Moon Kissed

by Donna Grant

  “It’s just me,” she replied with a too-bright smile. “So, how long has this place been in business?”

  “Ten years or so. Are you sure you want to work here? The tips are good for the girls, but things can get rowdy on occasion.”

  Addison shrugged. “I need the job.”

  Kane did the hiring, but Myles knew there was nothing about Addison that would prevent his brother from bringing her on. “Give me a moment and I’ll take you to the office.”

  “Take your time. I don’t have anywhere to be,” she said with a smile before turning back to the pool game.

  Court stopped beside Myles and said over the music, “You’re looking at her as if you want to devour her. I say make your move.”

  Every time Myles thought about having a relationship, all he had to do was look at Solomon. “We know how those things end.”

  “If our cousins can do it, so can we?”

  “The Chiassons don’t have our...affliction,” Myles reminded him.

  Court glanced at Addison again. “You want her. There’s no reason you can’t have her, even if it’s only for a little while.”

  “As long as she works here, all I’ll ever do is look.”

  ~ ~ ~

  Two excruciating days later, Myles was still looking. Just as he expected, Kane hired Addison the night she applied. She started working the next day, and each time she came in wearing the tight black shirt and denim shorts, Myles couldn’t think of anything but her.

  He tried staying in his office, but that didn’t work. He tried remaining in the kitchen so he could only catch glimpses of her, but it wasn’t enough. He then tried working behind the bar, which proved too much any time a patron so much as gave her an admiring look.

  Nickleback played through the speakers, and Addison swayed with the music as she set up the tables.

  “She’s pretty,” Riley said as she put glasses away, readying for the evening crowd.

  Myles glanced at his cousin, knowing none of her brothers would likely approve of her working there. “I suppose.”

  Riley snorted loudly. “You’re a terrible liar, Myles. You’ve been staring at her for days, and when you aren’t looking, she’s staring at you.”

  That was exactly what he didn’t want to hear. It made him want to pursue whatever was between them, but it wasn’t something any of the LaRues would ever attempt again.

  Riley set a glass down and positioned herself so that he had to look at her. “What is it? Are you telling me you won’t go after her? Why? My brothers manage it.”

  “We’re not exactly like your brothers.”

  She rolled her blue eyes and smoothed her hands over her hair pulled back into a sleek ponytail. “Your father and grandfather didn’t see an issue. Nor did any of your other ancestors.” She frowned suddenly. “Something happened, didn’t it? Something to make all of you shy away from relationships.”

  Myles glanced through the arched doorway to the kitchen where Solomon was. “Leave it, Riley. Please.”

  “Do my brothers know?”

  “No, and we want it to stay that way,” he warned her.

  She put her hand on his arm. “It must have been pretty bad.”

  “You can’t begin to fathom it.”

  Riley dropped her hand and swallowed. “Ava said her father is here. I haven’t seen him.”

  “Jack does his own thing. He comes and goes often. There is a lot of hunting to be done around here.”

  “Hunting?” Addison said as she walked up and placed some dirty glasses on the bar. “What do you hunt?”

  Myles had been so lost in the past that he hadn’t realized Addison was near. Otherwise, he would’ve never spoken. “Anything really.”

  “You know these Cajun boys,” Riley said as she turned to face Addison. “They do enjoy their hunting.”

  Addison looked from Riley to Myles, and then back to Riley, a slight frown marring her forehead. “Right.”

  Myles didn’t let out his breath until Addison disappeared into the kitchen. “Speaking of hunting, I think I’m going to go tonight.”

  “I’m coming with you,” Riley said.

  Myles jerked away from her. “The hell you are. It’s one thing to have you here and not tell your brothers. It’s another thing entirely to take you hunting.”

  “Do you forget I’m a Chiasson? I’ve known what’s out there since I was old enough to hold a weapon. My parents made sure all of us knew how to hunt – and kill – those things.”

  “Yes, but when was the last time you hunted?”

  “Two weeks ago.”

  Myles ran a hand down his face, suddenly very happy he didn’t have a sister. “Are you kidding?”

  “Really?” she asked angrily. “You think I went to Austin and pretended evil didn’t exist?”

  “Do your brothers know what you were doing?”

  She put her hands on her hips. “They might have, had they bothered to visit.”

  “You’re going to drive me to drink, Riley,” Myles said and sighed. “I know that stubborn streak within you. We all have it. If we don’t take you, you’ll go hunting yourself. You can come with me tonight. I heard about a wraith being spotted.”

  She gave him a wink. “Thanks, cuz.”

  Riley left Myles and made her way to the kitchen. It didn’t take her long to find Addison in the back peeling shrimp. “I thought you worked the front.”

  Addison glanced at her and shrugged. “I do, but everything is ready, and I hate being idle. So I asked Solomon what I could do to help.”

  “Did I hear Kane right earlier? Do you have another job, as well?”

  Addison rubbed her chin on her shoulder. “I’ve got three all together, but if I can bring home as much money as I did last night on a regular basis, I think I can drop one.”

  “Are you Super Woman?” Riley asked with a laugh. “Three jobs, and you’re still going for your degree? I’m impressed.”

  “I’m taking the semester off.”

  Riley was instantly on alert as she heard the break in Addison’s voice. “Sometimes we need that break. The classes will still be there in the spring. I was tempted to quit midway through my third year.”

  “Where did you get your degree?”

  “UT. My brothers sent me to Austin as soon as I got my high school diploma.”

  Addison shifted her weight from one foot to the other as she leaned her hip against the stainless steel table. “So, you’re from New Orleans?”

  “I was raised a few hours from here.” Riley hid a smile as she realized that Addison was trying to see if she was interested in any of the guys. Riley then decided to ease her mind. “I wanted to spend some time with my cousins. The LaRue boys can be a lot of fun.”

  Addison’s head snapped to her. “Cousins?”

  “Cousins,” Riley repeated and gave in to the smile. “I’ll warn you, they’re obstinate as mules. Sometimes we women have to show them what it is they want.”

  “I don’t know,” Addison hedged.

  Riley leaned close. “Trust me. Go after what you want. Or should I say who you want.” When Addison simply stared at her like a deer in headlights, Riley bumped her shoulder against Addison’s. “You never know what tomorrow will bring.”

  Addison looked through the doorway into the bar at Myles. “That’s so true.”

  CHAPTER FOUR

  Addison yawned as she walked from the coffee shop after splurging on a java chip frappuccino. Every day she thought of Riley’s words, but she had yet to make any sort of move on Myles.

  She had an hour until she had to be at Gator Bait. It had only been a week, but she’d managed to bring in twice as much money as her other two jobs combined. Holding down three jobs was taking its toll on her, which was why she had opted to quit her cleaning job. She kept her job at the attorney’s office because of the hours and their willingness to work around her college courses.

  Of course, that wasn’t an issue this semester.

  Addison
walked to a bench across the street and sat. Not even the wonders of the French Quarter could pull her from the funk she fell into every time she thought about finishing college.

  If she saved everything she made, she might have enough to cover another semester, but what about the one after that? Thanks to the tips from Gator Bait, she was able to pay Wendy for two months past due rent, as well as the current month.

  Getting behind on bills sucked the big one. Addison felt as if she were forever getting caught up. It was one of the reasons she wanted a degree, to get a good job so she could make enough money to support herself.

  Ever since her father’s death, she felt as if she were fighting for handouts. There hadn’t been much family to even consider taking her in, but she felt fortunate that she’d had that and wasn’t forced into a foster home.

  Looking back, Addison knew her first few years with her grandmother might have been strict and regulated, but at least she was loved. After her grandmother died, she’d briefly lived with her mother’s brother and his wife until he’d been diagnosed with cystic fibrosis. Then she went to the only other family that could take her in, her father’s brother and his wife. They didn’t have any children of their own, and they struggled with money, but she had a home.

  Addison got her first job two months shy of her sixteenth birthday just so she wouldn’t have to ask them for lunch money. And now to learn the truth about them… She couldn’t even think about it. Every time she did, she grew so infuriated that she thought she might explode from the anger it was so fierce.

  As she sat drinking her frappuccino, Addison’s thoughts turned to Myles. At first she believed the sexual tension between them was her imagination. Over the past week, she found him watching her often. His gaze was direct and...needy. The one thing she wasn’t was a take-charge kind of girl. She liked the guy to make the first move, but she was seriously considering going outside of her comfort zone when it came to Myles.

  He was dependable, steady, and so damn handsome she wanted to lick his entire body. It was sinful for a man to look so good. Not to mention the havoc it played on her hormones.

  Myles seemed like the type of guy to go after a woman he wanted. He had yet to make any perceived moves on her though, which probably meant...he wasn’t interested.

  “Well, this day just gets better and better,” she mumbled to herself as she came to the conclusion.

  Addison people watched – one of her favorite pastimes – as she continued to wrestle with her thoughts on Myles. If he rejected her, Addison would never be able to step foot inside the bar again. She’d be mortified.

  A breeze ruffled her hair, pulling the strands into her eye. She wiped them away, tucking them behind her ear. That’s when she spotted a woman with rich, dark hair blatantly staring at her from across the street near a row of artists and fortune tellers.

  Addison raised a brow in question. To her shock, the woman started walking toward her. In a city known for its crazies, Addison sat up straighter, prepared to defend herself if need be.

  The woman was tall and slender. She wore a gauzy cream shirt that was cinched at the waist with a brown belt. It was paired with a long, full, red skirt with small beige flowers. Around her head was a scarf of cream with dark brown beads hanging against her forehead.

  The woman stopped before Addison, her brown eyes large and tilted slightly at the corners. She had mocha skin that hinted at mixed ancestry. “Your life is in danger.”

  How did one react to such a statement? Addison frowned as she cocked her head. “From you?”

  “Of course not,” the woman said impatiently and sat down while covertly looking around. “I know you may not believe me, but I saw you in danger last night.”

  Addison was beginning to wonder if the woman had escaped a mental institute. “Saw me? I doubt that. I was working all night, and the only thing I’m in danger of there is having beer spilled on me.”

  The woman let out a long, suffering sigh. “When I say I saw you, I mean that I had a vision. I was doing a reading last night when your face flashed in my mind and I saw it all. A wolf was chasing you.”

  “Whoa,” Addison said and scooted away on the bench. “Hold up a minute. Did you just say a reading? Are you a fortune teller?”

  The woman rolled her eyes and motioned with her hands to her outfit. “Bingo. Now, can you get past that so you can hear what else I’m saying?”

  “I heard you. Danger. Wolf.”

  She stared at Addison for a moment before she stuck out her hand. “Let’s start over. I’m Minka Verdin. I’m from a long line of fortune tellers descended from gypsies that came here from Romania.”

  “Addison Moore,” she said as she shook Minka’s hand. “You’re serious.”

  “As a heart attack. Listen, most of the time I bullshit my way through reading someone’s palm. I’ve had visions since I was six years old, but they were stupid, like an image of a live oak outside of town, or an old rusty car sitting in a yard. There have been three instances in my life where I saw someone’s face. Last night, it was yours.”

  Addison didn’t want to believe her, but the truth shining in her eyes couldn’t be ignored. “Let’s say I believe you. How did you know I’d be here?”

  “My stand is over there,” Minka said and pointed across the street in the square. “I’ve had that same space for five years. I didn’t just see the wolf chasing you. I saw you sitting here in that same navy shirt and white shorts. So, I kept a lookout.”

  Addison had lived in New Orleans most of her life. She knew the things said about the city, and she even witnessed some things that made her want to hide under the covers.

  “There are no wolves in New Orleans.”

  Minka turned her gaze away. “Look around. Tell me what you see.”

  Addison did as she requested. She turned her head from one side to the other. “I see people returning to their jobs after lunch. I see tourists. I see artists painting. I see musicians. Regular, everyday people.”

  “Do you know what I see?”

  She shifted her eyes to Minka, curious. “What?”

  Minka pointed to where her stand was behind the artists. “I see witches.” She jerked her chin in the direction behind her. “I see demons.” Next, she nodded her head to the left. “I see vampires. Farther down the street...werewolves. And to the right are djinn.”

  “Right,” Addison said with a laugh, thinking Minka was teasing her. Then Addison saw her face and the seriousness in which Minka’s dark eyes stared. “You want me to believe I’m surrounded by those things? Besides, everyone knows vampires can’t come out during the day.”

  “Yes, they can. They prefer night, but they can move in the daylight. And yes, I want you to believe the supernatural surrounds you, because it does. It always has. New Orleans is a mecca for such creatures.”

  “Just New Orleans?”

  “No,” Minka said sadly. “There are other places the supernatural are drawn to, and there are people who hunt them.”

  Hunters. Addison remembered what she had overheard between Myles and Riley a few days earlier. “If these...beings...know they’re being hunted, why do they remain?”

  “Because in New Orleans, they have a sort of truce so that all five factions can remain. And they’re being watched. If they step out of line, they are eliminated instantly. It keeps the factions in line for the most part. Besides, there are too many of the supernatural gathered here for the local hunters to wipe out by themselves.”

  “You know these hunters?”

  Minka hesitated for a second before she nodded. “I do. I’m part of the supernatural world because I have gifts, but I’m not a threat like vampires, demons, or other things.”

  “You left out werewolves. Aren’t they dangerous?” Addison asked curiously.

  Minka bit her bottom lip a moment. “They can be, but they are also loyal to a fault.”

  “You said one was chasing me. I’m gathering it isn’t loyal to me.”

&nbs
p; “That’s just it,” Minka said, her forehead furrowing. “He shouldn’t have been chasing you.”

  That got Addison’s attention. “He? You know who it is? Tell me so I can keep my distance.”

  “That might be difficult.”

  There was something in Minka’s tone that set off warning bells in Addison’s head. “Who is he?”

  “He’s not your enemy. If anything, you’re safer near him.”

  “Safer?” she cried, standing up. “You said he was chasing me.”

  Minka rose to her feet and very calmly said, “That’s what I saw, but that doesn’t mean that’s what happens.”

  Addison had about had enough. She crossed her arms over her chest. “Did you, or did you not just come over here and tell me I’m in danger?”

  “Yes,” Minka answered.

  “Did you or did you not tell me a werewolf was chasing me in this vision you saw?”

  Minka’s lips flattened for a moment. “Yes.”

  “Then why are you backtracking all of a sudden?”

  “Did you not hear what else I said?” Minka asked testily. “I said he shouldn’t have been chasing you.”

  Addison dropped her hands and adjusted the strap of her crossbody purse. “Why?”

  “I recognized the wolf.”

  “And?” Addison urged tightly, her patience at an end.

  Minka plopped back down on the bench. “He’s one of the good guys.”

  “A werewolf that’s good? Isn’t that a contradiction of terms?”

  “If you knew him, you’d understand,” Minka said. “They’re known throughout the Quarter, throughout all of New Orleans. They help keep the factions in line. They would never hurt a human.”

  “But other werewolves would?”

  Minka looked up and nodded. “Some.”

  “You keep saying ‘they’.”

  Minka shook her head and shoved a stray strand of dark hair out of her face. “Have you met any new people recently?”

  “I work at a bar. I meet new people every day.”

  That got Minka’s attention. “What bar?”