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Chapter One

"Ah, hell, V, you're killingfor black silk, finding white cotton

No, wait He pulled out one dress sock Not exactly a triumph

"If I were killing you, cop, footwear'd be the last thing on your mind"

Butch glanced over at his roommate His fellow Red Sox fan His well, one of his two best friends

Both of whom, as it turned out, happened to be vampires

Fresh from the shower, Vishous had a torapped around his waist, his cheston a black leather driving glove, covering up his tattooed left hand

"Do you have to go for my dress blacks?"

V grinned, fangs flashing in the ood"

"Why don't you ask Fritz to get you some?"

"He's too busy feeding your jones for clothes, man"

Okay, so otten in touch with his inner Versace, and who've thought he'd had it in hiet an extra dozen silkies in the house?

"I'll ask him for you"

"Aren't you a gentleman" V pushed back his dark hair The tattoos at his left teain "You need the Escalade tonight?"

"Yeah, thanks" Butch stuffed his feet into Gucci loafers, bareback

"So you're going to see Marissa?"

Butch nodded "I need to know One way or the other"

And he had a feeling it was going to be the other

"She's a good female"

She sure the hell hich was probably why she wasn't returning his calls Ex-cops who liked Scotch weren't exactly good relationship material for women, human or vampire And the fact that he wasn't one of her kind didn't help the situation

"Well, cop, Rhage and I'll be throwing back a few at One Eye You come and find us when you're done - "

Banging, like soht their heads around

V hiked up the towel "Godda to have to learn how to use a doorbell"

"You try talking to him He doesn't listen to me"

"Rhage doesn't listen to anyone" V jogged down the hall

As the thundering dried up, Butch went over to his ever-expanding tie collection He chose a pale blue Brioni, popped the collar of his white button-down, and slipped the silk around his neck As he strolled out to the living roo over 2Pac's "RU still down?"

Butch had to laugh Man, his life had taken hiht he'd end up living with six warrior vaht to protect their dwindling, hidden species Soer Brotherhood And he and Vishous and Rhage were an awesome threesome

Rhage lived in the mansion across the courtyard with the rest of the Brotherhood, but the troika hung out in the gatehouse, where V and Butch crashed The Pit, as the place was noas sweet digs compared to the hovels Butch had lived in He and V had two bedroo room that was decorated in a winsome, postmodern, Frat-House-Baseh-def TV, foosball table, gys everywhere

As Butch stepped into the ht: Black leather trench coat fell from his shoulders to his ankles Black wife-beater was tucked into leathers Shitkickers topped hietup, the vaeous Even to a certified hetero like Butch

The son of a bitch actually bent the laws of physics, he was so attractive Blond hair was cut short in the back and left longer in the front Teal-blue eyes were the color of Bahamas seawater And that face made Brad Pitt look like a candidate for The Swan

But he was nodark and lethal seethed behind the flashy exterior, and you knew it the uy who'd sht with his fists, even if he was spitting his own teeth out while he took care of business