Moon Kissed

MOON

KISSED

A LaRue Story

D
ONNA
G
RANT

This is a work of fiction.
 
All of the characters, organizations, and events portrayed in this novel are either products of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously.

Moon Kissed

©
2014 by DL Grant, LLC

Excerpt from
Hot Blooded
copyright
©
2014 by Donna Grant

Cover design © 2014 by
Leah Suttle

ISBN 10: 1942017049

ISBN 13: 978-1942017042
 

All rights reserved, including the right to reproduce or transmit this book, or a portion thereof, in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, without permission in writing from the author.
 
This book may not be resold or uploaded for distribution to others.
 
Thank you for respecting the hard work of this author.

www.DonnaGrant.com

Available in ebook and print editions

PRONUNCIATIONS & GLOSSARY

GLOSSARY:

Andouille
(ahn-doo-ee) &
Boudin
(boo-dan)

Two types of Cajun sausage. Andouille is made with pork while boudin with pork and rice.

Bayou
(by-you)

A sluggish stream bigger than a creek and smaller than a river

Beignet
(bin-yay)

A fritter or doughnut without a hole, sprinkled with powdered sugar

Cajun
(‘ka-jun)

A person of French-Canadian descent born or living along southern Louisiana.
 

Etoufee
(ay-two-fay)

Tangy tomato-based sauce dish usually made with crawfish or shrimp and rice

Gumbo
(gum-bo)

Thick, savory soup with chicken, seafood, sausage, or wild game

Hoodoo
(hu-du)

Also known as “conjure” or witchcraft. Thought of as “folk magic” and “superstition”. Some say it is the main force against the use of Voodoo.

Jambalaya
(jom-bah-LIE-yah)

Highly seasoned mixture of sausage, chicken, or seafood and vegetables, simmered with rice until liquid is absorbed

Maman
(muh-mahn)

Term used for grandmother

Parish

A Louisiana state district; equivalent to the word county

Sha
(a as in cat)

Term of affection meaning darling, dear, or sweetheart.

Voodoo
(vu-du) – New Orleans

Spiritual folkways originating in the Caribbean. New Orleans Voodoo is separate from other forms (Haitian Vodou and southern Hoodoo). New Orleans Voodoo puts emphasis on Voodoo Queens and Voodoo dolls.

Zydeco
(zy-dey-coh)
 

Accordion-based music originating in Louisiana combined with guitar and violin while combing traditional French melodies with Caribbean and blues influences

PRONUNCIATION
:

Arcineaux
(are-cen-o)

Chiasson
(ch-ay-son)

Davena
(dav-E-na)

Delia
(d-ee-l-ee-uh)

Delphine
(d-eh-l-FEEN)

Dumas
(dOO-mah-s)

Gilbeaux
(g-ih-l-b-oh)

Lafayette
(lah-fai-EHt)

LaRue
(l-er-OO)

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

A special thanks goes out to my family who lives in the bayous of Louisiana. Those summers there are some of my best memories. I also need to send a shout-out to my team – Bridgette B, Candace C, Stephanie D, Kelly M, Kristin N, Vanessa R, Shani S. You guys are the bomb. Hats off to my editor, Chelle Olson, and design extraordinaire, Leah Suttle. Thank you all for helping me get this story out!

Lots of love to my amazing family. Thanks for putting up with my hectic schedule and for knowing when it was time that I got out of the house. And a special hug for my furbabies Lexi, Sheba, Sassy, Tinkerbell, and Diego.

Last but not least, my readers. You have my eternal gratitude for the amazing support you show me and my books. Y’all rock my world. Stay tuned at the end of this story for the first sneak peek of
Hot Blooded
, Dark Kings book 4 out December 30, 2014. Enjoy!

Xoxo

Donna

   
CHAPTER ONE

Gator Bait Bar

New Orleans, Louisiana

Myles looked through the receipts from the night before from his seat at the end of the bar. While he tallied their profits and balanced the books, his younger brother, Kane, was going through their liquor supply to place another order.

A shout from the pool tables interrupted Myles as he was inputting numbers in his laptop. He turned his head to the side and glared at his other two brothers – Solomon and Court – who were enjoying their daily pool game, making it difficult for him to do his duty as their CPA.

The games began when Court was barely tall enough to play properly. Solomon was the one to teach Court the game, beating him soundly every time. It was a LaRue trait that once they set their minds to something, they didn’t relent until they had whatever it was they wanted. For Court, that had been beating Solomon. When it had finally happened, Solomon had been unprepared, thinking he still had years of winning ahead of him.

From that day onward, there had been few things that disrupted their daily games, and that included hurricanes.

“You’d think they would’ve ended the rivalry,” Kane said without looking up from his clipboard as he wrote down numbers.

Myles watched his brother closely. After the fiasco with the daughter of the Devil himself, Delphine, and their cousins in Lyons Point, Kane hadn’t been the same.

Then again, who would be unchanged after being cursed by a Voodoo priestess out to annihilate your family?

“They’ll be using walkers and still playing pool,” Myles said. He closed his laptop. Kane was tense, too tense. “You know, you’ll have to talk about what happened one day.”

Kane was in the process of replacing a bottle of Ciroc vodka on the shelf when he froze. There was the slightest tightening of his shoulders before he turned his head and glowered at Myles with his bright blue eyes – eyes that every LaRue had.

“I’ve done all the talking I’m going to,” Kane stated in a hard voice.

Myles didn’t respond as Kane turned back around. Everything about Kane was perfectly tailored, from his golden blond hair to his shirt tucked into his jeans down to the laces of his shoes exactly the same size when tied. This was not the Kane of old. That Kane would roll out of bed with his messy hair, throw on a tee shirt and jeans, and flash a smile that stopped women in their tracks.

This new Kane was too uptight, too...controlled.

“It’s not your fault.”

Kane whirled around, his eyes blazing with fury, but there was no shouting from this new Kane. His nostrils flared, his hands fisted. “It’s my fault I caught Delphine’s attention. Wasn’t it bad enough that one of our ancestors screwed with a Voodoo priestess and caused us to be werewolves? Apparently, not for me. I thought I could do whatever I wanted. Delphine wanted to teach me a lesson.” Kane snorted derisively. “She wanted Ava killed, and who better to do it than the cousin of the Chiassons who were protecting her?”

“You didn’t kill her,” Myles pointed out.

Kane rolled his eyes. “It’s a good thing too, or Lincoln would’ve skinned me. And I would’ve welcomed it. We know what we are, who we are when we shift, but if I had killed Ava, all of my memories would’ve been wiped. I’d have been a monster. Just like those we hunt.”

“It’s why we called our cousins, remember? We couldn’t come after you because we’d captured Delphine.” Myles always wanted to scrub himself in acid after he thought of that vile bitch. It had taken almost every trick they knew to confine Delphine, and then it nearly backfired on them.
 

Kane braced his hands on the bar and let out a deep breath. “I was reckless, Myles. I didn’t just put our family at risk, I put our cousins’, as well. If Ava hadn’t been with them...” he trailed off, unable to answer.

It was a feeling each of them experienced. Kane was dealing with nearly losing himself to the wolf within, but he had no idea how the events had changed the rest of them. And Myles wasn’t about to tell him.

It hadn’t been just the curse from Delphine or even capturing her, it was Court sprinkling the goofer dust around them so none of Delphine’s people could get to her. It was Solomon ready to kill every last one of her followers. It was Myles with his fangs around Delphine’s throat, ready to clamp down.
 

That night, all three of the brothers had been prepared – and willing – to do anything and everything to save Kane.
 

“It’d been too long since we saw the Chiassons. Both sides of the family have been so busy fighting the supernatural that, we forgot each other.” Myles shrugged with a grin, hoping to take both of their minds off Delphine. “You changed all that.”

Kane shot him a look and tossed a towel at him. The softening of Kane’s mouth was as close to a smile as they would get, but it was enough for Myles.

Since it wasn’t yet ten in the morning, all four LaRues were surprised when the door to the bar opened and a woman with hair so brown it was almost black walked in. She shoved the long hair over her shoulder as the door shut behind her and looked around the room with bright blue eyes.

Myles slid off the stool as he realized he was looking at his only female cousin, Riley Chiasson. He stopped in front of her and smiled. “The last time I saw you, you were in pigtails and running roughshod over your brothers.”

Riley’s smile was slow, showing a dimple in her left cheek. “I wondered if you’d know who I was.”

“With eyes like that?” Solomon said as he set down his cue stick atop the pool table and walked to her. “There’s no denying our family. What brings you to our neck of the woods?”