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.”
“We can tease him as well,” Gabe said, pointing to himself and Mathis.
“You guys are the best,” Kevin said, raising his glass and saluting them.
Jamie sighed as he walked through the front door of the coven house. “I need to check on Karl and Kitty.”
“We need to check on Jack,” Gio said. “We can hunt them down together.”
Ivan took Jamie’s hand, and they started to walk outside when Louise saw them.
“The children found the library. I believe they are still in there.”
“Thanks, Mum,” Gio said, kissing her cheek, as they changed directions.
They found the children walking down aisles looking at the shelves, Dave and Max watching over them.
“Howdy folks,” Seth called, walking down the stairs.
Everyone looked up and smiled.
Seth and Gio reached the bottom and moved out of the way as Jack rushed over and slammed into them, hugging them both, as Karl and Kitty rushed to Jamie and Ivan.
Jamie and Ivan hugged them both.
“How was the haunted asylum?” Karl asked, pulling back.
“Interesting,” Jamie said, his arm around Kitty, walking to join the others. “Apparently, I can see ghosts now.”
“How?” Karl asked in surprise
Jamie shook his head. “No idea, but Adrian and I spoke to a ghost gardener. He was the only ghost I saw, though.”
“Let’s tell you everything,” Seth said, and leaning against a table, he did.
Ivan grinned at Max. “Next time you talk to Bert, you can tease him. He’s grumping because he wasn’t invited.”
Max laughed. “I can do that. I’m glad I wasn’t there, though. I think that would have been a bit too much for me at the moment.”
“You’re getting better, though,” Dave said, supportively.
Max nodded. “I am. Jamie helped me realise that our world is just as dangerous as the paranormal world. That shifted my perspective.”
Jamie grinned. “Glad I could help.”
“So how did you locate the library?” Seth asked the children.
“Karl found it,” Spencer said. “We were walking down the hallway, and he moved the tapestry, and we saw a door.”
“Nice, Karl,” Ivan said.
“It was a guess, but you see them in old films, hidden doorways behind large paintings or tapestries.”
“And how amazing is this place?” Kitty commented. “It’s a bit messy, though.”
“It is,” Dave agreed. “It will take time to get it sorted out.”
“I can help if you want,” Kitty offers. “I love books.”
Dave smiled at her. “Thanks, anytime you want to help, come on down. Just make sure either Max, Jamie or I are down here as well.”
Kitty smiled and nodded. “I will, thanks, Dave.”
Spencer moved and leant against Gio.
Gio wrapped an arm around him. “You okay, little brother?”
Spencer nodded.
Seth looked at Jack, who shook his head.
“We have a couple of hours until dinner. How about we go and play with swords?” Gio asked.
Spencer perked up. “Really?”
“Yep, come on. I ordered swords for the four of you; they should have arrived today,” Gio told them.
“Yeah, come on,” Jack said, pulling away from Seth. “I’ll beat the three of you easily.”
“You wish. You’re going down, Jack,” Karl said with a laugh, as the three boys walked off.
“I’ll kick all their butts, you’ll see,” Kitty said happily, skipping off after them.
Gio grinned. “She probably will.”