The Million-Dollar Heart by Rebecca Ryan

In Rivenwood, in the depths of an off-the-grid prison unlike any other, the inmates were not your garden-variety criminals. Not even the hardened murderers found solace within these walls.

At present, this prison housed a mere trio of prisoners.

Flynn, Scott, and Fiona Ellington.

Fiona, though her body was a patchwork of decay, possessed sensory faculties that rivaled a healthy man in his prime. However, this heightened perception meant she also endured agonies far beyond the ken of ordinary humans.

Flynn, too, lived each day in excruciating pain, a modern-day Prometheus, his vitals ravaged daily, only to regenerate each dawn anew. This was Vivienne’s brand of retribution.

Scott, in contrast, seemed almost content. Free from the physical torment, his punishment was a Sisyphean task of endless paperwork. He accepted his fate with a disarming calmness, even pointing out errors for correction by his wardens from the Vanguard Agency.

Many said Scott was the quietest of the three.

Vivienne and Karen arrived to find Soren and Anna waiting at the gate.

“Ms. Vivienne, Ms. Karen,” Anna greeted as she adorned their wrists with security bands.

Back then, Vivienne was Percival’s wife, and Percival was the deputy. Thus, she had never needed such measures before, but times had changed.

Soren collected all their communication devices, casting curious glances at Karen. She gave him a playful warning, “Hotshot, any more staring, and you’ll be crossing a line.”

“My apologies, Captain,” Soren blurted a tad too quickly.

His curiosity stemmed from wondering why Percival respected Karen so much to call her master.

“Don’t call me Captain; I have no plans of returning to the Vanguard Agency,” Karen said with a smirk before stepping through the threshold.

too well Karen’s discomfort with the Agency’s rigid structure and protocol. Freedom was what Karen thrived on, and the Agency

gestured toward a cell

to the left, to a cell secured with a

head boss of CK, known as

nodded, but something about that cell made her skin crawl—a reluctance mingled with an

unease and offered, “Mom, do you want

back to reality. “No, let’s move

at Scott’s cell to find him making the most of his confinement by

seem to be enjoying

of GTO and had not been Belle’s stand-in, he and Karen might have been

Scott froze, his body tensing up. Without turning, he knew—it was her.

toward Karen were,

Karen probably did not care about that at all, and

old flame,

a seat. “Old friend,

eyes wide with disbelief. Approaching the bars that separated them, his hands shook as currents zapped from the metal. It hurt, but

was her. She was

times, but the electric barrier was a cruel reminder of the distance between them. His hand lingered before dropping to

her characteristic smile. “Looks like I’m doing

from his nerves. “Karen, have you been well all these

cracked, betraying

been fine, thanks for

Thousands of

in silence for a moment before Karen

down memory lane,” she said, “I actually wanted

sold to the GTO by the Brooks family. Once, this Vanguard Agency guy took a dozen of us, including me, from the base. I think his name