Two hours (and three pieces of cake for Seth) later, the brother and sister headed down the street. He rubbed his belly proudly.

"That candy bar cake was da bomb diggety dot com. I think it was the best." Seth belched loudly, earning a scowl from Leah. "Pardon."

She shook her head in disgust.

"So, when do you start?"

Leah stumbled but quickly caught herself. Seth did not see her put Jasper's business card in her pocket, did he?

"What?" she asked, feigning innocence.

"The job. I'm pretty sure I heard you orgasm when you saw the kitchen."

"Seth!"

"What? Did you not?"

"That's fucking rude!"

"Oh, you are a fine one to be lecturing on word selection, Leah." Seth grinned, enjoying the banter between the two of them. It was a return to the old days in his way of thinking.

"It was nice."

"Nice, yeah. I heard you squeal."

"It's state of the art. And everything is laid out like a dream."

"So, I'll ask again. When do you start?"

"If I decide to take him up on his apprenticeship offer, I would start Monday."

"And why the use of the word 'if'?"

"He doesn't need me, Seth. He and that Alice woman can do everything at a speed I can't even comprehend. They have vampire recall and reflexes. Why would he need an apprentice? Much less one that is still human."

"Because you are human, Leah. Well, mostly. More so than they are."

"What?"

"Think about it, Leah. What can you do that a golden eye can't?"

She pondered that question for two blocks before Seth stopped. She paused and looked at him inquisitively.

"Taste!" He said it as if it were the most obvious thing in the world.

Leah stood in stunned silence as she processed her brother's words. Of course. Vampires did not eat food like a human, so they would not know whether something was seasoned properly or not. Jasper seemed the sort that would want consistency in his offerings, and variations in seasons and products would mean having functioning tastebuds would be beneficial.

"Exactly. And once you phased, your senses…all of your senses…intensified, didn't they?"

Leah thought long and hard about what Seth proposed. It was true. She could see further, smell sharper, feel more, touch with greater sensitivity, and distinguish flavors more intensely than before she phased. All of these features could make her a better chef if she trained herself, and Jasper offered her a place to do just that.

Seth grinned broadly as the realizations caused Leah's face to light up.

Her ability to phase just might be the best thing ever to happen to her.