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you,” Jules sneered. “Don’t get the two confused, okay?”
    Carmen got to her feet and hurried off. Jules heaved a sigh of relief.
    “Where did Carmen go?” Sergei asked as he returned with the drinks.
    “She went to the restroom,” Jules said. “I think she’s upset because I said I don’t want to be her escort.” Sergei shook his head in disgust. “Chicks! There’s no figuring them out—especially in this country! The girls here are too influenced by human media. The Founders had the right idea—it’s better to keep a harem. That way you don’t have to worry about one of them getting too much power over you.”
    “Are you insane?” Jules laughed. “If I had multiple brides, I’d be constantly breaking up catfights. I’d never get any peace!”
    “Speaking of catfights: where is Lilith?” Sergei asked.
    “She said she’d meet me at the club, but she didn’t say when. She had some business to attend to first.” Sergei put aside his drink and scanned the room. “I was thinking of checking out this new VIP club I heard about from a friend of mine. You want to go?”
    “Sure,” Jules replied, a gleam in his eye. “What’s it called?”
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    “The Viral Room.”
    “Let’s take my limo,” Jules said. “You got the address?”
    Carmen returned from the ladies’ room only to find Jules and Sergei gone. She hastily searched the dance floor, but there was no sign of them. As it sank in that she’d been ditched, Carmen began to hyperventilate, causing her bosom to heave.
    A regulation hipster leaned over and tapped her on the shoulder. “Hey, lady—are you okay?” Carmen instantly regained control of her breathing and smiled, twirling one of her red curls around her fingers. “I am now , lover.”
    Although the twentysomething in the designer jeans and ironic T-shirt didn’t really look like Jules, even if she squinted, Carmen decided he would make a decent enough stand-in for her rage.
    Her prey, being the complete and utter idiot most human males prove to be when an incredibly hot girl way out of their league shows any interest in them, was grinning from ear to ear.
    The poor dope thought he was getting lucky.
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Chapter Six
    The Viral Room was a two-level club in the trendy Meatpacking District. On their arrival, Jules and Sergei immediately made for the balcony lounge, which overlooked a large, square dance floor decorated with chaser lights.
    “I like this place,” Jules said as he scanned the room full of scantily clad women and giggly college girls.
    His eyes widened as he caught sight of a well-dressed young Asian man talking to an older African American man with dreadlocks hanging to his waist. “Whoa! Are those what I think they are?”
    “They’re weres, all right,” Sergei agreed. “I think the younger dude’s dad runs the were-tigers down in Chinatown. I don’t know the were-lion.” As they spoke, the were-tiger turned to look up at the balcony. Although weres and vampires shared a 79

    distant ancestry, the relationship between the species was notoriously tense. The were-tiger studied the pair of fledgling vampires for a moment before returning to his conversation. Jules let out a sigh of relief and resumed his survey of the Viral Room’s clientele.
    “Whoa! Who’s the hottie?” Sergei asked, nudging his friend.
    Jules looked where Sergei was pointing and felt his heart begin to race. “That’s the new girl at Bathory,” he replied, trying to hide the excitement in his voice. The last time he’d seen Cally Monture, she’d been dressed in her gym suit and trying to sneak out of Ruthven’s School for Boys. The moment he’d looked into her glit-tering green eyes, he’d found himself attracted to her.
    She was a fun tease.
    “You mean she’s one of us?”
    “Not exactly.” Jules shrugged. “She’s a New Blood.”
    “Stand back, boy, and watch the master at work,” Sergei leered. “I hear New Blood girls are easy and wild in the sack. Whoever gets