Chapter 4
Jamie hung up after talking to Max and blew out a breath. It shouldn’t take long for Max to arrive. He’d have to make sure he somehow filled Max’s car up with petrol on his return.
He jumped when his phone rang and saw his brother’s name flash up. He quickly answered. “How are you both?”
“Pretty sure Kitty has a broken arm. Jay, we can’t stay here.”
“What?!” he exclaimed. “I’ll be there in a few hours, depending on the traffic. Can you create a sling and put Kitty’s arm in it?”
“Yeah, I have done, but it’s really swelling up.”
“Did your mum break it?”
“Yeah. I’ll explain everything when you get here. Dad’s working overtime and mum’s passed out. I’m getting us out of here.”
“Can you go to a friend's ?”
“Probably not, they might call the police and social services. Jay, we can’t go into care.”
“You won’t need to. Is there still that house climbing frame in the park?”
“Yeah. We’ll hide there. We can leave now, at least it should keep us dry until you come.”
“Okay, stay safe and remember I’m coming for you both and will have you safe as soon as possible.”
“Thanks, Jay,” he said before hanging up.
Jamie dropped his hand, his phone falling onto his lap as he hit his head on the steering wheel.
He was such a failure as a brother. Even Karl seemed stronger at the moment than he felt.
Why had their mum broken Kitty’s arm? Were Karl and Kitty lying to him about the physical abuse?
And why now, when he needed it the most, had his car decided to die?
Was it too much to ask that it would work, even if it was just for tonight?
He jumped as he heard someone knock on his window. He looked up, surprised to see Dave standing there.
He picked his phone up and then got out of the car, just as Max hurried over. Both Dave and Max wrapped Jamie up in a hug.
He gave a sniff and pulled back. “Sorry,” Jamie said. “Thank you for coming.”
“What happened?” Max asked him.
“My step-mum broke Kitty’s arm,” he said softly.
“Then I will make her pay for causing your sister pain,” Ivan said, scowling.
Jamie’s eyes flew to Ivan, and he gasped in surprise. He couldn’t believe that Ivan was here. How was Ivan here and looking oh so fine? Jamie internally shook his head, he shouldn’t be thinking things like that while in crisis mode.
“We were all at dinner together when you phoned,” Dave explained, breaking into his thoughts.
“And I am coming with you to rescue your siblings. We’ll take my car. If you give your keys to one of the others, they can sort your car out for you.”
Jamie gave Ivan a small smile. “It will need to be towed somewhere until I can afford the repairs, as there isn’t even a spark of life left in it.”
Seth held his hand out for the keys. “Leave it with us, you focus on you and Ivan rescuing your siblings.”
Jamie handed them over, overcome again with emotions that he seemed to have more help than he thought. He cleared his throat. “Thanks.”
Dave patted his shoulder. “Go get your brother and sister. While you guys do that, we’ll sort out sleeping arrangements for you.”
Jamie looked at him in surprise. “You will?”
“We will. Leave everything to us, just focus on saving your family.”
Jamie nodded. “Will do, thanks.”
“Come on, Jamie,” Ivan said gently, holding his hand out. Without thinking, Jamie took it, and he led Jamie to his car.
“Be back whenever,” Ivan called as he opened the passenger door and helped Jamie inside. He rushed around to the driver’s side, buckled up and started the journey to rescue his maybe soon-to-be family.
“Young Jamie looks like he’s about to break,” Gio commented softly.
“Yeah, life isn’t being fair to him at the moment,” Max replied.
“Well, that changes here and now. Let’s call someone and get Jamie’s car towed to a garage and then sort out where they can live, although pretty sure that will be at the coven, so I’ll make up some rooms for them,” Dave said, as Seth pulled out his phone.
“Good job, I know a guy,” Seth said, grinning.
“I would expect nothing less, my Seth.”
Ivan looked at Jamie. “Do you want to programme in the address?”
Jamie nodded. “Thanks,” he leant forward and put the address into the built-in SatNav. “This is for the parents’ house, but Karl and Kitty are hiding out in the park.”
“Will they be safe there?” Ivan queried, with a slight frown, starting the car and reversing out of the parking space.
“Hopefully. I need to let them know I’m on my way.” He sent a quick text.
“Was there nowhere safer they could go?” Ivan asked as he waved to the others and drove away.
Jamie shook his head. “I asked that, but Karl said, if they went to a friend’s, the parents might call the police and social services might get involved, something none of us wants.”
“I can understand that. I’ve heard the care system isn’t all that great.” He remembered Spencer had run away from different foster care homes, which was how he was kidnapped. The witch Jake Conway had seen him walking down the road one night and kidnapped him, after beating him up.
“I mean, it must be good for some people, but you hear so many horror stories,” Jamie paused for a moment. “Thank you for coming with me, Ivan. Just to warn you, though, if we run into my dad, he’s big and mean and knows how to use his fists and belt.”
Ivan shot him a look. “I guarantee I can be and am a lot meaner than he could ever hope to be.”
“I believe you. You and the others that came into the library all have that, come near me and die vibe. It was one of the first things I noticed about you,” Jamie replied, blushing a little.
Ivan looked at him quickly, grinning. “One of the first things?”
Jamie nodded. “The first thing I noticed was how handsome you are, then I noticed your gorgeous dark brown eyes, then the whole murder vibe.”
Ivan burst out laughing. “Murder vibe?”
“Oh yeah, I mean, you’ll probably think I’m nuts, but you have that whole paranormal vampire, shifter thing going on. I told Max, I dreamt of you being a vampire or werewolf.”
“You dreamt of me?” Ivan asked, shooting him another quick look, this time of amusement.
“Well, I am... that is..,” Jamie cleared his throat. “Umm, what now?”
Ivan laughed, picked up Jamie’s hand and kissed the back. “I hope you did, because I’ve been dreaming of you too.” Ivan internally shook his head. So much for not wanting to start something with Jamie.
Jamie squeezed his hand before letting go, so Ivan could put his back on the steering wheel. Jamie was surprised. Now that he was with Ivan, he felt calmer, his headache lessening. “So we have a few hours before we get to Karl and Kitty, why don’t you tell me about yourself?”
“I can do that. So, as you probably know, I work for a security company. When I’m not out and about doing whatever is needed, I hack computers and retrieve what information I can.”
Jamie frowned. “Is coming with me now, disturbing your work?”
Ivan shook his head. “No. Most of us are working on the same case at the moment, as it’s big.”
Jamie turned in his seat as much as he could so he could look at Ivan better. “Are you allowed to tell me about it?”
“Sure. We were helping a friend with some issues he was having, and uncovered a secret, illegal underground network. We’re in the process of capturing those involved and closing it all down.”
“Wow. Are you working with the police? I’ve not heard anything on the news.”
“No, we’re working with different groups, though.”
Jamie was watching Ivan’s face and saw a strange look pass over it. “Um, Ivan, what kind of groups are you working with, like MI5 or something?”
Ivan drummed his fingers on the steering wheel for a moment and glanced at Jamie. He internally sighed. Jamie really was a handsome man, but what could he tell him?
“What?” Jamie asked. “You look like you’re trying to decide what to tell me.”
“I need petrol,” Ivan suddenly said, spying a petrol station just coming up. “I’ll tell you once we’ve stopped and we’re out of the car, that way if you want to run away, you can.”
“You’re totally a vampire or werewolf, aren’t you?” Jamie asked, grinning. “You should know, I won’t run away, like I said, I dreamt you were, hoped you were, I’m crossing my fingers and toes that you are.”
Ivan pulled up by an empty pump, turned off the engine and looked at Jamie. “Vampire.”
“Yes!” Jamie exclaimed with a fist punch.
“I’ve said it before, and I’ll say it again, humans are weird,” Ivan said, opening his car door.
“That’s rich coming from a vampire,” Jamie called as he exited the car.
Ivan laughed. “Go get some snacks, chances are your brother and sister will be hungry when we find them.”
“Do you want anything? Wait, can you eat normal stuff?”
“I can, I eat almost anything, not too fond of vegetables though,” he replied, opening the petrol cap and picking up the nozzle.
“I have so many questions.”
“I thought you might have. I will answer all your questions once we’re back in the car.”
“Okay, I’m going to look for food,” Jamie walked off towards the petrol station shop, throwing a grin over his shoulder, knowing Ivan was watching him.
Jamie entered the shop and looked at the sandwiches.
He internally sighed. He couldn’t believe this dream had come true, and how weird was that?
Things like that never happened to him, but Ivan was an honest-to-God vampire.
Jamie realised he should be scared, and if he saw Ivan in a vampire form, blood dripping from his fangs that had been buried in someone’s neck, he probably would be, but at the moment, he was not even a little scared.
He brought his attention back to the sandwich selection, wondering what to get Karl and Kitty, when he realised he’d not got a reply from his brother. He would try and text Kitty, but she didn’t have a phone.
He glanced at his phone just as it started ringing with Karl’s number. “Hey,” he said on answering. “Are you both safe?”
“Jay,” his sister’s frightened voice said.
Jamie felt a thud in his solar plexus, his hand moving to cover it. “What’s wrong? Are you both safe?”
Kitty sniffed down the phone. “Dad came home early. He caught us as we left the house and dragged us back inside. Karl and Dad got into a massive argument, and he threw Karl into the hall wall.”
Jamie gasped. “Is Karl alright?”
“He’s not moving, and his head is bleeding. Jay, he won’t wake up. What if he’s dead?”
Jamie felt tears fill his eyes, but he had to be strong for his sister. “He’s not dead. He’s too stubborn to die.”
“How can you be so sure?” she asked, sniffing again.
Jamie had no idea what to say, so he replied with the first thing he could think of, “Because I’m awesome and know stuff.” Jamie dropped his head into his hand. Could he have said anything stupider?