“I’d say that’s right.” She took another sip of coffee. “Ulysses Pilcher was one.”

Corette laughed. “I don’t think so. Gertrude wasn’t known for keeping secrets. I’m sure she wouldn’t have held on to that one. If it were true.”

“He was.”

Corette looked over at her. “How do you know? You seem so sure.”

“Because…I talked to Gertrude.”

Corette turned the heat down on the eggs. “Start from the beginning.”

“You know that guy I told you about? The one who inherited the Pilcher Manor? The one with the daughter who’s a witch—”

“Just turned thirteen, right? And she can see auras?”

“That’s the one. Kaley. I agreed to help him with her as she comes into her powers, and in exchange, he offered to give me the listing on the house when he sells it. I negotiated and got him to let me help with the renovation decisions too so I could get top dollar, because you know I know how to sell houses in this town.”

“You do.”

Pandora took a breath. “So, I was in the attic of the Pilcher Manor, and Gertrude showed up. Did she have pink hair?”

“Pick a color, she had them all at one time. She was a true eccentric.” Corette added a little sea salt and fresh ground black pepper to her breakfast and stirred.

“It was her, then. She told me about Ulysses and human familiars and said that Cole is one too.”

“How does she know?”

“She can see auras. I don’t know how clearly, but enough that she figured Cole out. And me.”

“That much I knew about her.” Corette made a soft, throaty noise. “Wait, I thought you said this Cole was Ulysses’s great-nephew. How did his daughter inherit Gertrude’s abilities?”

“She didn’t. Kaley is his adopted daughter. And her mother was a witch.”

“So Cole was bonded?”

“No. It’s a long story, but his first wife basically did whatever she could to get herself bonded to him, but it never took. Which is why she left him.”

“Maybe he’s not a familiar.”

“No, he is. Definitely. A raven shifter.”

“Definitely?”

Pandora slipped the feather from the side pocket of her purse and laid it on the counter.

Her mother stared at it for several long moments. Then she took a breath as she slid her eggs onto a china plate. “Pandy, I know this must be very exciting for you, but from what I understand, human familiars are not only rare, they don’t just bond with any witch who comes along. His ex is proof of that. I’m sure he sounds like an answer to your craft troubles, but I’d hate for you to get your hopes up only to find out he makes no difference.”

Pandora put the feather away. “What happens when a witch and a familiar bond? Besides her powers strengthening?”

“When the familiar is in his animal form, the witch can communicate with him telepathically. She can also see through his eyes in that form.” Corette pursed her mouth. “This is only what I’ve heard and read. I imagine Gertrude could tell you more.”

“I’ll have to talk to her again the next time I’m at Cole’s.”

Corette sighed. “I can tell you like this guy, and with you two working on the house together, that’s probably not going to change. I worry you’re going to end up hurt. You need some distance, honey. Get to know him, sure, but take your time.”

Pandora swallowed. “It might be too late for that. I already know my magic works perfectly around him. And when we…touch, he gets these visions of himself in his raven form.”

“And more than visions, apparently.” Corette’s brows lifted as she shifted her gaze toward the pocket of Pandora’s purse that held the feather.

Pandora nodded slowly. “Until we made contact, he had no idea what he really was.”

Corette sat at the counter across from her daughter, her eyes filled with concern. “So his parents never told him about his true identity? I can almost understand that. There was a time when familiars were practically hunted. Not in the shoot-to-kill sort of way, but witches with mediocre powers—even those with decent gifts—starting aggressively seeking out human familiars. A human familiar became a kind of status symbol. And a chance to increase one’s power. Many human familiars were coerced into relationships against their will.”

“That’s horrible.”

Corette took a delicate bite of her breakfast before she answered. “I agree. Most covens frowned on it, and eventually the ACW declared that any attempt to coerce a human familiar into a relationship against their will would be dealt with by a minimum of a five-year power nullification.”

Pandora made a little eek sound. The American Council of Witches had the final say in all things witchy. If they decided you were going to lose your powers for five years, that’s exactly what would happen, and they had the witches on staff to back that punishment up. “I wonder if that’s why Cole’s ex-wife finally gave up on him.”

“You’re sure they didn’t bond?”

“Doesn’t seem that way. I don’t think he’d ever shifted before he met me.”

Corette lifted her fork, then put it back down. “You say your magic works around him?”

Pandora nodded. “I haven’t tried any big spells.” She hadn’t done any of those in years. “But the two simple things I did went off without a hitch. And Kaley said my aura didn’t look so broken now.”