Now the werecat female looked over at us with mild interest. "That's..." She paused, tilted her head in a feline mannor, "odd."

I didn't say anything. Many vampires didn't socialize with humans. I had been one of them. Even if they were aware of the paranormal world you still had to watch as they aged and died.

I remembered my first 100 years unfondly. Learning to be a vampire was not easy. It could be painful if you still had family. Your body changed. Your wants changed. Your needs changed. Hunger became your number one priority. But giving into it could get you killed or worse. Ignoring it could be catastrophic.

Human food still tasted the same, smelled the same, but no matter how much you ate it wouldn't dull the hunger. The hunger drove you. If you refused to feed then you ended up a mindless beast driven by an uncontrollably blood lust.

You had to learn to live with the facts of your new life. Humans were food. Yes. But most vampires had been human at one point. Some couldn't find it in themselves to hunt humans. Others took a perverse joy in it. Others found ways of walking a thin line of animal blood and human blood. A very dangerous practice.

The werecat exited the elevator on the second floor.

On the ground floor we followed the signs to the cafeteria.

We stood in the middle of the area. There were six lines at different restaurants. There was also one line for the hospital food service.

Ann arrived ten minutes after we did. She carried her purse and a large black profolio bag that she hadn't had with her that morning.

"Alex." She smiled. "I'm glad I made it on time." She shifted her bags. "I'm Ann." She said to Jeremy.

I made proper introductions. It took us only five minutes to agree on one of the eateries.

Jeremy insisted on carrying the cumbersome black bag. So, trays in hand we found a table in the back.

We placed our plates on the table and sat the empty trays aside.

"Would you like to see pictures of the properties that fit your price range?"

Jeremy was the first to say yes as he pushed away his plate. His food had only been moved around on the plate.

Ann seized her large bag, pulled a stack of full-color full-page pictures. On the back of each picture was the details of the individual house.

"How long is your lunch?" Jeremy asked as he scanned the photo of a two story house on a corner lot. There were tall trees positioned to provide shade. The floral landscape was dominantly white flowers.

"I'm free till two."

Jeremy nodded and continued to look through the stack of papers. Most he piled to the left, closest to me. The other pile was to his right.

I simply pushed my plate aside and started looking in the pile to the right of me.

I was more interested in the details on the back of the page then the photos.

My discard pile grew. The "possible" pile contained only two pages. Those two pages were stapled together because the list from the back took a page and a half.

Jeremy finished looking at the pages, picked up his "possible" pile and said, "I want these." He handed them over the table to Ann.

Ann nodded. "I'll see when we can schedule a showing." She was pulling her phone out of her purse when Jeremy stopped her.

"You misunderstand. I want them. I don't need to see them. 420,000 plus your commission, so 500,000 should be sufficient." He paused. "I'll have my bank wire the money to your company as soon as you have the paperwork drawn up to sign.

The look on Ann's face was priceless but I didn't dare laugh. Jeremy had that effect on people.

I cleared my throat. "I want this one." I slid the stapled pages over to her."
"You... You don't want to look at it either do you?" She asked her voice strangled. I shook my head. "I'll have the paperwork drawn up."

"Now that business is done, its time to discuss other matters." Jeremy stated.

"Other matters?" Ann asked, confused by the sudden change of subject.

"The paranormal kind. I need to know what spell your coven cast."

Ann sat up straight, looked around the room. Assured no one else was paying attention to us she then looked at me.

"What's going on?" Her eyes flickered between us then settled on me. "Who are you?"

"I'm a vampire. I told you I didn't think you were crazy. I'm almost 500 years old. " I kept my tone mild.

"The spell?" Jeremy demanded in an even voice.

Ann shook her head. "It was an assistance spell. We asked for help dealing with Beth's condition." She shrugged her shoulders. "I don't understand why you want to know. The spell didn't work. The doctors don't have any more information then they did. There's no new doctor in the area. Nothing."

Jeremy started firing questions, but she answered them with a shake of her head. "It wasn't a spell to find love so she wouldn't die alone? Soul binding? Immortal mate?"

Finally Ann held up a hand. "Stop. I told you what it was." She glared at him. "It's time for you to tell me what's going on." She leaned back against the back of the chair, crossed her arms over her chest.

No one spoke. I didn't know how to answer. Jeremy just looked at her as if she were hiding something. She looked at me then him. I think she was offended.

"Okay." She unfolded her limbs and reached for her bags. "Forget the properties." She told us both. Then she looked directly at me. "Stay away from my sister." She stood pulling her things from the chair and table.

"Jeremy!" I hissed.

"Sit down." He commanded. It didn't matter that he couldn't use his gift on her without physical contact. She paused. She did look around the room. Im not sure if she was looking for prying eyes or for help or for a place to flee.

"Sit down." He said. I almost sighed in relief. This time it sounded like an invitation.