Leona and Slade left the Main Artery and drove to Cafe Rendezvous. Leona sat next to Slade, but touched him less and never looked directly at him. She tried to hide that she cried, about the night's earlier events with Connie. The argument between Gustaf and Andrei at the club was about what happened earlier. Something went radically wrong with the healing process and the least desirable side effect happened. The three vampires felt it immediately, but the others would not notice for a few days. Now, what troubled Leona was how to tell Slade and especially Connie. She felt Slade would be very angry and blame her for the whole mess. Pink tears flowed down her cheeks as Slade drove to her favorite place to spend time with him. She kept her face turned away from him, instead of watching his concentration driving. She loved Slade and never felt that way about anyone in her human and vampire existence. Now she felt it would crumble away. The tears flowed more and more as she thought about him. How could she tell him and not lose him? This was the hardest thing she ever did as a person.

Slade pulled into the parking lot and stopped. He got out, walked around to Leona's door and helped her out of the car. In the light of the parking lot, he saw the tears on her cheeks and held her to him. He kissed her cheeks taking her tears away. This made her hug him and she cried loudly into his shoulder. Slade ran his hand up and down her back trying to calm and soothe her. As they stood there, her sobs calmed and she regained her composure. Slade reached into his pocket, pulled out a handkerchief, wet it with saliva and wiped away the pink tracks of her tears. He reached down, took her hand and led her to the door and into the teahouse.

They sat in silence for a while, but Slade broke it first. "Why were you crying in the car? Did it have anything to do with Gustaf and Andrei arguing?"

"Yes, it did, but that is not the real reason. I want to tell you, but I am not sure how to do it without losing you." She said with a choking voice as tears appeared in her eyes again.

Slade took her hands in his, looked her directly in her tear-filled eyes and said, "Leona, I love you and nothing you can say will make me leave you. I love being with you and can't wait to hear your voice every evening when you wake. So just please tell me what is wrong."

Leona choked and the tears flowed again, "I love you too, but something happened last night that changed Connie forever."

"What could be so bad that you are so sad about it?" He asked looking at her tears.

Leona sobbed, but tried to stifle it in the public space, "I, we think that Connie will heal quickly, but she will be a vampire. I am so sorry, please forgive me?"

Slade squeezed her hands hard and looked away from her. His face turned crimson and she sensed his heartbeat escalate fast. He turned back to her face. Leona saw anger and hurt reflected back at her. She tried to put her hand on his cheek to soothe his feelings, but he turned away again. She kept her hand on his face, she felt his heartbeat slow and he turned slowly back to stare at her. Now, she saw a tear run down his cheek and she felt so much sadness from him. She tried to smile hoping it would comfort him, but his face remained cold and angry. She left her hand touching him in hopes that she could make him understand.

"What happened was not supposed to occur, but it does when the conditions are wrong for the spell. No one knows when it will happen it just does. Unfortunately, it is not possible to reverse the change. She will become a vampire in a few days or weeks." She told him. "She will heal and get stronger."

"Who will tell her that she is now a vampire?" Slade said through clenched teeth.

"That was what Gustaf and Andrei were discussing. I feel I should tell her, but I want you there with me. I brought up the healing process, so I feel responsible. Will you be with me?" She pleaded as she squeezed his hand hard.

"We can go together. I know it was not a planned thing and there are risks to everything in life. I am just not sure how she will take the news." Slade comforted her and smiled.

They finished their drinks and left to go back to Leona's sleep chamber. Before they got there, they returned to the squad room to turn in his car and see what Eran had done with the application for a warrant. The application sat on the duty ADA's desk for processing in the morning. Slade bid Eran good night, took Leona out to his personal car and off to her bed.

Leona in her soft voice asked, "When should we go visit Connie? The changes have not started yet, but will be noticed in a couple of days."

"Let's wait until tomorrow night. She needs to have some happiness before the serious bad news smacks her." Slade intoned.

"That sounds good. Let's get to my chamber. I want you to spend the night with me." Leona said breathlessly.

Slade drove to the warehouse and pulled into the bay for cars. The red pickup was there as well as the black limousine. Slade made a note of the plate numbers for Eran to follow up with a DMV search. He was always on the job watching for clues.

Leona led him to her chamber and closed the door locking it. Slade took off his jacket, gun and tie, sat on the couch and watched, as Leona removed her clothes. When she finished, she walked over to him, bent down and kissed him. She grabbed his hands and pulled him up to her. As she hugged him, Slade felt how cold her body was. She had not fed yet and she needed to get warm. Slade hugged her hard, but that was not enough to warm her at all.

She whispered in his ear, "I need a hot bath, will you join me?"

She started removing his shirt and pants. Soon they were naked and walked to her tub, which she started to fill earlier. Slade got in first and sat with his legs extended. Leona got in, sat between his legs and leaned against him. Slade relaxed in the warm water and started to wash Leona's body. She relaxed and laid on him feeling so much better being with her man. As Slade washed her body she absorbed the heat from the water, but it was not enough to keep her warm. The things that happened had nothing to do with keeping them warm. A small bit of sexual tension rose as they began washing each other more vigorously. They knew it would eventually happen and tonight felt like the night for it. They got out of the tub and dried each other with oversized fluffy towels. They wrapped the towels around themselves and walked to the oversized bed.

Slade removed his towel, threw it to the floor and lay on top of the bed waiting for Leona to join him. Leona went to her cabinet of toys and selected a few to take back with her to bed. She knew Slade watched her, as she walked around the room. She dropped the towel as she stood in front of her toy cabinet provocatively posing to tease Slade. She shifted from one hip to the other, as she selected her toys. When she was happy with her choices, she turned abruptly and walked back to the bed, as if she were a model on the runway at a fashion show. She looked at Slade and saw that her actions had the desired effect on him.

She brought a pair of handcuffs back with her, but decided they were unnecessary. She dropped them on the floor but kept the cat o' nine tails and the silk scarves. She crawled on the bed, teased Slade drawing the scarves along his legs and slowly flogged him softly on his torso. The scarves had the desired effect on Slade and allowed Leona to prepare him to allow her to feed. The sexual tension in the room rose to the point that Slade felt the walls close in on him.

He grabbed the cat from Leona and she turned her back to him. Her head dipped toward his lower body and her lips found a tender spot on the inner thigh of his right leg. She slowly licked his thigh to find the right spot. As she licked, Slade moved under the touch of her tongue. He grabbed the cat, raised it above her bare back and brought it down on her softly. The more Leona licked the harder he flogged her. Finally, Leona found the right spot, opened her mouth wide and bit him with her fangs digging into his leg. Blood flowed from the new wound and Leona sucked and licked it all up cleanly. Slade continued to flog her until his arm tired.

He threw the cat down and pulled Leona from the wound on his inner thigh. She came willingly to him and kissed his lips. Now she felt warm to Slade because she fed off him. The wound on his leg healed quickly but left two small red areas where the vampire's fangs penetrated the skin. The sexual tension drained from the room quickly after Leona fed. Slade pulled her up from feeding on him, held her next to him and kissed her lips tasting his blood. He desired to have her next to him and spend time with her.

Leona felt warm and loving toward Slade after she fed off him. She loved her human man. She loved being naked in his arms. She wanted to be with him more than anything she ever had in her many years. She looked at him and rolled close to him having her body touch his as much as possible. She loved the way he smelled. She loved knowing he was hers. She sighed as she looked at him lying by her. She moved her arm across his waist and pulled herself closer against him. She felt so contented now that she fed and had her man in her bed. She did not sleep, but she loved being there watching as Slade slept.

Slade slept next to Leona feeling her warmth radiate from feeding off him. He felt so calm with not a care in the world. All the pressure to solve the current case fell away as the world passed him. The night came slowly to a close and Leona hovered near him for as long, as she could. Reluctantly, she kissed him, as she rose to enter her coffin to die for the day. Slade stirred, but failed to wake, when she left. She covered him with a blanket because the room would grow cold in the early morning sunlight. Slade rolled to his side and pulled the blanket around him.

Leona smiled and whispered, "I love you, detective Slade and I will see you again tonight." She crawled into her coffin and closed the lid to seal out the light.

Two hours after Leona bid him good night, Slade woke up rested and ready to face another day. He sat up, looked around and remembered how good he felt sleeping there. His thigh ached a little, but it did not bother him that Leona fed from him. As he sat on the bed, he remembered the cars in the warehouse area. He needed to get a warrant to search them, but was pretty sure they would find nothing in them. He got dressed, left Leona a note and went to his car. He used his cell phone to check for messages he missed over night, but nothing was there. He drove to his apartment to get breakfast and change his clothes. He had his one cup of good coffee of the day and sat watching the morning news, when his phone rang.

When he answered, he heard, "Detective Slade, this is Connie's doctor. We noticed something unusual in her tests this morning. Can you come in to discuss it with us?"

"I can be there in a half hour. Where should I meet you?" Slade answered him.

"Come to Connie's room." The doctor replied.

Slade gulped his coffee, put on his jacket and left the house. His mind raced with thoughts about what they found. Had they seen she was a vampire? Was there something wrong with her healing? He almost missed the visitor parking, because fears cluttered his mind. He parked in a special spot reserved for the police and dashed to Connie's room. The nurses saw him breeze by and called her doctor. Shortly after he entered her room and dismissed her guard, the doctor entered.

They shook hands and looked over at the sleeping Connie. Her face looked so peaceful. It made Slade feel reassured to see her like that.

"Shall we wake her up so she can hear the changes too?" The doctor asked.

"You have not told her anything yet?" Slade queried.

"No, she wanted you to be here, when we delivered the results of today's tests. We have to honor our patient's wishes." The doctor replied. "As you know, we perform blood tests every morning. Today not only did we do the blood tests, but a full body scan and a brain scan. Let's wake her up now."

"Sure doctor, she will want to hear the results." Slade cautiously replied. He suspected he knew what they saw already.

Slade walked to the bed, took Connie's hand and softly called her name. She opened an eye, saw it was Slade and immediately sat up hugging him. She was so happy and looked better than she had in weeks. She looked questioningly at him and the doctor.

"Is there something wrong, doctor?" She asked.

"On the contrary, there is good news today." The doctor beamed.

"Why are we here, doctor?" Slade queried.

The doctor began, "As you know, we test her blood every day looking for impurities and other abnormalities. Weekly we do a full body scan to measure the rate of healing of her broken bones." He smiled broadly and gestured with his hands. "This morning's results were a total surprise. The blood tests and other tests were perfect. Next, when we examined the full body scans, we saw that her bones had changed and knitted the way they should. It was like an overnight miracle. In fact later today, we will remove the plaster casts on her arm and leg."

Slade beamed as he said. "That is wonderful news. When do you think she could be released from the hospital?"

"She will go home probably in a couple of days. We want to monitor her progress more but things look so good." The doctor beamed still.

"Doctor, are you saying that things changed radically in my body overnight?" Connie asked curiously.

"Yes, your body has changed radically for the better right now. It is truly a miracle." The doctor replied.

The doctor shook Slade's hand replaced her chart and left the room. As soon as the door closed, Slade jumped on the bed, hugged Connie and kissed her many times. They were so happy. They held each other and Connie sobbed tears of joy. She could go home and back to work. Slade laughed and wanted to dance around, but Leona's words from the night before crashed his festive mood. Should he tell her? Should he wait until Leona was awake and bring her with him? These questions weighed heavily on him now.

He got down off her bed and sat next to her holding her hand. His mood switched to somber and Connie saw the quick change. Her elation crashed when she saw his face. Slade turned away from her but not fast enough. She dropped his hand and buried her face in her hands. Soon the sobs became cries of anguish, as she knew there was something wrong. Slade turned back to her, put his arms around her and pulled her against him.

"Connie, I have to go now. We are executing a search warrant at an estate today where the vampires were seen." He said softly and weakly. "Leona and I will be back to see you tonight."

Slade left the room quickly, left the hospital faster and drove to the squad room. When he got there, he filed a warrant application to search the warehouse where Leona slept for the two vehicles he saw there. If he set it up right, they could remove both vehicles and tow them to the garage where the CSI group could gather evidence. The warrant came through. He gathered a CSI crew and went to the warehouse. The crew brought a tow vehicle to remove both vehicles to the impound area to be searched for evidence. It proceeded swiftly and did not disturb anything in the warehouse.

Later at night, Slade returned to the warehouse to be there, when Leona awoke. She awoke as the sun dipped below the horizon and total darkness spread. When she opened her coffin, Slade stood next to it holding out his hand to assist her in rising. She climbed up, wrapped her arms around his neck and kissed him as he swung her out of the coffin putting her down on the floor. She kept her arms around his neck and looked deeply into his eyes waiting for him to speak. She sensed there was something wrong and he was way to serious now.

"What brings you to my chamber as I rise tonight?" Leona questioned.

"The doctor, who is in charge of Connie's case called me earlier today, He asked that I meet him in her room. It turns out the blood session the night before acted a lot faster than we thought. Her daily blood tests were perfect. Her bones healed correctly too. She will go home in two days unless something changes." Slade softly told her.

Leona looked mystified and confused as she said, "This is not good. These changes happened too fast. It should have taken at least a week for these changes. She needs to hear about what happened. We need to get Gustaf and Andrei involved."

"Let's get together with them and pull together an approach to telling her in the least traumatic way. I think only you and I should be there to tell her." Slade expounded.

With that, Leona kissed him again and took him by the hand to her couch. She took off her clothes and undressed him. They went into her bathroom and took a shower together. When they finished, she dressed him, he dressed her and they went to meet with Gustaf and Andrei.