Page 48 of The Vampire and the Barista

Jamie looked at the others, confused as to why they would be uneasy, unless, “Wait, you think weirdo man is Derrick? But that would make him hundreds of years old, which is impossible, plus he doesn’t look old.”

“It should be yes. I searched some records and couldn’t find his date of death, but it’s him, even down to the scar at the side of his eye,” Ivan said.

“But, how?” he asked, stunned.

“It’s got to be magic, right?” Gio put in. “Would Adrian know if that was possible?”

“Let me message him and find out,” Seth said, pulling his phone out of his pocket and sending the text.

“While we wait. I ran some searches to find out what Derrick has been doing. He’s rented a house not far from here. We can go and see him and find out what he wants,” Olly said.

“He’s seen me with Kitty!” Jamie suddenly exclaims. “What if he does something to her?”

“Nothing will happen to her or your brother,” Gio assured him. “This place is overflowing with guards, protecting Jack and Spencer, and now Karl and Kitty. They will have shadows wherever they go, and when they leave the coven house, they will have a minimum of two guards each. We also now have guards at the top of the drive. AJ is going to build a proper gatehouse, and we’re going to start closing the gates.”

They were interrupted by a knock at the door.

“Come in,” Olly called out.

The door opened, and Adrian stood there. “You called?”

“Pull up a seat, Adrian, we need your expertise,” Seth told him.

“What’s up?” he replied, pulling a chair out and sitting down.

“Is there any way a human could live for hundreds of years?” Seth asked.

Adrian looked around, finally looking at Ivan. “When you mated with Jamie, that increased his life span, the same for Dave, Hunter and Taha.”

“Yeah, sorry, we know that. But there’s a man from Ivan’s past who has turned up. He’s human and should have died a hundred or so years ago,” Seth explained.

“Is it even possible that a non-mated human can live for hundreds of years?” Ivan asked.

“Well, there have been a few recorded instances,” Adrian said.

“You mean like the men in the bible that lived stupidly long lives?” Jamie asked.

Adrian snorted. “No, I mean real people. But their long mortality was because of spells, curses or demon possession.”

“So how would this Derrick chap have come across any of them?” Gio asked. “He was locked away in a mental asylum.”

“I imagine you could find anything in an old asylum. I mean, think about the people that were sent there, not all of them were nuts,” Jamie mentioned.

“Exactly,” Adrian agreed. “Also, demons could be drawn to the total despair of the place. This man could have sold his soul to a demon for a longer life and power.”

“How do we fight a demon? I’m happy to go up against one if I know what to expect,” Gio offered.

“We’ll need to talk to Thiago and ask for his assistance,” Seth said.

“In the meantime, I think we should go and take a look around that asylum. It’s better to research everything before we confront him,” Adrian suggested.

“That’s if it’s still standing,” Ivan put in.

“It is,” Olly said, scrolling down his tablet page. “It was closed in the early 1900s, and has been empty ever since.”

“So it will be falling to bits then,” Jamie observed.

“Most probably,” Adrian said, before he grinned and leant forward a bit. “So, when are we going?”