Page 42 of Mercy Written in Blood

"There's no signature."

"Look at the language."

"I am."

"What about it?" Haruki asked.

Minamoto stepped closer at last.

"A vampire physician would describe blood differently."

"How?"

"As appetite. Strength. Memory. Lineage." He pointed towards the page. "This writer describes volume, temperature and reaction."

"That proves nothing."

"It proves training."

Takeda moved to the margin.

"There are annotations."

"Read them."

She did.

"Patient reports no recent feeding outside household supply. Brother unaffected. Human attendants show no symptoms."

Kameda looked up.

"Human attendants."

Haruki noticed the word too. Not servants. Not victims. Attendants.

Minamoto reached the table.

"Turn the page."

Kameda did not.

"You said preserve it."

"Turn it."

"If the binding resists—"

"Then stop. But turn it."

The page lifted more easily than the cover. The next entry was shorter. Takeda read in silence first. Her expression changed.

"What?" Haruki asked.

She looked at Minamoto. He understood before she spoke.

"It isn't written by a vampire," she said.

Haruki looked down at the page.