The Guardian's Protector: The Chamber of Souls Read Free Page A

you!’
    Amy began to panic. ‘Shouldn’t I have two midwives?’ Amy said, now trying to locate anyone passing by the door, hoping another would naturally come now the lights had been restored, or that Luke would burst through at any moment.
    ‘It’s time to push, beautiful,’ Adaizi said, looking at the clock, which was approaching midnight. ‘We need him out before midnight!’
    ‘What?’ Amy said confusedly but, no sooner had she said it, a surge of adrenaline shot through her body and she felt an overwhelming sensation to push. Her heart pounding against her chest, she now knew for sure Luke would miss the birth.
    ‘Doing great,’ Adaizi said as Amy pushed, positioning her hands to support the head. Amy felt a warm, drawing sensation, as if Adaizi’s hands were aiding her efforts. As the head began to materialize and Amy pushed harder, she realised there was still no pain. Although it took effort, her lungs were the only part of her body that felt any strain. The feeling of giving birth was akin to relief; just an everyday occurrence for the human body. The expansion felt natural.
    As the baby’s head appeared, a burst of silvery light illuminated the whole room and soared through the tiny window in the door, brightening the corridor, and the large window to her right, piercing the inky darkness. In accompaniment to the light, a low, humming noise began to rattle the pipes of the building like they were about to explode.
    Adaizi ducked down, her dreadlocks spinning in both directions as she tried to locate the noise. Amy, wanting to scream at Adaizi to protect her child, could only wheeze something incoherent. Then an immense, white flash shot back in from outside and, with its force, rattled the window frame.
    Supporting the baby’s head, Adaizi huddled herself over Amy’s legs as a form of shelter while the surge and light intensified. Both women tensed up and squeezed their eyes closed. The noise now causing her eardrums to ache, overwhelming dread rushed through Amy as she prepared for some kind of explosion. She believed in those seconds her life, and her child’s, would end but, as the baby took its first breath, the light faded, the noise stopped dead, and electricity was restored.
    Amy howled with panic, her eyes scanning the room.
    ‘Look here!’ Adaizi said, wrapping the baby in a blanket and placing it in Amy’s shaking arms. ‘Look at your boy!’
    ‘A boy, wow. Is he…okay?’
    ‘Perfect!’ Adaizi claimed, in a matter-of-fact tone.
    As Amy held him, a wonderful rush of emotion flooded through her like nothing she’d ever felt. He furrowed his eyebrows and gently blinked, looking all around as if confused to where he was, and she fell in love. He then closed his eyes for a moment, which seemed to relax his brows, and Amy stroked his smooth and luminous complexion. Then, like he’d been woken with a fright, his intense grey eyes snapped open, and held her gaze so dramatically, it almost looked like he was trying to peer into the very depths of her soul. Amy’s eyebrows furrowed in confusion.
    ‘He looks just like his beautiful mother,’ Adaizi said. He did look like her, yet she didn’t consider herself stunning. Her eyes were even the same bright grey as the ones staring back at her, studying her, but she shied away from compliments. ‘What will you call this wonderful boy?’ Adaizi queried, as if nothing at all had happened.
    ‘Tom, after my dad, Thomas,’ Amy said proudly, her hands still shaking as she stroked his forehead. Tom’s bright eyes sparkled astoundingly and he gave her a huge, beaming smile. Amy gasped. Her heart began to race. It startled her completely. ‘Is this…normal?’ Amy asked, knowing it wasn’t.
    Adaizi smiled for a moment, like she pitied her. ‘Hmm, Tom,’ Adaizi said contemplatively. ‘I think he likes that.’
    Amy looked back at Tom, thunderstruck. She couldn’t believe his expression. He did look…pleased! ‘Adaizi,’ Amy pressed,