Henry heard Dr. Mohadevan's words and asked, "What do you mean?"

She pointed to Dave, "He's left his body, you haven't. Tell me, what does it feel like to be dead?"

Henry thought for a moment, weighing what she asked against what she meant then said, "Are you willing to help me?"

Tilting her head to the side while patting Dave's hand again she said, "Perhaps, if I know what it is you want from us."

"I want to know why there have been so many deaths involving police officers over the last few weeks."

"So does Detective Celluci. My dead friends all tell me they died from accidents, illness, cancer, heart problems, and gunshot wounds. There's nothing to connect them."

"Are you sure you're looking at the right causes of death?"

Frowning, Rajani went over to her files, pulled out the last few autopsy reports she had done and said, "I'm very thorough." She held the files out to Henry, "These don't lie."

Henry waved them off and said, "I know you're thorough. Only you could have found a finger print on a corpse's heart. Could there have been anything that would've sped up a cause of death in these cases?"

She shrugged, "Perhaps they were fated to die."

Henry's eyes widened as he made a mental connection and said, "I'll answer one question about death."

Dr. Rajani Mohadevan clapped her hands like a child receiving a present. "Not yet. I have to think about what I want to know." She frowned, "Only one question?"

"If you do special favor for Vicki and me, I'll try to answer three."

"What's the favor?"

"I'll tell you once we know what's causing these deaths."

"There's always something unusual when you and Vicki are involved." She glanced at Dave, "And you my friend, what will you tell me?" She looked back, saw that Henry was gone and continued speaking to Dave, "There's so much he can explain to me if I just ask the right questions."

Henry made his way back to his car and headed home. When he arrived, he found Vicki sitting at her computer muttering and jotting down notes. She impatiently gestured to him and said, "Come over here, look at the screen and tell me what you see."

Henry stood behind her, bent and rested his chin on her shoulder, "It looks like an aerial shot of the city. I would say it's an accident scene. Got any more?"

Vicki nodded and hit the play icon. A twenty second film appeared on the monitor and Henry asked to have it repeated several times before saying, "An accident pure and simple. The child stepped out from between parked cars and the police cruiser tapped her. From what I can see, it wasn't going fast and it was a glancing blow."

"That's what I thought and the accident report confirms she was unhurt, but to be on the safe side she was transported to the hospital in a police ambulance. The emergency reports say she was discharged to her father's care in good health but she died in her sleep later that same night. There was further inquiry, but the only thing that could be found on autopsy was a slight scrape on the side of her face. This tape was the only eye witness documentation, other than the two officers in the cruiser. And the only reason we have this is because a cameraman in a news helicopter was taking practice shots."

"When did this happen?"

Vicki pointed to the time stamp at the bottom of the video and said, "Three months ago." She hit save, and powered down the computer while asking, "Did you get anything from Mohadevan?"

He started nibbling on her ear, "She gave me an idea."

Vicki pushed back her chair and he moved enough to give her room to stand then wrapped his arms around her waist and pulled her back against him and she said, "What? The smell of death making you horny?"

He tightened his arms and whispered in her ear, "That wasn't the idea, but now that you've put it into my head, I'm going to act on it."

Vicki held still, closed her eyes and let all her senses concentrate on him. The smell of his spicy scent and cool hands touching her bare skin. She listened the whispered words of love and the sound of him unzipping his jeans. She felt his erection against her butt as his tongue and lips found the ticklish places on the back of her neck and below her ears. His finger found the tender nub at the core of her and teased until she was wet and ready for him. He placed his hands on her hips and pulled her tighter against his body as he entered her from behind. Gasping in pleasure, Vicki rocked back and forth meet his thrusts. With the first spasms of their mutual pleasure Henry bit down on a vein near the surface of shoulder and took her blood. She looked down at his hand near her chin and bit the side of his thumb causing him to bleed tasting his blood before the wound could heal.

The vampire within him felt the joy of a parent watching his child's first steps as he said, "I shouldn't let you do this. I'm not ready to have you turn yet."

Vicki felt him slip out of her and she turned to face him, "I know, but lately, your blood is the only thing that tastes good."

***

Vicki's eyes narrowed as she scowled and said, "Why can't I help you with the dark arts?"

Henry waved her back and said, "You don't know what you're doing."

She put her hands on her hips and demanded, "Teach me."

He shook his head no and said, "There's not enough time and I'm not sure if your marks will interfere."

Vicki hadn't thought of the marks on her arms in weeks, glanced down at them and said, "Oh."

He stopped gathering his supplies and said, "Tomorrow, during the day see if you can find the connections between the child and the police who died. Her death is part of this, I'm sure of it."

Vicki's eyes narrowed as she processed his idea along with a few thoughts of her own, "Yeah, I can see where you're coming from, but how can her death be linked to what's happening?"

"That's what I'm going to find out through the use of the craft."

"If you're not going to let me help, I'm going to go to bed."

Henry gave her a half smile, held out a bunch of herbs and a small marble mortar and pestle, "If I haven't joined you within a half hour, come back out here, crush these herbs and put them under my nose. The fumes will break the trance."

Vicki accepted the items and said, "So, I'm your back up plan."

"Always." He made a shooing gesture and added, "Go, there's not much of the night left."