Wild Fever

by Donna Grant

Beau finished loading his gun and snapped it closed. “Consider it done.”

  Vincent looked at all three of them. “This is the thing that killed our parents. This is the woman whose jealousy made her take our parents from us too soon. We all want a piece of her for that. We weren’t the only family affected by Patricia’s delusions. Let’s remember that when it comes time to kill her.”

  ~ ~ ~

  Olivia found a deck of cards and began to play solitaire. She went through several games before she put the cards away and explored the house.

  It was huge, but the brothers had made it theirs. What was once a back parlor was now a media room complete with theatre seating and a 72” flat screen.

  On the other side of the house, Olivia found a workout room with all sorts of training equipment. One of the walls was covered by glass that protected a selection of weapons any military would be impressed by.

  Besides the kitchen and study, she also found a formal dining room, and a room off the front of the house that was so feminine and formal that it must have been their mother’s.

  Olivia made her way back upstairs and discovered eight bedrooms in all. Four were used by the guys, and there was another set the farthest away from their rooms that was covered with posters from movies, TV shows, and bands.

  “Riley’s,” Olivia said with a smile.

  The other three bedrooms were empty, as if they were waiting to find their occupants.

  Olivia was on her way back downstairs when she heard the telephone ringing. She ran to the kitchen, skidding on the rug as she dove for the receiver.

  “Hello?” she answered breathlessly.

  “Olivia? Olivia, is that you?” said a male voice.

  She couldn’t quite place where she knew the voice, but the fact that he was calling from her grandmother’s phone made her heart pound against her ribs. “Yes? Who is this?”

  “It’s Sean Hebert, Olivia. I’m sorry to be the one to tell you this, but there’s been an accident. Your grandmother was on her way home when a drunk driver hit her.”

  The room tilted around Olivia. No. She had lost too much. “Is she all right?”

  “They’ve taken her to the hospital in Crowley.”

  She needed to get to her grandmother, regardless of the promise she gave Vincent. He would understand. “I’ll be there shortly,” she said and hung up the phone.

  Olivia grabbed her keys that Vincent had tossed onto the counter earlier and rushed from the house. Her hands were shaking so bad that it took three tries just to get the keys in the ignition.

  As soon as the car roared to life, Olivia threw it in drive. All she could think about was her grandmother being hurt and alone and confused at the hospital. That only made her drive faster over the bumpy terrain.

  With her hands squeezing the wheel, she sped over the worn path Vincent had called a road. She could see the lights up ahead on the main road. Once she reached that, then she could really fly.

  One moment she was driving, and the next, something slammed into her car shattering the glass. She screamed as the vehicle began to roll.

  She had no idea how many times her car turned over until it finally came to a stop upside down. Her head pounded from when it slammed against her door during the roll.

  Olivia moaned and tried to unbuckle her seatbelt, but the glass had caused several cuts on her hand, and she couldn’t press the lever because the blood made her fingers too slippery. Tears welled, not for her injuries, but because of her grandmother.

  It was the low growl that took her breath. She looked around, trying to find the source when she caught sight of thick, hairy legs right next to her.

  She bit back a scream and turned her head away when the driver’s side door was ripped off and tossed aside like a kid would toss a toy.

  A massive hand with long claws reached for her. Olivia leaned as far away as she could, her tears falling freely now. If only she would have done as Vincent asked.

  The golem’s hand latched onto her seatbelt and ripped. Olivia screamed as she fell.

  CHAPTER TEN

  Olivia opened her eyes to see a fire. Grass itched her cheek, and a mosquito was happily sucking on her shoulder. She tried to swat the mosquito away, but found her hands tied.

  “A precaution. I’m sure you understand.”

  She stilled, her blood turning to ice as she recognized Sean Hebert’s voice. Olivia lifted her head to find him sitting on the opposite side of the fire making what looked like a doll out of straw.

  “What are you doing, Sean? You’re a sheriff’s deputy.” Maybe if she could reason with him he would let her go. It was a long shot, but what did she have to lose.

  He ignored her and focused on the doll. “I was so excited when you came back to town. You were cute in school, but damn, you turned into a fine looking woman, Olivia.”

  A glance around showed a house about a hundred yards away. The bayou was behind her. She tugged at her bindings, hopeful that she might get a hand free.

  “You came here once,” Sean said as he looked up at her with an overly bright smile. “Our senior year I had the party at Christmas.”

  So they were at Patricia Hebert’s house. Was Sean helping his mother commit the murders? How had Patricia convinced her son – a cop – to kill?

  “I remember,” she said to keep him talking.

  “I kissed you that night.”

  She winced as her bonds seemed to tighten the more she struggled. “You kissed a lot of girls that night.”

  “True. I had my pick of girls.”

  “You always have.” Wasn’t she supposed to make him feel good? It would be so much easier to tell him what a complete nutter he was.

  He stopped working and cocked his head at her. “Expect for you. Why didn’t you accept my invitation yesterday?”

  “Is that why you’re doing this? Because I didn’t agree to go out with you? I also didn’t say no, idiot.”

  His answer was a low rumbling laugh. Words she couldn’t understand tumbled from his lips as he held the straw doll against the fire.

  A sickening feeling rushed through Olivia. They had gotten it wrong. It wasn’t Patricia who was controlling the golem this time.

  It was Sean.

  ~ ~ ~

  “What the fuck?” Lincoln whispered.

  Vincent was glad someone could voice what he couldn’t. He was too infuriated to do more than glare at Sean Hebert. Vincent didn’t know whether he wanted to save Olivia, or shake her senseless for going back on her word.

  Christian peered closer through the weeds. “Is that blood on Olivia?”

  “Yes,” Vincent said through clenched teeth.

  This was exactly what he hadn’t wanted. He didn’t want to be put in a position where his first concern was Olivia, and not killing the very thing that could hurt her.

  He rubbed his temple in an effort to shut out the part of him that bellowed to rush to her side and protect her. He had to be smart, had to remember everything his father had taught him.

  “We’ve got your back,” Beau said.

  Lincoln met his gaze and gave a single nod. “You get Olivia. We’ll get Sean.”

  “Y’all are forgetting the golem is here,” Vincent said.

  He had felt the creature’s eyes on them since they first arrived from the bayou.

  “I guess Patricia passed the torch to Sean,” Christian said.

  “You didn’t say yes!” Sean yelled as he stood up and scowled at Olivia. “Why couldn’t you just say yes? You would’ve been spared this! But you had to go and talk to those damn Chiassons!”

  Olivia laughed, causing Vincent to blow out a harsh breath. “Jealously? You’ve killed because you’re jealous of the Chiasson brothers?” she asked.

  Vincent motioned for Beau and Lincoln to circle back around to the bayou and look for the golem. He then sent Christian nearer to the house.

  “Breanne fucked everything except me,” Sean said, spittle flying in his rage. “She told me that af
ter she’d had Lincoln, she would settle for nothing else.”

  Olivia looked bored. “You think you’re the only one to be turned down? You’re pathetic. What about Lindsey?”

  Sean wiped his mouth with the back of his hand. “I simply couldn’t let a single Chiasson find any kind of happiness. My mother felt the same about Yvonne. How she hated Yvonne. Even after she had the golem kill both Bran and Yvonne, it still didn’t lessen her hatred.”

  “But it made you hate the Chiassons, right?”

  Vincent was amazed that Olivia could be so calm in such a situation. He was barely holding it together, and he was only watching.

  “What about my grandmother?” Olivia asked. “Did you hurt her?”

  Sean sat back down and petted the straw doll. Vincent recognized it as a Voodoo doll, but just who was it for?

  “Not yet,” Sean said.

  “What’s that mean?” Olivia demanded as she squirmed until she had her legs underneath her and sat up. “Where is she?”

  The smile Sean gave her was pure evil. “She’ll be fine as long as you remain with me. This doll will ensure it.”

  “With you?” Olivia choked.

  “As my wife, of course.”

  Vincent had heard enough. He stood and walked from the shadows. As soon as Sean spotted him, he leapt to his feet.

  “Let her go, Sean,” Vincent said.

  Sean shook his head with a laugh. “She’s mine. You’ll never take her from me.”

  Behind him, Vincent heard that low growl a second before the golem appeared. He ducked and rolled as claws swiped at his head, and then came up on his feet.

  Vincent wanted to be the one to kill Sean and the golem, but he wanted Olivia safe more. He let his brothers attack Sean as he hurried to Olivia’s side.

  He had just started to cut her bonds when the golem hit him, sending Vincent flying through the air. He landed with a bone-jarring thud. It dazed him, making the world spin every time he opened his eyes.

  “Vincent!” Olivia screamed.

  He pushed aside his pain and climbed to his feet, using a tree to steady himself. Vincent shook his head to clear it and saw that Sean now had Olivia next to him with the golem behind them.

  “You’ll never win,” Vincent told Sean.

  Sean spread his arms wide. “I’ve already won, Vincent. Look around. I’m revered and sought after, while people turn away from everyone with the Chiasson name.”

  Vincent saw Lincoln hiding in the brush behind Sean. With a slight nod, Vincent gave him the go ahead. “You’ll never have Olivia. She’s mine.”

  Sean’s face mottled with rage. He opened his mouth, but no words came. His face fell with incomprehension. The straw doll fell from his fingers.

  The golem let out a howl of outrage and lunged at Lincoln. Olivia ducked as Vincent unsheathed the machete and prepared to throw it at the creature.

  Just before it reached Lincoln with its teeth bared and claws raised, it disappeared.

  For long moments, no one moved.

  “That was too damn close,” Lincoln said with a laugh as he walked from the trees.

  Beau and Christian came out of their hiding spots and walked straight to Lincoln. Vincent couldn’t stay away from Olivia another second. He cut her bonds and pulled her against him.

  “I was so scared,” she whispered.

  He tightened his hold. “I never knew it. You were brave.”

  “He tricked me. He said Maman had been in a wreck and was on the way to the hospital. It’s the only reason I left the house,” she said hurriedly.

  “It’s all right.” He closed his eyes, thankful that it had all worked out.

  Vincent opened his eyes, and all the blood drained from his body when he saw the golem reappear behind his brothers. He shoved Olivia away and looked at the house.

  At the backdoor was Patricia Hebert, her deadly gaze directed at Lincoln.

  “Linc,” Vincent shouted as he took off toward the house.

  He didn’t wait to see if his brothers reacted. He knew they would. With his machete still in hand, he lifted it over his head and let it fly with deadly accuracy.

  Patricia had been so intent on killing Lincoln that she had forgotten about him. She turned her surprised gaze to him now and pointed a finger at him as blood ran down the front of her body from where the machete was embedded in her heart.

  “Your time will come,” she said.

  “Oh, shut up,” Maria scoffed as she shoved Patricia off the steps.

  Olivia rushed past him with her arms out. “Maman!”

  Vincent sighed and watched Olivia and Maria embrace, both talking at the same time. He smiled, because he knew his life had been changed the moment he took Olivia to his bed.

  “What now?” Lincoln asked as he walked up.

  Christian slapped at a mosquito. “Food.”

  “You need to learn to cook for yourself,” Beau grumbled as he walked away.

  “Why?” Christian asked and followed him. “You do a good job.”

  Lincoln smiled at Vincent. “What are you going to do about her?”

  “The only thing I can do. Keep her by my side.”

  Lincoln slapped him on the back. “Good choice. I’ll see you at home.”

  Vincent turned back to see Olivia standing in front of him. She was covered in blood and grass, but she was still the most beautiful thing he had ever seen. “Are you hurt?”

  “Nothing that Maman’s herbs can’t cure. Did you mean it?” she demanded.

  He frowned as he tried to figure out what she was talking about. “Mean what?”

  “That I was yours?”

  Vincent glanced at the stars and nodded. “Yes. You’ve been in my heart since you were seventeen and standing on Maria’s porch. I’ve run from my feelings for you. I don’t want to do it anymore.”

  “Good,” she said smartly. “Because you’d lose. We Breaux’s are fighters. We always get what we want.”

  He pulled her against him. “And what is it you want?”

  “You, Vincent Chiasson. I want you.”

  He rested his forehead on hers. “You have me, heart and soul, Olivia. I love you.”

  “I think I’ve loved you for years, but didn’t realize it until I came back home.”

  Maria cleared her throat behind them. “Now that you two finally have things figured out, can we get out of here? I’m being eaten alive by mosquitoes.”

  EPILOGUE

  A week later...

  Olivia pulled out of Vincent’s arms to grab her cell phone from the nightstand. She yawned and accepted the call. “Ava, how are things?”

  “Going very well. I think you’re going to be extremely happy with what I’ve found.”

  Olivia smiled when Vincent snuggled against her back. “Well? Don’t leave me in suspense.”

  “Holbert and Dobbs dropped the charges against you once I proved that you were nowhere near your computer, and that Calvin was always in the Accounting Department during those episodes. They’ve also offered you your old job back.”

  “I’ll pass,” Olivia said without hesitation.

  “Hmm,” Ava said with a smile in her voice. “Do I detect a note of happiness?”

  Olivia laughed. “That you do.”

  “I’m happy for you. I’m almost sad your case is over.”

  “We’re having a big party in a few weeks. Come down and let me say thanks in person. Besides, I need to settle up our bill.”

  Ava chuckled. “Hon, I just might take you up on that offer. Bye for now!”

  Olivia put down the phone and curled back against Vincent. “I think we need to make sure we have enough food for Ava.”

  “I gather that everything got worked out, and you won’t be going to jail?” Vincent said with a smile.

  She playfully punched him in the side. “That’s right. She cleared me just as I knew she would. Calvin will get his due.”

  “Damn straight he will. If he doesn’t, I’ll have to make a trip to D
allas to deliver it myself.”

  How had she gotten through life without Vincent? She couldn’t believe everything had worked out as it had. She had thought her life was over when she drove back to Lyons Point a week earlier.

  Now she had the man of her dreams, and a future that would be filled with heat and passion. As well as danger.

  “Are you prepared for a life with me?” Vincent asked.

  Olivia leaned up to meet his gaze. “As I’ve told you every day for a week, my answer is yes. I know it won’t be easy. I know I’ll have nights where I’m up worrying or tending to your wounds, but I’d rather have that than not have you at all.”

  “You are an amazing woman, Olivia Breaux. I don’t deserve you.”

  “Oh, but you do. Let me show you,” she said as she straddled his hips and kissed him.

  Look for the next Chiasson story – WILD DREAM – Coming May 2014!

  Until then, read on for the sneak peek at THE CRAVING, the first in the Rogues of Scotland series…

  Highlands of Scotland

  Summer, 1427

  Ronan Galt brought his mount to a halt at the top of the mountain, his gaze taking in the majestic view of the wild Highlands. His gaze lowered to the valley below, and a smile broke over his face when he spotted his three friends in the valley below.

  A small nudge from his knee and his horse was racing down the mountain, deftly missing the rocks protruding from the ground.

  “About time,” Stefan grumbled crossly once Ronan reached them.

  Ronan raised his brow as he looked into Stefan’s hazel gaze. “You might to reign in that tempter, my friend. We’re going to be around beautiful women this night. Women require smiles and sweet words. No’ furrowed brows.”

  There was laughter from everyone but Stefan who gave Ronan a droll look.

  “Aye, we’ve heard enough about this Ana,” Daman said as he turned his mount alongside Ronan’s. “Take me to this gypsy beauty so I can see her for myself.”

  Ronan regarded his friend sternly. “You think to take her from me?”