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?"

about Vivienne but unable to pinpoint

had been activated before Vivienne's arrival, and now, all that was left was to repair the Millennia Shield

interference, Abigail had surrounded the ritual circle with her army of gifted individuals, tasked solely with ensuring the ritual's completion and, if necessary, sacrificing their own abilities to mend the

they made no move against

This was Abigail's design.

wanted Vivienne to witness her children being used as sacrificial offerings, their powers

charging into the circle or displaying

Vivienne's calm demeanor

and the repaired artifact

confusion; the ritual

She couldn't believe it.

ominously auspicious conditions absorbing vast energies from Vivienne and

towards

her fingers could touch their hearts, the twins let out a cry

searched for Vivienne but found she had vanished, with only the storm

its demands unmet, and a bolt of

were being consumed by the ritual, intended to correct its

survival depended on her abilities, Abigail desperately sacrificed her army to the ritual's

the non-human soldiers, leaving

pulverized by unseen forces, her powers

dark mists began to clear, Vivienne reappeared, stepping forward to confront Abigail, now a

at yourself, Madeleine Hernandez, the lone survivor of the Hernandez

turned to the mirror in disbelief, only to

had once been her face, "Impossible... This isn't me... How could I become this... This