Page 10 of The Vampire and the Barista

“Sure. We were helping a friend with some issues he was having, and uncovered a secret, illegal underground network. We’re in the process of capturing those involved and closing it all down.”

“Wow. Are you working with the police? I’ve not heard anything on the news.”

“No, we’re working with different groups, though.”

Jamie was watching Ivan’s face and saw a strange look pass over it. “Um, Ivan, what kind of groups are you working with, like MI5 or something?”

Ivan drummed his fingers on the steering wheel for a moment and glanced at Jamie. He internally sighed. Jamie really was a handsome man, but what could he tell him?

“What?” Jamie asked. “You look like you’re trying to decide what to tell me.”

“I need petrol,” Ivan suddenly said, spying a petrol station just coming up. “I’ll tell you once we’ve stopped and we’re out of the car, that way if you want to run away, you can.”

“You’re totally a vampire or werewolf, aren’t you?” Jamie asked, grinning. “You should know, I won’t run away, like I said, I dreamt you were, hoped you were, I’m crossing my fingers and toes that you are.”

Ivan pulled up by an empty pump, turned off the engine and looked at Jamie. “Vampire.”

“Yes!” Jamie exclaimed with a fist punch.

“I’ve said it before, and I’ll say it again, humans are weird,” Ivan said, opening his car door.

“That’s rich coming from a vampire,” Jamie called as he exited the car.

Ivan laughed. “Go get some snacks, chances are your brother and sister will be hungry when we find them.”

“Do you want anything? Wait, can you eat normal stuff?”

“I can, I eat almost anything, not too fond of vegetables though,” he replied, opening the petrol cap and picking up the nozzle.

“I have so many questions.”

“I thought you might have. I will answer all your questions once we’re back in the car.”

“Okay, I’m going to look for food,” Jamie walked off towards the petrol station shop, throwing a grin over his shoulder, knowing Ivan was watching him.

Jamie entered the shop and looked at the sandwiches. He internally sighed. He couldn’t believe this dream had come true, and how weird was that? Things like that never happened to him, but Ivan was an honest-to-God vampire. Jamie realised he should be scared, and if he saw Ivan in a vampire form, blood dripping from his fangs that had been buried in someone’s neck, he probably would be, but at the moment, he was not even a little scared.

He brought his attention back to the sandwich selection, wondering what to get Karl and Kitty, when he realised he’d not got a reply from his brother. He would try and text Kitty, but she didn’t have a phone.

He glanced at his phone just as it started ringing with Karl’s number. “Hey,” he said on answering. “Are you both safe?”

“Jay,” his sister’s frightened voice said.

Jamie felt a thud in his solar plexus, his hand moving to cover it. “What’s wrong? Are you both safe?”

Kitty sniffed down the phone. “Dad came home early. He caught us as we left the house and dragged us back inside. Karl and Dad got into a massive argument, and he threw Karl into the hall wall.”

Jamie gasped. “Is Karl alright?”

“He’s not moving, and his head is bleeding. Jay, he won’t wake up. What if he’s dead?”

Jamie felt tears fill his eyes, but he had to be strong for his sister. “He’s not dead. He’s too stubborn to die.”

“How can you be so sure?” she asked, sniffing again.

Jamie had no idea what to say, so he replied with the first thing he could think of, “Because I’m awesome and know stuff.” Jamie dropped his head into his hand. Could he have said anything stupider?