Jason nodded. She wanted me to be hers. Shes very jealous, very possessive. Im just not into that.

So you have a woman who greets you like Anita greets me, but the rest doesnt work.

No, Nathaniel. She used to greet me sort of like that, but for weeks now its been, Where have you been? Who have you been with? You fucked the master again, didnt you? You fucked Asher, didnt you? You were with Anita again, werent you?

Ive put you on the back burner for feeding me, I said. I got the impression Perdy didnt want to share you that much, but I had no idea she thought you were doing more than just donating blood to the vampires.

Shes like crazy jealous, and she wont believe me when I tell her I havent been with anyone else. Its why I asked Jean-Claude to take me out of your feeding schedule for a while. I thought if I stopped having sex with the only other person I was really having sex with that Perdy would calm down.

Nathaniel and I exchanged glances across the table. He shrugged. I asked the question. Did it work?

No, he said. He took another drink of coffee, and it must have finished the cup because he got up and went for the French press beside the sink. He took the coffee cozy off of it, then put it back on without filling his cup. He set the cup in the sink.

I dont want more coffee.

You can never have too much coffee, I said.

He turned and smiled at me. You think so, but the rest of us get a little ODed on your level of caffeine.

What happened, Jason? I asked.

The smile slipped a little more. He was solemn when he turned to us. He leaned his back against the cabinets, crossed his arms across his chest, and again didnt quite meet our eyes.

She wanted me to marry her. Till death do us part and all that. Shes a mermaid, which means shell outlive me. She can live for hundreds of years, not immortal like a vampire, but close.

You didnt want to marry her, I said, softly.