The Vampire and the Barista (The Vampire and #5)

Chapter 1

Jamie sighed as he taped down the lid of another box, one more to go, and all his possessions would be packed away, ready to be shoved into his car.

Currently, six boxes were filled and stacked up by the wall, a few bags standing next to them.

Jamie was surprised by how much stuff he had, most of it bought from charity shops over the years.

He couldn’t believe he had to leave and move back home.

This house had been his safe haven for five years.

He didn’t even mind that he was sharing the house with strangers; it was better than the alternative.

His plan was to move in here, get a decent job, save money to buy his own place, collect his siblings and move them in with him.

He sighed again. His plan hadn’t worked.

The only job he could find was as a barista at the local library and he only made enough there to pay his rent and cover his portion of the bills.

He had very little left over that could be saved; he did need to eat and put petrol in his car after all, and his car had started making strange noises, more expenses he couldn’t afford.

The last thing he wanted to do was move back home, but what choice did he have?

He couldn’t afford anywhere else to live around here.

At least if he moved back home, he could hopefully redirect his father’s abuse away from his siblings and back onto him.

His one fear was that his father was physically harming his siblings, but they assured him it was only verbal abuse, but sometimes words could hurt more than a fist or a belt.

He glanced at the time and saw he just had enough time to shower, dress and get to work.

He threw the packing tape onto his bed, gathered his towel and toiletries and went to the shared bathroom, wishing not for the first time that he had his own bathroom.

Maybe one day, he thought wistfully. One day, he wouldn’t have to share the bathroom with four other people, some of whom had questionable hygiene habits.

Jamie made it to work with time to spare. He waved to Max, the assistant manager, said hello to a couple of people and walked to the coffee shop. He was surprised when he first saw the job advert. He’d never come across a coffee shop in a library before, but apparently, they were now a thing.

He turned all the machines on and got everything ready. Thankfully, the only food the coffee shop served were biscuits and crisps, so there was no food prep to do. Next, he turned to look at the tables and saw they were all set up and ready.

He needed to hand his notice in. According to his contract, he was supposed to give two months’ notice. He would resign with immediate effect the day before he had to move out, which was in a few days.

He served a few people, and once done, leant against the back counter, crossed his arms over his chest and thought about his future. Not only was he about to move back home, but he would also miss out on seeing his latest crush, Ivan.

The first time he had seen the handsome man, he was smitten, for want of a better word.

The fact that Ivan had an air of danger and safety about him was strange.

Jamie had figured out that Ivan was some kind of bodyguard/security person.

They met when the library manager, Dave, met his new partner.

Rumour had it that the new partner, David, and his team were protecting Dave from people who were trying to kill him.

Jamie shook his head, wondering why anyone would want to kill Dave and really hoping that a miracle would happen, that would save him and his siblings.

Ivan was hard at work. He had been busy before this whole underground network was discovered; now, everyone in the coven had more work than ever.

Which, on the one hand, was good because they were dismantling the network, but on the other hand, didn’t really leave him with much free time, and that was a problem.

Or was it? His thoughts turned to the handsome barista, Jamie.

On first meeting, he knew Jamie was his mate and had somehow managed not to give himself away.

Only the fact that they were in a public place and the fact that Ivan wasn’t sure he could claim his mate made him hold back.

He’d managed to see Jamie quickly the other day, which had been nice, but Ivan sighed. There were so many buts. Dave had told Ivan moments after meeting Jamie that he was the hearts and flowers kind of guy. Ivan wondered if he had it in him to be that kind of man.

Then there was the fact that he was a vampire and Jamie was very human.

Humans tend to freak out when they hear about vampires and the whole paranormal world.

Well, except for Dave’s parents and Hunter’s parents, both couples just accepted it.

Of the new mates coming into the coven, they all had moments of unease; indeed, Max, Dave’s best friend, was still freaked out.

Which doesn’t help, as his future mate was king of the werewolves.

Ivan leant back in his chair and sighed again, frowning at the screen.

How could a secret underground organisation, one that had been going for about a decade, not have better security for all their information?

Seth, the coven's second, informed them over dinner last night that David and the others found an entire office filled with everything relating to this organisation just sitting out in the open, on shelves, at the council headquarters.

He was currently extracting information from all the devices recovered from the witches’ coven for some of the main people involved.

He was pulled from his thoughts when the office door burst open, and Spencer and Jack came running in laughing.

Ivan spun around in his chair and looked at the two laughing boys. “What mischief are you two up to?”

Both boys had been adopted into their vampire family recently, after being rescued from the secret organisation.

They were to be sold and used as sex slaves.

Thankfully, these two, along with twenty others, were rescued before they could be shipped out of the country.

The other children had been returned to their families, but these two were orphans.

Seth and Gio were adopting Jack, and the king and queen were adopting Spencer.

Neither boy had been here long, but already both were looking better.

There was, however, still shadows of sadness in their eyes.

“We’re still looking for the secret library,” Jack told him.

Ivan laughed. “Do you want a hint?”

Spencer shook his head. “Nope, we’ve not looked everywhere yet.”

“Well, I can assure you, it’s not in here,” Ivan glanced at the time and stood up. “It is, however, time for lunch. I’m sure you both need feeding up for more adventuring.”

“We really do,” Jack agreed as the three of them left the office.