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They left the broken statue on the ground and continued up the road. There’d be two or three businesses that appeared to be completely undamaged, then the next building would be cracked or collapsed.

Traffic lights had fallen over, along with some power poles and streetlights. Ahead, the police had blocked off the road. Noah stopped. Going through the blockade was more trouble than it was worth. He was supposed to be working at the pub, not wandering the streets.

“I think we should go down the side street.” Noah also didn’t want to explain to the cops that they were locating mythological buildings because they had a map of the city—though, at some point, he’d need to talk to Aunt Mer about what could be done.

He turned into the side street and stopped. Because there was no street.

Instead, two meters in front of him, a stone bridge arched out of the ground before diving into the asphalt.

“Looks like we’ve found the bridge over the river,” Silas said as though that were a positive. “And if you look up, that statue matches the one we found. So if you know where we are, we can return to the tavern and match this up, which gives us a starting point for the missing dragon.”

Noah stared up at the bridge, then back at the asphalt as an oily sensation swirled in his gut. “If that’s the bridge that led out of the palace grounds, and there were people who lived and worked in the palace… Where are they?”

Most of the palace was three floors underground. If people had been standing outside when the collapse happened…did that mean they were now underground?

CHAPTER15

That was a good question. But one Pan couldn’t answer and didn’t want to think too deeply about. Because then he’d remember the selkies, and he didn’t need the nightmares. Though he was going to have them, anyway.

“Are they stuck underground?” Noah whispered as though too scared to voice the fear.

Pan winced. It had been easier to ignore when it was only a passing thought. “I’ve been trying to avoid that possibility. It’s possible, given that some buildings appear to have pushed out of the ground. But other others seem to have dropped. I’m pretty sure I was dropped, along with the people I was with.”

“And where are they?”

“They are dead.” And now thoughts of skin-less selkies were going to fill his head for the rest of the afternoon. They’d lost their skin. Vampires had lost their beauty. How had others been impacted?

“I’m sorry.”

“Don’t say sorry if you’re not going to take any actions,” He snapped. He shouldn’t argue with Noah when it wasn’t as thoughhecould take any action. Without magic, he was as useless as a human.

“I said I’d help find the dragon. I don’t know what else to do.” He scuffed his shoe on the footpath and stared at the ground. “The authorities are ordering people to stay home, if possible, unless they are volunteering. Because my uncle and aunt are busy, I’m supposed to be watching Nan, or she’s supposed to be watching me. It’s like they expect one of us to do something stupid.”

“And what would they define as stupid?”

Noah smiled. “Looking for a dragon.”

“So they are correct.”

Noah glanced at him with one eyebrow lifted. “You’re taking their side, even though I agreed to help you?”

“I’m not taking their side. Looking for a lost dragon is stupid. However, you said they expected you to do somethingtheyconsidered stupid. Meaning you have proved them correct.” He shrugged as though it was the obvious conclusion.

Noah’s expression turned to puzzlement. “Sometimes, when you talk, I’m not sure I want to help you.”

Pan opened and then closed his mouth. Erring on the side of not saying anything. He’d said nothing that should upset Noah, yet he had. They turned and retraced their steps, making their way back to the palace. He needed Noah, which meant he needed to appease him.

He wasn’t used to appeasing anyone; it was supposed to be the other way around. Centuries of being on the other side gave him the words to say. “I did not mean to upset you. That was not my intention.”

Noah kicked a piece of rubble. “It’s usually me upsetting people.”

“I find that hard to believe.”

“That’s because you haven’t met my parents.” Noah stopped in the middle of the street. “Shit. There’s a cop car out the front of the pub.”

At least the car wasn’t flashing and wailing. “What does it mean, and why is it bad?”

The cops were helping people, weren’t they? Or were they only helping humans?