Chapter Eight
The light from the fire flickered over Owen Freeman, the leader of the Akhana, etching deep into the lines on his face. He waved an unlit cigarette in the warm night air.
‘You’re our Phoenix, Sophia,’ he said. ‘You rose from your own ashes.’
‘I never asked what you meant by that,’ Sophia said.
The lines in Freeman’s face ran deeper. ‘You know what I mean.’
Sophia was shaking her head. ‘No. Tell me what it means,’ she said. ‘I need to know.’
Freeman’s face started to flake away before her, glowing like embers and turning to ash. Beneath the peeled face, a new one. Denton’s. His eyes burned into her.
‘You’re the lucky one,’ Denton said.
Sophia woke. Her body shuddered beneath the musty quilt. She gathered her breath and made for the bathroom. She intended to splash her
