BLOODLINE OF GLASS AND VENOM

The silver blade caught Julian across the shoulder, tearing through his bespoke linen shirt and drawing a deep crimson line. He grunted, stumbling back against the steel rail of Clara's bed, but refused to go down.

Ross recovered instantly from the initial blow, stepping in behind Dr. Sterling. The detective drove his service weapon's grip hard into the doctor's temple. Sterling slumped limp onto the floor, the pneumatic syringe rolling harmlessly beneath the bedside table.

Julian was breathing raggedly, his hand clamped over his bleeding shoulder. In the dim emergency lighting, his face was pale, his dark eyes wide with shock and adrenaline. He looked down at the unconscious physician, then up at Clara.

""Sterling..."" Julian muttered, his voice trembling with disbelief. ""My mother sent him? She wouldn't... she couldn't.""

""Open your eyes, Julian,"" Clara said coldly, despite the tremors shaking her hands. ""Your mother didn't build an empire by letting inconvenient people survive. She silenced Marcus when he found the Cayman transfers, and she was ready to silence me and your child tonight.""

Julian flinched as if struck. ""Marcus died of heart failure. His autopsy was clean.""

""Because Sterling signed it!"" Clara snapped, pointing a trembling finger at the unconscious man at their feet. ""Search his coat, Ross. He never travels without his encrypted drive. That’s how he blackmails Eleanor to keep his position.""

Ross knelt, unzipping Sterling’s coat. From an inner pocket, he pulled a sleek titanium flash drive marked with the Vance seal.

Before Ross could inspect it, heavy security sirens wailed to life as the hospital’s primary generators kicked in, flooding the room with blinding fluorescent light. In the sudden glare, Julian stepped closer to Clara, his bloody fingers reaching toward her hand.