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.

the Agency’s rigid structure and protocol. Freedom was what Karen thrived

toward

Karen’s eyes were drawn to the left, to a cell secured with

Flynn’s cell, the former head boss of CK, known as

merely nodded, but something about that cell made her

unease and offered, “Mom, do

to reality. “No, let’s

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

to be enjoying yourself,” Karen remarked

and Karen might have been good friends, like she was with Micah. They shared an unspoken understanding that

her. But he could not bring himself to look, fearing the disappointment

feelings toward Karen were,

that at all, and

be considered Karen’s old flame, it was

a seat. “Old friend, long time

the bars that separated them, his hands

was her.

touch her face like old times, but the electric

characteristic smile. “Looks like

the current vanishing from his nerves. “Karen, have you been well all

cracked,

nodded. “I’ve been fine, thanks

Thousands of thoughts

silence for a moment before Karen spoke up

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

snapped back to the present. “Noah? The name rings a bell. Back in the day, I got sold to the GTO by the Brooks family. Once, this Vanguard Agency guy took a dozen of