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“Dragons?” his mother asked.

“Yeah, I saw one flying overhead.” Could a dragon bring down a plane? He did not want to find out. He was also concerned at how easy it was to admit that it had been a dragon.

It felt surreal, but not in the bad trip kind of way. Or the good trip kind of way.

“Are you sure you saw a dragon and not a bird or something?”

“It had wings and a tail… I guess it might’ve been a dinosaur or something.”

“Don’t be smart with me.”

Noah bit his lip, resisting the urge to snap back. She was his mother, but he was an adult. He didn’t have to obey. “Do you want me to pass on a message to Nan, or will you call her yourself?”

“I’ll call her tomorrow. Maybe we’ll know a bit more by then.”

“Yeah.” Though knowing more may not help. “I’ll speak to you soon.”

“Please think about coming home, Noah.”

“Be safe, Mum.” He hung up.

David walked back into the kitchen. “Linda told me to stop fussing and that her head was fine. She said you wouldn’t let her stay to finish cleaning up.”

“Oh my God. We had no power, and she has a head injury.” He held up his hand. “And I didn’t need another cut.” And the screaming was unnerving.

“It’s okay, son. I’m not blaming you. I don’t think anybody’s going to be turning up at the pub for a drink tonight.”

Noah lifted his eyebrows. “Have you met the regulars?”

They were there every day for opening, ready for a pint and lunch and a bet on whatever game or race was happening. Then there was the dinner crowd.

How long would the pub be closed? Would they even be able to reopen with the fairy castle stuck on the side?

“What will happen now?” Noah asked. If the pub was closed, he didn’t have a job, and without a job, he couldn’t pay board, and then he’d have to go home.

He’d rather face off with a dragon.

“I think a state of emergency will be called. Everyone will be asked to stay home unless they need medical care. Emergency services will get the power back up and make sure everyone has access to water. After that, they’ll start patching roads. Some parts might be closed off because there’s too much to repair.”

“And what about the new buildings? And the…” He couldn’t bring himself to say ‘monsters.’ That seemed kind of disrespectful if they were fae, and from everything Nan had said, being rude to the fae was a bad idea. “Other beings?”

David scrubbed a hand over his face. “I don’t know. I’m a primary school principal. I taught math. I’m not even sure Meredith knows how to deal with this.”

“I’m sure she’s okay.”

David nodded, but worry filled his eyes, and tension pinched the corners of his lips. Noah wanted to say something else, but words wouldn’t make David feel better or change anything.

No one had a fucking clue what was going on. That was the most terrifying part.

CHAPTER4

Pan stumbled along the street. He’d spent most of the day hiding, too scared to sleep, annoyed at being scared, and consumed by hunger. Once dusk settled, he ventured out, knowing that he needed to move and that heading away from the beach and bodies and toward the town seemed like the smart thing to do. His stomach was a knot of hunger, and he was thirsty. He hated that he couldn’t solve his own problems. He hated the fear that a human might not recognize him and attack him. And he hated the weight of the fucking fur coat.

He had no idea where he was or where he was going, only that he wasn’t ready to deal with anyone. Every time a human in their horseless chariots screamed past—literally screamed, all noise and red and blue lights cutting through his pounding head—he crouched, not wanting to be seen. The fur coat was big enough that when he hunkered down and pulled it up, he disappeared. He wanted to make the humans in their noisy mobile boxes disappear.

He wanted to make this entire world disappear.

He wanted to go home.