The Professor Woos The Witch

She winked at him. “You do that, cookie.”

He gave her a nod and started for the stairs. With his hand on the door knob, he stopped and looked back. She was still there, watching. From the angle of her gaze, most likely his backside. He cleared his throat and got her to make eye contact.

“Yes?”

“Can you access all areas of the house?”

She grinned. “Worried I might visit you in the shower?”

“Something like that.”

She made a dramatic sigh. “Sadly, no. This attic was my spellroom, and as such it seems to be the limits of my visitation.”

He let out a breath. “Thank heaven for small favors.” He lifted his hand to his forehead and saluted her. “See you later.”

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.