Chapter 9
Hunter led Gavin into their room, and as soon as the door closed, he pulled Gavin into his arms.
Gavin wrapped his arms around Hunter and rested his cheek on Hunter's shoulder, crying silent tears.
He had been doing well, not thinking about killing the witch, but hearing Dave talking about ripping throats out, triggered the memory.
Now all Gavin could see was the dead witch whose throat he had ripped out, blood everywhere.
Hunter stood there, holding Gavin. Not rushing him, not making him talk, just letting him cry. In all honesty, Hunter was surprised Gavin hadn’t had more crying outbursts. He wondered what triggered it. He kissed the side of Gavin’s head. “I’ve got you, sweetheart. I’ll always have you.”
Finally, Gavin stopped crying and pulled away, looking at the wet patch on Hunter's top. He wiped his face and then signed.
“Sweetheart, I don’t care that my top’s wet. Let’s go and sit down,” he said, taking Gavin’s hand and leading him to the sofa. He sat and pulled Gavin onto his lap, so he was sitting astride him. Hunter used his thumbs to wipe away more of Gavin’s tears.
“Sorry,” Gavin signed.
“There is nothing to apologise for. Thankfully, I was closer to home than the studio, so I turned around and floored it back to you.”
Gavin looked at Hunter and tilted his head.
“Dave texted me,” he said softly.
“You’re missing work,” Gavin signed.
“Sweetheart, that doesn’t matter. You matter, you needed me, and here I am.”
Gavin leant forward and kissed Hunter, sighing into the kiss. Being here with Hunter and kissing him was just what he needed.
“I’m such an idiot,” Dave said, flopping down onto an empty chair, Bruno leaning against him.
“No, you’re not, Dave, plus you texted Hunter for him,” AJ said softly.
“I didn’t think when I spoke,” Dave looked at Jamie. “Gavin had to kill someone the other day to save his and a friend’s life.”
“But he seems so gentle,” Jamie remarked.
“He is,” Seth said. “Gavin doesn’t have a mean bone in his body. Killing someone hit him hard, hence he’s still suffering.”
“Is there anything me or we can do to help him?” Jamie asked.
Ivan picked his hand up and kissed it.
“You fit right in,” Louise said, smiling at him.
“We had a kill party for him, but I’ll make him his favourite biscuits,” Thomaz said, standing up and walking over to the cupboards and starting to pull equipment and the ingredients out.
“Jamie, I know Ivan has important work to do today. Come with me, I want to show you something,” Dave said, handing Diablo to Charlotte.
Jamie looked at Ivan. “You probably need to catch up on the time you missed yesterday because of me, sorry.”
Ivan shook his head. “It’s fine, honestly. When you’ve finished with Dave, he’ll show you to my office. I can drive you to work later.”
“Are you sure? I can take a taxi.”
“I’m sure.”
Jamie smiled at him. “Thanks.”
“Come on, Jamie, Seth needs to update the others on everything.”
Jamie stood up and collected his and Ivan’s plates and cups.
“Leave them, I'll sort them out,” Ivan told him.
“You’re a good egg, you know that?”
Ivan burst out laughing; mind you, so did everyone else. “Thanks.”
Jamie grinned at him as Dave walked around the table, linked his arm with Jamie and walked them out of the kitchen.
“I just need to send a quick text,” Dave said. He pulled his phone out and sent the text, putting it back in his pocket, and they started walking again. “I just messaged Mathis and Raz, Gavin’s brothers. I know he has Hunter, but he’s close to his brothers.”
“I can’t even imagine what he’s going through.”
“Me either, but we’re all here for him. Now, I’m about to show you where I work and where Max will be working.”
“Max said you were both working in your boyfriend’s library, with old manuscripts and the like.”
Dave nods. “We are. Before we get there, though, let me show you around. This is the lounge,” he said, waving to the room. “Those doors there are for different studies and offices. This is the ballroom.”
Jamie stopped and looked inside. “Whoa, I didn’t know people still had ballrooms. Have you used it?”
“For a few parties and for Gabe to do magic. This is the dining room. We’ve only used it once since I’ve been here, because as you can see, we tend to eat in the kitchen.
But this is what you’ll want to see.” He stopped by a wall that had a large tapestry hanging on it.
Not that that was strange, as the hallway walls were covered in wall hangings and pictures.
It was a medieval picture of knights and dragons.
He moved the tapestry out of the way, and Jamie gasped.
“A hidden room?” he asked excitedly.
“Not just a room, follow me,” Dave said, grinning at him as he pushed the wall open. It swung inwards, and ahead were steps leading down.
Dave flicked the light switch on and led Jamie down the stairs.
Halfway down the steps, Jamie gasped, and Dave looked back up at him and grinned. “This is the coven library.”
“It’s massive,” Jamie commented, reaching the bottom step and spinning around. “No wonder you and Max want to work here.” The basement seemed to be the entire length and width of the manor.
“There is no organisation whatsoever, and a lot of these texts are one of a kind. I’ve ordered a scanner, so we can start preserving the older, more delicate ones, before we start on the books.”
Jamie walked to a shelf and gently touched a scroll. “Wow. You and Max are so lucky. This is literally my dream job.”
“Max told me you wanted to be a curator and work with old books and manuscripts.”
Jamie nodded and pulled his eyes away from the shelves to look at Dave. “Yeah, history is my thing. I wanted to get my master's in museum studies and then my doctorate in ancient manuscripts. You guys are so lucky.”
“Well, Max and I have spoken about it. What do you say about coming to work with us? You can do everything you’ve wanted to do, all here in our secret library, without the expense of more education.”
Jamie’s mouth dropped open, looking stunned. “I’m sorry, did you just offer me my dream job?”
Dave laughed. “I did indeed. If you need time to decide...”
Jamie cut him off, launching himself at Dave and pulling him into a hug. “No, I don’t need time to decide and yes, please, so, so, yes please.”
Dave hugged him back, still laughing. “We can talk salaries later.”
“Dave, thank you,” Jamie said, pulling back.
“You’re family Jamie and our friend. How much notice do you need to give?”
“Two months.”
“So hand your notice in today and then count down the days. Max is here on his time off until he leaves the library. With the three of us working here, we can make this library amazing. This is also where we have our ‘jipped by vampires club’. I’ve ordered a couple of sofas, chairs, coffee tables and stuff for over there,” he waves his hand at the empty space.
“I’m not sure I can join yet; Ivan and I haven’t mated yet.”
“But you will when you’re ready, so you can still join.” Dave looked at the time. “Now I have time to fill you in on everything that’s happened since I met my David.”
Mathis and Gabriel, after leaving the vampires the night before, had spent the night at the witches' coven. Gabe wanted to check all was well there and talk to Rafe.
They walked into the kitchen and saw Rafe, Sheldon, Brian, Stan and Danny sat chatting, their empty breakfast things in front of them.
“Morning,” Gabe and Mathis said, smiling at them.
“Morning,” everyone replied.
“Are you back for long?” Sheldon asked them.
Gabe shook his head. “Unfortunately, not. Oswald’s whole office is filled with everything needed to take down this organisation. They seriously documented everything, even their meetings.” As he talked, he prepared breakfast for the two of them.
“You’re joking?” Stan asked, looking shocked.
“He’s not,” Mathis replied, making drinks. “We’re all going through everything as there are very few people we currently trust in the council offices.”
“Thankfully, it looks like the highest-ranking official was Quintus,” Gabe said, carrying two plates to the table and sitting down.
Mathis carried the drinks over and sat next to him.
“Do you want us three to come and help?” Brian offered.
“No, but thank you for the offer. I’m hoping you three, plus Rafe, can finish going through Leonard’s secret office,” Gabe asked.
“We can do that,” Rafe agreed.
“I can help as well,” Sheldon offered. “It will keep my mind off things.”
“Sorry, Sheldon. I should have asked how you’re doing,” Gabe said. “Have you sorted out a date for Penny’s funeral?”
Gabe still couldn’t believe members of his coven had been killed by Kay and his lemmings.
“I’m as well as can be expected and yes, her funeral is on Thursday, at 11,” Sheldon told him.
“We’ll be back for that,” Mathis said, finishing his breakfast.
“Thank you.”
“I’ve had the unidentified bodies buried. I’m still hopeful we can find names for them, and they can be written on headstones,” Rafe said. “I took photos of their faces, hopefully we can do something for them.”
“Send me the pictures, and I can run them through different databases,” Mathis offered.
Rafe nodded. “I will, thanks. Also, Jeremy James’ funeral is on Thursday afternoon. Marianna West’s family came and collected her body; her funeral is today. The family doesn’t want anyone from our coven to attend.”
“That’s sad, but understandable. Let me know the total expenses you had to shell out for the unknown bodies, and I’ll pay you back.
Same for you, Sheldon, the coven will cover the cost of Penny’s funeral.
Roberto can pay for everything,” Gabe added.
He muttered a spell. “The five of you will now be able to access Leonard’s room.
While you’re working in there, keep the main bedroom door shut, and no one else can enter. ”
“We’ll find out everything we can for you,” Brian said.
“Thanks,” Gabe said, drinking his coffee.
Just then, Mathis’ phone pinged. He pulled it out, had a look and frowned.
“What’s wrong?” Gabe asked.
“Gavin urgently needs us,” he replied, jumping up.
Gabe stood up, waved his hand at their dirty crockery, which vanished and opened a portal. “Sorry, folks, gotta go.” And they both ran through the portal.