wasn't terminated.
She escaped.
And his father had lied.
To all of them.
Zayden slammed the folder shut.
Then grabbed his coat.
---
Amaris's Apartment – Rooftop Balcony
She stood barefoot again, wind in her hair, fire in her eyes.
Zayden didn't announce himself. He just stepped beside her.
"I found the file," he said quietly.
She said nothing.
"They called you Subject 17."
"They called me worse."
"I didn't know."
"I know you didn't."
A long silence.
"Why didn't you ever tell me?"
Amaris turned, eyes shimmering but unbroken. "Because I loved you."
Zayden's breath caught.
"And when you love someone," she said, "you don't want them to see you as an experiment that barely made it out alive."
He reached for her hand. She let him.
"I failed you."
"Yes," she said. "But now you get to decide what you'll do about it."
---
Celeste's New Plan
She wasn't done.
Even with Sera gone, Celeste had one last card.
She walked into the Kross Family Estate, straight to Zayden's father.
"I want you to discredit your son," she said.
"You're asking me to go against my own blood?"
She handed him a photo. One of Zayden and Amaris—last night—hand in hand on the balcony.
"Either you destroy her," she said, "or she'll burn your entire empire. And he'll help her do it."
The old man's face turned cold.
And he made a call.
---
Two Days Later – Emergency Board Meeting
Amaris entered the room first.
Zayden followed.
But the moment they sat, his father stood.
"Effective immediately," the elder Kross said, "Zayden is removed from his executive position pending investigation into his conduct and alliance with an unstable figure from our company's past."
Zayden froze. "You're serious?"
"Your relationship with Miss Lane compromises everything."
Amaris stood. "Don't do this."
His father didn't even look at her.
"You shouldn't have come back, girl. Some ghosts were better left buried."
---
Outside the building, chaos erupted.
Protesters. Paparazzi. Reporters yelling Zayden's name. Amaris's.
As the elevator doors shut, silence swallowed them both.
"I'm sorry," she said.
He looked at her.
Then did something he hadn't done in years.
He smiled.
"Why?" he asked. "I would've stepped down sooner."
Her eyes widened slightly.
"You're worth it," he said. "Even if you don't believe it yet."
---
Final Scene – Elliot's Apartment
Elliot poured a drink, staring at the wall of digital files.
He was hiding something.
Not from Amaris.
From himself.
He opened a locked file marked: "REDACTED: Phase 2 – Override."
Inside: footage of himself inside the ACE facility.
But he hadn't remembered being there.
Until now.
His voice on the tape:
> "We'll test the neural bonds again. Subject 17 is showing unstable attachments to Subject 21."
> "We need her loyal—but not emotional."
Subject 21 was him.
Elliot staggered back.
"Oh God," he whispered.
He wasn't just her savior.
He had been part of the experiment, too.