The Bonding Ritual (Girls Wearing Black: Book Four) Read online

  Or rather, what was left of it.

  It was a strange, almost surreal vision to behold, and Sergio’s first response was to wonder if he had come to the wrong place. Surely this pile of smoldering rubble wasn’t Renata’s house, was it?

  He stepped into the mess, kicking aside beams of charred wood and tangles of electrical wire. Not a single room of the main home was left standing. Even the natural break points in the house, like the western wing, which had three walls made of brick, were charred and crushed.

  This fire was no accident. There were entirely too many safeguards in Renata’s home for an electrical mishap or bit of unattended cooking to bring the whole place down. Fire extinguishers built into the wall, a sprinkler system that hung over the ballroom, a team of slaves who were trained to sacrifice their own lives before letting something like this happen to their master’s house.

  No, something quite deliberate happened here. The broken pipes in what had once been the kitchen should have been spraying water everywhere, but there wasn’t even a dribble, like someone had shut off the main water valve to the home, ensuring the sprinkler system couldn’t activate. The steel fire doors should have closed automatically to seal off the house, but they lay on their backs with the rest of the debris, like someone pulled them out before the house burned. As he neared the utility room, Sergio found a fire hose on the ground, still curled up in its box. He found fire extinguishers in the remains of the kitchen, the pins still in their handles.

  He smelled gasoline.

  Someone had set this house ablaze and watched it burn. As he kicked around in the rubble, thinking about who could have done this, Sergio became certain that there was one, and only one culprit for this mess.

  Renata had decided to flee. To make certain there was no evidence left behind of her crimes against the clan, she disposed of her slaves and burned down her house.

  Yes, the more he thought about it, the more it made sense. It was just like Renata to do this. A dramatic exit, thumbing her nose at the clan as she left.

  She disappeared in a puff of smoke, he thought, remembering the shrill little redhead Renata had been as a human. President of the drama club, captain of the debate team, a young spitfire determined to make her mark on Washington—from the very beginning, Renata Sullivan was headed for a fiery end.

  Now she’s fled into the night, destroying anything and everything that might help us find her.

  He pulled a phone from his jacket pocket and called Daciana.

  “What did you find?” Daciana asked.

  “She’s gone,” said Sergio. “Renata has fled.”

  “Interesting. I suppose I should expect her to arrive at Falkon’s mansion soon. I will be sure to give her a proper greeting when I see her.”

  “It may be more complicated than we originally thought,” Sergio said. “Before she left, Renata took steps to make sure no evidence of her misdeeds could be recovered.”

  “What do you mean?”

  “She burned down her mansion. I am standing in front of it now. There is nothing left.”

  Silence on the other end. Sergio could sense Daciana seething.

  “The betrayal,” she whispered, finally. “I gave her that house! Her betrayal was so complete!”

  Sergio pushed aside another beam, kicking up a cloud of dust. It looked to him like there had been no response from the fire department. This house had burned down to ash, and nothing was even remotely wet. There were no sirens or flashing lights anywhere. No people within miles of the scene. Renata’s mansion was removed from town, sitting alone among acres of forest, but it was close enough to Potomac that people would have seen the smoke.

  The humans just let it burn.

  Sergio rubbed his fingers together, spreading black ash between them. Such is the life of an immortal, he thought. We humor ourselves, thinking we are part of society, but we are not. The humans do what we tell them to do. No one was ordered to put out the fire at an immortal’s mansion, so no one did.

  “We will learn the truth in time,” Daciana continued. “Oh, I do hope I will see her soon!”

  “What if she doesn’t come?” Sergio said. “Something drove her to flee. What if she knows you’re alive? How long will you wait? The others in the clan are certain to have questions.”

  “We will tell the others I am alive,” Daciana said.

  “Are you sure? For all we know, Renata might still have ears in the clan.”

  “Then let them listen! Let them know that I am coming for Renata and anyone else who was a part of this. Let them know they have my attention and I will show no mercy!”

  “You wish for me to speak with the others? You want me to tell them you are okay?”

  “I know you don’t have relationships with many of our brothers and sisters in the clan, Sergio, but yes, I will need you to be my voice until I return.”

  “What should I say? To whom should I say it?”

  “Start with Laura Heidegger.”

  “Oh, okay.”

  The name caught him off-guard. Laura Heidegger was the newest member of the clan, having just won Coronation the year before.

  “Other than you, I’m not certain who I can trust right now,” said Daciana, “but I know that Laura is innocent. Renata’s betrayal began long before Laura was even in the clan. Start with her. Tell her everything, and ask her to help you spread the word that I am alive and well, and will be coming back soon. Tell her…tell her I want to have a party at my house.”

  “A party?”

  “I’ve been away for a long time. It would be appropriate for me to make some sort of grand return, don’t you think?”

  “Yes, I suppose that’s how these things are done.”

  “I want to see everyone at once,” Daciana said. “I want to look all our brothers and sisters in the eye and judge their loyalty to me.”

  Sergio heard something in the surrounding woods. Footsteps.

  “I must say goodbye. I fear I am no longer alone.”

  He ended the call with Daciana, then stood in place for a second, listening. He heard breathing, and a heartbeat.

  “Show yourself,” he said quietly.

  Light footsteps sounded in the surrounding woods, far too quick to be a human.

  “Sergio, it’s me,” came a male voice. He had heard this voice before—another member of the clan—someone Sergio had spoken with not that long ago. The vampire, whoever he was, leapt over a pile of fallen timber and landed ten feet from Sergio, stirring up a pile of soot with his landing.

  Now, seeing his face, Sergio remembered. This vampire, who was slight of stature and looked fearful at the moment, was named Mark. He was bonded to Bernadette Paiz.

  “What are you doing here?” Sergio said.

  Mark had a crazed look in his eyes. Sergio knew that look well. He had seen it on Daciana six times over the centuries. It was the look of a vampire whose bond had broken.

  “I…I came to see…Renata and I have unfinished…where is…what is all this?”

  Sergio sighed and shook his head. Mark’s arrival was a new wrinkle in an already complicated situation.

  “Renata has betrayed the clan,” Sergio said. “It would appear she has fled.”

  Mark stood in place, staring into the distance. He was making Sergio nervous.

  “Yes, that’s right…betrayed the clan,” Mark said. “That’s why I’m here. Renata is a traitor.”

  “You knew of Renata’s betrayal?” Sergio asked.

  Mark turned to him with a look of panic in his eyes.

  “It wasn’t us, Sergio! We were innocent. She was trying to help.”

  “Who? What are you talking about?”

  “Bernadette,” Mark moaned. “Oh my God, Bernadette! My sweet, sweet Bernadette!” He fell to his knees, kicking up a cloud of ash. “She was only trying to help, Sergio. All this time, Bernadette swore that Renata was up to no good. And she was right!”

  “What are you saying to me? What’s happened to Bernad
ette?”

  “They killed her, Sergio,” Mark whimpered. His voice was shaking. He was going to cry. “I came here tonight for answers. But we’re too late, aren’t we? Renata’s gotten away, hasn’t she?”

  “Slow down,” Sergio said. “Who killed Bernadette?”

  “Renata!” Mark shrieked. “It has to be Renata! The humans couldn’t have done it on their own, could they?”

  “What humans?” Sergio asked.

  Ignoring him, Mark swept a nearby beam aside with his arm, causing a cascade of falling debris all around.

  “I will kill them!” he shrieked. “I will find them and kill them all!”

  “Who? Who are you talking about?”

  “It’s all coming apart!” Mark yelled. “Our enemies sense weakness in the clan. They are all attacking at once, and Renata was a part of it! She betrayed the clan! She was working with the Network!”

  “The Network? You mean the humans?”

  “Yes, the Network!” Mark shouted. “They infiltrated Thorndike. A massive conspiracy. The Network came to Thorndike to kill you, Sergio. Bernadette got one of them to talk. We were going to tell you about it, I swear. I told Bernadette you were the only one we knew we could trust. But Bernadette wanted to learn the whole story first. We never figured all of it out! Renata, the humans--”

  “The humans are trying to kill me?” Sergio said, suppressing a smile. The notion that a group of humans thought they could kill him was laughable.

  “It began the night of the Date Auction,” Mark said. “Bernadette got a phone call from Melissa, who was at a mansion in Bethesda. You know this new girl at Thorndike? Nicky Bloom?”

  Sergio felt his whole body go on alert at the mention of Nicky’s name.

  “Yes. I know who she is,” he said.

  “Well, that night, Melissa was at Nicky Bloom’s house.”

  Sergio stepped closer to Mark. “Go on,” he said.

  “I don’t know what happened at the Bloom house,” Mark said. “All I know is that Melissa called Bernadette and said there was a conspiracy afoot and the Bloom family was guilty.”

  “Interesting,” said Sergio. “You know, I haven’t seen Melissa in weeks.”

  “That’s because Renata killed her!” Mark shouted. “When Bernadette arrived at the Bloom house that night, she found Melissa’s body in a van and Renata’s slaves were cleaning out the place!”

  “You said this was the night of the Date Auction?”

  “Yes.”

  “And then Nicky was kidnapped,” said Sergio, his mind racing with possibilities.

  “Yes, Renata chose the Bloom girl for the Rose Ransom,” said Mark. “It can’t be a coincidence!”

  “No, it most certainly can’t.”

  “That’s why Bernadette started investigating,” said Mark. “She interrogated Nicky’s friends. One of them—here, this one!”

  Mark reached into his jacket pocket and pulled out a crumpled piece of glossy paper. He flattened it out in his hands. It looked like a page torn out of a picturebook.

  “It’s this girl,” he said, pointing to a picture on the bottom of the page. “Jill Wentworth.”

  Sergio grabbed the paper. They were looking at a page from the Thorndike school yearbook. A grid of student pictures, with a table of names on the side. Mark had circled Jill Wentworth’s picture in black marker.

  “Bernadette went to Jill Wentworth’s house and made her talk,” he said. “And boy did she ever have a lot to say! Sergio, you won’t believe—we were going to tell you—I knew we should have told you right away! I knew this was bigger than Bernadette could do on her own!”

  “I am here now,” Sergio said. “Start at the beginning and tell me everything.”

  For twenty minutes, Sergio listened while Mark spoke of a conspiracy by the Network to infiltrate Thorndike and win the Coronation contest. It was an amazing story, and with every word, Sergio found himself growing more and more fascinated with Nicky Bloom.

  “She lives in a giant vampire trap,” Mark said. “The humans put Nicky here to lure you into her house so they could kill you. This Jill Wentworth—she is skilled at computers. Bernadette commanded her to hack into Renata’s phone so we could learn the truth. For months we thought that’s what Jill was trying to do. But on the night she claimed to have finally broken through, Bernadette…”

  Mark trailed off, squeezing tears back in his eyes.

  “They killed her,” Sergio said, a feeling of disappointment coming over him. He had always liked Bernadette. She had spunk. She was one of his favorites.

  “Bernadette went to the Wentworth house and never came back!” Mark cried. “I knew it the moment she died! The feeling was instant, like I had been ripped in half.”

  Mark turned away, about to lose control again. Sergio found himself taking pity on the poor fellow. To feel so connected to another and then have that taken away—never before had Sergio understood the significance of it all. To be bonded to another, to share your life with another, and have it end…

  Somehow, tonight, he felt like he was finally starting to get it.

  “It’s quite a story, Mark.”

  “Renata has to be involved,” Mark said. “I mean, they killed Bernadette! Humans couldn’t have done that without a vampire’s help, right?”

  Sergio nodded his head, thinking. At first, the notion of a group of high school kids trying to take out a member of the clan sounded ridiculous. But now that he knew Nicky Bloom was involved, he wondered.

  He thought about how impressive she was. He thought about her mind, how he couldn’t control it.

  How he didn’t even want to try.

  “You say the Wentworth girl, Jill, that’s her name right?” Sergio said.

  “Yes.”

  “She was the one who was spying on Renata?”

  Sergio looked again at the yearbook picture. Jill Wentworth. He would have to get to know this girl.

  “That’s what Bernadette had her doing,” Mark said. “Bernadette said Jill was brilliant with computers, that she had already hacked into many of the clan’s most secure computer systems, including the Thorndike Admissions database. That’s how Nicky got the open space in the senior class.”

  “And then Jill claimed she hacked into Renata’s phone,” Sergio said.

  “That’s correct. That’s why Bernadette went to see her. That’s how they lured my love into their trap and killed her.”

  “But you think Renata was involved in Bernadette’s death?”

  “She has to be! There must be some double-cross. A group of humans couldn’t kill Bernadette. It just isn’t possible!”

  Sergio thought about when he found Nicky. She was a prisoner. So was her friend, the Jenson boy. He thought about his conversation with Falkon before they fought. There was no way Nicky was aligned with Falkon. No way she was aligned with Renata either.

  Then he saw himself lying on his back in Falkon’s lab, looking up at Nicky Bloom, who could have killed him then and there if she truly wanted to.

  “We should not underestimate these people,” Sergio said. “Come on. We will examine the remains of Renata’s house. Perhaps we will find some answers in this mess.”

  Sergio grabbed a charred beam of wood and threw it aside. Then another, and another. Mark began to help. Together, they began clearing a path through the rubble.

  Soft, blackened wood, gnarled, half-melted copper wire loosely wound on bended rebar, charred cement, fallen brick, broken glass, silverware, pots and pans, burned appliances, skeletal remains of furniture, a brick wall standing solid, a dozen chimneys of all shapes and sizes, some made of stone, others of iron. For hours they dug through it all. Sergio was close to giving up when they found her.

  A severed head, buried in the rubble, its body a few yards away. Both head and body were cooked down to the bone. Sergio held up the skull and examined it in the moonlight.

  “No,” Mark whispered. “It can’t be.”

  “Fangs out,” Sergio said,
touching his fingertip to one of the canines that was extended and exposed. “I’m sure that’s how she would have wanted to die.”

  A length of spinal cord hung from the skull. Sergio ran his fingers along the bottom.

  “Cut smooth,” he said. “Renata was not killed by someone in the clan. A vampire would have made the kill with hands and teeth. This head was chopped off with a tool.”

  “A tool?”

  “It had to be a sizable blade,” Sergio said, feeling the sharp line on the end of the broken spinal column.

  They found the knife a few minutes later. It was buried in a tangle of melted wire. Certainly big enough to do the job, but not so large that one would expect it to have made such a clean cut.

  “My friend, these humans are the real deal,” Sergio said. “Whoever killed Renata Sullivan was freakishly strong.”

  Mark leaned back against a pile of brick.

  “What does this mean?” he said. “What are we going to do?”

  The Network. Until now, Sergio had never given the group of rebellious humans any mind. Delusional martyrs not worthy of anyone’s time—that’s what the Network was to the clan.

  Now he had a whole new respect for them. Melissa was dead. Bernadette was dead. Renata was dead and her mansion was in ruins.

  Nicky Bloom had infiltrated Thorndike and aimed to lure Sergio into a giant vampire trap.

  “I need to ask you something,” Sergio said.

  “Okay.”

  “It’s about Bernadette. About you and Bernadette.”

  “Sergio, I can prove we are innocent. We always had the clan’s best interests in mind.”

  “Yes, yes, I believe you,” said Sergio. “My question is about your bond with Bernadette.”

  Mark’s face darkened at the reminder of what he had lost.

  “How did it begin?” Sergio asked.

  “Excuse me?”

  “I asked you how your bond began. What did you feel when it happened?”

  Mark hesitated, then said, “It was the most intense feeling of my life.”

  “Did it happen right away, or over time?”

  “Sergio, why are you--”

  “Just answer the question!”

  Mark stepped back. A sheepish look on his face, he said, “I knew Bernadette before you made her immortal. Our parents were friends. We spent a summer together at Lake Tooley. We had a…”