Cold Crypt Cellars: Krystianna Aramis Vampire Series, #1

By J.R. O'Bryant

Vampires, Shapeshifters, and Fae... Oh my! The supernatural world is out and vibrantly alive. Vampire, Shapeshifters, Fae, and Magical Practioners of all flavors have been out and open to world for over two hundred years. The human race has adapted and so have the preternatural ones. UV proof glass and comapnies that feed the blood drinking populace are common place. 

Krystianna is a centuries old vampire who is a new town for a major business convention and maybe some adult fun if she can find the time. 

Someone else has other ideas for Krystianna and when things go south, they go hard. Krystianna's reputation and possibly her life come to risk as all the scattered pieces start to come together. 

Will Krystianna and her people have to make the ulimate sacrifce or will the truth win out?

• Language: English
• Publisher: Darkness Blessed Productions Publishing
• Release date: Aug 31, 2013
• ISBN: 9781483901114

J.R. O'Bryant

J.R. O'Bryant grew up in Southern California and in the mountains of Colorado. She is a member of mutliple alternative lifestyles and belief systems. She prides herself on being open minded and free thinking and surrounding herself with like minded individuals. She now resides in the Midwest with her family and assorted critters. 

Book preview

This one is for the Squish and Wraith. All the love.

Acknowledgements

For my fans who waited to see how Krys evolved. To my long suffering spawn who understands mommy needs her music and bubble sometimes. To Wraith for being there even in the weirdest moments. To God and Isa who put up with my strangeness. To my Writing Ohana. And to the DH Dreamers. And to the people who have been along for the journey... this one is for you guys.

CHAPTER ONE

March. The ending of winter and the edge of spring all mixed into one. Small flowers were beginning to bud here and there, just the tiniest bit of color to spot along all that deadwood of the cold season. And yet, you could still taste the frigid tinge of snow in the air if you breathed deep enough. You knew that even with spring right around the corner, winter still held a grip on the world. Today, however, the sun had been out, barely a cloud in the sky, and the temperature was almost bearable. It had been a good day to be out and about if you liked that sort of thing.

Admittedly, being a vampire kind of put a damper on the whole enjoying a beautiful day thing. We didn’t do well in sunlight. But thanks to the invention of UV proof glass we could at least move about during daylight hours with a little more freedom than we used to. Don't get me wrong though, being undead held plenty of perks.

I had been around awhile. I had watched the world change, as history slowly unraveled and told new stories over the centuries. And now that the world had matured enough to accept not only shapeshifters, but vampire kind as well...let’s just say life was going good. In these modern times the supernatural community and its inhabitants were thriving, growing, and becoming more and more mainstream.

My staff and part of my security team had arrived before me to secure our rooms and get everything in place before the rest of us landed just after sunset. Now we were headed to the hotel to meet everyone and get ready for our first night in Columbus.

Rob Zombie's 'Living Dead Girl' came screaming from my pocket as my phone rang. I should mention that I am utterly not tech-savvy. It took me three months to figure out how to answer my own phone when Gabriel, my primary partner and lover, decided to get it updated for me. Some of my vampires and personal servants had a great amount of fun setting my ring tones.

The caller ID showed the name and number for the hotel we were staying at. You've reached Krystianna Aramis, I answered in my most professional voice.

Mistress, the sound of Mikael's voice made me smile. I had fallen in love with the boy early on. He was young, fresh, and always striving to please me. It seems the donor you had ordered was replaced by someone rather high ranking in the local society. He says you were expecting him. Was there something you wanted to let us know? Or should I have security escort him out?

What do you mean higher ranking? I wasn’t expecting anyone beyond the standard feed. If Jason can vet them, then it’s fine. I trust your judgment, and his.

Apparently he is the leader for the local werewolf pack. He said something about all of this being arranged a couple nights ago. None of us have anything about a meet-up with the local pack before the main conference tonight. I know you will enjoy him one way or the other, but this seems a bit, I don’t know, heavy handed on his part. I can always call the catering service and have the standard package sent out. I know how you get when you don’t feed after a long day.

It’s all good Mikael. Thanks for checking with me. I don’t know anything about arrangements for munching on the local pack leader, but I know you guys will do what you feel is best. See you soon, love. And thanks again for double checking.

There were many advantages to being so much more mainstreamed as we were these days. Fresh and willing food was one of those perks. There were now specialty companies that catered to our specific dietary needs, on many levels. For a generous fee these companies would send out their employees to be evening snacks on the agreement that we took good care of the employee and we didn't do too much damage.

Whether you preferred young and sweet, well-aged, somewhere in between, maybe something with a little edge of wild to it...they had us covered. Me personally, I had certain affections for the slight power boost one could get from a powerful shifter. Of course feeding on the local leaders was a bit questionable, but I would figure out what was going on when we got settled and I got briefed on any updates to our schedule and stay.

––––––––

CHAPTER TWO

Having landed at the airport as the sun was setting, I arrived at the hotel about an hour after full dark. We pulled up to entrance of the hotel and gave the keys to the waiting valet. Our baggage would already be in our rooms waiting for us. Even though this was a vampire owned hotel designed with a vampire’s needs in mind, it was also a bit of a tourist attraction for the everyday human to ogle the supernatural up close and personal. We all got a few side glances as we made our way to the elevators, but that was to be expected. When you get to be my age you eventually understand that no matter what you do people will gape, ogle, and basically be a nuisance anytime something new crosses their path.

I didn’t feel like I was much of spectacle to view. I was wearing a tight t-shirt, dark jeans, boots, and a black leather trench coat. Of course, the unbound, waist length, blood red hair and the jade green eyes may have caught some attention on their own. Or perhaps it was the whole master vampire aspect, what did I know?

It was kind of hard to miss the vampire part, too. I had been informed in my youth that anyone other than an utter psychic null could tell us from everyone else. Something about the way we emanated power and a taste of death lingering in the back of their primitive minds or some such. Personally I felt everyone tasted and felt differently to me, whether they were pure vanilla human or supernatural in origin, they each had their own feel for lack of a better word. Each person I interacted with left a mental imprint of their flavor or scent. So while some people tasted of mundane human and left no lingering aftertaste for me to contemplate others, especially those I interacted with on daily basis, left a signature taste if you will. And I could recognize their specific flavor from short distances. Metaphysics is always odd to explain. But there you are.

I was feeling rather famished as the flight from San Jose, California to Columbus, Ohio was long and the whole trip had me feeling edgy and moody.  Of course I had fed well at home, but it was dark now and I was getting hungry. I knew we had the reception/greeting with the area leaders tonight and I was looking forward to grabbing a bite to eat and changing into fresh clothes before we headed out again.

The elevator finally dinged at the top floor of the hotel and I stepped out into a silver and gold wallpapered hallway. The thick plush carpet was a white so pure I was almost afraid to set foot on it. Not that I was worried about making a mess, but I was raised with a respect for clean spaces and this looked like it would be hell to keep clean. I truly hoped my room wasn't this painfully pristine and pure looking. I liked a little color, a little flair here and there. My suite was the only one on this floor. I had specifically purchased the best suite in the city that money could buy. It wasn’t that I had to have the best, but I wanted enough space for my security team and servants, too. These rooms came with a guarantee of security and light proof drapes. Let’s hear it for vampire safe technology!

Instead of making any of us fuss with the little piece of plastic that activated the locks on the suite door, my security team had been notified of my arrival and was waiting by the door as we approached.

Jason stood aside, letting me into the room and closed the door behind me. In the foyer and sitting areas of the suite my staff had already set up a full command center complete with assorted electronics and paperwork. It looked like everything was in order. I walked into a sea of black clad male and female muscle. Our standard uniform for all security and most of my staff was black jeans, black shirts with our winery logo across the breast done in silver, black boots, and varied versions of black leather jackets.

The clothing styles varied from one person to the next simply for taste sake, and of course the need to conceal weapons. But make no mistake, armed or not, my security and staff were some of the most dangerous people ever trained for their jobs, and there was a reason they worked for me and my family. You might say we had a great benefits package, but there were other perks that weren't so publicized.

Someone had been thoughtful enough to put a bouquet of wild flowers on the table just inside the door. I loved wild flowers when we could find them. I think it was partly the whole lack-of-daylight thing that made me enjoy them so much more. When I was a child, I would spend hours in the fields and forests near our home. I would pick wild flowers by the basket full and cover our house and the winery with them. My father would always laugh and shake his head when the new bunches of flowers would appear. Four-hundred years later I still loved the myriad colors and scents of wild flowers. Silly, the things that stay with you over the years.

The designers of the hotel created each room with a color minded theme. My entire suite had been designed with varying shades of purple. The plush carpets were so dark they were almost black, and the walls painted a shade so soft it was almost white. The solid oak bed was covered in a deep purple and black coverlet. The entire room seemed as though someone had sat down with a purple paint spectrum and decorated the room with every available option. Well, at least it wasn't painfully bland and white. I finished my quick look around and dropped into an open chair.

Jason, as head of my security, began giving me a quick brush-up and overview on the other preternatural beings that would be in attendance tonight and any of their specific quirks that I would need to remember. Outside of the standard Midwest Area leaders I would be paying my respects to tonight, I would also have the great displeasure of dealing with one of my least favorite people living or dead; none other than the head of Darkly Dead Drinks, my main competition. Obsidian Chylde was an egotistical ass and a cold blooded murderer. When I left California I was under the impression that the slime-ball was unable to attend. Of course it was just my luck to have to deal with him in public. I could only hope that he would be as polite as I was going to try and be. We’d see who broke formality first.

Not all of us get along, and some of us down right can't stand one another. Most of us come from extremely varied cultural backgrounds which can make these formal meetings kind of on the edgy side of things. One downside to being practically immortal is that grudges could often last for, well, damn near forever.

I was really hoping to make this a short-and-to-the-point endeavor; but it seemed that long, drawn-out, and tedious was going to be the name of the game for the foreseeable future. While I had pretty much planned the trip as much as possible, on some level I had hoped to at least avoid some of the less pleasant parts of my duties. Dealing with creatures whose very presence made me want to do something violent was, sadly, still part of my duties. Unfortunately, one can only plan so far ahead. A lesser person would have sighed, pouted, and been altogether unpleasant. I went with a dignified snarl of disapproval and left it at that. Okay, so maybe snarling at people wasn't nearly as dignified as I would like to think, but I was hoping it was more mature. It wasn’t that I hated all my duties. I loved being in charge of my life and my own business. It was the less pleasant aspects of having to