The Professor Woos The Witch (Nocturne Falls Book 4) (30 page)

“Bonding?”

He nodded.

“Me, too. Thank you.” She held up the feather. “Now we just need to talk to Kaley and make sure she understands the plan.”

“She’ll be home at three fifteen.”

“Good. That gives me a couple of hours to get some work done.” And to get used to the idea that she and Cole were in love. She kissed him back. “See you then.”

It wasn’t until after four that Pandora was able to return to Cole’s. She stood with him in the foyer. “I meant to be here sooner, but I had to run comps for a new client, then email them, then they had questions. You know how it is.”

“I sure do. Work happens. I get it.” He slipped his arm around her waist and kissed her cheek. The comfortableness of his affection was sweet. “Kaley’s in the kitchen. You ready?”

“I guess.” She bit her lip.

“What’s wrong?”

“I’m just nervous Kaley won’t go for our plan. What if this doesn’t work?”

“We’ve been through this. It’s going to be fine. We’ll make her understand. She’s thirteen. She needs to recognize what her mother is really capable of.”

Pandora let out a little sigh. “Okay, let’s do this.”

Kaley was at the table eating apple slices and Nutella and texting. She looked up from her phone. “Hi, Miss Williams.”

“Hi, Kaley. Is that what you get for an afternoon snack? Man, all I got as a kid was lizard tails and eye of newt. That’s what witches eat, you know.”

Kaley laughed. “That’s totally gross and totally not true.” She held up her plate. “Want one?”

“No, thanks, I’m good.” Pandora took a seat at the table while Cole leaned on the counter. “How was school?”

Kaley munched a bite of apple. “Good. You know, school is school.”

Pandora nodded. “Talked to your mom lately?”

Kaley held up her phone. “She texted me this morning to say have a good day.”

Pandora nodded again. Enough beating around the bush. “Your dad told me that you mentioned his being a familiar to her.”

Kaley’s happy expression disappeared. “I thought it would be okay because she’s family.”

Pandora made sure to keep her voice soft and kind. “It’s something your mom already knew, but she probably didn’t know that your dad knew that about himself.”

“So I still shouldn’t have told her?”

“Well… Based on some other things I’ve learned, I think your mom could be out to hurt you or your dad.”

Kaley glanced at Cole. He nodded. She looked back at Pandora. “What kind of things have you found out?”

“For one, you told your dad that she asked if you’d found any feathers.”

Kaley shrugged. “So? She wants to make me an amulet. I think that’s cool.”

“It would be, if that’s really what she wanted to do. But neither my mother nor my sisters or I have ever heard of a feather amulet for those who see auras.”

Kaley sat back, eyes clouded with suspicion. “You think she’s lying to me? Why?”

“Yes, she’s lying,” Cole said. “It’s because she knows I understand who I am. She wants that feather so she can use it to cast a spell on me. Not a good spell, either.”

Kaley crossed her arms. “Of course you’d say that. You hate her.”

“I don’t hate her.” A muscle in Cole’s jaw jumped. “I just know what she’s capable of and honey, you need to too. Lila’s needs come before anyone else’s, Kaley. Yours included, unfortunately.”

Pandora could feel the mood going south. “Kaley, there is proof in the American Witch Council records that your mother was married and divorced to two other human familiars. We think she’s back for another attempt to get your father to bond with her.”

“I don’t know what that means.”

Cole straightened. “It means that I would be permanently attached to her, even though I’m in love with Pandora.”

Kaley’s eyes got wide. She glanced at Pandora.

Pandora nodded. “I feel the same way about your dad. We’re meant to be together, Kaley. Our spirits recognize each other as one half of a whole being. When I’m around your dad, my magic works perfectly. And it never worked right in my life until he showed up.”

“And,” Cole went on, “I finally know and accept who I am.”

Kaley seemed to take that all in. “I still don’t get the feather thing.”

Pandora looked up at Cole. “Show her.”

“I don’t think—”

“She’s your daughter and a fledging witch. She needs to fully understand.”

He nodded and took a breath. “Don’t freak out, Kaley.” Then he stepped to the center of the room and shifted into his bird form. He stretched out his wings and flew onto the back of the empty kitchen chair.

“Holy crap,” Kaley whispered. She looked at Pandora. “Is that seriously my father or did you do that to him?”

“That’s your dad.” Pandora reached out and stroked one of his wings. “Human familiars have the ability to shift into an animal form. When your dad and I are bonded, I’ll be able to see through his eyes when he’s a raven and we’ll be able to communicate telepathically.”

He cocked his head and cawed at Kaley.

She just sat there. “Dude. That is so cool.”

Pandora smiled. “I think you can change back now, Cole.”

He hopped off the chair, and a second after he landed on the floor, Cole stood before them again. “The feather she wants is one of mine.”

Kaley shook her head. “I swear, I won’t give it to her.”

“Actually,” Pandora said, “we want you to do just that.”

“You do?”

Pandora pulled the substitute feather from her purse. “Yes. But this is the feather we want you to give her instead.”

Kaley took the feather, turning it over in her fingers. “Is this some kind of magic thing? Like, is it poison or something?”

“Nope. Just a feather.”

“Then why do want me to give it to her instead of the one I found in the hall?”

Cole answered. “Because that one is mine and it does have magical properties, right, Pandora?”

She nodded. “Right. We can’t have the real feather fall into your mother’s hands, Kaley.”

“Because of the spell she wants to cast,” Kaley said.

“Exactly.” Pandora nodded.

Kaley stared at the feather. “But if I give her this feather and she thinks it’s the real one, won’t she still perform the spell?”

“Maybe,” Pandora says. “We’re going to wait and see.”

“And if she does?” Kaley looked up at Pandora like the realization of what was being planned had just struck her. “What then?”

“Then…there will be repercussions. A witch forcing a familiar to bond with her is a punishable offense.”

Kaley’s brow furrowed and she frowned. “So I’d be setting her up. Getting her in trouble. That’s not cool. She’s my mother and I know she’s not like a model person or whatever, but she’s still my mom.”

Kaley slapped the feather onto the table and stood up. “I’m out of here.”

She stormed off toward her room and Pandora was about to say something but Cole raised his hand. “Let her go.”

Pandora took a breath. “I guess I should have seen that coming.”

“She’s a kid. She’s not going to see this as black and white as we do.”

“Of course. But we still need to figure out a new plan.”

“Agreed. Any ideas?”

“More coffee?”

He smiled. “I can do that.”

But before the pot had finished brewing, Kaley came back downstairs. She still didn’t look happy and possibly like she’d been crying a little. “I’ll help.”

Cole looked at her hard. “I’m happy to hear that, but what changed?”

Kaley stared toward the backyard. “I Facetimed Mom. She asked me about the feather again right away. When I asked her to tell me more about the amulet, her aura went all gray and hazy.”

Pandora shook her head. “I don’t know what that means.”

Kaley shifted to stare at the table, her lower lids rimmed with liquid. “It means she was lying. Big time lying.”

She sniffed. “Tell me again what happens if she gets the right feather and does this spell you think she’s going to try?”

“Miss Williams thinks she’ll force me to bond with her.” Cole came and stood next to Kaley. “And I don’t want to be enslaved to her for the rest of my life. Or be separated from Miss Williams, either.”

Kaley rubbed at her nose. “Both those options are pretty crappy.”

“They are,” Pandora agreed. “And I can pretty much guarantee that if your mom casts this spell, the next thing that’s going to happen is you and your father will be moving out of Nocturne Falls. There’s no way your mother will stay here where so many people will know what she’s done.”

“Is that true, Dad? We wouldn’t be able to stay here? Even if we wanted to?”

“I think so.” Cole looked at Pandora.

She shook her head. “If a bonded familiar isn’t near the witch he’s bonded to, it can cause him incredible pain and mental distress.”

Kaley took a deep breath. “I don’t want to move. I don’t want you and my dad not to be together either. And I definitely don’t want my dad in pain.” A wobbly half-smile curved her mouth. “I like you, Miss Williams. My mom is…my mom, but you’re a really nice person and a very cool witch.”

“Thank you, Kaley. I like you a lot, too.”

A single glossy tear tracked down Kaley’s cheek. “I’d rather be like you than like my mother. I’m not a kid anymore. I know she’s not a good person. It just hurts, you know?”

Pandora’s heart broke for the girl. She reached out and grabbed Kaley’s hand. “Oh, honey, I know it does. My dad wasn’t so hot either.”

Kaley let out a shuddering breath. “Do you promise my mom won’t get hurt?”

“I promise to do my best to prevent that, but if she tries to hurt your dad, I’m going to protect him first. Can you understand that?”

Kaley nodded and sighed. “Yeah, I understand. Just tell me what to do.”

One text from Kaley.
I found a feather.
That’s all it had taken for Lila to show up again, looking to spend time with her daughter. They’d gone to get ice cream, during which Kaley had turned over the substitute feather as planned.

Now, a day later, Kaley was at Pandora’s for safe keeping. She’d sent Lila a text saying she couldn’t hang out because she was doing witch stuff with Pandora until eight o’clock.

Which meant Lila knew Cole would be alone in the house until then.

And so the waiting began.

Cole knew she’d show. It was just a matter of when.

Sheriff Merrow, Corette, Marigold and Charisma were all in the backyard where they could see into the house through the windows. The sliders onto the porch were unlocked. He just hoped they made it into the house before Lila cast whatever spell she was planning to use on him. Fake feather or not, he didn’t want to be on the receiving end of Lila’s magic.

He glanced toward the backyard. It was still light out, but he couldn’t see any of them in the obscene overgrowth. Or maybe they were using magic to conceal themselves. But wouldn’t Lila sense that?

If only he’d been raised to understand more about witches and magic and familiars. Corette had assured him that their magic would work no matter the distance and that they could immobilize Lila from their hiding spots. Marigold had added that he would be perfectly safe.