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“It doesn’t matter where I am tonight, but I need you to be at this location tomorrow.” he read coordinates off the map. “And I’m going to send you a link to a particular tent. I need two of them. I also need a vet who is used to working with large farm animals…and broken bones.”

“What’s going on?”

“The dragon is injured. Apparently, her wing and her leg are broken. We’re going to have to load her up onto a truck to move her, or she will be turned into a tent.”

“We don’t have the resources for that.”

Pan leaned over and spoke into the phone. “You will have fewer resources if the dragon burns everything.”

Meredith made a noise that Pan didn’t like. “Silas.” Her tone hardened. “I’m sure there is more you’re not telling me, but you cannot threaten a city with dragon fire.”

How about attacking centaurs? Would that be more to her liking? Or perhaps she’d be more inclined to do more if she was aware that Noah might be kept prisoner. “Without this help, we may not be able to return, and I am acting Lord. I am also the only one who speaks dragon. The male will become upset, and everything will turn to selkie shit.”

Meredith said something in the other language which Pan had not heard enough to learn aside to know it was called Welsh in English.

Whatever it was she said, Noah agreed with. Though it was clear, he did not speak that language very well, either.

Noah tapped the screen and there was no more talk. Instead, he kept tapping, filling the screen with letters. Letters Pan couldn’t read. He’d never needed to know how to read.

He cursed his lack of magic once again.

“What is he doing now?” The queen asked.

Clearly, Noah didn’t want any of them eavesdropping on his conversation. He was being secretive, not diplomatic, which meant he needed to smooth this over.

“He is sending the details of the tent you requested, as well as the requirements for the healer, so they know what treatments to bring. What are the injuries your people have?” That was a pile of lies, but they were plausible, and he relayed the injury list to Noah. With luck, if there was any of that in this magic forsaken world, everything would work out tomorrow.

He stared up at the unfamiliar stars, regretting becoming acting lord and agreeing to help the dragon. But without the dragon he’d be wandering around, wearing a selkie coat and the bright green boots. It would’ve taken him so much longer to run into Noah, and by that time, the female dragon might have been dead.

The queen gave him a description of the various injuries, and he passed the details on to Noah. “Will your healer be able to help?”

“I assume so. Meredith is going to ask the farm vet to attend. It’s not like anyone’s got experience healing dragons. The farm vet deals with cows and horses and such. She told me to conserve my phone battery and not turn it on until morning, so that’s what I’m going to do.” He pressed the button and put the phone back in his pocket. “So what now?”

“Now we wait for dawn, and we pray.”

Noah shook his head and laughed. “I should’ve known that’s what you’d say. That’s all I’m good for it isn’t it? You can’t get these guys to pray?”

“No.” He considered Noah for several heartbeats. “It is not all you are good for. Without you, none of this would’ve been possible.”

“Without me, we wouldn’t be in this mess. I led us here.”

“I choose to believe magic leads us to where we need to be. And this is whereweneed to be.”

“You said you have no magic.”

Pan put his hand on Noah’s thigh. His lips were just a whisper away from his ear and the temptation to do more than talk was almost too much. If there were no audience, he’d have bitten the lobe and moved his hand higher. “I have no connection to it, but that does not mean it does not exist because you have magic. So I will follow you and pray that you led me in the right direction to find my own.” And if they weren’t in the middle of a centaur camp, he’d have given Noah a proper worship to taste the magic on his lips.

Noah gave him a weak smile. “Right now, all I want is some sleep.”

That was the last thing Pan wanted. He needed magic.

The ache was so bad that he finally understood why humans claimed they’d sell their soul for something, not that he had a soul. “I will find out where they intend for us to sleep.”

He hoped it wasn’t in the tent with the queen and her consort.

He made a joke about humans needing more rest than gods and centaurs before asking about their plans. And because Noah would expect him to ask, he also enquired after Web and Liam.

“They will sleep with the guards,” Beard said. “You and the witch may sleep in the human tent.”