Page 7 of The Vampire and the Barista

“I’ll come with you, Dave,” Seth said. “David would kill me if you went alone.”

Dave nodded. “True. Ivan, do you need anything?”

Ivan shook his head. “No, I have stuff in my car already.”

“In that case, let’s go, people,” Dave said, standing up. “Sorry to run out on dinner, Mum, Thomaz.”

“Nonsense, Davy, go look after your friend,” Annie said, waving away his apology.

“I’ll come as well, my Seth,” Gio added, standing up. He looked at Jack. “We won’t be long.”

Jack nodded. “No rush, Spencer and I can have more adventuring.”

“Good, have fun with that,” Seth said, touching Jack’s shoulder on the way past.

They had just reached the front door when Max looked at Ivan. “Ivan, just so you know, Jamie has dreams of you being either a vampire or a shifter; he’s happy with either option.”

The others laughed.

“That’s good to know. Hopefully that means he won’t freak out later,” Ivan replied.

They walked outside.

“You three travel together, and Max and I will travel together. Max, you can drive,” Dave told them, walking down the front steps.

“Dave, has anyone told you, you’re getting bossy?” Seth asked him with a laugh.

Dave grinned. “I’m trying to channel my inner David.”

“Well, I’m happy to confirm you’re doing well,” Gio added.

Dave laughed.

“See you by the coffee shop. It’s the one just down from the library,” Max told them, opening his car door.

“We’ll follow you,” Ivan said, unlocking his car.

“See you there,” Seth said.

Ivan watched Max drive off and followed closely behind.

“I’m not sure how long I’ll be away for. If Jamie needs to rescue his siblings, I won’t leave until we have them.”

“I expected nothing less. I know you can handle humans on your own, but if you need help, just phone,” Seth told him.

“Thanks. I’m sure I can deal with whatever this is on my own. I’d rather not take anyone away from the crap that is going on.”

“Understood, but Ivan, you’re family, if you need help, we can pull someone off their assignments to help. I’ll also have Adrian on standby. If Jamie is rushing to help his siblings, chances are they might have physical injuries.”

“Some people shouldn’t be parents,” Gio said from the back seat. “If you need help, phone me, I’ll happily revisit pain on the parents.”

Ivan looked in the rear-view mirror and nodded. “Thanks, Gio.”

“How did you find out all about Jamie?” Dave asked Max.

“He was looking sad earlier. We sat and chatted, and over coffee, he told me about his issues and wanting to save his siblings. He said that they weren’t being physically abused, but I’m guessing that changed today. Oh, Jamie had a dream of working with old manuscripts and possibly being a curator of a museum.”

Dave looked at Max. “Does he? Well, there is really too much work for just the two of us.”

“And we both like Jamie,” Max added.

“Let’s get Jamie and his siblings sorted out and then show him our library. Now, tell me how chatting with Bert is going?”

Max blushed.

“It’s going well then,” Dave said, laughing.

“It is, we’re chatting a lot and planning on having dinner when he gets back.”

Dave patted his leg. “Good for you.”

“I’m still kind of scared about this world, Davy, but I’m getting better.”

“You are. I spy Jamie’s car, just there,” Dave said, pointing to an older blue Escort parked in front of the coffee shop.

Max signalled and turned into the space next to Jamie’s car. As soon as he stopped, Dave jumped out and tapped on his window.