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“It means Aunt Meredith is here, and Nan has told her everything, and I won’t be allowed to look for the dragon. I don’t know what it means for you.”

The way the last couple of days had been, nothing good. The ring on his finger was heavy, and he couldn’t help his people on his own. He needed humans, and while Noah had agreed to help, he was a no-one as he had no authority.

He had something more valuable, a glimmer of magic.

Pan needed both, and he didn’t like needing anyone. Everything was much easier with magic. Though if he had magic, he’d be able to hear all the prayers and the calls for help, and they’d be rather deafening given the mess.

“We cannot avoid your family, and I need to speak with those in charge.” He took a couple of steps, then turned when Noah hadn’t fallen into step beside him.

Noah had his hands shoved in his pocket. “I don’t want to go home and wait to be told it’s safe to go out. I want to do something…” He sighed and glanced at the gray sky. “It doesn’t matter.”

“It matters to you.” And it was something other than being sent home that bothered him. Pan didn’t need magic to see that. He felt it, a longing that he didn’t understand and couldn’t name because he didn’t have magic. “What do you want to do?”

“Something that matters. Like, I’ve always believed there’s more to life than getting good grades and turning up to work. And, I don’t know, I came here hoping to find it and thought meeting Liam and Web and learning about Wicca and stuff was it.” He shook his head. “Then this happened, and what are the odds that the palace would smoosh together with the pub?”

Pan stared at the human man and attempted to decipher the ramble. Even if he didn’t understand word for word now, he understood the issue. “You are seeking a reason for being.”

Noah shrugged and returned to staring at the ground as if studying the cracks and ripples might provide the answers he sought. “It’s stupid. Mum said it was stupid. Life is about working and buying shit that made you happy.”

“And for some people, it is. Some people are very happy working hard and buying pretty things. And others are very happy making pretty things for them to buy. A smaller number of people need more, seek more, even though they cannot name it. They flit from thing to thing, trying to do what is expected, seeking a fulfillment that doesn’t exist for them in the places where others find joy.”

“So I’m doomed to endlessly seek?”

“Some live for the seeking.” But he did not think that Noah was one of them. Those people quested for knowledge, or ideas and inventions. They were dreamers who spoke to the gods not with asks for help but for greater wisdom. There was a fine line between them and madness—the latter was what they were called if the nature of their quest became destructive. “Others have a calling that has yet to find them. That is a hard path.”

“Thanks for the un-motivational talk.”

“It was helpful. After all, if you can name the problem, you are closer to solving it.”

Noah lifted his gaze and glared at him. “How the hell am I supposed to find a calling when I don’t know what the calling is?”

He doubted Hel would offer her assistance as quests and callings weren’t her thing.

Usually, he’d say speak to the gods, but Noah was already doing that, and without magic, Pan wasn’t able to help him. He frowned. That wasn’t entirely true. “What do you like about magic?”

“I never said magic.”

“You said Wicca. Witchcraft? The old gods and rituals? Is that not magic?” He fucking hoped it was. What if Noah was the key to magic returning? That little taste of sweetness when Noah whispered his name in prayer was a glimmer of his true power.

When was the last time a human witch had truly held magic? Out of habit, he reached for magic to find the answer, but there was only the hollow, raw wound.

“I guess. Not that we ever achieved much beyond some free beers or concert tickets.”

“You asked and received?”

Another shrug. “Yeah… Lots of people manifest things.”

So there was some form of magic still in this world. He needed to seek the glimmers that vanished as fast as they formed. Threads too tiny for him to see.

“Interesting.”

“It’s not.” Noah shook his head. “It’s mostly luck, being in the right place at the right time, and being open to ideas.”

“That is more of a skill than you realize. When we find the Strega, she will be able to help you. She can read the fate lines. In the meantime…” he threw up his hands as if scattering magic. “Manifest the missing dragon.”

“How am I supposed to do that?”

Pan tapped each finger in turn, marking off a to-do list. “Pray to Pan. Convince your aunt that it is the right thing to do so the dragon behind the palace doesn’t start burning buildings and eating people. Gather your friends and…I’ll come up with something else.”