Page 3 of The Vampire and the Barista

Max nodded. “I handed my notice in this morning. Sorry.”

“Looks like the three of us will be leaving then. What are you going to do?”

“Dave’s boyfriend has a massive private library with one-of-a-kind books, manuscripts, you name it, it has it. But there is no organisation to it. We’ll both be working there, bringing order to the chaos and preserving everything.”

“The dream of every librarian, I should imagine. I know it was my dream once.”

“Really?” Max asked in surprise.

“Oh yeah. I love history and thought one day I would be a history librarian somewhere, or even curator of a museum. I have a couple of degrees, but most places want a Master's or a Doctorate. I gave up that dream, and instead I ended up working here, as a barista.”

“You’re still young, maybe one day your dream can come true.”

Jamie gave a sad laugh. “Yeah, one day a vampire is going to come in and sweep me off my feet, help me rescue my siblings, offer us a safe place to live, and I’ll achieve my dream of dealing with old manuscripts and artefacts.”

Max picked up his coffee mug. “Here’s to dreams coming true.”

Jamie touched his mug to Max’s and wished really hard.

Lunch at the vampire coven was fun, even though there weren’t a lot of people at the kitchen table.

“Where are the women?” Ivan asked as they sat down, noting it was an all-male affair.

“Over at the wolf pack, playing with puppies. Adrian went with them,” Seth answered. “They’re also trying to persuade Lissa to move closer.”

“It will be good if she does, then the women can support each other, have shopping trips, and form their own gang,” Dave added, grinning.

The others laughed.

“AJ, how are you getting on with fixing the wall?” Seth asked.

The hall wall was damaged when super-enhanced witches tried to breach the house and kill the witch, Kayden.

“I’ve cleared up all the rubble and started taking the loose bricks from the wall. Once that’s done, I can start fixing the damage. Thankfully, that isn’t a load-bearing wall.”

“That’s good. Do you need any help? I’m sure Jack and Spencer can be your apprentices,” Seth said, looking at the two boys.

“We can help if you want,” Jack replied, smiling at AJ.

“Excellent. After we finished eating, I can teach you both how to fix a wall.”

“Thanks, AJ. Who knows, we might find the secret library behind that wall,” Spencer said and grinned at Jack.

“Have you heard from the others at all?” Ivan asked.

Before he could answer, a man stomped in. “What the hell happened to my garden and the hall wall, and what’s with the guards?”

“Royston,” Seth said. “Welcome back. A lot has happened since you’ve been away. Sit and eat, and I can introduce you to our new family and friends and give you a quick overview.”

Royston looked around the table, looking stunned. “We don’t get new members,” he replied, sitting down next to Ivan.

Bruno and Diablo walked over to him.

“The coven has dogs?” he asked, stroking them. “I’ve only been gone for three weeks.”

“Three long weeks,” Ivan said. “Did you not read any emails or texts while you were away?”

Royston shook his head. “No, I turned my phone off when I finished my assignment and went to stay with my parents. I’ve not turned it back on yet.”