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“I will have them wrapped and brought out for burning. You will need to arrange the burning.”

They hadn’t even sealed the agreement in blood, and already the list of demands was growing. He didn’t know how to do any of those things. He used magic to grant prayers. He gave people what they thought they wanted, which wasn’t always the case, and sometimes magic made things go askew…but that wasn’t his fault. He was merely a conduit.

He wasn’t even that at the moment.

He was a useless mortal.

A mortal with a to-do list.

Ugh.Could things get any worse?

He hated this place and everything about it, especially the lack of magic. Magic was being shoved to the bottom of the to-do list because he couldn’t ask people to pray to him if they were busy dying—that wasn’t his connection to magic.

“Can I ask which gods your city favored?” Maybe they were here. Or were they like him and visiting some other place that worshipped them?

“We had temples for Rhiannon and Arawn. I do not know what personal shrines people kept.”

Great, Rhiannon, also known as Epona, the odds of people praying to him decreased. Perhaps he could encourage them to broaden their prayers to any nearby god without mentioning his name.

Pan held out his hand to accept the ring. The ring was too big for his pointer finger. Instead, the vampire slipped it over Pan’s thumb. He was a god; he wasn’t supposed to have favorite cities, or to work for one. This place was a long way from being his favorite, though.

And he was a long way from being a god.

CHAPTER12

All the broken glass was cleaned up, the floors mopped, and the tables and chairs stacked away. Noah hoped they’d be allowed to reopen. In part because this was the only job he had. Without it, how would he buy food or fuel or anything? How many other people feared the same?

Nan had already called the city to report the damage and book an assessment. Businesses were being treated separately from the damaged homes. Nan’s biggest concern was whether the joint between the pub and the palace was watertight. The city seemed more concerned about the palace having a door directly into the pub.

With the cleaning done, Noah helped in the kitchen. He needed to stay busy so he couldn’t dwell on everything else. He made a list of all the pantry items that would remain. However, the food in the fridge and freezer needed to be re-homed. Either taken home or given to friends and family or donated.

The pub wasn’t going to be open for at least a week, so no one was going to be buying lunch or dinner or snacks. Supermarkets and hospitals, schools, and medical centers took priority over pubs. Which was fair enough.

Guess that meant he had plenty of time to go dragon hunting.

Did that pay well?

He doubted it.

Assuming he was still needed, and Silas wasn’t arranging better help from the vampires. He should be hoping for that, not daydreaming about finding the dragon and saving the day. That wasn’t who he was. No one turned to him for help. The fridge beeped at him while he stared at the meat. “What do you want me to give to the dragon?”

“Give him one of the Sunday roasts and a kilo of chops. Otherwise, we’ll be eating them for the next two weeks.”

“Not sure if there’s room in the fridge at home.”

“That too, and Maeve won’t want them. It’s too much for her…it’s a pity we can’t cook some of it up here and give it to people for free.”

“I’m sure some of the first responders would appreciate it. Not that it will all fit in the oven.” Not all at once, anyway. And once cooked, if it wasn’t eaten, it needed to be stored. If they lost power, everything was gone.

Nan shut the freezer door. “I’ll check with Mer. I don’t want a bunch of people turning up while the dragon is parked out the back—that seems like a bad idea that will end up with people getting eaten. I hope Silas returns soon since he’s the only one who can ask it to move.” She made some more notes on her pad of paper.

“Do you think vampires are like the movie vampires?”

She smiled. “That depends on if you’re talking horror movie vampires or teenage fantasy vampires.”

“Either. Like, what’s the truth? Can they turn into bats? Do they have fangs?”

Nan pushed the meat towards him. “Give the dragon a snack. Fill up the bucket with water and see if it wants a drink, too.”