Page 69 of The Vampire and the Barista

CHAPTER 23

“So now I can’t live out my fantasy of being a witch cackling around a cauldron,” Jamie griped over lunch.

The pub wasn’t overly busy, with only a few other customers, thankfully, though they were seated on the other side of the restaurant.

The food was all freshly cooked and scrumptious.

Everyone laughed, and Ivan patted his arm. “Poor baby.”

“But look on the bright side, you can see ghosts,” Olly pointed out.

“I’ve only seen one, though. You would have thought in a place like that, I would have seen more.”

“That was probably the demon’s doing; he could have kept them hidden,” Thiago told them.

“Did you find the demon?” Adrian asked him.

Thiago nodded. “I did. He returned Derrick's soul back to him, so if you decide to kill him, you should be able to.”

“I’m hoping that as soon as his soul was returned, he started to age and will soon die of old age,” Ivan replied.

“We can hope,” Jamie said, putting his hand over Ivan’s.

Adrian stared at Thiago. “Did the demon ask for a boon?”

“What’s a boon? Gio asked, looking between the two.

“Some demons will only help you if you offer something in return. Sometimes it's just a, when I call on you, you better come, kind of thing. Others will help you if you make an offer first, and some don’t require anything to help. It all depends on the demon and their mood at the time,” Thiago explained.

“Did that demon demand something?” Adrian asked.

Thiago shrugged a shoulder. “Nothing that I couldn’t afford.”

“If you get into trouble for your help, you know you can just ring us,” Kevin reminded him.

The demon nodded. “I do, thanks.”

“And us,” Seth put in. “You’re family, and we take care of family.”

Thiago smiled. “Thank you.”

Kevin’s phone chose that moment to ring. Kevin grinned. “Big brother is calling,” he answered the phone. “What’s up, dweeb?”

“You went to a haunted asylum without me? What the hell, PITA?”

“I can’t help it if you’re busy. On the plus side, neither David nor Stefan came.”

“Just for that, I sent you more work to do so you don’t have any more spare time for fun.”

“Says the man who was late to breakfast the other morning because he was playing computer games,” Mathis said, laughing.

“Tell Mathis I blame Gavin. I’m off to a meeting now, I’ll phone you later.”

“Yay,” Kevin deadpanned and quickly hung up.

“I can tease your brother for you later, old bean,” Troy offered.

Kevin grinned. “Thanks, Kitty.”