The Million-Dollar Heart by Rebecca Ryan

The butler lay on the ground, a victim of a vicious attack.

Someone had been here.

They had taken her children!

Vivienne followed the scent trail outside with urgency. She had sprinkled her children with a special blend of spices, leaving a trace wherever they passed. The trail ended at the base of an old hill.

This was the same place where Abigail had set up her ritual circle years ago, inviting Vivienne and Mr. Wolf into its snare.

Now, Abigail stood at the center, holding fragments of the ancient artifact known as the Millennia Aegis, chanting incantations that seemed to belong to another world.

The ritual was ready, with Vivienne's twin children placed at the very heart of it, lying on a crimson cloth.

Silent and observant, they watched everything around them without a fuss.

Sensing Vivienne's approach, Abigail's lips curled into a triumphant smile. "You really thought I needed your heart to complete my plans, but alas..."

Her gaze fell upon the two children, a boy and a girl, and she laughed, "My true goal was always them!"

"Twins are naturally aligned with darker forces, and now, with the ritual, not only will I achieve immortality, but I will also gain the power to obliterate anything in my path. From this moment forth, none shall stand against me. I, Abigail, will reign supreme over this realm." "After all, you should be thanking your children. Were it not for them, you would be the one lying here."

"You plan to use my children as conduits for this power without my consent?" Vivienne's icy stare bore into the madness that had overtaken Abigail, her eyes simmering with danger.

"You?" Abigail scoffed. "Once I possess this power, you'll be nothing but an ant to me. I can snuff your life out in an instant."

Vivienne simply gave her a meaningful look, her tone cool, "Is that so?"

frowned, sensing something off about Vivienne but unable

no longer cared. The ritual had been activated before Vivienne's arrival, and now, all that was

solely with ensuring the ritual's completion and, if necessary, sacrificing their own abilities to mend the ancient

no move against

This was Abigail's design.

her children being used as sacrificial offerings,

of charging into the

the ritual, Vivienne's calm demeanor only grew more

ritual neared its climax and the repaired artifact began

confusion;

She couldn't believe it.

ominously auspicious conditions absorbing vast energies from Vivienne and supposed to be brimming with

towards the children to verify their power

their hearts, the twins let

furious and bewildered, searched for Vivienne but found she had vanished, with only the storm of the

and a bolt of lightning forced a scream and blood from

powers were being consumed by the ritual, intended to correct its

her army to the ritual's vortex, hoping to satiate its hunger. But it

of the non-human soldiers, leaving Abigail weakened and

backlash was swift; Abigail's body was pulverized by unseen forces, her powers and life

the ritual's dark mists began to clear, Vivienne reappeared, stepping forward to confront Abigail, now a

her a mirror, Vivienne spoke, "Take a good look at yourself, Madeleine Hernandez, the lone survivor of

so long, Abigail turned to the mirror in

horror, she covered what had once been her face, "Impossible... This isn't me... How could I become this... This isn't my face..." "I was meant to be