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He didn’t like being within spear range. A spear through the chest was uncomfortable at the best of times—and something he had experienced on more than one occasion—and now was not the best of times because he was mortal.

Being killed by centaur was so plebeian.

Any idiot could be killed by a centaur. If he was going to die while mortal, it should at least have a little flair, something people would talk about for millennia. He swallowed. If he died, the humans wouldn’t survive to talk about his death. He’d just be dead.

No. He was not having that. He was just going to have to survive.

Beard leaned down, his fist wrapped around his spear. “And what are you?”

Pan had to tilt his chin up to hold Beard’s gaze. Beard should be on his knees in the presence of a god. All the centaurs should be. But now was not the time to enforce protocol, and his hat hid his horns.

Did Beard know what incubi looked like?

Hopefully not.

Pan pulled the hat off, revealing his horns. Beard was only a soldier, so Pan wasn’t revealing anything more to him. “Does your queen live?”

If they were going to be captured, he wanted to make sure they got an audience. And it was better to be captured instead of killed outright, as being captured gave them a chance.

Beard straightened. “The queen and the dragon are alive.”

Pan exhaled. Two bits of good news. He placed his hand over his heart. “Then I would appreciate an audience with your queen so I may update her on the city’s status.”

Beard laughed. “You will have your audience. Link them.”

“That’s really not necessary. We will follow you.” Pan said, trying to prevent the humans from panicking.

“You will do as you’re told.” Beard snapped.

I’m a fucking god. I will not be tied like a prisoner.

He glanced behind him at the worried faces of Noah and his friends.

“Be calm,” he warned in English.

“Be calm?” Noah hissed as a centaur looped a rope around his neck.

Now was not the time to resist. The spears seemed very pointy, and he’d seen how much damage hooves did in a fight. Centaurs made his hooves look dainty.

Pan tried to smile as he spoke in English. “We are being taken to see the queen, and the dragon is alive.”

“It feels like we’re being taken prisoner,” Noah said in a harsh whisper, still glaring at him.

“Because we are,” Pan agreed.

“You’re making it sound like a good thing,” Noah muttered as he glanced at his friends.

“Well, it’s better than being dead.” While there were plenty of options between life and death that could make one wish for death, being captured wasn’t one of them.

Or at least not yet.

CHAPTER22

Noah was trying not to freak out about the centaurs and being captured and failing. Panic twisted in his gut and squeezed his heart. He hadn’t expected either, and Pan was being rather too calm about the whole thing. A little warning that this was a possibility would’ve been nice, but while yelling at Pan might make him feel temporarily better, it would make things worse in the long term.

The centaurs had marched them to their camp and ordered them to sit on the ground. Which meant every time he glanced up, he was staring at the undercarriage of the centaur with pale gold fur guarding them.

If he didn’t look any higher, they looked a lot like horses. Big horses, with long legs and stompy feet that seemed like they’d be able to crush skulls and break bones. It wasn’t something he wanted to test.