Lucky Break by Chloe Neill Page A

opened my eyes, grinned at them. “I don’t—only the ones who cook for me.” I waved the empty fork at them. “What if this wasn’t revenge by the Marchands, but a sacrifice by the McKenzies? What if they killed Taran?”
    Gabe frowned. “Why?”
    I shrugged, stabbed a chunk of ham. “I don’t know. Maybe to put the heat on Nessa? Maybe they want to frame her. Anger makes people do really stupid things, and Rowan McKenzie looked plenty pissed yesterday.”
    Gabriel’s gaze darkened. “Did he give you the bruise?”
    â€œIt was Niall. But I gave as good as I got. He shed blood. We’re even, as far as I’m concerned.”
    â€œYour sense of fairness is noted and disregarded,” Gabriel flatly said. “Cadogan and the Pack are allies, and he’s Pack. That’s the only important thing.”
    â€œTechnically,” I said, “I drew First Blood.”
    Gabriel snorted. “That’s vampire nonsense. You didn’t come all this way to take down a shifter. They threatened; you defended. That puts this squarely at their feet.”
    â€œAnd are they obliged to recognize your authority?”
    Damien and Gabriel froze, turned their gazes toward me, the sizzle of the pan suddenly the only sound in the house.
    I cleared my throat nervously at my apparent breach of etiquette. “I didn’t mean they
shouldn’t
recognize it. I’m just not certain of your, you know, rules.”
    Gabriel held up a hand, and the cloud of magic that had crept in at my perceived slight dissipated. “There are, as you know, four Packs in the United States. Colorado is within the NAC’s territory, and that makes the McKenzie family, whether they prefer to admit it or not, part of the Pack.”
    â€œFair enough. Are you planning to tell them that tonight?”
    â€œI am. Those are words I prefer to say in person, which is partly why I’m here.” He glanced at Ethan. “And what will the vampires be doing this evening?”
    â€œThe sheriff asked Nessa to walk through the house, see if anything was missing.”
    â€œIn case this was just a robbery gone bad,” Gabriel suggested, as Damien offered Ethan an omelet.
    Ethan nodded his thanks, bit in. “I wouldn’t have thought the sheriff that naive, but he rules a town that’s seen more than its fair share of violence. His skills are necessarily suspect.”
    â€œI doubt a man stays in a hidden valley in Colorado in order to advance his career,” Gabriel quipped, sipping beer with a knowing smile. “I’m sure your getting a look at the Clan’s HQ is also on your wishlist?”
    â€œWe’ve gotten the basic details,” Ethan said. “Only fifteen members, but Clans are still to be registered with the NAVR, and this one isn’t. I wouldn’t mind giving it a perusal.”
    Gabriel snorted. “I’m guessing these fangbearers don’t give two shits about your rules or regulations. If they’ve made a family that’s lasted a century without involvement of the NAVR, they most certainly aren’t going to start now.”
    â€œBe that as it may,” Ethan said. “My job is to manage risks for my House, and manage I shall.” He took another bite, glanced at me. “Wasn’t the Librarian going to send you a file?”
    The seductive scent of bacon had distracted me. I pulled out my phone, skimmed through messages from Luc, my best friend (and sorceress) Mallory, and my grandfather, all of them wishing us a good vacation with varying degrees of sarcasm. And the report from the Librarian.
    I opened it . . . and whistled. He’d sent a timeline of the feud, a two-page bulleted list of strikes and counterstrikes, with designations for whether the incidents had been suspected, documented, or proven in court.
    â€œWhat’s the good word, Kitten?”
    â€œThere are a lot of