The Guardian's Protector: The Chamber of Souls by Debbie Kowalczyk Read Free Book Online Page B

said, genuinely pleased. Amy’s eyes widened as she picked up her niece. Francesca caught Amy’s eye and gave her a tiny smile.
    ‘There look. Look everybody!’ Alicia shouted. ‘Did you see her? Did you see our daughter smile?’ She addressed the whole room.
    ‘Yes,’ Joan responded, although she wasn’t near enough to see.
    ‘Oh, I missed that one,’ Thomas said, blowing a raspberry at Tom.
    ‘Did you see?’ she said snootily to Luke.
    Luke spun to face her, his eyes burning with hatred. ‘I’m nowhere near…’ he began with a growl, but then shook his head like there was a fly in his eyes and his facial expression softened. ‘Err, no, sorry, I didn’t,’ he said with a suppressed tone.
    ‘Oh look, they’re smiling at each other!’ Amy cooed before Frank snapped at Luke. Her heart was thumping against her chest as she continued to watch Luke’s odd, fidgety mannerism.
    Alicia turned to Tom with a glare. Tom caught her eye and stopped smiling at once. He furrowed his brows as if considering her for a moment then burst into a fit of giggles. Alicia jumped back dramatically, her face hardening in irritation. The whole room, apart from Alicia and Luke, broke into laughter.
    As the day went on, Alicia continued to look at Tom as if he would bite, in the worst mood ever. As her blatant, adverse reaction bordered on extreme, Amy considered Winston’s comment about him not fitting into the norm.
    Amy could just about cope with strangers having mixed reactions, but if her own family could behave like this towards him, maybe Winston was right. She cursed herself for having the thought. She’d done nothing but think about how she could prove Adaizi wrong and about how she could get out of being controlled by them. She’d thought of quitting her job but gathered if Adaizi had meddled her way into buying the café, what would stop her doing the same at any other place she went?
    One other reason kept her from quitting: Jack. Whether she could tell him anything or not, she’d still have him there in case of emergency. Jack already suspected something wrong between Amy and Winston. Each time she visited, she couldn’t even look at Winston. If Jack put two and two together then so be it, she thought; that wouldn’t be “breaking the rules.”
    As everyone sat for dinner, Luke stood, forehead perspiring, staring at the door like he wanted to escape. His behaviour reminded Amy of a drug addict who needed a fix. Whatever his problem, wherever he wanted to go, it was plain to all he longed to be anywhere but here.
    ‘How did you lose your job then?’ Frank asked Luke, leaving only the sound of scraped cutlery ringing in the air.
    Luke stared into everyone’s prying eyes and looked lost for words. Frank looked at Amy. Amy shrugged; the only thing he’d told her was that it had been a misunderstanding. She was now as interested as everyone else.
    Luke sat in his seat. ‘They said I’d not been in for a few days here and there,’ he began, fingering his scruffy hair, ‘but they obviously made a mistake. Although they did show me the days I didn’t clock in and my workmates also said I’d not been in but I mean…where else could I have been?’
    Everyone looked at each other as if they’d now found the reason for the decline in his appearance and behaviour—insanity!
    ‘How should I know?’ Frank said, breaking the silence.
    ‘You got up and left the house every morning in your work clothes,’ Amy said, confused.
    ‘Exactly,’ Luke said. ‘So I must have been going in, mustn’t I?’
    ‘Has he got dementia now or what?’ Frank asked Amy. Luke sat with a blank expression, as if he had in fact lost his mind. ‘Have you not found another job then yet?’ Frank clicked his fingers in front of Luke.
    ‘No, I…I…’ Luke began, but stopped.
    ‘I…What? Have you been looking?’
    ‘Yes, I’ve been…’ Again he stopped.
    ‘Where?’ Frank shouted.
    ‘Err, I’ve been…’
    ‘Have you