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“And you did, I suppose?”

“Well, I wasn’t going to let it go to waste.” His smile took on an edge, and he appeared far too happy with himself.

“What did you do?”

“Not nearly enough, because you were only open to magic for a few heartbeats.”

Noah tossed a sandwich at him. Pan fumbled and almost dropped it. “What did you do while I was unconscious?”

Pan took a bite and spoke around the food in his mouth. “You weren’t unconscious.”

“You used me.”

“I showed you what you are capable of.”

“You wanted a magical hit.”

Pan leaned in and put the sandwich on the plate. His eyes narrowed. “I am a god. I am a conduit for magic. And you are the only one with magic I can reach. You would deny me the chance to answer prayers?”

Noah swallowed and held the god’s stare.

Pan used him to touch magic. That’s all it had been. Yet at the same time, Noah couldn’t deny he wanted to touch magic, and Pan, again. “You should have told me how to use magic beforehand.”

“That will take practice and time. Last night was an opportunity for you to experience being one with the universe.”

That sounded like a good thing, yet it wasn’t. “I’m not your magical battery.”

A shout came from outside.

Pan glanced up, listening to the chatter. “They are ready to leave. Finish eating and put on some pants.”

Noah glared at him as he backed out of the tent, his stomach and chest bursting with rivaling emotions that threatened to tear him apart. How was he supposed to marry lust and curiosity with fear of the unknown?

How could he trust a god who only cared about magic?

Who’d never answered his question about what he’d done with the magic?

And how did he go back to human lovers, who didn’t make his brain explode with magic?

CHAPTER28

The hike to the dragon was filled with talk about before the collapse. Beard led the walk and was happy to tell Pan all about Beita. Though he was closed lipped about the herd and their losses.

Noah was also tight of tongue. Whether it was because he was thinking or because he was annoyed, it was hard to tell as he spoke to no one, not even his friends and his gaze was fixed ahead on the trail as he walked next to a centaur who was equally silent. At the back of the line were Web and Liam, who passed the occasional whisper, but appeared to have no intention of trying to draw Noah into conversation.

The longer the silence dragged on, the more concerned Pan became. He should not be troubling himself with the whims of a single person, but right now, that person was all he had.

Noah needed to be his world, the one whose prayers he answered before they were spoken aloud. He laughed as Beard made a joke about the city’s minotaur population. The old one about minotaurs, satyrs and centaurs.

The joke stemmed from an incident that had been lost to history for the mortals. He remembered, and he doubted the elves had forgotten, either.

As a result, centaurs refused to deal with satyrs and elves, minotaurs didn’t deal with elves, and satyrs loathed centaurs. Given that most cities were made of many different peoples it often made things tricky. The city state of Calla, Beita’s nearest neighbor, was ruled by minotaurs, which must make the politics difficult because of course the centaurs hated that Beita traded with Calla.

The petty squabbles of mortals who didn’t have the life span to waste was exhausting. They had the ability to create wonderous things, if they laid down their spears and swords.

“Given the situation and the dire circumstances of all mythological beings, do you not think it would be wise to work together, instead of continuing ancient feuds?” Pan tried to keep the snap out of his voice.

“You believe we should unite against a common enemy?” Beard asked.