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He’d looked up to Web, believing he had the sight and magic when it had all been posturing and pretend. He was the one with the power, but he didn’t know how to use it. No, but there was someone who could teach him.

He didn’t need to trust Pan to learn more about magic. He didn’t need to like Pan to have sex with him to reach the magic.

Perhaps the only honest thing between them was that Pan was using him for magic. If he used Pan to learn about magic, he was only balancing the scales. Though none of those things sat well within him.

He should have been able to trust a god.

CHAPTER30

When the vet and the farmer arrived, the area around the dragon dissolved from tense waiting into a rush of activity. As the vet walked over, Pan kept a hand on her neck, reminding the dragon to be calm because these people were here to help. The dragon had drunk all the water the centaurs brought, and they’d scurried back and forth three times.

Beard demanded his tents before leaving and was unimpressed that the human boys were carrying them, so he needed to wait for them. So, while the vet unpacked her things, and the farmer assessed the tree piercing the wing, with one eye on the dragon, Beard sent a centaur to meet Liam and Web and collect the tents.

Pan was surprised Meredith wasn’t there. “Where is your aunt?”

“Working. She organized this…or delegated someone to sort it. Either way, this is all we have as everyone is rather busy.” Noah was careful to stay back from the dragon, even though Pan was sure the dragon wouldn’t hurt him.

The vet finished her lap of the dragon and stopped near Pan. “I’ve never treated a dragon. And this is not a situation I trained for.” She kept looking at the dragon as if unable to believe it was real. “However, I am a farm vet, which means I am trained and dealing with large animals…they aren’t typically this large.”

“If you have questions for her, keep them simple and I will translate.” Pan smiled, glad that the vet wasn’t pretending to know anything.

“Of course.” She nodded. “I’m not used to talking animals either. Is she an animal, or is that offensive?”

“A dragon is considered an animal, as they cannot learn another language.”

The vet thought about that for a moment, her eyebrows drawing together. “And the centaurs…how horse-like are they?”

“They are not animals, and I know nothing of their inner workings. They do not speak your language yet, so I will translate.” And he was getting very tired of doing all the talking. He really needed Noah to learn Tarikian.

Perhaps his friends could too, then they may be of some use.

“Let’s start with something easy. Can she tell me how she is feeling and what hurts aside from her leg and wing?”

The vet spent what seemed like forever touching various parts of the dragon and asking questions that didn’t do anything. Noah brought him a bottle of water and a muesli bar, which was like eating sticky horse food. “Do you not have any chocolate?”

Noah laughed.

The dragon asked for something to eat.

The vet said no, and the dragon thumped her tail in disgust.

“Why can’t the dragon eat?” Pan muttered, not wanting to be caught in the middle of an argument between the dragon and the vet.

“If the vet needs to operate, it’s usual to not eat before anesthetic…um…” Noah frowned. “It’s a drug they give you to make you unconscious during surgery.”

The vet had mentioned something about operating on both the wing and the leg. Something about metal rods to hold the bones in place, but she didn’t seem keen, calling it a last resort. “Is it dangerous?”

“It can be. Being cut open carries risks.”

Pan sighed and stared up at the sky. The day was sliding past far too quickly. “If there was magic?—”

“Well, there’s not. And you’ve already used what I tapped into.”

“There wasn’t enough to fix a broken leg.” There’d been enough for one small blessing out of the thousands of cries for help that he’d heard in that heartbeat. He responded to the one that would do the most good. It hadn’t been the most desperate one. And while it wasn’t the first time he’d weighed the various pleas, or even picked the one most beneficial to him, it was the first time he’d responded with someone else’s magic. He had no idea how the blessing would behave.

“Can you tell the dragon I want to straighten and splint her leg and that it might hurt? Also remind her that if she eats me, no one else will treat her injuries.” The vet gave him an entirely justified nervous smile.

Pan murmured in the dragon’s ear. Her claws flexed in the dirt.