Free The Burning by Susan Squires

what? Stephan saw desire, purpose . . . avarice?
    “My daughters, Sincai.” Rubius waved his hand .
    Stephan could not help but register his surprise .
    “You thought I was sterile? I am the father to many of you, somewhere back in time.”
    Stephan wanted to shudder. What did one become after so many years of life?
    “What do you call yourselves these days, my dears?” Rubius asked the women. He turned confidentially to Stephan. “Women are always changing; names as well as dresses.”
    “Deirdre,” one said. She was taller than the others, and her face was long, just as her body was lean. Her breasts were small and her arms showed the muscle in them .
    “Freya,” the second said, a petite and lithe version of the first .
    “Estancia,” the shorter, third one intoned. She was plump like luscious, ripe fruit. But her eyes were that of a bird’s — inquisitive, callous .
    “This is Stephan Sincai. He will be your next student.” He turned to Stephan. “They can increase your power tenfold. It is the Hidden Way. Not even the monks here know it.”
    “What . . . what is this power, Eldest?”
    Rubius frowned. “I will tell you. Then you will ask no more until they are finished with you.”
    Stephan held his breath .
    Rubius fixed him with his ancient stare. There was something sly, calculating about him. Stephan quieted his heartbeat. All depended on his acceptance of this training. “The way to power is through suppression,” Rubius said at last. “We all have the power in us. It must be drawn out. Then if you suppress that energy, it increases in strength. Think of a volcano like that one in Sumatra in 536. What was it called? Krakatoa. The magma is suppressed by the lava cap until it explodes. You will learn to control and direct that power. You will become a powerful killing machine roaming the world, cleansing it of any who are made vampire.”
    Rubius must have seen his horror. The old man’s eyes narrowed. Behind him, his daughters exchanged sly looks. “Did you not say you longed to be with those who eradicated Asharti’s army?”
    “Yes, Eldest.” Stephan’s mind boiled. That was a specific task, horrible but limited. This seemed . . . like purgatory, indefinite, taking a continuous toll on his soul .
    Rubius again placed his hand on Stephan’s head. It was heavy. “Do you agree?”
    Stephan took a breath. This was his only chance to atone. If his penance seemed more onerous than he expected, that was only right. Had he secretly wanted to escape the full consequence of his failures? “I embrace it.”
    “Go then. Your training begins tonight.”
    Stephan rose. Two of the daughters drifted forward and each took one arm. Deirdre cocked her head and looked at him quizzically. Her eyes were flat and hard. She was the oldest. He could tell by her vibrations. They were pure and high, almost beyond feeling. That meant she was far more powerful than he was. “Your training will be rigorous,” she said. And she smiled. A ripple of fear trembled through him. But it did not matter. His was the crime. His soul was already tattered with it. He deserved whatever lay ahead. At this point he had one hope of salvation, and it lay beyond whatever these women had planned for him .
    They escorted him through the door. He did not look back. It shut behind him .
    Stephan pressed his temples with his thumbs. No good to think about it, unless to invoke his lessons. He knew his way. If that way was sometimes hard, it was no more than hedeserved. He felt the sun beating on the shutters. Sleep. He needed sleep before he rose and went in search of an estate agent. That did not mean that sleep would be soon in coming.
    Ann turned over in her bed, gasping. The dream still felt so real! She was drenched in it. Images, feelings, still trembled in the air around her. Her night shift clung to her damply.
    She had been in a dark place. She could only dimly make out the face above her. It was the face of her nameless