was Agnes. She was a witch and was formerly the head of the Kincaid Pack coven.”
“Oh, she was the one who orchestrated the attack on Kai, right? Helped his parents try and kill him and his siblings?” Robson had been pretty fucking horrified to hear about some of the awful things that had happened beneath the noses of law enforcement. The attack on Kai had been just months ago, when Robson had been back in Meyerville, but he’d been completely oblivious.
“Yes, her and a couple others. They all fled after blowing up a pack member’s house, but Agnes helped Kai’s parents sneak past the wards surrounding the territory.”
Robson’s eyes widened. “Okay, two questions: First, they blew up someone’s fucking house? And second, explain the ‘ward’ thing to me. That’s magic, right?”
“You’ll meet him Saturday probably. He’s an Enforcer now—Drake Hayes.” Marcus paused and glanced away for a moment before meeting Robson’s gaze once more. “He… lost pieces of himself that day. Including one of his arms.”
Robson nodded. “I served for twelve years, man. He won’t be the first person I’ve met missing a limb. He’s still on the mend?”
“In some ways. His body is as healed as it will get though. Even with the poison they laced the explosives with, his advanced healing and Dr. Bell’s quick intervention saved his life.”
“Jesus.” Robson could barely wrap his head around something so horrific happening in his own town. “How did no one find out about that? I mean… a house exploded. People notice shit like that.”
Marcus shrugged and snagged another fry. “He lived outside of town, so he didn’t have close neighbors. Plus, the sheriff and the police chief know.”
Of course they did. That was why Robson had been fucking stonewalled every time he turned around. The sheriff hadn’t just wanted Robson to forget about Kincaid and the others, he had been actively trying to protect them and their secrets. “Are they… shifters?”
Marcus shook his head. “No, though one of the part-time officers is. When Chief Baskin is ready to retire, she’ll probably take over. Though she’s a little young.”
A part of Robson bristled at the idea of a shifter being the chief of police in his town. It wasn’t that he thought they couldn’t be trusted, but their loyalty would always be to the pack first. That was the one thing Marcus had made clear from the beginning—everyone in the Kincaid Pack answered to and was loyal to Rick Kincaid over everything and everyone else.
Shouldn’t the police chief be loyal to the people in his or her town first and foremost?
“As for wards, they are like magical boundaries,” Marcus was saying. “My understanding is that they can be created to keep someone out, keep someone in, or notify the witch who set it when someone crosses it. The strength of the witch determines the strength of the warding and how large the impact is.”
“What does that mean?”
“Well… For example, most witches wouldn’t have a problem setting a ward around a home to keep a specific person from entering.” Marcus waited until Robson nodded his understanding before continuing. “But stronger witches can create larger wards over larger spaces and keep out more people or even more abstract people.” Before Robson could complain that the explanation didn’t make sense, Marcus hurried to add, “Such as Tashmica. She is extremely powerful in her own right and is able to draw additional strength from the rest of the coven and the pack. She has created warding around the territory that keeps out certain types of people—non-pack shifters or witches from other covens—or warns her when people with certain intentions cross the ward. Does that make more sense?”
Robson nodded, though his head was spinning. Invisible magical boundaries were harder for him to swallow than shifters for some reason. “And that was what I ran into at Wicca We Can?”
“Yes. Tash had set a ward to prevent non-pack members from entering, but for some reason it didn’t dissuade you from walking in the store. The pain you experienced was the consequence of a crossing a ward you didn’t have permission to cross.” Marcus’s eyes were full of regret as he stared at Robson. “Are you still… upset about that?”
The hopeful way Marcus asked made him want to brush it off and say he was over it, but he had to clarify something first. “So because Reesa is a member of your pack, she really would have been okay entering the shop?”
Marcus nodded. “Yes. She would have been