Page 10 of The Vampire and the Tattooist (The Vampire and Series Book 4)

Thomaz walked into the kitchen early the next morning, looking towards Bruno as he always did, where he saw Gavin asleep on the floor with Bruno lying over him. He walked over to them and knelt down. Bruno lifted his head and gazed at Thomaz. Thomaz rubbed his head. “You’re a good boy. Are you looking after Gavin?”

Gavin came awake and saw Thomaz next to him. He moved and Bruno got off him, then Thomaz helped him sit up.

Gavin signed, “Thank you and sorry.”

“There is nothing to be sorry for. Did you have bad dreams?”

Gavin nodded. “Mathis, Raz, and Hunter turned against me and called me evil.”

“Spell the last word for me. I got everything else but not the last one,” Thomaz said.

Gavin spelt, “E,” “V,” “I,” “L.”

“Oh, Gav, they’ll never think that of you, and neither will your Hunter. Your dreams are just messing with you,” he said, pulling the young vampire into his arms.

Gavin rested against Thomaz for a moment before pulling away and smiling at him.

“Okay, I need to let Bruno out and you need to go have a shower before your brothers realise you slept down here last night.”

Gavin nodded and signed, “Thank you.”

“Always, little brother. You know if you have another bad dream and your brothers are busy, come into my room and I’ll sit with you. Hell, you can even sleep in my room if you need to. As much as Bruno is the best therapy, sleeping down here isn’t very comfy.”

Gavin signed, “Thank you,” again and sent him a happy smile.

Thomaz helped him up and watched as he left the kitchen. The smile fell from Thomaz’s face. He would need to talk to Mathis and Raz later and give them the head’s up. Before that, though, he had to let Bruno out. He looked at the lovable lab. “You’re a good boy, Bruno. I’m thinking this house needs more dogs, though. What do you think?”

Bruno smiled as only a dog could and barked his agreement, then happily walked out with Thomaz.

* * *

Hunter wokeup the next morning, for a moment not knowing where he was until he remembered he was in Taha’s spare room. He lay there thinking. How had someone broken into his house and not left a trace? Who had left the message? Was it really left in the wrong house? He had no answer to any of these questions.

He wasn’t sure what he thought about Taha contacting his friend Troy, but if something was going on, he was sure Troy could find out what it was and how to stop it. Knowing he wouldn’t get any answers lying in bed, he got up and grabbed his washing stuff from his bag, then walked into the en-suite to get ready for his day. Half an hour later, he stepped into the kitchen and smiled as he saw Taha standing by the cooker, making breakfast.

“Aw, honey, you cooked,” Hunter said with a laugh.

Taha turned and smiled. “Yep, today is a proper breakfast day. The coffee pot is full, so pour two mugs and I’ll plate all this up.”

“You’ll make a lovely wife one day, Ta,” Hunter said while getting some mugs out and filling them up with the magic bean liquid.

“So will you, Hunt. When you marry your Gavin, are you wearing a white dress?”

Hunter laughed. “I am, a lovely, slinky white number with a massive split up the side, showing off a toned leg. And you, Ta, you’ll be my Maid of Honour and will be wearing a deep purple puff ball of a dress.”

Taha boomed out a laugh. “Can you imagine the look on your parents’ faces if we both actually did that?”

Hunter laughed at the image. “Never mind my parents. Can you imagine what Gavin would do?”

“Even though I have yet to meet him, I imagine he would laugh his head off.”

Hunter sighed. “Yeah, he really would.” He sobered. “What am I going to do about Gavin and keeping him safe?”

Taha put down his spatula and grabbed the two plates, bringing them over to the island and putting one in front of Hunter. “There is nothing you can do for the moment except be careful and mindful of your surroundings. I’ll contact Troy after breakfast and see how quickly he can come.”

Hunter nodded. “Thanks. I’m keeping my fingers crossed that this is just a mistaken house situation.”

Taha nodded. “It probably is, but better to be safe than sorry. Now, I slaved over breakfast for hours; eat up before it gets cold.”

Hunter laughed just as Taha intended him to and dug into breakfast.

* * *

Breakfastat the vampire coven was in full swing, with everyone laughing and joking.

Mathis and Raz kept looking at Gavin, for although he was laughing, it wasn’t full-on like normal. Raz wondered what time Gavin got up, as when he went to check on his brother earlier, his room was empty.

Troy was laughing with the witches when his phone pinged. He grabbed it out of his pocket and looked to see who was contacting him, and if it was a job off and if it would be worth doing. Being one of the best mercenaries in the industry made him a popular person.

He looked at the message and frowned. It was from his friend Taha, saying that Hunter Marsden, his partner in Area 51, found a strange message in his house and there were no signs of a break in. He cursed out loud when he read the message. The sudden silence around the table made him realise how loud he had been.

“Really, Troy, and you kiss Cairo with that mouth,” Annie said in mock disapproval.

“I do a lot more than kiss him with my mouth, Annie, and some of the things I do are really filthy,” Troy said, grinning.

Cairo gave a happy sign. “They really are.”

There were titters around the table.

“What’s wrong kitty?” David asked him.

“A message from a friend who might be in trouble.”

“I thought you were a loner,” Dave said, remembering one of their first conversations.

“I am or was considering I’m now surrounded all the time. But this one I’ve known forever. He’s never asked for my help before though.”

“I’ll come with you if you want,” Cairo offered.

Troy smiled at him. “Sure. I’d like for the two of you to meet.”

“Oh, and before I forget, Gavin,” Sean suddenly said, “I sent you the photos to use as you see fit.”

Gabriel, Kayden, and Gavin laughed, and Gavin grabbed his phone to have a look.

“What photos?” Dave asked, smiling. “Anything fun?”

Gavin silently laughed, and putting his phone down, he signed to Dave.

Dave’s mouth fell open and he looked at Sean. “You took photos of the Twister game?”

“What? You sneaky witch,” Seth said. “I demand you delete those photos at once.”

Everyone laughed, Sean laughing the loudest.

“You need to send me those photos,” Gio said with a massive smile.

“And me,” Kevin said.

“And me,” David added. “The thought of the three of them in a tangled heap still makes me laugh.”

Dave groaned. “Show me the pictures, Gav,” he said, holding out his hand for the phone.

Gavin shook his head and laughed just as Dave made a grab for his phone. They had a playful tussle for a moment, which Gavin won, and Dave flopped back in his chair in defeat.

Gavin patted his arm and silently laughed. He put his phone down and glanced at the screen when the colour suddenly bled from his face and a look of horror covered it.

“Gavin, what’s wrong?” Mathis asked urgently from across the table.

Gavin ignored him and picked his up phone, hoping that he was mistaken. But there it was, clearly showing that the message had been sent.

“Gavin, what is it?” Dave asked urgently.

He dropped his phone and signed.

“You accidently sent a message to Hunter?” Kayden said.

Gavin nodded.

“Was it a message telling him you were a vampire?” Seth asked him.

He shook his head and passed his phone to Dave to read it aloud.

I miss you too Hunter, so much. Something horrible happened and I really need you. Can you come?

Gavin started signing, quickly and with agitation.

“I didn’t mean to send the message. I wrote it out and meant to delete it. I really wanted to see him, but I can’t,” Gabriel translated.

“I’m sorry, Gavin. You might want to message him and say you’ve changed your mind. Chances are he’ll be here soon,” Dave told him.

“Gavin, your mate is called Hunter?” Troy asked.

Gavin nodded and signed.

“Gav says yes, and he’s a tattooist,” Dave translated.

Troy wiped a hand over his face. “That’s what I was afraid of.”

“What’s wrong, kitty?” David asked him.

“The friend who messaged me earlier is Taha Lewis. He opened a tattoo shop with his best friend Hunter Marsden called Area 51. The message Taha sent me this morning is that Hunter might be in trouble,” Troy explained.

Gavin jumped up in a panic. He needed to do something but didn’t know what.

Kayden stood and put his arm around him. “Sit back down and let’s think of a plan to help your man. Chances are, if he got your message, he’s on the way here now. Maybe Troy could message Taha and tell him to come with Hunter,” he said, pulling Gavin back down to his seat.

“That’s an idea,” Troy said, picking his phone up and shooting off a message and the coven address. He looked at Gavin. “Try not to worry. If Hunter is in trouble, I’ll protect him.”

“What the Kitty means is we will protect him,” David said. “As your mate, Hunter is part of this coven. We will do whatever we need to keep him safe.”

“And we’ll help, as well, you know we will Gavin. I have to pop back to my coven, but I’ll be here in a flash if you need me,” Gabriel said, torn between staying or going home. But he needed to get back. They still had children to find.

Gavin nodded and signed.

“Nonsense, you’re important, as well. Hopefully I’ll find the location of the children today,” Gabriel told him.

“I’ll send Ian with you, witch, then I can stay here and help Gavin,” Kevin said.

“Thank you,” Gabriel said before looking at Mathis. “Stay with your brother. I’ll be back as soon as I can. But if any of you need me sooner, just shout,” he said, looking at everyone.

“Be safe, little witch,” Mathis said, pulling him in and kissing him senseless.

They finally pulled apart after lots of cat calls.

“Gabriel, would you be offended if I sent two vampires with you, as well?” David said.

Gabriel shook his head. “Not at all, thank you. If your vampires don’t mind coming to a witches coven.”

“They won’t. I would ask Olly to help, but he’s away on a new assignment. Neill, Ivan, your latest assignments have finished. Go with Gabriel and Ian. There may be things you can do to help.”

Both vampires nodded.

“Can you give me two minutes to grab my tablet and then I’ll be ready to come?” Ivan asked.

At Gabriel’s nod, he jumped up and shot out of the kitchen.

“Sean, Kayden, are you both staying here?” Gabriel asked them.

Kayden shook his head. “No, there’s lots to do at home, too much for just you. We”ll come with you,” he said before looking at Gavin. “But we’ll be back in an instant if you need us.”

Gavin nodded and smiled at him just as Ivan rushed back in.

“Ready,” he told them.

The witches, Ian, and Neill stood up, and Gabriel opened a portal for them all to walk through.

“See you all later,” he said, smiling at Mathis before walking through the portal and closing it.

A moment later, the doorbell rang.