Page 338 of Mercy Written in Blood

"You killed people at the depot."

"Yes."

Fear moved through her face. Renji did not deny what she had seen or heard.

"Are you going to kill us?"

"No."

"Why?"

"Because you are not presently harming anyone."

The simplicity unsettled her. She looked towards the dead Shibata leader.

"And if we refuse to leave?"

"You may remain until Riku and his mother are safely moved."

Mori came down the final steps.

"To Accord custody."

"No," the student said. The mother recoiled inside the van.

Renji looked at Mori. The argument from the Commander's office returned. Bring them to the Accord. They are not evidence. They are not a key you get to store. Haruki had been right. Renji had understood the Accord's position because institutions offered the comfort of capacity. Protection. Resources. Containment. Haruki had seen the cost more clearly.

Riku watched him. A child surrounded by adults deciding what should happen to his blood.

Renji faced Mori.

"They will not enter Accord custody."

The Commander's jaw tightened.

"You cannot protect them alone."

"No."

"Then where will they go?"

Renji looked towards the Unveiled student. She understood before he spoke.

"No faction," he said. "Not yours. Not hers. Not Sota's."

"That is not a plan."

"It is the beginning of one."

Mori stepped closer.

"The Casino can be secured."

The Casino. Haruki's territory. Ishida ground. Neutral only in theory. Built above old agreements between humans and vampires, protected by a Family neither Accord nor bloodline could command easily.

Renji felt the battlefield shifting before the decision was complete. The hospital could not hold. The estate had been compromised. The Accord headquarters would become a prison. The Unveiled had fractured. The Casino remained the one place with human authority, vampire protections and enough visibility that disappearance would be difficult.

Haruki would have chosen it.