Page 67 of The Vampire and the Barista

“Vampy,” Gabe said.

Mathis stopped mid-punch and looked at him. “Little Witch?”

“Look,” Gabe said, pointing to the centre of the room.

Mathis walked closer. “It looks like that shimmer thing when Kay and the others were invisible.”

Just then, there was a bright light, and Jamie stood in the middle of the room. “It worked,” he happily said, sounding surprised.

“Jamie, how did you get here?” Gabe asked, looking around.

“No idea. I was in the foyer with the others. The rubbish started flying around, and suddenly I was in a barrier thing. I could see and hear you, but you couldn’t see or hear me. I called on my inner Halliwell, made up a rhyming spell, and here I am.”

“Inner Halliwell? Mathis asked, confused.

Gabe laughed and shook his head. “Charmed. Nice going.”

Thiago suddenly appeared in the room.

“Thiago!” Mathis exclaimed in surprise.

Before the demon could say anything, the door burst open, and the others rushed in. Raz, seeing his mate, hurried to Thiago’s side.

“Reunion later, we need to leave right now,” Thiago said urgently, and with a quick thought, they were all outside in the garden.

Ivan wasn’t the only one to breathe a sigh of relief when they appeared outside in the long grass. Jamie rushed into his arms.

“Jay,” Ivan said, wrapping his arms around him and dropping a kiss on his head. As Raz pulled Thiago into his.

“Is everyone alright?” Gabe asked.

“We are, let’s find somewhere to eat, I don’t know about you lot, but I’m starving,” Adrian suggested. “We can talk about everything over lunch.”

“We can do that,” Kevin said, “We can all squeeze into the cars.”

“Can you text Raz or me when you stop, and we’ll join you?” Thiago asked.

Seth looked at Thiago for a moment and nodded. “We can do that, see you in a bit.”

Raz watched them walk away and turned to look at Thiago. “Tia, are you okay?” he asked softly, dropping a kiss on Thiago’s head.

Thiago leant into Raz, his head resting on his shoulder, and wrapped his arms around Raz. “Yes and no.”

A moment later, Raz saw they were stood by a beautiful lake. The water was clear and still, and the trees were ringing around the lake. “This is lovely.”

Without lifting his head, Thiago nodded. “I needed this.”

Raz tightened his arms around Thiago. He didn’t ask questions, just held his demon close.

After about five minutes, Thiago raised his head. “I found the demon; he gave Derrick his soul back and released everyone from the house.”

“What did you have to agree to, to get all that?” Thiago had explained that some demons wouldn’t do anything without asking for a boon in return, one that can be called upon at any given time.

“I promised I wouldn’t turn him in.”

“What’s he wanted for?”

“Multiple murders. He went on a killing spree and killed thousands in four days. Lucifer himself signed his kill order. He is the definition of a bad demon.”