Wild Dream (2 page)

“Maman, Vincent knows what he’s doing,” Olivia said, even as Vincent hurried back to the grill.

Ava’s ears were filled with a rushing noise as black dots edged her vision. Chiasson. Olivia’s grandmother had said Chiasson. It couldn’t be possible.

“Ava?” Olivia said and touched her arm.

She swallowed and took a step to the side.
Breathe. Just open your lungs and breathe, dammit.
“I’m fine.”

“It’s the heat,” Maria said. “Get her inside to cool off.”

Suddenly, a bottle of beer was shoved in her hands. “This should do the trick,” Christian said and walked her to a chair under one of the fans.

Olivia pulled a chair next to her and peered at her closely. “You look as pale as death.”

She felt it as well. How did she not know Vincent’s last name was Chiasson? Hadn’t it come up in conversations with Olivia? No. She would have remembered, because that name was burned, no, seared into her memory.

“I’m fine.” Ava forced the words past her lips and lifted the beer to her mouth. She hated beer, but right now an adult beverage was an adult beverage. And she needed a lot of alcohol. An entire store still wouldn’t take the edge off.

Olivia blew out a breath. “All right. Then let me make the introductions. You already met Christian. The hunk who kissed me is Vincent.”

Ava looked toward the grill to find Vincent smiling at them. She gave a nod of her head.
 

“Next up is Lincoln, the brooding one next to my man.”

So the hunk had a name. Lincoln. His blue eyes were the exact color as both Christian’s and Vincent’s. Ava once more found herself ensnared in his gaze. Lincoln lifted his beer in a salute to her and promptly turned away to answer his cell phone.

“The lazy bum in the hammock is Beau. Normally he’s in the kitchen. He’s an amazing cook, but Maman promptly shooed him out this morning,” Olivia said with a laugh.

Beau lifted his head long enough for Ava to see the same vivid blue eyes that the rest of the Chiasson clan had. His hair wasn’t nearly as long as Vincent’s and Lincoln’s, but the semi-long length looked good on him. “Nice to have you here, Ava.”

The entire scene was surreal. It was bad enough that she was back in Louisiana, but she was also just down the road from where she grew up. To make the situation even more bizarre, she was in the Chiasson home. As a guest.

There was no way she could pull off what she wanted to do. It was all too much. All around her were the sounds of the bayou, the smell of nature at its finest. At one time, it had been her life’s blood.

The Cajun accent of the people, the sounds of Zydeco music playing in the background, the smell of spices from the food. It brought a deluge of memories back that threatened to drown her.

Somehow, she got through the next thirty minutes as Vincent finished cooking the meat. Ava plastered a smile on her face as they all sat around the table outside that was laden with food made by Maria. She ate the delicious meal and savored every bite.
 

Because she knew the idealistic scene was about to be shattered.

CHAPTER TWO

Lincoln wanted to forget the haunting beauty that was Ava Ledet, with her long, wavy auburn hair and unusual amber eyes. She walked fluidly, almost as if she glided upon air.

She had the look of a city girl, but there was something in the way that she gazed longingly at the bayou. Then there was her creamy skin, only accentuated by the black shirt that molded to her pert breasts. And, of course, her tight white pants.

Lincoln watched her help Olivia clear the table, and bit back a moan as she bent over and he got a view of her breasts when her collar dipped.

“She’s very pretty,” Beau said as he walked up and handed Lincoln a beer.
 

“Yep.”

Pretty was like calling the Grand Canyon a hole in the ground. Ava was...enthralling, spellbinding. Captivating.

She was calm and easy-going now, but he would wager his best knives that she had a temper to go with that hair of hers. Her face was that of an angel, with her high cheekbones and wide, expressive eyes. But her sensual mouth and tempting curves hinted at a sexier side that Lincoln itched to bring out of her.

“Are you laying claim, because I’m definitely interested,” Beau said.

Lincoln paused with his beer half way to his lips, and slanted a glare at his youngest brother.

Beau chuckled and shook his head. “I get the point, Linc. Stop with the look. By the way, who called earlier? You looked upset.”

Shit. How could he have forgotten about Solomon’s call? As his gaze once more snagged on Ava, he knew exactly why he had forgotten.

“Is it bad?” Beau asked.

“Bad enough. I can’t exactly tell the family with Ava here.”

Beau rubbed his jaw. “Christian brought her bag into the house. Is she staying?”

“I hope to hell not.” For several reasons. The main one being that Lincoln didn’t think he could keep his distance from her.

Beau nudged him with his elbow. “You need to tell Vin that.”

Lincoln waited for Olivia to take Ava down to the water before he made his way to the house. Maria was sitting on the porch as he walked up.

“A fine meal, Maria. Thank you.”

She smiled, a knowing look in her dark eyes. “Don’t think I didn’t see you looking at Ava as if she were the finest dessert served up on a platter just for you. She was looking at you as well, boo.”

Lincoln didn’t even try to lie to the old woman. She might not be family yet, but he had known Maria since his birth. After their parents’ deaths, she had looked out for all five of the Chiasson children – or as much as they would let her – despite raising her own granddaughter.

“Ava’s a looker, but she’s just visiting.”

“For now,” Maria said shrewdly. “You don’t know what the future holds, Linc. Remember that.”

“Yes, ma’am.” He had a grin on his face when he walked into the house that lasted until he reached the office doorway. He didn’t have to search to know that Vin was in the office.

Lincoln walked straight into the office and found Vincent writing in the family journal that listed all the paranormal beings the family had killed throughout the years, and how to kill them.

Vincent looked up and stopped writing. “What is it?”

“I got a call from New Orleans.”

That was all that needed to be said for Vin to lay down his pen. “Get the others.”

“Ava is here.”

A muscle twitched in Vincent’s jaw. “It’s that bad?”

“I don’t think you’ll want to be explaining things to her.”

“No, no. You’re right. We’ll have to wait until Olivia, Maria, and Ava return to Maria’s.” Vincent ran a hand down his face. “Olivia won’t be happy about being kept in the dark.”

Lincoln turned on his heel and quickly found Beau and Christian in the kitchen. The three walked back to the office to join Vin. Beau lounged on the loveseat while Christian sat on the edge of the chair, his elbows on his knees.

Lincoln leaned a hip on the edge of the desk so he could see everyone. “I received a call from New Orleans. There’s a bit of a problem that they’ve asked for our help with.”

“We never turn family away,” Vincent said.

Christian laced his fingers together. “They’re cousins. It’s a no brainer. When do we go?”

“We don’t.” Lincoln set down his beer. “Solomon said that Kane is on his way here.”

Beau jerked into a sitting position. “The next full moon is a day away. What the hell is Kane doing traveling now?”

“It seems our cousin doesn’t know how not to piss off a Voodoo priestess.”

Vincent let out a long sign. “Not again.”

“We can’t handle this with Ava here.”

“Afraid I’ll learn your Chiasson secrets?” Ava’s voice said from behind him.

Lincoln stilled, her voice going through him like a blade. He slowly straightened and moved to the wall so he could see the doorway. And her. Ava and Olivia stood in the entry of the double doors no one had thought to close.

There had been something in Ava’s voice, almost a hint of fury.

“I was coming to tell you that we’re headed to Maman’s,” Olivia told Vincent.

Vin stood and leaned his hands on the desk. “Ava, please forgive us. There is some family business that we like to keep private.”

“You mean how your family hunts the supernatural?” she said offhandedly. “I used to live in this area. I know about the Chiasson family.”

There was more to her story. Lincoln was sure of it. And he wanted to know what it was. “Olivia said you left as a child. I doubt you knew very much.”

Her amber gaze swung to him. Her smile was cold and laced with such anger that her eyes burned with it. “When I was twelve, my father lost his half-brother in an accident. At least that’s what the papers called it. My father suspected something else, so he began to look into it. For the next six months, he researched the paranormal. Ultimately, it led him to the Chiassons.”

“Oh, God,” Olivia whispered, her eyes wide as she stared at Ava. “That’s why you looked faint when you learned the family name.”

Lincoln’s mind raced with the people his parents had brought into the house, trying to place Ava’s father.

“My father began hunting the creatures. It became his obsession. He quit his job, would sleep all day, but the worst was when he left. He walked out on his wife and daughter. To hunt the supernatural.”

“Jack,” Lincoln said as he finally remembered. “Jack Ledet was your father.”

Lincoln recalled how much Jack had spoken of his family. He was obsessed with killing the supernatural – but to protect his wife and daughter. There was no way he would have just walked out on them. Lincoln may have only been in his early teens, but his father had taught them all to recognize a good man when they saw one. Jack was a good man.

“Where is he?” Ava asked.

Lincoln frowned and looked at Vin. Vin shrugged his shoulders.
 

“We’ve not seen Jack in years,” Vincent said. “We assumed he returned home and was finished with hunting.”

“Assumed.” Ava pinned him with a withering look. “Did it not occur to any of you that one of those
creatures
might have gotten him?”

Lincoln shook his head and stepped forward so that Ava would look at him. “The last time we saw Jack was years ago. We finished a hunt, and he shared breakfast with us before he started back home. We all thought he finally had enough of the life.”

He wanted to help Ava locate Jack, but he couldn’t do anything until the full moon had passed, and Kane had gotten out of his mess.

“I’ll take Ava and Maman home now,” Olivia said.

Lincoln didn’t want Ava to go, but by the look on her face, she needed to get away from the Chiassons. Vincent walked Olivia out, and Lincoln found himself standing at the door watching them get into the truck and drive away.

Vincent walked back into the house and closed the door. He let out a long sigh as all four brothers stood in the large foyer. “Well, that was a surprise.”

“I feel sorry for her,” Christian said.

Beau swirled the last bit of his beer in the bottle. “It seems we’ve got two issues to deal with now. I want to help Ava find her father. I was pretty young, but I remember Jack.”

Christian nodded. “Riley used to sit on his lap.”

Lincoln missed his sister, but as the youngest of the clan – and the only girl – Riley deserved something more than the Chiasson family business, which was why she was in Austin at the University of Texas.

“One thing at a time,” Vincent stated. “First, lets get this business with Kane sorted out. What does Solomon want us to do?”

“What do you think with a full moon coming?” Lincoln said testily.

Christian walked away toward the kitchen. “If we’re going to argue, I need to get fortified with some of that chocolate cake Maria made.”

Beau made a dash through the dining room to beat Christian to it, while Vincent and Lincoln leisurely walked to the kitchen. When they reached it, both Beau and Christian had a piece of cake in hand, eating.

Lincoln pulled one of the chairs at the table out and turned it around so that he straddled it, his arms resting on the back. “The Voodoo priestess has altered Kane’s curse. He’ll forget he’s really human while in wolf form. He’ll kill indiscriminately.”

“He really fucked up this time,” Beau said.

Vincent remained standing and began to pace. “Will the cage we have hold him?”

“If he gets here in time,” Lincoln answered. “That was another of Solomon’s worries. There were those trying to prevent Kane from leaving New Orleans. Solomon, Myles, and Court got him out, but they don’t think it’ll stop there. The people know he’s coming to us.”