Legends of the Destrati: Legends of the Destrati, #1

By Dina James

Among Ethereals, Clan Destrati’s reputation and exploits are as renowned as the associates it boasts.

Within these pages are but a few of their legends.

Play Dead - Nikolai is on a mission bring a certain renegade vampire to justice before his clan council. Known as The Betrayer, Kyle is a powerful force to be reckoned with by any standard, both feared and shunned by every single vampire clan in existence. Why he would choose to assist one of their members — the very member sent to bring Kyle to justice — is his own affair. The better question is why anyone, let alone a Destrati, would accept the Betrayer’s help.

In From The Cold - Kyle abhors the word “vampire.” He prefers the more accurate term “lost soul,” for that is how true vampires are made — through a damning bargain with the Devil. Kyle is unique among what could loosely be called his kind, for he not only wants the return of what he feels was stolen from him, he wants retribution. On a cold night, a conversation with the Destrati Queen helps ease his desire for vengeance.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Lair of Doom
• Release date: Sep 28, 2015
• ISBN: 9781519988560

Book preview

cover.jpg

Legends of the Destrati

Volume I

Dina James

Legends of the Destrati: Volume I

Copyright © 2015 Dina James

Play Dead originally published in The Mammoth Book of Vampire Romance, July 2009

In From the Cold originally published as Once a Demon in The Mammoth Book of Paranormal Romance, March 2009

Both stories previously published in the anthology Light in a Dark World, March 2012

ALL RIGHTS RESERVED

Cover Art © 2015 by Skyla Dawn Cameron

All rights reserved under the International and Pan-American Copyright Conventions. No part of this book may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical including photocopying, recording, or by any information storage and retrieval system, without permission in writing from the author.

This book is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places and incidents are either the product of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously, and any resemblance to any actual persons, living or dead, events, or locales is entirely coincidental. The publisher does not have any control over and does not assume any responsibility for author or third-party websites or their content.

No part of this book may be scanned, uploaded or distributed via the Internet or any other means, electronic or print, without permission from the author. Warning: The unauthorized reproduction or distribution of this copyrighted work is illegal. Criminal copyright infringement, including infringement without monetary gain, is investigated by the FBI and is punishable by up to 5 years in federal prison and a fine of $250,000. (http://www.fbi.gov/ipr/). Please purchase only authorized electronic or print editions and do not participate in or encourage the electronic piracy of copyrighted material. Your support of the author’s rights and livelihood is appreciated.

Table of Contents

Dedication

Acknowledgments

’Author’s Note

Play Dead

In from the Cold

About the Author

Dedication

For My Husband, Robert

I couldn’t do this without you. Thank you for believing. And the fries.

I love you.

Acknowledgments

I have so many people to thank for helping get this book out there.

First, my Editor of Awesome, Skyla Dawn Cameron. Thank you for wanting to do this project with me and not thinking I was insane when I voiced a wish to have all my short stories available in one place. Not only that, but you did the most beautiful cover for me. You’re amazing, thank you.

Also, my husband Rob. As the dedication says, I couldn’t have done this without you. Thank you for believing in me and supporting my insanity, and understanding the words, I’m working! Thank you for taking care of things when I’m in my own little world. Also, thank you for enabling my yarn addiction. I think you just do it to keep me sane so you don’t have to deal with any more crazy. I love you.

To Becky—you loved Kyle from the beginning. You loved him so much you outed me as a paranormal writer in that Japanese restaurant, and as a result, the rest of the world got to meet him as well. Thank you for that.

To Valtinen—Your help with music, language, semantics...so many other things I don’t have the room to list, I’m grateful to you for. Some of them appear in these pages. Thanks for the entertainment, Fauxtaire.

Thank you also to Trisha for loving Kyle, and asking for more.  My immense gratitude to Jes and Rhea for their mad proofreading skills.

Last but never least, thank you to my readers and fans. Thank you to those who wanted to spend more of their time with Kyle (I don’t blame you one little bit!) and kept asking for the backlist of my books that I didn’t have. All I had was what they’d read. Hopefully this collection will satisfy Kyle’s adoring masses.

Author’s Note

This work differs a great deal from what you may have read by me. Three of the stories here were published in different paranormal anthologies years apart, so if they seem familiar to you, that’s likely why. Those previously published stories have since been rewritten, revised and in one case, re-titled. They now appear as they were originally written. In addition, these stories are different in that the reader sees everything from everyone's perspectives. Some might mistake this for head-hopping or point-of-view shifts—I assure you they are intentional, not amateur or editorial mistakes. It's a style called omniscient, and I prefer writing it (much to the annoyance of my editors). I, personally, think it gives the stories greater depth, which is important in shorts. With short stories, you have a limited amount of time and space to involve the audience, and this style is designed for just that. I hope you enjoy it.

Also, this work is a great deal darker than other things I’ve written. I will warn you now—there may be some triggering scenes in some of the stories. The world of the Destrati is very dark, hence the title. There are images of self-harm, sexual assault, violence and suicidal ideation (if you or someone you know is contemplating suicide, please call the suicide prevention lifeline at 1-800-273-TALK (8255) or visit www.suicidepreventionlifeline.org).

If all that weren’t enough, some of the stories are based heavily on Judeo-Christian theology. Heaven, Hell, angels, demons, souls, priests—there’s a lot of Biblical stuff in these pages, and I realize this might upset some people. Rest assured, I’m not being preachy or religious in these stories. In my world, vampires are made by selling their soul to Lucifer—they trade their soul for immortality. They’re literal lost souls. The Destrati work to prevent others from sharing their fate as one of the damned, so there’s a lot of theology involved.

If you’re good with all that, read on. Just don’t say you weren’t warned. – DJ

Play Dead

Even out here, he could hear the music.

Slowing his stroll to nearly a stop, Nikolai’s crystal blue eyes rose to the sign above the door.

The Crypt.

A wry half-smile twitched at the right corner of his lips. It grew to a complete grin upon seeing the small hand-lettered sign outside the establishment, near the sidewalk where it couldn’t really be seen unless one was looking specifically for it.

VAMPIRE LAIR LOCATED DOWNSTAIRS.

Oh?

Really, now.

Nikolai’s eyebrows rose, and his eyes once again flicked to