The Million-Dollar Heart by Rebecca Ryan

Barnaby chuckled, a hint of steely resolve behind his humor. “I choose to have the chip removed even if it means I have to be conscious during the process.”

No matter the pain, she refused to let someone else dictate the course of her life!

“The chip is currently lodged in your brain, and I’ll be performing the surgery with my mom. We’ll keep chatting with you throughout, and you’ll even hear and feel us poking around in your noggin, so brace yourself.”

It sounded simple enough, but only those who have been through it knew the agony was beyond any normal threshold of endurance.

It was akin to the trauma Arabella suffered after Brody and Vivienne had planted and then diffused a bomb inside her. The psychological scars were likely still unhealed.

Not that she had much time for healing.

Barnaby nodded in agreement. “Alright, let’s get on with it.”

Time was of the essence. The chip could travel through her bloodstream to any part of her body.

Noah had met his end when a similar chip had migrated near his heart. Barnaby was luckier; the chip was near her stomach when Karen intervened, sparing her life.

But now the chip had moved to his brain, and if F-Poison struck again, it would be too late.

Soon, Barnaby was wheeled back into the OR, with Karen and Vivienne scrubbing in together.

Throughout the procedure, Barnaby’s eyes remained open. She could feel the drill and other surgical instruments stirring inside her skull, each nerve echoing the whine of the drill, her glands vibrating with every movement.

The sensation was indescribable.

If she had to label it, ‘terrifying’ would be a vast understatement.

“When was this chip put in? Can it track our location?” Barnaby inquired, curious despite the circumstances.

“No idea, but it was after Belle was captured. Belle, Scott, Rowan, and Ismene don’t have chips, or they’d be dead by now,” Vivienne said, her gaze fixed on the screen displaying Barnaby’s brain scan.

Karen, manipulating the scalpel, added, “The chip can track and explode inside the body, undetectable even to the latest scanners. Think back to when you might have lost consciousness and had it implanted.”

said, “I can’t recall anything. Maybe we

possibility,” Karen agreed, nodding at the

we swallow a chip without noticing?” Vivienne

open another part of the skull and switched instruments to dig deeper. “The chip could dissolve upon entry and then slowly assemble its

engineer something similar. Imagine being able to track your little protégé’s

a device that pinpoints your pet’s location? We could even link it to the pet’s retina,

question to spark such a lucrative

quite the pair—money-minded through and

I see it!”

Vivienne successfully extracted

Barnaby slipped into

to be okay?”

needs some sleep, and my mom ensured she

Madam, thank you, former captain. I’m

only family left. After years apart, it was

waved off the thanks. “If you’re truly grateful, go do

tears, Caspian was eager. “Anything you

Soon, a satellite map appeared on the screen, dotted with numerous red

the map and handed it to Caspian. “Take

for Caspian. Those red dots were the whereabouts of every member of

“Yes, right away!”

a task; it was an opportunity to

in hand, Thomas, Leopold, Soren, and their squads arrested every marked individual, using a jamming device developed by Karen and Vivienne to block

kill them now, there was

at large,

Agency’s first major victory since the “Destruction Plan,” earning Thomas, Leopold, Soren, and even Anna medals

her medal at Daphne’s grave. After years, she

except for Percival and Vivienne, who could not quite muster

inside the Vanguard Agency seemed eliminated, F-Poison was still a serpent lurking in the shadows, its venomous fangs poised to strike anew. As long as F-Poison was at large, a

a fruit basket befitting a hospital visit, came