Page 16 of The Vampire and the Barista

CHAPTER 6

“I’ve texted Thomaz to see if he’ll come and make some food, so who’s hungry?” Dave asked.

“We could eat,” Cairo said.

Thomaz and Annie hurried into the kitchen.

“And we will make you all something to eat,” Annie said, looking at the group. “Have a seat at the table. Thankfully, I made some quiches earlier. You can start with them.”

“Annie, you’re the best,” Troy said, kissing her cheek.

“Get away with you,” Annie replied, laughing.

“I’m so confused,” Kitty said, looking around.

Ivan looked at her. “Pretty much all of us live here. That man there,” he said, pointing at David, “Is our boss and coven leader.”

“Coven, as in witches?” she asked.

“Vampires,” Ivan told her.

“Dracula is real?” Karl asked. “Awesome. Jamie used to read us stories about vampires and werewolves when we were younger.”

“No, Dracula’s not. But we are vampires, Bert here is a wolf shifter, as are Kevin and Ian. Troy is a cat shifter,” David told them.

Jamie looked at Dave and Max. “What are you two?”

“Pesky lowly humans,” Dave replied with a huff. “We’ve formed our own support group with Hunter and Taha. You can join as well.”

“Before that, though. Boys, sit down, food is ready,” Annie tells them, as she brought out plates of food to the table, and Thomaz brought more.

Dave got plates and put them out as everyone sat down and sorted out drinks. “While you sit there, let me properly introduce you to everyone here,” Dave said. “This is David D’Angelo, my mate. This is his coven. Next to him is Seth, David’s second in command. Gio here is his mate and David’s brother, and head of David’s personal guards. Cairo is a vampire as well. His mate, Troy, is a cat shifter and a fierce mercenary. Mathis and Gabe are next. Mathis is a vampire, and Gabe, as you saw, is a witch. He is head of the Southern Witches, meaning he’s a really strong witch. Bert is next to Max and is the King of the Werewolves. Finally, this is my mum Annie, and Thomaz, who is also a vampire.”

“I’m still confused,” Kitty said, sitting next to Ivan and looking around.

“About what?” Jamie asked her.

“Everything. Why did Mum use a broom to hit me and break my arm? Why did Dad throw Karl into the wall? Jay, how do you know vampires?”

Jamie sat on her other side and touched her arm. “I’ve no idea what came over the parents. You both told me the parents didn’t physically hurt you, and as for knowing vampires, I didn’t until earlier tonight, well, I mean, I knew Ivan and have seen some of the others before at the library, but I didn’t know they were vampires.”

“It’s only been the past few weeks that they’ve started getting physical. Mum lost her job due to her drinking and is in a permanent drunken rage. Dad is just angry at everything, started drinking more, and decided just being verbally abusive wasn’t enough,” Karl replied. “He only hit me, though, not Kitty.”

“That’s still bad enough,” Jamie replied.

“You need to stay here,” Jack said, walking into the room and looking at David, while he stood between Seth and Gio. “They’ll be safe here.”

“They do, and they will be,” David agreed, smiling at his new nephew.

“We’ve rooms made up for you,” Dave said. “But if you’d rather not stay here, you can stay in my house. It’s two bedrooms, but it has a decent sofa.”

“And our parents can’t get us here?” Kitty enquired.

“No, we have security around the estate, plus guards outside. You will be perfectly safe here,” David assured her.

Kitty leant into Ivan’s side and looked at Jamie. “Can we stay here?”

Jamie nodded. “Thank you, we’ll happily take you up on your offer. I need them safe.”