Read Online Soul Protector by Amanda Leigh Cowley - Free Book Online Page A

that
difficult to find your way round the four tiny rooms.
    I was on such a high I found it
impossible to sit still. He came back, I grinned to myself,
listening to him opening and shutting cupboard doors. So much for
needing a rest, all the energy which had left me earlier was back
tenfold.
    I heard the kettle boil and a
short while later Dan appeared at my side holding two chipped mugs
of steaming coffee. He had taken off his stab vest, and I could see
his muscles outlined underneath his t-shirt and imagined running my
hands over the material. I blushed at the thought, hoping Dan
couldn’t read my mind. The effect he had on me was unnerving.
    As if he could sense my
discomfort, he broke the silence. “I assumed no sugar, seeing as
you don’t have any.”
    “Oh, yes... No. Err, you don’t
do you? Have sugar?” Oh God, I needed to get a grip. I was babbling
like a mad woman.
    He grinned and shook his head,
sitting down on the other side of the small two-seater. It was so
old and battered; the middle of it drooped so you couldn’t help
gravitating towards the person sitting next to you.
    Dan popped the mugs on the
coffee table, and leaned back. I turned to face him better, trying
to ignore the fact I was practically invading his personal space.
As I saw his long legs stretched out, an image of Gulliver popped
into my mind, the small furniture making him look out of proportion
to his surroundings.
    “So, what was this shout all
about then,” I asked, really hoping my heart would settle back into
its normal rhythm.”
    “It’s an ongoing job. There’s a
group of CSPs...”
    He must have seen my confused
expression.
    “... Corrupt Soul Protectors.
They’re all helping each other, so it’s easier for them to get by
without getting detected. We need to track them down and force them
to switch back. Each time we get a call they’ve been spotted, we
have to drop everything and get there fast.”
    “But it’s dodgy if they’ve been
switched a long time, right?”
    Dan nodded. “That’s why they
work so hard to avoid us; they know what will happen. We were so
close to getting one of them today.” He closed his eyes, and slowly
shook his head, before carrying on. “We gave chase for ages, but
somehow they managed to slip the net again. They always seem to get
lucky.”
    “Well, they need to be lucky
every time don’t they? You guys only need to be lucky once.”
    Dan gave a half-hearted
smile.
    “So when you do eventually
catch them, how will you get them to switch back?”
    I noticed his face cloud over,
and his brow became creased again.
    “There are ways…” he paused for
a second, struggling to find the right words. “…very effective
ways, but you probably don’t want to hear the details.”
    I bit my lip. Why wouldn’t
I?
    “Anyway, the big problem is
finding them. Other Soul Protectors are the only people who can see
the red auras, and as they have to be switched in the first place,
the chances of spotting CSPs are incredibly slim. If we could just
find out where they’re living...”
    I shuddered. I didn’t like to
think of Dan out there, hunting them down. I decided not to think
about it, so I buried my head in the sand and changed the
subject.
    “I need to say thank you, Dan,
for last night. You were great. If it wasn’t for you…”
    “Don’t,” he said, interrupting
me, “I was just doing my job. If I hadn’t got the call, another
monitor would have taken care of you.
    “Well it was you,” I could hear
the emotion crackling in my voice. “And you probably saved my
life.”
    He put down his mug and sat up
straighter. “Okay, I’ll admit I was worried about you. I’ve seen
Soul Protectors get to the dark orange stage before, but usually
they knew what they were doing. It’s lucky that SP called us when
he did, and we were in the area. If you’d stayed switched for
longer... I don’t like to think how it would’ve turned out.”
    I felt myself frowning. He’d
seemed so calm