Free The Bloodline Cipher by Stephen Cole

Con? Perhaps there is hope for you.’ Heidel glanced at Patch. ‘It seems we both hold a trump card. But I shall resolve this standoff now by leaving with my colleagues – and the manuscript.’ He looked behind him at his followers. Bree nodded, and sauntered over to the window.
    â€˜Wait,’ said Con warningly, ‘we say what happens here.’
    â€˜Oh, let ’em go,’ Patch moaned. ‘Good riddance!’
    â€˜Yes, let them just leave,’ said Maya.
    â€˜We’ll meet again,’ said Bree, not bothering to look at them as she swung her legs out of the window. Sorin clambered out after her. Sadie didn’t move, staring Jonah out. She smiled, held up the priceless enamelled gold ring on her finger – then pointed an imaginary crossbow at his head and mimed pulling thetrigger. The glint in her eyes as she did so sent a chill piercing through him. He looked away, and only then did she follow the others out of the window.
    As she left, Con hurled herself at Heidel, grabbing for the manuscript in his hand. The old man blocked her strike with a sweep of his arm, knocking her off-balance. Before Jonah could react, Tye had darted forward to help – but now Heidel had hooked his other arm around Con’s neck, crushing his wrist against her windpipe.
    â€˜Let her go!’ Patch shouted, thrusting the glass eyeball towards him. ‘I mean it!’
    â€˜You’re as impotent as your master, boy,’ Heidel snarled, squeezing harder. Con’s face turned red, her eyes widened as she struggled for air. ‘Give Coldhardt this message,’ he hissed. ‘Time waits for no men, and I am the proof. The living proof of something he will never own.’ He backed away to the window, dragging Con along by her throat, then threw her flat on her face to the floor. She lay retching for breath, and as Jonah and Tye rushed to help her, Heidel scrambled through the window with surprising agility. He looked back, his face impassive. ‘I suspect Bree was right; we shall meet again. And when we do, no quarter will be shown.’
    â€˜Yeah,’ Jonah muttered as Heidel ran into the night. Con’s gasps for breath filled his ears. ‘You’re right about that.’
    â€˜Con …’ Patch stared down at her, his eyes shiny with tears. ‘Is she gonna be OK, Tye?’
    â€˜Slow down, Con, deep breaths,’ Tye urged her. ‘Hold your chin up, that’ll help keep your airway clear …’
    Over her straining and spluttering Jonah heard the roar of an engine starting up.
    â€˜No!’ Patch shouted, running to the window. ‘The bastards, they’re taking our pick-up!’
    â€˜I totalled their limo,’ Tye said helplessly.
    Jonah looked at her. ‘They’re going to leave us stranded?’
    â€˜They’ve pissed all over us. Half-killed us. Shafted us.’ Suddenly Patch pulled back his arm, making ready to throw the plastic explosive after Heidel. ‘Well, bugger ’em – and bugger that stupid bleedin’ manuscript!’
    â€˜No!’ Jonah shouted, staggering up and running for the window. He cannoned into Patch, too late to stop the throw, clocking in horror the eyeball’s glistening flight across Blackland’s drive. It fell well short of the pick-up, which was already pulling away.
    Instead it struck the bonnet of the smashed-in limousine outside.
    Jonah yanked Patch away from the window as a massive, scorching explosion of heat punched the window glass into thousands of tiny jagged shards. Each fragment reflected the blast in yellow-red as they rained into the room. Maya shrieked and Tye threw herself protectively over Con. The shadows of the flames danced exultantly over the bare walls of the study.
    â€˜You bloody idiot,’ Jonah shouted in Patch’s face. ‘That explosive was our only defence, our one deterrent. Now those psychos can come back and finish