“Okay. We can do that.” He kissed her forehead, willing to take a breather if she was. “You’re amazing, you know that?”

Her smile widened. “Thanks. You’re not so bad yourself. Let’s go eat.”

Twenty minutes later, they were seated in a booth at Howler’s. Pandora introduced Cole to Bridget, then when they were alone at the table, she quietly explained that the owner of the establishment was also a werewolf.

“You’re kidding me.”

“Nope.”

He looked at Bridget, who was now behind the bar, and shook his head. Hard to believe werewolves existed, let alone that they could look so…normal. “Get out.”

Pandora laughed. “She’s pretty, isn’t she?”

He turned back to Pandora and let his gaze wander her face. “She’s no Pandora Williams.”

Pandora blushed. “Bridget is considered one of the great beauties of this town.”

“Was that before you moved here?”

She giggled, and the sound pleased him. “Seriously, she is.”

“If you say so.” He looked at Bridget one more time. “Werewolves, huh? This town is…”

“Nuts?”

“Incredible.”

The server came to take their orders. Pandora ordered a salad. He ordered the lunch special, a prime rib sandwich with fries.

As soon as the server left, Pandora pulled out her phone. “I don’t want to be rude, but I need to send a quick text to my mom and sisters about meeting tonight.”

“Go ahead. I’ll just admire the view.”

She looked up at him through her lashes. “You’re awfully full of compliments all of a sudden.”

“Seeing my ex has brought into full focus just how lucky I am that you want to keep company with me. So I’m trying to up my boyfriend game.”

She stuck her tongue into the corner of her mouth. “Is that what you are now? My boyfriend?”

“Too soon?”

She smiled coyly, then went back to her phone. “No.”

By the time they were done eating, she’d exchanged a dozen texts with her family and the meeting was confirmed. They drove back to Cole’s house in his truck. He threw it into park, hopped out and went around to get her door.

She dug her keys out of her purse. “I have to go back to work.”

“I know.”

“Listen, there’s something you should know…whatever we come up with tonight, it’s going to be tricky to execute. We know Lila can read auras, and sometimes, witches who can read auras can tell when people are lying.”

“Maybe you shouldn’t tell me what you decide to do, then.”

She frowned. “We have to. You’re an integral part. You’re just going to have to be very careful when you speak to Lila.”

“I will be.” He kissed her. “Whatever you decide, I trust you. So do what you have to do.”

She kissed him back. “Oh, I plan to.”

When Pandora got to Marigold’s cottage, Corette was already there, which made sense since they lived so close. Charisma showed up a few minutes later. Saffie said hi to them all, then went back to playing Minecraft on her tablet.

Marigold watched her daughter go down the hall to her room. “She still needs to study for her spelling test, but I figure she’s less likely to come out here and overhear something she shouldn’t if she’s playing that game.”

“I appreciate you bending your rules for me.” Pandora took a seat at the kitchen table with the rest of her family. Marigold had made coffee and tea and set out a plate of shortbread cookies. “You all know that Cole is a familiar.”

“And that his ex is in town,” Charisma said. “And that she came to see Cole, then you.”

Okay. “How did you know all that?” She reached for a cookie to dunk in her decaf.

Charisma pointed at Marigold. “She told me.”

Marigold pointed at Corette. “And Mom told me. She also told me Lila really likes marrying and divorcing human familiars.”

Pandora looked at her mother. “Really?”

Corette didn’t look the least bit abashed. “Darling, your sisters need to know when one of their own might be facing this sort of dark magic. You don’t expect me to keep that a secret, do you?”

“No, you’re right. Saves me some time in the explanation too. Here’s the latest. Lila, the ex, took Kaley out for a walk. In the course of that walk, she asked Kaley if she’d found any feathers, because one could be used to make a protection amulet for witches who can see auras.”

“That’s a big fat lie,” Charisma said.

Marigold nodded. “I’ve never heard that.”

“Me, either,” Corette agreed.

Pandora snorted. “That’s what I thought. Especially since I don’t think truth matters that much to Lila.”

Charisma’s brows lifted. “Why do I think this has something to do with Cole’s animal form being a raven?”

“Because it does.” Pandora took a breath. “Even though I told Kaley not to say anything to anyone about her father being a familiar, she didn’t think her mother was included in that. Kaley doesn’t know what Cole’s animal form is, but the night we were at the coven meeting, Cole practiced shifting, and Kaley found a feather in the house later. I tried to get it from her, but she thought it was cool and insisted on keeping it.”