Page 24

Nan nodded, her gaze sharp. Could she see the effect Silas was having on him?

Just show him the door. That was all he had to do.

He led the incubus through the pub, and for a couple of heartbeats, it seemed like any other day when he walked in, ready to open up. He almost flicked on the lights and turned on the music out of habit. Then he stepped into the bar area. While the broken glass had been swept to one side, the chairs and tables lay in disarray. He curled his fingers against the cut on his hand.

And the wall on the other side was now that odd, shiny, white marble, except for the oversized and, he now noticed, ornately carved door.

“Well, that explains why I couldn’t find it on the outside.” Silas walked toward it.

“You didn’t think about breaking in?”

“It crossed my mind, but I had hoped the vampires would come out.” He turned to face Noah. “Or that someone might let me into the building. If you hadn’t shown up, I’d have chanced breaking a window.”

“You’d have triggered the alarm, and the police would’ve arrested you.” The cops wouldn’t care about the lost dragon or the vampires stuck in the palace. “The vampires haven’t come out, or they’d have triggered the alarm.”

Silas frowned and then nodded as if untangling the words.

Noah’s gaze flicked from Silas’ horns to the door and back as he realized why this interaction was a little strange. Why did they speak the same language? “Did you speak English on your world?”

The demon laughed and said something in another language. “No. We spoke Tarikian, mostly. I speak Dragon and others. Learning your language was a matter of listening and feeling the words.” He tapped his chest, his gaze on Noah, not the door. “Much like when casting out a prayer. Do you have a god you favor?”

“Um…not really. I guess it’s whoever is most applicable.” Silas was from the other world; he’d be able to answer all of Noah’s questions. “Are you telling me all the old gods are real? And from your world?”

Silas’ eyes lit up for a second. He took a step closer. “Define old god because we may be talking about two different beings.”

“Well, if mythological beings are real. Sorry, I don’t mean to sound rude. You’re obviously real, but I didn’t know that until a couple of days ago?—”

“I understand your intention.”

Noah was pinned by the demon’s stare. “Well, the old, what we call pagan gods are part of our mythology, which suggests that Zeus and Bran and others are real.” Silas’ warning there might be some confusion about the kinds of gods made him pause. “Are there other types of gods?”

“We have old gods. The gods who came before there was anything.”

Noah’s mouth dried. “And what was before?”

“Before anything, there was wild magic. Raw and ferocious, but also lonely. So, it created the first gods to play with. And those gods made the worlds and all the beings who inhabit them.” Silas tilted his head and frowned. “I wonder how they feel about one of their creations being destroyed.”

Noah’s eyes widened, and his heart pattered like a panicked bird against his ribs.

“Kettle’s boiled,” Nan called out.

Silas stepped back as if he hadn’t suggested divine retribution for destroying a world by accident. “I’m starving. Let’s eat.”

CHAPTER9

The only thing Pan wanted to eat was the human man in front of him. Not only had he whispered prayers to gods and made Pan’s skin tingle in the process—not that a tingle was magic, but it was near enough at this point, and Pan was desperate—but the man had a wide-eyed innocence that begged to be corrupted. Pan wanted to rip away the veil and show him all the secrets of the universe.

It was far too easy to imagine Noah on his knees worshipping him, and Pan would be all too happy to shower him with blessings. Once again, magic had led him to where he needed to be.

The dragon had wanted to leave at dawn to recommence searching, but Pan had convinced him it would be better to stay and request help. The dragon then suggested diving through the glass window at the top of the palace until Pan pointed out that destroying the palace was not going to be taken well. Dragons never thought any further ahead than their next meal. While asking the dragon for transport had saved him days of walking, now he owed the dragon, which was galling.

However, he wasn’t going to turn down blessings. Having faith in the path that magic created for him was all he had. And since good help was bloody hard to find, and he didn’t know anyone in this world, he’d been extra nice to Linda and Noah.

When he finally reconnected with magic, he’d repay their generosity.

Perhaps the original gods were punishing the gods for letting a world be destroyed. That wasn’t a pleasant thought. No one, not even gods like him, had seen or heard anything from the original gods. Ever. And yet they were all aware their parents, or grandparents, existed because it was in the magic that ran through the universe. The same way he’d known about this world, the links between them, and how to travel between them.

Without magic, all he had were questions.