The Million-Dollar Heart

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 ker 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.

and protocol. Freedom was what Karen thrived on, and the Agency was anything but. "Mom, this way," Vivienne gestured toward a cell

the left, to a cell secured with

of CK,

but something about that cell made her skin

Karen's unease and offered, "Mom, do you want

snapped back to reality.

arrived at Scott's cell to find him making the most of his confinement by exercising in a meticulously clean hundred-square-foot

enjoying

and had not been Belle's stand-in, he and Karen might have been good friends, like she was with Micah. They

Scott froze, his body tensing up. Without turning, he knew it was her.

a word. She could tell just how strong Scott's feelings toward Karen were, or he would not have gone easy on her

care about that at all, and neither would she appreciate

considered Karen's old flame, it was only polite to give

seat. "Old friend, long

wide with disbelief. Approaching the bars that separated them, his hands shook as currents zapped from the metal.

her. She

the electric barrier was a cruel reminder of the distance between them. His hand lingered before dropping to his

"Looks like I'm doing all

vanishing from his nerves. "Karen, have

cracked, betraying

nodded. "I've been

sadly, words failing him. Thousands of thoughts choked in

for a moment before