Lucky Break by Chloe Neill Page A

fresh grief. I guessed she hadn’t been aware of Taran’s plan.
    Ethan’s eyes narrowed. “Has that happened before? Property in the valley held by a vampire?”
    â€œNo,” Rowan said, and he left little doubt that he’d have preferred it stay that way.
    â€œSo what did you plan to do about it?” Tom asked.
    â€œIt’s his land, not mine. What could I do?”
    â€œThat’s magnanimous.”
    â€œIt’s practical,” Rowan countered. “The trust is in his name. Not mine, not hers. It should have stayed that way. But it wasn’t my call to make, legally or otherwise.”
    â€œKilling him would ensure he couldn’t change the trust,” I said, and silence fell heavily.
    â€œI didn’t kill my cousin,” Rowan flatly said. This time, he said it to Gabriel.
    â€œWho else has access to your e-mail account?” Tom asked.
    â€œNobody.”
    â€œSo you sent the e-mail yourself?”
    â€œI’m telling you, I didn’t send the damn e-mail. I didn’t even have my laptop. I let Darla use it for school.”
    It wasn’t until Rowan got the words out that he realized the implication. He stiffened and very slowly glanced back at Darla, who stood silently behind him, her chin lifted defiantly.
    â€œYou used my account?”
    She didn’t respond.
    â€œAnswer me!” he demanded, magic pouring across the yard with a hornets’ nest of buzzing anger.
    â€œI heard him tell you about changing the trust. That’s
wrong
. Bloodsuckers don’t belong here. They’ve never belonged here. The land belongs to the McKenzies. We were here first, and he had no right to give it away. I tried to talk to him, but he wouldn’t listen.”
    When she paused, Rowan glared at her. “Finish it. Do the honorable thing and finish it.”
    Darla stared at him for a moment, before carefully shifting her gaze to Gabriel, looking for a sympathetic ear. But Gabriel’s expression was filled with as much rancor as Rowan’s, and that was apparently enough to convince her.
    â€œI sent the e-mail from your account,” she confirmed. “He ignored it, so I went to the house to talk to him. He told me it wasn’t my business, that he was doing the right thing for his family. He turned around—turned his back on me. On the McKenzies. I couldn’t let him do that. Not after all that we’ve been through since Fiona. So I picked up a paperweight—it was the closest thing I could find . . . And I hit him with it.”
    â€œOh, Taran,” Nessa quietly said, covering her mouth with a hand as she choked back tears.
    â€œI ran out the door so no one would see me,” Darla said. “I dropped the paperweight somewhere along the road, and I went home.”
    â€œYou’ve killed one of our own,” Rowan said, face wan with shock. “You’ve killed
us
.”
    Tom stepped forward, pulling handcuffs from his belt. He fixed Darla’s hands behind her back, snapped on the cuffs.
    â€œDarla McKenzie, you’re under arrest for the murder of Taran McKenzie.” He recited her rights and handed her over to the deputy, who shuffled her into the car.
    Niall ran forward, eager to protect his sister. “You can’t take her! She hasn’t done anything! This is the vampires’ fault! It’s the vampires’ fault!”
    Two McKenzie shifters intercepted him, put out hands to stop his progress.
    â€œRowan, this has got to stop,” Tom said, obviously tired. “No more reprisals. No more fear. No more hatred. I’ve let it go on too long, and that’s on me. But now it’s on all of us. If you won’t sit down together and talk, I’ll call the governor and ask for the National Guard, and we’ll see how far black helicopters get us.”
    For a long moment, Vincent and Rowan simply looked at each other.
    â€œI have no objection to a