Page 45 of The Vampire and the Tattooist (The Vampire and Series Book 4)

“Wow,” Ian said as they walked out of Giles”s cell.

“Indeed. I’ll need to speak to Stefan. We will both need to look into the names given. I’m only pleased that my trust in Icarus, my wolf representative, wasn’t misplaced. I’ll have to contact him with the names Giles gave us. We might have to go to the council offices. I hate going there,” Bert complained.

Kevin snorted. “That’s what you get for being the Alpha King. You could have been a normal alpha like me, but no, you had to be king.”

“It wasn’t like I had a choice in the matter,” Bert pointed out.

Kevin shrugged. “Just saying.”

“Just for that, Bacon, when I go there, you and Ian are coming with me.”

Chuckles were heard from the others, except Ian who exclaimed, “How am I being drawn into this?”

“You ignore my calls and messages,” Bert reminded him.

“Damn,” Ian muttered.

“There, there,” Sean said, patting his arm.

Bert looked at Kayden. “Do you think that potion will work on the super witch?”

Kaden nodded. “I don’t see why not.”

“Come on, then. Let’s see what he has to say.

* * *

“What do you think of this?”Dave asked Max, handing his phone over.

Max looked. “A sofa, table, and chairs? I like them. They look comfy. Are you redecorating your room?”

Dave shook his head. “No, they’re for down here. I thought we could put them over there,” he said, waving to an empty section.

“Nice, we could look at getting a coffee machine down here, as well.”

“Oh, I like that idea. Let’s make a list of everything we need, and we can place a large order.” He opened the notes section on his phone and added them to it.

“Don’t forget to add a scanner and a laptop,” Max said.

“They’re on the list. What else?”

“We probably need some gloves for the older documents, and maybe a nice display cabinet if we want to show some off, even if it’s just for us. It might also be worth looking at having a room for super fragile scrolls.”

“Good idea, and maybe some plants to liven this space up so it doesn’t seem so dungeonie down here,” Dave said, adding them to the list. That done, Dave leant against a handy table and looked at Max, who was tidying a shelf. “Talk to me,” he said softly.

Max moved another book before stopping and sighing, then turning to look at Dave. “He’s a wolf shifter, Davy.”

Dave nodded. “He is.”

“I don’t know how to deal with that,” Max confessed. “This new world of yours is scary. To know all those books I’ve read about the paranormal world are real…. I’m not sure how I feel about that.”

“You’re doing better than me. I had a proper meltdown. Mind you, I had killers after me. But Max, taking out the fact that Bert is a wolf shifter, he’s still a man, just with a few extras. What did you think of him when you first saw him?”

Max blushed and Dave laughed. “Well, that was a good start.”

Max laughed. “He is so handsome, totally looks like my dream man. When I shook his hand, I felt something like electricity shoot up my arm. I’ve never had that before. That’s why I practically ran away. Truthfully, I don’t know what to do.”

“How about I give you his phone number and you message him, then you two can chat and you can get to know him slowly.”

Max let out a large breath and nodded. “That sounds like a good idea.”

Dave opened his phone and sent the number to Max. “There you go. It will be fine, Max. I promise.”