The Professor Woos The Witch (Nocturne Falls Book 4) Read online

Pandora blinked. And an odd protective instinct kicked in. “Your parents kicked you out because you’re a witch?”

  That really didn’t happen in Nocturne Falls.

  The kid continued to stare at her jeans. “Yeah. Well, really just my dad. My mom’s dead.”

  Cue guilty feelings. “Oh, kiddo, I’m so sorry.”

  The girl shrugged. “I’m not even a good witch. Well, I don’t mean I’m a bad witch. Like, I’m not putting curses on people or anything. I just turned thirteen, so I don’t really know how to do any of that stuff yet. I just know that I’m a witch.”

  “Thirteen.” Pandora nodded. And spoke without thinking. “That’s about when we get our powers.”

  The girl looked up. “We?”

  “Um…is that what I said?” Fiddlesticks. “So what’s your name?”

  “Starla.” The girl squinted at Pandora. “You definitely said we. Are you a witch? I know there’s a coven in town.”

  Pumpkin stared longingly at Starla and made Puss In Boots eyes in a last ditch effort at scoring some jerky.

  “You do? How do you know that?” Pandora was genuinely interested. She wasn’t aware that that info was public knowledge. It wasn’t a secret, but it wasn’t printed in the paper. Or was it? She might need to check on that. Or maybe the kid’s mentor had told her. Every fledging witch was assigned one. It was how you learned. And hopefully avoided making big mistakes. Like giving yourself a tail.

  Not that Pandora knew anyone personally who’d done that.

  Starla gave Pandora a look like the answer was so obvious. “I read about it on the Cauldron. What’s your name?”

  “Pandora. What’s the Cauldron?”

  “You know, Cauldron.com? The online forum. Pandora? Like the girl who opens the box that lets all the trouble into the world? That’s a cool witch name.”

  “Thanks. I guess.” Pandora shook her head. “Sorry, Starla, never heard of the Cauldron.”

  Starla made a face. “How can you be a witch and not know about the forum?”

  Because real witches didn’t need a forum? Because adults with jobs didn’t live their lives online? Or a thousand other reasons why. None of which Pandora was going to explain. Being a witch was…personal. “I was just kidding about being a witch.”

  The squint deepened. “No, you weren’t. And you’re fibbing now. I can see your aura. I might not know any spells or be able to do any magic, but I can see auras. And yours looks witchy.”

  “Fine, I’m a witch.” Pandora crossed her arms. This ought to be good. “What exactly does my aura look like?”

  “Purple and kinda sparkly.”

  Pandora did her best not to react. But, un-freaking-believable. The kid really was a witch. Pandora wished she’d brought her wine with her. She could drink about all of it right now.

  “But it’s also sort of…broken.” Starla tipped her head. “Is there something wrong with your powers?”

  If Pandora had been chewing gum, she would have choked on it. “My powers are just fine, thanks.” If fine meant crap. Double bother. The kid wasn’t just good at reading auras, she was spot-on. “Who’s your mentor?”

  Starla made a face. “My mentor?”

  “Your witch mentor.”

  “I don’t have one.” Her face brightened. “That would be hella cool, though.”

  Pandora’s head was starting to hurt. “Look, it’s getting late. You can’t sleep in the shed.”

  “I’m good.”

  “You might be, but I’m not. In the house. I have a guest room. Also, there are spiders in here.” That ought to do it. “We’ll call your dad, tell him you’re okay, and tomorrow morning I’ll take you home.”

  “I hate spiders, but I’m not going home.”

  “Yes, you are. I’ll talk to your father.” What she was going to say, Pandora had no idea, but the kid couldn’t sleep in the shed. She also couldn’t live with Pandora. “Actually, don’t you have school tomorrow?”

  That earned Pandora a big sigh, but at least Starla stood and picked up her backpack. “Yes.”

  “You don’t like school?”

  “No, I like it. But nobody loves it. It’s school.”

  “Where do you go?”

  “NFH.”

  Nocturne Falls High. Pandora nodded. “Now that your powers are starting to develop, you really ought to be at Harmswood Academy.”

  “Sounds snooty.”

  Pandora rolled her eyes. “It’s not. It’s for those who are…gifted.”

  Starla’s eyes lit up. “You mean witches?”

  “Yes.” All the supernaturals sent their kids there.

  Starla walked out of the shed, then stopped. “Can I get a mentor there? Will you talk to my dad about it?”

  “No and sure.” Pandora pointed toward the house. “Let’s go inside and give him a call, okay?”

  A long huffy breath answered her, followed by a beleaguered, “Okay.”

  Pandora hefted Pumpkin into her arms as she looked at Starla. “You hungry?”

  Pumpkin meowed.

  Pandora got a whiff of cat breath. “Excuse me, I was talking to our guest.”

  Starla laughed. “Your cat’s fat.”

  “Thank you, Princess Obvious.” Pandora grinned. “She’s on a diet, but she hates it. So? Are you hungry? I could make sandwiches.” Pandora tried to think like a teenager. “Or mac-n-cheese.”

  Starla nodded. “That sounds cool.”

  They went inside, and Starla dropped her bag by the kitchen counter, then sat on one of the bar stools and leaned her elbows on the counter. “Can’t I just call my dad in the morning?”

  “And have him spend the night worrying about you? No, ma’am. Dial.”

  Starla heaved out a sigh (apparently sighing was another form of teenage communication) but grabbed her phone and tapped the screen a few times. After a brief pause, she shrugged and put the phone down. “Went to voicemail.” She rolled her eyes. “Pretty sure he’s not taking my calls.”

  Pandora’s sympathies were shifting to Starla’s side pretty hard. What kind of father was this guy to kick out his kid and then not take her calls? Crappy, that’s what kind. Well, Pandora knew about crappy fathers. “I’m sorry, Starla. I can imagine how that feels. Look, I’ll make you that mac-n-cheese and we can talk about something else.”

  Starla perked up. “Witchy things? Like how I can get a mentor to teach me stuff?”

  “Sure.” Why not? Pandora had grown up with the benefit of a mother and two sisters in the practice. This kid should have someone to talk with about all the stuff that was coming her way. Getting your powers was a pretty big time in a young witch’s life. In comparison, Pandora’s puberty had been a breeze.

  “Cool.” Starla smiled. “Hey, do you have a bathroom I could use? I didn’t want to pee in your flowers.”

  “And I appreciate that. Down the hall and on the right.”

  She hopped off the stool and disappeared. Pandora got a pan out and was headed to the pantry for the box of mac-n-cheese when her doorbell rang. She opened it and found a tall, sweaty, scruffy stranger with the most piercing black eyes she’d ever seen. He was dressed almost exactly like her. Basketball shorts and a tank top.

  Except his looked really, really good on him.

  Cole wasn’t one to be swayed by a woman’s looks, but he hadn’t expected Venus on the Half Shell to answer the door. It took an exceptional amount of fortitude not to stare directly at the prodigious cleavage on display. He said a quick prayer of thanks to whatever universal force had convinced the woman before him that her tank top wasn’t a size too small.

  He focused on the reason he was here. “I’m sorry to bother you, but I think my daughter’s here.”

  Her pretty green eyes narrowed, and she crossed her arms beneath her breasts, turning the cleavage valley into a bona fide fault line. “And you are?”

  “Sorry. Cole Van Zant. My daughter’s name is Kaley.” He stuck his hand out.

  She stared at it, but d
idn’t uncross her arms.

  He pulled it back, realizing how sweaty he was from his run. “Sorry. So is Kaley here?”

  “There’s no one here by that name. I’m Pandora.”

  Of course she was. He could imagine her being responsible for unleashing all kinds of trouble into the world with that wild red hair and those amazing—he cleared his throat and wiped his hand on his shorts. “Nice to meet you, Pandora. Any chance you’ve seen a teenage girl in the area?”

  A fat orange cat sat by Pandora’s feet. He’d never been a cat person. They always looked at you like you could be dinner. This one was no exception. “What makes you think she’s here?”

  He pulled his phone out of his pocket and held it up. “I have a tracking app installed on her phone. She wasn’t home when I got back from my run, so I checked it and it directed me here.”

  “Hmph.”

  At that moment, a familiar voice reached his ears. “Hey, Pandora, do you need any help with…” Kaley strolled out from the hallway and came to a sudden stop behind Pandora.

  He looked at her. Then back at Pandora. “Any reason why you didn’t want to tell me my daughter was here?”

  The cat had walked out onto the front porch and was now winding around his legs. He cut his eyes at it, just to make sure it wasn’t doing anything nefarious.

  “You said your daughter’s name is Kaley.” Pandora tipped her head back at Kaley. “Her name is Starla.”

  “She might have told you that, but her name is definitely Kaley.” Cole frowned and looked at his daughter. “Get your backpack. We’re going home.”

  “No.” Kaley crossed her arms like Pandora.

  “Kaley. This isn’t your house.” He looked at Pandora. “I’m sorry for this.”

  “Seems to me you brought some of it on yourself.”

  Most of the tension he’d lost by going for a run was back. He rubbed the stubble on his chin. “What’s that supposed to mean?”

  Pandora shrugged. “You kicked her out. And you didn’t answer her phone call.”

  “I did neither of those things.” Something wet and rough touched his ankle. He jerked back as he glanced down. “Your cat just licked me.”

  “You’ll live.” Pandora spoke to Kaley without turning around. “Did he kick you out?”

  “He doesn’t even believe in witches.” Kaley put on her best the-world-is-out-to-get-me face. “And I might have dialed the wrong number.”

  Cole did his best to ignore the cat as he exhaled a hard sigh. Now his neighbors, however temporary, were going to think his kid was crazy. “Kaley, we talked about this. I don’t care what your mother says, there’s no such thing as witches and you are not one. Now it’s time to go home.”

  Pandora twisted to face Kaley, giving Cole a chance to sneak a peek at her very nice backside. Her voice came out in a much more serious tone that, this time, wasn’t aimed at him. “I thought your mother was dead.”

  Kaley wrapped a strand of hair around her finger. “Well, she’s kind of dead. I mean, like, I never see her, so…”

  Pandora let out a long sigh and came back around to face Cole. She looked up at him through her lashes, her mouth set in a perturbed line. “Seems I was fed a little story. You’re probably completely pro-witch, too, right?”

  Cole laughed. “Oh, no, she’s right about that part. The whole witch thing is complete BS.”

  Her arms went back to being crossed. “Don’t you think it’s important to support your daughter in whatever lifestyle she chooses to live?”

  “I…what? Ow!” The cat had bitten him. Kaley was smirking. Cole had had enough. He wanted to take a shower, not discuss his parenting with a stranger and her carnivorous cat. A smoking-hot stranger, but still. Why were all the hot women he met also loony?

  Pandora scooped up the cat. “Pumpkin, you can’t eat the neighbors.” She looked at Cole. “Sorry.”

  He nodded tersely, ready to be home. “Kaley. Backpack. Now.”

  Kaley rolled her eyes. How they weren’t strained, he had no idea. “So mean,” she muttered. “I swear, I will run away again if—”

  “Run away again, and you’re grounded.”

  “Dad, you’re being so unfair.”

  “Really? What exactly would be fair in this situation?”

  Kaley scrunched up her nose. “Let me stay here tonight.”

  Cole and Pandora said “No” in unison. Huh. At least they had that much in common.

  Pandora went to stand beside Kaley. “I know what you’re going through, I really do, but you need to go home with your dad and apologize for running away. That’s not cool. Bad things could happen to you, even in a town like this. Although, it’s highly unlikely. In this town, I mean. Anyway, maybe, if you do what your dad says, you can come over some day after school and we can talk some more.”

  Kaley looked up at Cole, eyes bright and eager. “Can I, Dad?”

  Pandora seemed saner than Lila, but that was based on five minutes of interaction. The jury was still out on her cat. “I don’t know. That’s quite an imposition, and we don’t know Mrs….” He looked at Pandora.

  “Miss,” she corrected him.

  Single. That was interesting.

  “And the last name is Williams.” She walked back toward him and dug something out of the purse sitting on the small front table. A business card. She handed it to him. “I’m a regular upstanding citizen.”

  Pandora Williams

  The House Witch

  Making Real Estate Magic in Nocturne Falls

  He chuckled. The House Witch. No wonder she was all about Kaley believing she was a witch. This whole town was so into the Halloween thing. Crazy, but great marketing. He flicked the card against his hand. “Thanks.”

  “Dad, we could have Miss Williams over for breakfast.” Kaley nodded eagerly, suddenly the sweet and obedient child. “That would help you get to know her.”

  “I don’t think—”

  “Please, Dad?” She batted her lashes at him.

  Crap. He was a sucker for that face. “I’m sure Miss Williams has to work tomorrow.”

  Pandora nodded. “I do. At ten. What time does school start?”

  “Eight thirty,” Kaley offered. “Breakfast is at seven thirty, sharp. We live on Shadows Drive. That big old ratty thing.”

  Pandora turned to him, odd sparks dancing in her eyes. “I know most of the folks that live over there. Which house?”

  “Six-oh-nine.”

  Pandora did a double take. “You mean the Pilcher Manor?”

  “I guess. Is that what people call it?” A manor? Maybe he was underestimating how much the house would sell for.

  She nodded, her gaze somewhere far away. He recognized the look from when his female students would talk about a boy they liked. Or lip gloss. Women.

  “Does this mean you’re coming for breakfast?” he asked.

  A slow smile turned up the corners of her mouth and gave her the most endearing dimples. “I wouldn’t miss it for the world.”

  Shadows Drive wasn’t just any street in Nocturne Falls. It was the street in Nocturne Falls proper.

  Outside of some of the gated communities that skirted the town, Shadows Drive and its companion streets of Boo Boulevard, Eerie Avenue and Phantom Lane had been designed to replicate the kind of small-town, all-American streets featured in trick-or-treating scenes in many Hollywood movies. Big, elaborate houses on spacious lots with mature landscaping and architecture that was just the right mix of creepy and welcoming.

  But Shadows Drive was the jewel in that gem-encrusted fantasy. It had the Gothic Victorians, and of those, Pilcher Manor was the shining diamond.

  But as Pandora stood outside the wrought-iron fencing complete with spider web design, she thought Pilcher Manor had become less of a shining diamond and more of cracked cubic zirconia.

  In the bright light of early morning, all its flaws and defects were plainly visible. The old manor reminded Pandora of a once-great beauty queen who’d gotten r
eally drunk, slept it off at a friend’s house (in her makeup) and then walked home barefoot in the rain.

  Pilcher Manor looked both sad and embarrassing.

  Of course, the house had sat empty since Ulysses Pilcher had passed more than two years ago. He’d become a recluse after his wife, Gertrude Pilcher, had died some ten years before him. Gerty had been a witch, not one Pandora had ever known well, but there were still stories told about the vivacious woman.

  Apparently, she’d left Ulysses so distraught, the poor man had closed himself off from the rest of the world to grieve her loss.

  Pandora couldn’t imagine what the inside of the house looked like now. Gerty had often held lavish parties—Pandora’s mother, Corette, had been to several of them. But after sitting vacant for two years and the time that Ulysses had been cooped up in there…who knew?

  Cole couldn’t have bought the house. It had never been up for sale. Last Pandora had heard, the lawyers were still trying to find a relative. Which must mean handsome-but-stubborn Cole was that person.

  How could a man who was related to a legendary witch like Gerty not believe in witches? This was going to be an interesting breakfast.

  She locked her car, marched past the dumpster in the driveway and onto the porch. A board creaked beneath her kitten heel. She stepped over to one that seemed sturdier and lifted her hand to knock.

  The door opened, and Kaley beamed at her. “You made it!”

  “I’m a woman of my word.”

  “Come in.” Kaley pulled the door wide.

  Pandora stepped inside. And tried not to gape. On either side of the foyer were two rooms—a living room and a library maybe? Both were indistinguishable thanks to the stacks and stacks and stacks of papers, boxes and…stuff.

  Apparently, Ulysses had become a hoarder.

  “Yeah, it’s totally gross, right?” Kaley’s lip curled. “My dad is working on it. Oh, and I’m supposed to apologize for lying to you yesterday. Sorry about that.”

  Pandora nodded. “Thank you.” Please don’t let the kitchen look like this too. “Do I smell coffee?”

  “Totally. Come on, this way.” Kaley practically skipped through the foyer toward the back of the house.