Free The Bonding Ritual (Girls Wearing Black: Book Four) by Spencer Baum Page B

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