The Professor Woos The Witch (Nocturne Falls Book 4) (10 page)

Cole registered Pandora getting closer, her eyes closing, her lips puckering. He knew on some level what all those things meant. And yet he was still surprised when her mouth made contact with his.

Not so surprised he couldn’t react. His growing desire to be near her, to touch her and hold her, spiked into incalculable territory. His arms slipped around her of their own volition. She was as warm and soft and curvy as she looked. Maybe more.

Her lips fit his perfectly, and as her tongue brushed the seam of his mouth, he groaned in pleasure, unable to hold back the sheer joy of tasting her. Kissing Pandora was torture in the most amazing way.

She kissed with the kind of tentative pressure that made him realize she had no idea how he felt about her. And why would she? He’d been a jerk.

Then, maybe because she’d figured out he wasn’t resisting, she leaned in and
really
kissed him.

Heat rose up through his body like he was standing on a steam vent. Every muscle and nerve came alive. He wasn’t even sure he was still touching the floor.

The rush of air stripped the heat from his skin and everything
changed
. No matter which way he turned his head, his field of vision was filled with the sprawl of forest and rising hills. He flapped his wings and—
he flapped his wings
? Cole opened his mouth to cry out.

The screech of a bird filled his ears.

Pandora was gone. He couldn’t feel her or sense her presence. All he saw was sky and the earth below. Things started to contort, and his vision went blurry. His heart pounded, thundering with the unknown and the known. More bird cries filled his ears. Everything about this moment was strange and, somehow, déjà vu.

There was a brief pinch of discomfort, then all went black.

He opened his eyes and saw the wood ceiling of the attic. And Pandora, looking down at him with big eyes and a slightly awed expression.

“Are you okay?”

He blinked up at her. “I don’t know. What just happened?”

She glanced down the length of his body before making eye contact again. “For about thirty seconds, you were…a raven.”

“It sounded like you said I was a raven.”

“I did.”

He really didn’t want to unpack that, but somehow it made perfect sense. And no sense. “An actual bird.”

“An actual bird.”

He stared at the ceiling for a long, quiet moment, hoping he would suddenly awaken and realize this was all a dream. No such glorious thing occurred. “I might need professional help.”

She nodded. “I can arrange that.”

“You mean professional witch help, don’t you?”

“In this situation, that seems like the best choice.” She helped him sit up.

He leaned on his bent knees. “What the hell is going on with me, Pandora? This isn’t normal. You can’t tell me this is normal.”

“If you’re a familiar, which it seems you are, then yes, becoming a bird is normal. But you shouldn’t be shifting spontaneously or blacking out when it happens. It seems pretty obvious you weren’t in control of the shift and that’s not how it should be, but then how could you control it when you didn’t even know what was happening to you? Or…I don’t know. But we’ll figure this out.”

As his common sense returned, he managed to process his thoughts a little better. “Pandora, I’m not a familiar. I’m not anything but human, so there’s no way I just changed into a raven. I’m sure it was just the rush of blood and endorphins brought on by our kiss.”

“Cole, I know what I saw.”

He closed his eyes for a moment. “I can’t believe this is possible. I just can’t.”

“I thought you might need convincing. So I pulled this off you.” She held up an iridescent black feather.

Pandora chewed without really tasting. She sat between Kaley and Cole with the pizza in the middle of the table. She knew Cole and Kaley were talking about school, but Pandora’s mind was on the feather in her pocket, what she’d just seen and what it meant.

And how much she’d liked kissing Cole.

She studied him. He was in an animated conversation with his daughter, as if nothing had happened. How he could manage that, she had no idea. Maybe it was a skill set that came with parenthood. Whatever, it was impressive.

Kaley tapped her arm. “Hey, are you in outer space?”

“Kaley, that’s not nice,” Cole reprimanded.

“Sorry.” Kaley shot her father a look before talking to Pandora again. “You seem really far away.”

“Yeah, I guess I was.” Pandora glanced at Cole, but he was getting another slice. She turned her attention to Kaley. “What did I miss?”

“Nothing. Boring school junk. I’m so glad tomorrow is Saturday. Do you have to work?”

“Yes. I have to show a house in the morning. Hey, can you see everyone’s aura?”

Kaley perked up, apparently happy to talk about witchy stuff. “Yep. Yours doesn’t look nearly as broken as it used to.”

Good to know—and telling—but not what Pandora was after. She pointed the tip of her pizza slice at Cole. “What’s your dad’s aura look like?”

Kaley made a face. “His is weird. I’ve never seen anybody else’s like it. Except for Grandpa’s.”

Which made perfect sense. If Cole was a familiar, one of his parents had to be too. “Weird how?”

“It’s all dark and floaty. Like black snow.”

“Or maybe…feathers?” Pandora watched Cole’s face.

“Sure, could be.” Kaley stuffed another bite of pizza in her mouth.

Cole’s everything-is-fine expression blanked out. He stared at Pandora, the look in his eyes like that of a drowning man searching for a life preserver.

Pandora’s heart went out to him. She could only imagine how it felt to have your life—and your beliefs—turned upside down like that. Not to mention finding out your parents had clearly kept some big secrets. “Why don’t you guys come to my mom’s house for dinner tomorrow night?”

Cole nodded, but it seemed more like an acknowledgment that she’d said something rather than an acceptance of her invitation.

Kaley answered around a mouthful of pizza. “Cool! I can’t wait to meet more witches. Will your sisters be there?”

Pandora smiled at Kaley. “Sure will.”

Kaley tipped her head toward Cole. “Dad, can we?”

Pandora turned her gaze back to him as well. “I think my family could be…helpful.”

He appeared lost in thought a moment longer. “I guess so.” Then he addressed Pandora in a softer voice. “I don’t like this.”

“I know.” Pandora made herself smile. He also really wouldn’t like it if he knew the ghost of the witch who’d owned this house was still in it.

Kaley dropped her half-eaten slice of pizza on her plate. “I’m done. Can I be excused?”

“Yes.” As Kaley took off, Cole seemed relieved that he could stop pretending. He laced his hands behind his head and stared at the ceiling. “What am I going to do?”

“You’re going to take it one day at a time. I’ll help you.”

He dropped his hands to lean on the table, closer to her. “What does this mean for my life? Why didn’t my parents tell me?”

“You’ll have to take that up with your dad.”

“I plan to.” He shook his head. “Let’s say I am a familiar, which still makes no sense to me, then what does that have to do with me being a raven?”

“Familiars are traditionally animals. I guess for human familiars, it means you can shift into that form. Yours just happens to be a raven. Birds are definitely one of the more popular types of familiars with witches, although cats are high on the list too. Hmm. You being a raven shifter might explain your dislike of cats.”

“And why yours tried to eat me.”

“Pumpkin did not try to eat you.”

“I felt teeth. Look, if I’m a familiar, why haven’t I been chased by witches all my life?”

Pandora thought about what he’d told her about his ex-wife. “I think you have been. At least once.”

“What do you mean?”

“You said Lila claimed to be a witch. Based on what I’ve observed in Kaley, I’d say that’s true. Kaley had to get it from someone and it sure wasn’t you. Did Lila also claim to see auras like Kaley does?”

“Yes.”

“That explains it then.”

“Explains what?”

“You said that in the early days, she treated you like a king.”

He nodded. “So?”

“She saw your aura and understood exactly what you were. I think she was trying to get you to bond with her. Or at least reveal yourself as a familiar. When that didn’t happen, she split.”

Cole swore softly. “She was using me. I guess I always kind of thought that, especially when she left Kaley behind, but hell, I never knew to what extent.”

He sighed and pushed his glasses back. “Is Kaley really a witch?”

Pandora nodded. “Yes. And seeing auras like she can? That’s pretty special stuff. A lot of witches claim they can, but most just see vague colors. Kaley seems to be able to read them with the sort of clarity that’s rare.” She hesitated. “Gertrude could read them too, I think.”

“You mean the old woman who used to live here?”

Pandora rolled her lips together, wondering if she should say more.

“What?” Cole asked. “You’re not telling me something.”

“I don’t know how much more you can take.”

He laughed. “You’re a witch. From a family of witches. My ex-wife is a witch. Apparently literally and figuratively. Plus my kid’s a witch. And I am probably some kind of animal shifter. All that, and I’m still upright and functioning. I don’t think there’s anything you could tell me that would break me at this point.”

She kept her mouth shut.

He reached out and put his hand as close to hers as possible without touching. “C’mon, Pandora. What is it?”

Goddess help her, she wanted to touch him, but she didn’t want to throw him into that weird shifting fugue state again. She sighed. “Gertrude is still here. Sort of. I ran into her ghost in your attic.”

He swallowed. “You’re sure?”

Pandora nodded. “She’s the one who told me what you are. Your great-uncle Ulysses was a familiar too. It’s in your bloodline. And based on what Kaley said about your dad’s aura, he’s also a familiar.”

Cole pulled his hand back and took a deep breath, exhaling before he spoke again. “You think your family can help? Not just me, but with Kaley?”

“Yes, absolutely, to both.”

“Good.” He smiled with weak resignation. “We’ll come to dinner tomorrow night. I don’t know how I’m going to live with this. And Kaley’s going to need guidance I’d never be able to give her.”

He stared at Pandora’s hand, then slid his back across the table toward her. “I like you, Pandora. I feel…drawn to you in a way I’ve never felt with another woman. If that’s whatever’s inside me responding to who you are, so be it, but I don’t like being afraid of touching you.”

He raised his head to meet her eyes. “I don’t think I can stop feeling this way either.”

She lifted her fingers, her instinct to lay them on top of his, but she stopped herself and dropped them back to the table. “I’m okay with that. I feel drawn to you too, despite the fact that I don’t really like you much.
Didn’t
really like you much.”

“I’m sorry about that. I’ll work on being more likable. I swear.”

“I’ll believe that when I see it.” She smiled. “We’ll figure this out. I promise.”

He stood, putting some distance between them. “I need to call my dad. He owes me a big explanation for why he and my mom kept this from me all these years. I’d really like to know what the hell they were thinking.”

She got up. “I should go anyway. Work tomorrow and all that. I’ll text you with the time for dinner.”

“Sounds good. Thanks for not giving up on me. I’m sorry I was such a bonehead about the whole witch thing.”

“You were just being human.” She smiled, her heart thudding a little at how handsome and vulnerable he looked.

A thin half smile lifted his mouth. “I’d like to kiss you good-bye, but I’m not sure that would be a good idea what with the shifting and all.”

“Right. We totally shouldn’t do that then.” But she couldn’t bring herself to move toward the door. “Or I could try to…help with that.”