Page 313 of Mercy Written in Blood

"Where?"

"You brought him."

His head turned enough for one eye to find Renji. Rainwater had tracked across the floor beneath the loading door. The man's blood entered it, red thinning to pink.

"Doctor Takahara," he said. His smile widened. "You opened it."

Renji became still. Haruki pressed the man's injured shoulder. He gasped.

"What do you know about the Archive?" Haruki asked.

"Enough."

"Where are the hostages?"

"Waiting."

A metallic crash sounded deeper inside. Then gunfire. Three shots. Ken shouted from the southern side. Haruki moved immediately. One Ishida man restrained the wounded Unveiled member. Haruki ran towards the centre of the building. Renji followed.

The first body lay behind a road sweeper. An Ishida guard. Shot through the throat. His blood spread beneath him in a bright, impossible quantity. Renji dropped beside him. No pulse. No time.

Haruki looked once. His face hardened. Then he continued.

The hostages were inside a fenced equipment bay at the back of the depot. Six people kneeling with their hands bound. Ryota among them. Two armed men stood behind the gate. A third held a detonator. Wires ran from it towards metal cylinders fixed around the bay. Not explosives. Renji smelled silver nitrate. Aerosol dispersal canisters. Designed for vampires.

The man holding the detonator smiled when he saw Renji.

"There he is."

Haruki raised his weapon.

"Let them go."

The man looked at him with mild interest.

"Haruki Ishida."

"Put it down."

"You still think this is a hostage exchange."

"I didn't say exchange."

"No. You brought soldiers."

"You brought civilians."

"They volunteered."

Ryota looked up.

"No," he said.

The man behind him struck the side of his head with the pistol. Renji moved. Haruki's arm blocked him. Small. Firm.Wait.

The man with the detonator watched the contact.

"They told us Sota wanted patience," he said. "Controlled disclosure. Meetings. Evidence. As though truth requires permission from the people who buried it."