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 ingested it

Karen agreed, nodding

we swallow a chip without noticing?” Vivienne questioned,

and switched instruments to dig deeper. “The chip could dissolve upon entry and then slowly assemble its particles inside the

lead. We should engineer something similar. Imagine being able to track your little protégé’s runaway

it to the pet’s retina, offering a pet’s-eye view of

her casual question to spark such a lucrative brainstorm between mother

quite the pair—money-minded

see it!”

Karen and Vivienne successfully extracted the chip

slipped

going to be

fine. She just needs some sleep, and my mom ensured she won’t remember any of the surgery to prevent any

you, former captain. I’m in your debt,” Caspian

was his only family left. After years apart, it was only

waved off the thanks. “If you’re

his tears, Caspian was eager. “Anything

Karen had connected the chip to Vivienne’s laptop, fingers flying across the keyboard. Soon, a satellite map appeared on the screen, dotted with numerous

the map and handed it to Caspian. “Take this to your commander. It’s time to dismantle

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

“Yes, right away!”

a task; it was

hand, Thomas, Leopold, Soren, and their squads arrested every marked individual, using

other words, even if F-Poison wanted to kill them now, there was no way to

at

major victory since the “Destruction Plan,” earning Thomas, Leopold,

years, she could finally give

for Percival and Vivienne, who could

was still a serpent lurking in the shadows, its venomous fangs poised to

had awoken, and Vivienne, toting a fruit basket befitting a hospital visit, came to