Warning: This chapter contains a male/female/male pairing. If that is going to freak out out, leave now. Fairly explicit, but edited from the original version to reduce the rating.

Note: This is the first chapter in the "suppliment" series. They are about events from my HB universe that were not included in the previous stories posted here (they were posted elsewhere). Call them "missing scenes." If you've read the most current chapter of the main series, "Saving Grace," you know the extent of Josef and Shane's relationship. These stories will show the evolution of that relationship and explain the dynamics at work as well as provide background on their past. As one of my readers once said, they make "dangerous, difficult and complicated" look like safe, easy, and simple! This is a male/male slash relationship. If you don't like it, don't read it. These chapters will be edited from the original versions, which are more explicit, however there are some adult scenes as they are necessary to the plot/understanding of the dynamics. Note to Shara (Shane/Sara) fans: Shane loves Sara very much, and that's not going to change. When these have all been posted and caught up to the main series, I will then start updating Prophesy again. Note to slash fans: I've had readers who've enjoyed these slash pieces without reading the main universe, so for the most part they can stand on their own.

Disclaimer: the characters of Josef and Coraline do not belong to me, and I am not making any profit nor is there any intent to infringe on copyrights. I do hold all rights to the character of Shane. He is fictional and is not intended to bear any resemblance to real people living or dead.

Chapter Summary: It's 1951 in New Orleans, and Josef comes to visit Shane. Coraline's there too, and as usual she's up to her old tricks playing with men's heads. But does she succeed this time? (this is the only chapter that will contain Coraline).

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Regret a' trois

By Cat Moon

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Josef:

I have few regrets as a vampire. I don't really have many memories of my human life, just vague images that I'm not sure are real or only a figment of faulty imagination. Food? I could care less; blood is so much more…fulfilling. That being said, I can tell you I do regret never having tasted genuine, New Orleans gumbo. Oh, I've smelled it, seen the ecstatic looks on the faces of humans, and heard the nearly reverent praises. When one of my girls had the same look on her face while eating gumbo as she did when I bit her, I knew I had to add it to my short list of regrets. Now that's impressive.

Shane:

I don't believe in regrets. Trust me, when you live oh, a thousand years or so, they are a bitch you don't want to drag around with you. You know the phrase they use, "I'm only human" to excuse their flawed behavior. Guess it needs to be changed, because even vampires have lapses in judgment. My crazy ass brother likes to tell people his biggest regret is never eating gumbo. He wants to tell you about mine. Mine is having eaten… Well. Let's just say it doesn't have anything to do with food.

1951: New Orleans:

Josef (aka Charles) let himself silently into the botanica, eyes scanning the interior with an amount of curiosity that annoyed the aloof vamp. The front room was dark, shadows pooled in the corners and spilled out over the dusty floor. A candle flickered faintly on some sort of altar where several objects rested, the meaning of which totally lost on him. Music could be heard coming from the back of the building; drumming and some sort of chanting/singing in a language he didn't recognize. He picked up a jar from one of the shelves lining the wall, studying the frog inside with detached interest before putting it back. Shaking his head and rolling his eyes, he moved to stand in the doorway leading to the back room.

A man in a black robe was doing the drumming, while a woman softly sang and added ingredients to a large pot. So engrossed were they in their task, they never noticed the new person in their space. It was an unusual occurrence, since one of them was a vampire and should have sensed Josef's presence the moment he'd entered.

Soon the drumming sped up, then it and the voice abruptly stopped.

Josef decided that was his cue. "Bokor, baby!" He announced his presence.

"Jay-Jay!" The unlikely blond haired, blue eyed voodoo priest put down his drum and went over to Josef, embracing him enthusiastically, clearly happy with the surprise visit. "It's great to see you, what the hell are you doing here?"

"Slumming!" Josef returned with a grin. The bane of his existence, the thorn in his side for almost four hundred years, yet, grudgingly, he was glad to see Shane as well.

Shane pointed a finger at him. "Watch it. This can be a dangerous place."

"Yeah, I wouldn't want to end up undead or anything like that," Josef retorted. He turned his attention to the other occupant of the room. She was a dark skinned woman, draped in a gauzy, flowing white dress. Her beauty was striking, her eyes intense and piercing as they studied him. They were eyes a man could willingly drown in.

Shane smacked his arm to get his attention, and spoke to the woman. "Angelique, this is an old friend of mine, Charles Fitzgerald. Chuckie, this is Angelique, she owns the business. I'm just helping out for a spell." Pun intended, judging by the grin that accompanied it.

Josef bent, gallantly kissing her hand. "Pleasure." He offered her his most charming smile. "That's a beautiful name to fit such a beautiful woman."

"I was named after Marie- Joseph Angelique, you have heard of her?"

"No, I don't think I have. Do we know her?" he asked Shane.

"That was back in the 1730's," Shane supplied.

Details like that were always of interest to centuries' old vampires who might be curious as to whether they not only had heard of the person, but knew them. In this case, it wasn't a time period Josef was too anxious to revisit. He'd only been a vampire for a a number of years and the memories for himself and Shane weren't particularly pleasant. Brothers not by family but via the same sire, it had been a rough decade at the hands of the perverse vampire who'd created them. The only thing good to come of it was the complex and difficult but unbreakable bond between them.

Angelique continued with the story. "She was a slave in Canada who fought and died for her right to freedom. They say she burned Old Montreal almost to the ground. Many scholars now believe she may have been innocent, but I like to believe she did it," she told him with a small, hard smile.

Shane smacked Josef a second time. "Watch out with this one, okay? She's a vodou priestess. Wouldn't want you turning into a zombie."

"Hasn't stopped you," Josef noted, having smelled the other vampire on her.

Shane grinned again. "Yeah but I'm the bokor."

"You shouldn't joke of such things," Angelique reprimanded them with a frown.

"Who's joking?"

"He's not joking," Josef responded at the same time.

"You have my permission to "turn" him if he misbehaves," Shane told her.

"Ah, brotherly love. I've missed it so."

"You missed me! I'm getting all choked up." He threw an arm around Josef's shoulder.

"It's all the incense, it looks like an opium den in here. Smells a little like one, too…"

"Ah, memories…"

"I'm in town on business till the end of the week," Josef told him. "Naturally, I'm throwing a party tonight; I expect you there."

"You know I like a good party."

XXX

Josef's party in the hotel's grand ballroom was in full swing already when the bokor arrived. He'd traded his long black robe for dress more fitting of for a high society, Fitzgerald affair. There was the usual ample supply of beautiful, willing human women, mingling among businessmen and politicians of mixed persuasion. Champagne and caviar flowed freely.

"You made it," Josef said, coming up to him. "And you even got dressed."

"If I walked in here as the bokor, half your guests would keel over dead from fright."

Josef looked at him with blatant skepticism. "You are so full of yourself."

"It's a whole different world down here, Chuckie. You'd be surprised how many pillars of New Orleans society respect the hoodoo. As well they should."

"Speaking of annoying nicknames, what are you going by down here?"

Shane paused a beat that spoke volumes. "Odin."

Josef's laughter was so loud that several head's turned in their direction. "I don't believe it."

"Hey, I'm the bokor," he defended. "I need a mystical-sounding name, and I just figured…" he let it trail off uncomfortably.

"So tell me, how many people did you inadvertently kill before you got the hang of the whole zombie thing?"

"Hey, Angelique's a great teacher. And the trick is to use just the right amount of puffer fish toxin based on size and weight of the intended."

Josef shook his head. "A vampire turning people into zombies. There's something deeply…twisted about that." He hesitated before finishing. "I like it."

"I knew that you would appreciate the absurdity. What's she doing here?" Shane asked, his attention diverted by a new arrival.

Josef looked across the room to see Coraline making her typical grand entrance. Most of the male eyes in the room turned to her, as was always her intent. She wore a provocatively low cut black dress accented with red: bright red lipstick, purse, shoes, and belt.

Josef shrugged. "It's a free country, right?" He'd been casual friends with Coraline for almost a century. While she had her faults – didn't everybody? He wasn't naïve enough to fall for her seduction games and she knew it, so they had an amicable acquaintance. He could even admire her skill at manipulation, since it was a trait he shared albeit in a different area of practice. And there wasn't a man alive or undead who didn't admire her beauty and sex appeal.

"Now I know why they call it New Whoreleans." Shane, on the other hand, didn't share his tolerance.

"No, that's what you call it. They call it the Big Easy."

"That too."

"I've heard Coraline called a lot of things, easy not being one of them."

"She's a Duvall, 'nuff said."

The Duvall's were full of pompous self-importance, regarding anyone not of their royal bloodline as inferior and in love with the old world attitudes and rules that both brothers found tedious and outdated (a vampire needs to change with the times, Shane was fond of saying). However, the main thing Shane held against them actually had nothing to do with them. Josef had lost his own royal ties, his place in his family severed when he was turned. A young, sheltered, pampered son initiated into a sadistic, dark world by an amoral sire who took it all away from him. For that reason alone, Shane was glad he'd killed their sire, didn't even need all the other reasons – of which there were plenty. It took Josef nearly a century to regain lost ground and come into his own again. His new place had been earned by hard work, cunning intelligence, and a shrewd business sense. Shane was proud of him, but still… it rankled that Josef had lost his birthright while they arrogantly flaunted theirs.

Well except for Coraline. He had to give her credit for that; she was always defying the family, rebelliously going her own way and ignoring propriety whenever it suited her. If not for her nasty habit of using men up and spitting them out, he might even admire her a bit.

Dismissing the subject of Duvall's, Shane turned his attention to a small pouch he'd just removed from his pocket. He took some of the light brown powdery substance inside and put a pinch of it under his tongue.

"What the hell is that?!" Josef stared at him.

"A vamp dream come true, my friend." He handed the bag to Josef, who regarded it dubiously.

"You don't trust me. I'm wounded. C'mon, I hate to get high alone."

"High? You're a vampire," he felt it necessary to state the obvious, since Shane seemed to have forgotten.

"Just a little thing I cooked up at the bot."

"You're insane."

Shane nodded his agreement. "It's one of the things you love about me."

"That's true." Josef agreed. "So you're telling me you actually created a drug that affects vampires?"

"See for yourself."

And so he did.

XXX

The party had lost its interest to Josef. He was trying to figure out why that was, but finding the whole concept of 'thinking' to be difficult to grasp at the moment. Maybe he shouldn't have invited Shane to the party after all. Slumming…. Well, it was interesting once in awhile, although he preferred his high society life. Shane was always seeking out the rough and rowdy. Of course, if it was that distasteful to him, he wouldn't be joining Shane in his debauchery, would he? He wondered if he should be disturbed at the idea.

Josef glanced sideways as Shane. The other vampire was next to him on the settee, arm slung around his shoulders. "You're very strange," he pronounced as if he'd just thought of it.

"Do you like strange people?"

Josef waited patiently for his brain to cooperate, and then answered. "I guess I do."

"Then it's okay then."

"Okay."

Shane began tapping his foot to the music playing. "You'd think they would have come up with better music in this country by now. Something you can really move to. Now, the African drums have a great beat, it can carry you away and fill you with the spirit of the Loa."

"The who??"

Before Shane had a chance to answer, Coraline sidled over to them, insinuating herself into the conversation. "I like this music. I think it's sexy." She swayed her hips in time to Wynonie Harris, "All She Wants to do is Rock." It should be noted that it being 1951, he was not referring to rock and roll.

"Well, yeah, indecent lyrics are always fun. But what don't you think sexy, Coraline?" Shane inquired.

Smiling, she squeezed herself into the space between the two men, putting a hand on his leg. "Oh, I don't know but I definitely think you're sexy, both of you," the other hand went on Josef's leg.

"Hi Coraline." Josef smiled at her. The hand felt very nice on his thigh, he decided he liked it there. "Are you enjoying the party?"

She pouted. "I suppose, but you didn't even come over to greet me. That's so inhospitable of you not to greet your guests."

"Sorry darling, I was just catching up with Odin here." He smirked at the name.

She looked questioningly at Shane. "What happened to Edward Fitzgerald?"

"It was EDVARD," Shane corrected peevishly.

"His brother killed him," Josef supplied, snickering.

The last Coraline had heard, Shane and Josef were doing the "brother" thing in New York, living as the Fitzgerald brothers. Predictably, the togetherness wore thin after just a couple of years, and Shane had moved on to New Orleans.

"This whole continent is mine, did I ever tell you?" Shane declared. "I discovered it." He announced out of thin air.

Josef's eyes lifted heavenward as if appealing for strength. "Ignore him, he says some bizarre stuff when he's high."

"The freshie you two shared must have had more drugs in her veins than blood," Coraline guessed. "It's always fun around the two of you," she declared, swaying side to side with the music, which incidentally pressed her body into the two on each side of her in turn.

"You do liven up a party yourself," Josef told her.

"That's why you invite me Charles, dear," she said, moving to kiss his cheek. Anticipating her move, he turned his head so that she made contact with his lips instead. Quick on the uptake as usual, she accepted and deepened the kiss, her hand on Shane's leg tightening as Josef's tongue slipped into her mouth.

After a few moments of enjoying the kiss, she turned to Shane. "Oh we don't want Edward to feel jealous, do we?" she said, offering her lips to him.

"Ah hell, why not," Shane pronounced, and took a deep kiss for himself.

"We probably shouldn't be shocking your guests though, should we?" Coraline asked them after it was over.

"Just what are you suggesting, Coraline, dear?" Even less interested in the party than before, Josef thought perhaps she had something more intriguing in mind.

She looked at Shane speculatively, knowing if there was going to be resistance, where it would most likely be from. "Why can't we go somewhere…quieter, and visit with each other? Just the three of us."

The male vampires looked at each other, then at Coraline.

"My suite upstairs is the best in New Orleans," Josef told them.

"Ah, what the hell," Shane decided again.

XXX

Coraline was thrilling at her luck as she accompanied the two men upstairs. Josef, well, they'd always been just friends but she really didn't know why it had never gone further. She supposed they weren't really each others' type. Or maybe they genuinely didn't want to damage their friendship by sleeping together. This opportunity was too good to pass up, however. Josef could handle himself… or not. She'd had her sights on Shane for decades now, but he'd never accepted any of her advances. At first it had baffled her, then annoyed her. Now, she considered him a personal challenge. How dare he turn her down? When she wanted a man, she got him. If Shane thought he was too good for her, he was about to learn his lesson. She had a drugged up freshie to thank for that, she supposed, but wasn't above taking advantage of any opportunity presented to her.

She was still contemplating how to play it when they arrived at the suite. Some men liked the direct approach, bold, straight to the point. She would bet everything Shane was that type of man. Josef on the other hand, was more into the chase, the foreplay as a pleasurable appetizer. That could be problematical. However, Josef was the least likely to back out of the activities, so she would direct her efforts on keeping Shane engaged.

As soon as the door was shut and the men had shed their jackets, she moved close to them, running her hands over their chests. "Mmmm…." She purred, "I think we're going to have a really good time."

"Indubitably."

Coraline laughed with Josef at Shane's weirdness. "I like this side of Edvard," she decided, slipping her hand inside his shirt and rubbing his chest. "Undo my zipper," she told Josef, letting him reach around her to open the dress. She didn't want either of them left with nothing to occupy them, lest they get cold feet. She had to take charge and keep things moving so they wouldn't have a chance for second thoughts. It might take some finesse, but it was nothing she couldn't handle.

Coraline was an expert at handling men.

Her dress fell to the floor, and she stepped out of it, leaving her in black lace bra and panties. An arm glided around Josef, her other hand moved to cup Shane's hardness. Josef's hand stroked down her back, sliding under her panties to caress and tease.

Shane was shrugging out of his shirt, so Coraline turned her attention to helping Josef out of his. While they were undressing him, she felt Shane press up behind her. She pushed closer to Josef, loving the feeling of being sandwiched between the two. She rubbed herself against Josef like a cat, then back into Shane, and it excited her to feel that both men were already hard for her. The clothing came off faster then, until both men were naked.

It was a blur of hands and bodies after that, hard to keep track of. Shane was kissing her neck, Josef her mouth, hands were on her body but she didn't know whose belonged to whom. Her breast was being stroked and squeezed, her panties ripped at the side to fall quickly off (and someone was going to owe her for those, they were expensive and purchased in Paris). The clasp of the bra was unhooked, and fingers immediately took advantage. She took both men into her hands and stroked them, gasping as another set of fingers slid into her.

"Bed…" she mumbled, trying to steer them over to it without losing physical contact. Laughing, they collapsed in a tangle of limbs. Josef captured her mouth roughly; his fang pricked her lip and when the flavor hit his tongue he sucked on it.

The smell of the blood caught the other vampire's attention, and he turned his kisses of her thigh into nips. She shivered as he moved up her leg like that, just breaking the skin with tip of fang, swiping the blood with his tongue as it healed, another nip…

The power, the sheer electrical force from the three vampires in the room was building. She could feel it tingling along her skin deliciously. It was going smoother than she could ever have hoped or imagined.

But, Coraline being Coraline, she just couldn't help upping the ante.

She pulled away from them teasingly, kneeling at the foot of the bed and taking a minute to admire the male beauty spread out before her for the taking. The combination of drug and sex had them willing. Oh, they were ready for anything she had in mind, all right…

"You know what would be really hot?" she whispered seductively, fending off the hands that tried to pull her closer again. "Touch each other for me." She bit her lip as she waited to see if they'd go for it.

She was rewarded when they seemed to give each other another 'what the hell' look. Shane's hand trailed down Josef's chest until it found his erection, wrapping firmly around it. Josef made a small sound of enjoyment and reached for Shane to return the favor.

Coraline smiled predatorily as she watched the two men pleasuring each other, but her eyes held a hard glint. Revenge mixed so well with sex, giving it an edge that only added to the intensity. Being stoned and horny put them in a very suggestible frame of mind. The day after… well, that would be a very different mood entirely. It would be interesting to see if they were able to overcome the shame and embarrassment, or if it would totally freak them out, causing a serious rift between the long time friends.

"Oooh, that makes me so hot," she murmured. "Two strong, hard, sexy men to watch. I'm going to reward you for making me happy, I promise. You want my mouth, don't you?" she asked, stroking Josef's thigh close to where Shane's hand was caressing. "I want to see you kiss…"

Almost before she had finished her sentence, Shane's mouth had swooped in and captured Josef's. Josef's head fell back and he opened his mouth to deepen the kiss.

It was funny how men were. The more open, bawdy ones didn't mind sharing a girl, even fondling each other -- but simple kissing was somehow unmanly and considered more intimate. It wouldn't be brushed off as just a sex thing.

Drunk with lust and the power she was wielding over the two vampire men, she sat back and played with herself as she watched them devour each other's mouths. Shane wrapped his arm around Josef and pulled him closer; the other man hooked a leg over his thigh to bring them into closer contact. Their bodies rocked into each other as they kissed, lost in the passion.

Coraline's smile dimmed a bit; hot as it was, she was starting to feel left out, almost as if they had forgotten she was in the room. That wouldn't do at all. She would have to adjust her plan a bit.

"That's so good…" she crooned, her hands caressing and moving their bodies further apart. "Now it's time for your reward." Feeling just a little bit sorry for Josef for what she was planning, she turned her attention to giving him the best blowjob she could. Being an expert, she knew exactly how good that was. After a few moments however, she realized they were kissing again. Anger creeping in, she released him and rolled over. She knew what she wanted to have happen now, if only she could choreograph it well enough...

Coraline climbed over Shane, lowering her body onto his as his hands automatically went up to help support her. "Fuck me Shane." Vampire eyes flashing and fangs bared, he obeyed her request. Flames of pleasure shot through her body at the contact. She maneuvered them onto their sides so that Shane's back was to Josef. Through her haze of pleasure, she wondered if Josef would go for it.

She managed to grab his hand and coax his arm around Shane from the back, encouraging him to press closer to them, into Shane.

"We don't want you to feel left out," she whispered to Josef, hoping he would take the bait. "Fuck him." She was gleeful, heady with her power as it washed over her in waves. She knew the instant he complied with her command; his weight against the other man drove Shane's body deeper into hers and forced a groan out of him.

"That's good… that's good…" Shane repeated as he drove into her. His hands around her arms were like a vise, nails digging in and drawing blood.

She closed her eyes and listened to the sounds in the room. Their bodies connecting, the slight squeak of bed springs, the groans and moans and curses. Shane stiffened and she opened her eyes to see Josef had sunk his fangs into the other man's neck. It was such a hot sight to see, she knew she was going to go over the edge any second. The increased flow of blood drove them all higher, and she offered her neck to Shane, who sank his fangs in without hesitation.

She felt their bodies curling into each other, moving faster, harder, as all three of them strove toward their goal. Then she was there, her body clenching tightly around Shane inside of her, and he was growling "do it you bastard," and Josef came with a shout, buried deep inside Shane.

Oh yeah, revenge was a hell of a good fuck.

XXX

Shane didn't realize his eyes were closed until he opened them. He looked around the room blearily, not quite sure how much time had passed or what was going on. Fortunately – or not – it came back to him quickly, in vivid and complete detail. They were in Josef's room, in bed. Coraline was now nowhere to be seen, having done her 'damage' and apparently made a hasty exit so as to avoid the fallout.

He groaned. "Oh god, tell me we didn't do that…" he moaned, mortified by what his memories were supplying. "I swear I'll never get stoned again. Tell me I didn't sleep with Coraline!"

Josef smirked at him from the other pillow. "Yes, we did."

He flopped onto his back and stared at the ceiling. "That's it, I'm swearing off drugs. I'm flushing the shit down the toilet. Never again."

"Ah, but look at the bright side. If I know Coraline, she's beside herself with giddiness, thinking she pulled one over on us when it's the opposite." For Josef there was no downside to the evening. As far as he was concerned Coraline was hot; he'd never kick her out of bed. And he enjoyed being with Shane. Win-win scenarios were his absolute favorite.

Shane grinned at him. "Yeah, she probably thinks she fucked us over good. Pity she'll never know the truth, though."

"It's still amusing. I bet she thinks she's made us hate each other – jokes on her, we already hated each other," Josef quipped.

Shane smiled at him. "C'mere," he growled, sliding his hand around the back of Josef's neck and pulling him closer. "I need to replace the horrifying memories..."

Josef shook his head in bemusement at Shane's comedic dislike of Coraline. Then their lips met, and he too forgot all about Coraline Duvall.

In the end though, one has to wonder. Was it Coraline wanting her revenge on Shane, and poor Josef stuck in the middle? Or… was it Coraline and Josef, battling it out in a master manipulation tournament, with the stoned Shane unknowingly caught in the middle?

Or…

THE END

end note: again in case you missed it, this is the only chapter that will include Coraline. Most will be male/male slash, Josef/Shane. If you don't like, don't read. They will be fairly explicit although I will be editing them to reduce the rating.