The Professor Woos The Witch (Nocturne Falls Book 4) (21 page)

Pandora spent the first few minutes at the coven meeting introducing Kaley to the rest of witches gathered in the fire hall. She’d been firm but clear with Kaley on the ride over that she wasn’t to say anything about her father—or grandfather—being a familiar. Pandora explained that, while unlikely, it could put them in danger, which was enough to illicit a solemn, wide-eyed promise from the thirteen-year-old.

Kaley was polite to everyone Pandora introduced her to, but only Pandora’s mother and sisters earned a smile. Pandora could understand the shyness. Meeting this many witches had to be intimidating.

Pandora had often felt like a bit of an outsider herself, what with her magic being so flaky. She nudged Kaley. “Want to get a snack? There’s all kinds of stuff on the refreshments table. Including brownies. Although, if you hate brownies, I’ll happily eat yours.”

Kaley gave Pandora one of those adults-are-weird looks. “No one hates brownies.”

Pandora nodded sagely. “Correct answer. If you’d said otherwise, we’d have to turn you into a rock.”

Kaley squinted. “Can you actually do that?”

Now it was Pandora’s turn to roll her eyes. “No, silly. It’s just a joke. We don’t do that.”

“I know it’s a joke. But could you?” Then she tipped her head. “You totally could, right? If you wanted to?”

“Not me personally. Animate to inanimate is pretty high-level stuff. Some of us could, yes. But none of us
would
.” Pandora put her arm around Kaley’s shoulders, and they walked together to the snack table. “We’ve all taken an oath to do no harm. It’s part of the initiation into the coven.”

Kaley took a plate and helped herself to a brownie. “Can I join the coven?”

Pandora grabbed a brownie too. “Maybe someday. To begin with, you’d have to be a resident of the town.”

Kaley frowned. “That’s never going to happen.”

“Never say never.”

Happiness glinted in Kaley’s eyes. “Does that mean you talked my dad into staying?”

“Let’s go grab a seat, and I’ll tell you.” They found two chairs together in the double crescent of thirty or so that were set up, and Pandora explained. “Your dad and I have agreed to get to know each other better and see if there’s any kind of possibility for something more than friendship between us. Are you totally grossed-out yet?”

Kaley laughed. “No. I like you. And I know how boys are.” She took a bite of her brownie.

“What does that mean?”

Kaley shrugged one shoulder. “You know. They like kissing and
stuff
. Sex,” she blurted out. “I’m sure my dad is the same way.”

“Hold up, your father and I are not there yet. But for the record, girls like all that stuff too. You will. You’ll see. Some day. Not any day soon. Bother. Don’t tell your father we talked about this, okay?”

Kaley made a face. “I won’t. And yeah, I know I’ll like it. Kissing’s cool—not that I’ve done that—and some boys are cute, but some are still jerks. Not my dad. He’s not a jerk.” Her expression became a little distraught. “Plus, I think he gets lonely sometimes. I don’t want him to be lonely. Or sad.”

“You think he gets sad?”

She exhaled. “I think he works too much and needs to have more fun.”

Pandora winked at her. “That’s something I can definitely help with.”

“Good.” Kaley ate some more of her brownie before speaking again. “Do you think my mom is in a coven like this?”

“I don’t know. Not all witches join them. You have to be approved to become a member, and that can be hard to do if you don’t know other witches in the area where you live.”

“I hope she is.” Kaley stared at her half-eaten brownie. “My mom isn’t really good at being a mom, but I still love her. She
is
my mom. I want her to be happy too.”

Pandora’s heart went out to Kaley. Life with an absentee mother couldn’t be easy. “That’s really nice, Kaley. Do you get to talk to her much?”

“Once in a while she calls me. Sometimes I call her, but most of the time it goes to voice mail.”

“I’m sorry. You can talk to me anytime you want to, okay?”

“Okay.”

Marigold and Charisma joined them in the next two chairs, but Corette was still chatting with another member.

The buzz of conversation in the room fell away. Pandora looked up to see Alice Bishop, head of the coven, enter. All the witches who hadn’t yet taken their seats quickly did so.

“Who’s that?” Kaley whispered.

Pandora leaned closer. “Alice Bishop. She’s the high priestess of this coven. Mostly because she started it.” Although it was generally understood by the coveners that while Alice held the rank of high priestess, it had become more of an honorary title. Alice rarely came to meetings unless there was something major to be discussed. As far as Pandora knew, that wasn’t the case this evening, but the woman was here for a reason.

Kaley nodded. “Cool.”

Alice came to stand in the center of the half circle. She nodded to those in attendance. “Good evening.”

“Good evening,” the witches answered back.

“I trust you are all well. I have a brief announcement, and then I’ll turn the meeting over to Dominique.”

Pandora whispered to Kaley again. “Dominique is a third-degree witch, and she’s one of the town’s councilwomen.” And, for the sake of most coven meetings, the real witch in charge.

Alice shot a displeased look at Pandora, a sign to be quiet.

Marigold slid her hand over and squeezed Pandora’s knee. Another sign to shut up.

Pandora took the hint.

Alice cleared her throat. “As you all know, the Black and Orange Ball is fast approaching. Due to unforeseen circumstances, Nella Davis had to step down from the decorating committee. Fortunately, Delaney Ellingham has agreed to take her place. Because Delaney is already providing the cake and other desserts, we’re looking for one more person to fill out the committee.”

On the other side of the half circle, Martha Trevors raised her hand. “I can do it.”

“Very good. Thank you, Martha. Please make sure Delaney has your contact information.” Then Alice turned back to the group. “Thank you for your time. Dominique, the floor is yours.”

Dominique took over as Alice left. She looked around at those in attendance. “Anyone have any new business?”

Pandora thought about the treasure trove of goodies Gertrude had left behind, but with Cole on board, there was no need for the coven to get involved. That stuff was rightfully Kaley’s anyway.

No one had any new business, so Dominique launched the group into a discussion about scrying bowls.

Forty-five minutes later, the meeting was over, and Kaley was beaming. “That was so cool. Can I come to the next one?”

“If you’re still in town, sure.”

“Excellent.”

“Did you meet anyone you’d like to talk to about becoming your mentor?”

Kaley smiled shyly. “I want you.”

Pandora smiled back. “That’s really sweet, but…”

“But you’re still not convinced you and my dad will work out, are you?”

“No, I’m not. No one can know that kind of thing until they give it some time. But it’s not that.”

Just then Marigold, Charisma and Corette joined them and started asking Kaley how she’d liked the meeting, giving Pandora an out so she didn’t have to explain about her broken magic and all the complications that could bring. After a few minutes, Kaley seemed to have forgotten about it.

Eventually, Pandora said it was time to say their good-byes. “School tomorrow,” Pandora reminded the reluctant Kaley.

As soon as they were in the car, Kaley started with more questions. “Where can I get a scrying bowl?”

“Probably in the attic. I know there’s a scrying mirror up there, but until you learn some basics, I’m not sure what good either would do you. You can certainly try, though.”

“You could teach me the basics.”

And they were back to the mentoring. “Someone will, I promise.”

“Will you at least come upstairs and help me find it?”

“How about tomorrow night after your dad and I go to dinner and your homework is done?”

Kaley rolled her eyes. “Okay.”

When Pandora pulled into Cole’s driveway, she parked the car and hopped out to follow Kaley in.

Cole was sorting through boxes in the dining room. “Hey, sweetheart. How was it?”

It took Pandora a sec to realize he wasn’t talking to her.

Kaley was practically vibrating. “Dad, it was so cool. I learned about scrying bowls, and Pandora—”

“Miss Williams,” he corrected.

“Miss Williams is going to help me find one in the attic tomorrow after your
date
.”

He smiled. “Excellent.” He put down the box he was holding and gave Kaley a hug. “I’m glad you had fun.”

“I did, and I’d really like to go again, so we need to stick around. Like live here.”

“So noted.” And since he apparently wasn’t in the mood to discuss that topic again, he changed the subject. “Have you done everything you need to do for school tomorrow?”

“Mostly.”

“Kaley.”

She sighed. “I have like a chapter to read in Biology, which I’m totally going to do right now.”

“Get to it, then. I’ll be up to say good night.”

“Okay.” She gave Pandora a wave. “Thanks for taking me. See you tomorrow.”

“See you tomorrow.”

Kaley clomped up the steps, leaving Pandora alone with Cole. “How was your night? Did you have a talk with Gertrude?”

“Hey!” Kaley reappeared on the landing at the top of the steps. “Look what I found in the hall.”

She held up a black feather.

Cole stiffened. He opened his mouth, but said nothing.

Pandora stepped closer to him and looked up at Kaley. She wrinkled her nose. “I hope you don’t find the rest of the bird. Toss that old thing down here and I’ll throw it away.”

“No way,” Kaley said. “It’s really pretty. I’m keeping it.”

Cole snapped out of it. “Fine, but wash your hands. You never know where it’s been.”

Kaley shot him a look of disbelief. “Uh, Dad, it’s been on a bird.”

“My point exactly. Wash your hands.”

“Fine.” She went off to her room, twirling the feather between her fingers.

“You’re going to have to tell her sooner or later,” Pandora said.

“I know, but I need to understand the shifting part better before I do.”

“Speaking of, did you talk to Gertrude?”

He took a few steps toward Pandora but glanced in the direction of the attic. “I did.”

“And?”

He slipped his hands around Pandora’s waist. “She said we should practice kissing more.”

“She said that.”

“Uh-huh.”

Pandora resisted his pull. “I know how to kiss just fine, thanks.”

“That’s not what I meant.” He tugged her closer, hooking his thumbs in the belt loops of her jeans.

“You’re not very clear. Do your students have trouble understanding you too?”

He narrowed his eyes. “She said we needed to practice touching and me being able to control the urge to shift without you using your magic.”

“I’m not using any magic at the moment.” She leaned against him. He was too yummy to resist. “And right now it’s not your urge to shift I’m worried about.”

His smile turned wicked, and he nipped at her jaw, sending a cascade of hot sparks through her. “Is that so?”

“Mm-hmm. What else did Gertrude say?”

His mouth went lower, and his hair tickled her nose. “I can’t really remember…”

Parts of her were getting really warm. She broke free, trying to catch her breath and succeeding only in inhaling another delicious lungful of Cole’s masculine scent. “You seem to be doing pretty well at not shifting.”

He grinned proudly. “I’ve been practicing.”

“I figured that’s where the feather came from.”

He nodded. “Gertrude gave me some pointers and told me to practice. So I did. I figured with Kaley gone, there was no better time. I’m not saying I’m an expert or anything, but with some concentration, I can shift. I, uh…flew around the house. I might have run into a wall once. Well, clipped it.”

Pandora laughed and clapped her hands. The more Cole got in touch with his familiar side, the better chance she had of convincing him to stay. “That’s so cool! Show me.”

“You’ve already seen it.”

“Yes, but not on purpose.”

He glanced up. “What if Kaley comes down and sees me? I don’t want her to freak out.”

“I think she can handle it. Besides, when I told her that you and your dad being familiars is absolutely to remain a family secret, I also explained that sometimes some really weird stuff might happen, but it’s nothing to be afraid of if it involves you or me. Just so she’d be somewhat prepared.”

“Good. Thank you.”

“Sure. Hey, I’m here to help right?” She wiggled her fingers at him. “So come on, shift.”